Welfare shake-up could make child poverty worse, says Boris Johnson

Policy issues: Boris Johnson has clashed with Iain Duncan Smith
12 April 2012

Boris Johnson has attacked Iain Duncan Smith's plans for welfare reform, saying they could increase child poverty in London.

In a three-page memo to MPs, which will deepen unease within the Coalition about the pace of the shake-up, the Mayor said the Government was ignoring the higher costs of living in London.

"The Mayor is particularly concerned that this could result in an increase in child poverty," he wrote to the standing committee considering Mr Duncan Smith's Welfare Reform Bill. He said that unless the legislation is changed, Londoners could end up worse off in full-time jobs than if they relied on state handouts.

The comments are Mr Johnson's most detailed criticism yet of the Government's welfare reforms.

Last year he was warned by ministers to stay on message after he said cuts in housing benefit risked "Kosovo-style social cleansing" in the capital.

The new Bill contains long-term plans to replace many existing benefits with a national Universal Credit, aimed at making it more rewarding to move from welfare to work.

But Mr Johnson said it failed to take into account the higher cost of living in London and the fact that these costs are not matched by higher average wages.

Official figures show half of children living in poverty in London have at least one working parent.

The Mayor also called for further "mitigating measures" to soften a proposed cap of £26,000 a year on the total benefits claimed by any individual. "Without further flexibilities, the impact of the total benefits cap on London is likely to be greater than for the rest of the UK," his memo stated.

Disabled and ethnic minority claimants could also lose out under the changes, according to the memo.

Mr Johnson made clear he supports both the cap and the universal credit in principle, on the grounds that they would help encourage people into work. But he insisted: "It is important that the incentives into work in London are equal to the rest of the country ... and Londoners who move into work are not made worse off than they were on benefits."

Several Liberal Democrat MPs have expressed unease about the Bill and are planning to work with Labour in the Commons to force changes.

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