Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016


The Welfare Reform and Work Act 2016 is an Act of Parliament in the United Kingdom. It was introduced into the House of Commons on 9 July 2015 by Iain Duncan Smith and received Royal assent in March 2016.

Background

The Act implements policies that were contained in both the Conservative Party manifesto ahead of the 2015 general election as well as statements made in the July 2015 budget. Among other measures that Act represents the Government's attempts to increase employment, curb the welfare budget, reduce child poverty and support working households.

Provisions

Many people have criticised the bill, with some even going as far as to defining it as a "Pandora's box for Britain's poorest families". The cuts to tax credits have been criticised for unfairly affecting the working poor, and a clause in the bill allows the benefits cap of £20,000 to be reduced further, without any further consultation with Parliament, thus making those from larger families even worse off. It also called for £12bn to be made in cuts.
Harriet Harman, then deputy leader of the Labour Party, required Labour MPs to abstain from the vote for the bill as opposed to voting against it However, the Labour Party was in the process of choosing a new leader at the time, and one candidate associated with the party's left-wing, the eventual new leader Jeremy Corbyn, voted against the bill along with 48 of his Labour colleagues who also defied the Labour whip. Other parties in opposition to the bill were the Scottish National Party, the Liberal Democrats, the Democratic Unionist Party, Plaid Cymru and the Green Party of England and Wales.