Crawley MP, Henry Smith, has welcomed new statistics that show 2,665 households across the South East have had their benefits capped in line with average earnings since April.

The new figures show that around 19,000 households have had their benefits capped nationally. This is because of the Government’s Benefit Cap, which stops people getting more in benefits than the average family earns by going out to work.

The official figures show that without the Benefit Cap some people would be still getting the equivalent of almost a £70,000 salary each year.

Henry said:

“Local unemployment has continued to fall to 2.7 percent which shows that this Government is getting people off benefits and back into work.  Since the Government came to office in 2010, there are over 1,000 less Crawley residents on out of work benefits.

“Half of newly created jobs under Labour went to foreign nationals and so now the Government’s welfare reforms, together with tough new border policies which has seen immigration cut by a third, have helped enable people to come off benefits and to be better off in work.

“Sadly the Labour Party voted against the Benefit Cap and opposed all the changes the Government has made to fix the welfare system. Under their plans some families would still be able to get the equivalent of nearly a £70,000 salary in benefits. It’s just the same old Labour Party who still want unlimited benefits and a something for nothing culture.

“Over the past year the number of workless households across the UK has fallen by more than 182,000 and overall by over 425,000 since the election. Each one of those statistics tells a story about people who will be able to get into work, provide for their family and make something of their lives.”