Benefit Cap roll-out start date put back to 12 August for 40 Local Authorities.

Back in December when Croydon, Haringey, Bromley and Enfield were announced as the early (April) starters for the cap the DWP said

“The four LAs within London were chosen to start the phasing in of the benefit cap as London has the highest percentage of potential benefit cap claimants .... It therefore makes sense to start there….”  (circular G12/2012, para 22)

However DWP thinking seems to have shifted and now only authorities with fewer than 275 benefit cap affected claimants (based on May data) will start cap roll-out from July 2013.

(see http://www.dwp.gov.uk/local-authority-staff/benefit-cap/ )

The following LAs are not expected to begin capping until 12 August 2013:-

Bexley
Barking and Dagenham
Barnet
Birmingham
Bradford
Brent
Brighton and Hove
Bristol, City of
Camden
Cardiff
Ealing
Edinburgh, City of
Glasgow City
Greenwich
Hackney
Hammersmith and Fulham
Harrow
Havering
Hillingdon
Hounslow
Islington
Kensington and Chelsea
Lambeth
Leeds
Leicester
Lewisham
Liverpool
Manchester
Newham
Nottingham
Redbridge
Sandwell
Sheffield
Slough
Southwark
Tower Hamlets
Walsall
Waltham Forest
Wandsworth
Westminster

Surely you must be aware that this was “always the plan”, and that nothing has been “put back”.

Reality, as constructed by the DWP Press Office…....