More city households hit by 'brutal measure' that punishes thousands

An increasing number of households in Sunderland had their Universal Credit capped in May, new figures show.

- by Echo Reporter

It comes after the new Work and Pensions Secretary refused to rule out tougher Universal Credit rules, saying welfare reform "is happening all the time".

Charity Disability Rights UK said the Universal Credit cap "is a brutal measure that punishes people" and called on the Government "to stop making cuts to social security and public services".

New figures from the Department for Work and Pensions show 209 households in Sunderland had their Universal Credit benefit capped in May-up 15% from 181 in February.

Of those, 39% had up to £100 capped, 51% had between £100.01 and £500 capped and 4% had £500.01 or above capped.

Across Great Britain, some 123,094 households were capped on Universal Credit in May-up 7% from 114,629 in February.

It means 1.9% of working age households claiming Universal Credit had benefits capped in May, an increase from 1.7% in February.