The Government has announced the introduction of a cap on total welfare spending.
Chancellor George Osborne has announced.In today's Autumn Statement, that a cap would be introduced, to be set by the Chancellor at the start of each parliament to control welfare spending.
This includes the requirement for a vote in the House of Commons if the cap is breached or if the government wants to change the level of the cap.
State pensions and job seekers allowance are to be excluded from the cap.
Osborne said: "If the state pension pension was included in a cap it could mean we had to cut pensions for people who have worked hard all their life because housing benefit for young people had got out of control, and that would be unfair."
The Chancellor also said current pensioners would be allowed to make voluntary contributions to National Insurance, while in receipt of the state pension.
He said this would allow those who fall short of qualifying for the flat-rate state pension to increase their years of contributions.
