Conservatives propose action to stop some households receiving unlimited benefits
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The Conservative Party will reform the Household Benefit Cap to
deliver at least £1 billion worth of savings annually to
tackle the spiralling costs of welfare. Households will only be
exempt if all adults who can work do work. Benefits such as PIP
will no longer be an automatic free pass out of the cap, so we can
afford to support those who are genuinely disabled. Conservatives
will restore the incentive to work, build a stronger economy, and
get Britain working...Request free
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Today [Sunday 3rd May 2026], the Conservatives announced a plan to address the situation where some household are able to access unlimited benefits, this will save hardworking taxpayers at least £1 billion a year by reforming the Household Benefit Cap to make the benefits system fairer. The Household Benefit Cap is a cap on the benefits that can be received by a particular household. The cap is set at one of four rates depending on the characteristics of the household, those with certain exempting benefits within the household can be exempted from the cap altogether, even when they could be out working. Under Labour, the cap only impacts 111,000 households, with 2.3 million households claiming benefits above the cap due to exemptions, including work. Labour have failed to contain ballooning welfare spending. That is not fair on the millions of working families paying their taxes and doing the right thing. You should not be able to earn more from benefits than work. Families who rely solely on benefits should have to make the same choices those in work do. We must restore fairness to our welfare system. That is why the Conservatives will totally overhaul the way the Household Benefit Cap works, with three major changes:
We will no longer exempt from the cap households where there is a non-working adult who could be working. At present families are exempt if their combined earnings are £881. Where a couple can both work, we will require both to work at least 16 hours a week, where there is only one person who can work, they will need to work 16 hours a week – the same as at present. Adults who have no work search requirement are treated as unable to work and are not subject to the new requirement, for example, those with limited capability for work, or those in receipt of Carer's Allowance as full-time carers.
Currently, where one member of the household receives an ‘exempting benefit' such as PIP or ESA, then the whole household's benefits are uncapped. This has made these benefits a golden ticket in households where adults could work more – but don't. We will change this so that if a member of a household receives one of these exempting benefits, the cap is no longer automatically lifted. This means that if adults in the household who could work, aren't, we will still cap their overall benefits – with their exempting benefit alone given as a specific top up. The only way to avoid the cap will be for all adults who can work to be working. For single adult households we will align the work requirements with their conditionality requirements which might be more than the current 16 hours.
Each of these reforms has the potential to save large sums, and the effects of each multiply together. Overall, we will aim to save at least a billion pounds from reforming the cap, but it could potentially save significantly more. And we will go further. The Conservatives have a serious plan to bring the welfare bill under control, making £23 billion in savings by reforming welfare. Our plans include:
The previous Conservative Government set out serious plans to reform sickness benefits and reduce long-term dependency, measures the OBR estimated would cut the number of people on long-term benefits by almost half a million and save billions. Labour scrapped those plans. Britain is a country that believes in looking after those who genuinely cannot look after themselves. But fairness cuts both ways, and it is not fair to ask hard working families to watch their taxes fund households that could be working but are not. We must restore the principle that work should always pay and that welfare must be a bridge. Only the Conservatives will restore the incentive to work, build a stronger economy, and get Britain working again. Kemi Badenoch MP, Leader of the Conservative Party, said: “Welfare must always be there for those who need it most, but it should never discourage work or reward dependency. “The Conservatives believe in fairness, and that means those on welfare should have to make the same choices about their family as those who are not. “That is why we will reform the Household Benefit Cap and stop those who abuse the system getting almost unlimited welfare payments.” Sir Mel Stride MP, Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer, said: “The idea behind the Household Benefit Cap is simple – if you can work, you shouldn't be getting more in benefits than someone who's out there earning. But right now, that's exactly what's happening. Loopholes and exemptions mean millions are getting around the cap. That's wrong and unfair. “Only the Conservatives have the team, the plan and the leader with the backbone to get control of our ballooning welfare bill, restoring fiscal discipline and fairness for working people.” Helen Whately MP, Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary, said: “If you can work, you should. No one should ask for taxpayer-funded benefits until they've done their level best to earn their own living. “But exemptions to the Household Benefit Cap mean you can opt-out of work and still get thousands of pounds of extra benefits. “We will make the cap do what it's supposed to do; make sure work always pays. Welfare should be a safety net, not a lifestyle choice.” ENDS Notes to Editors:
The Conservative Party will reform the Household Benefit Cap to deliver at least £1 billion worth of savings annually to tackle the spiralling costs of welfare:
The Conservatives are the only party that have a plan to cut welfare:
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