Benefit deductions should be stopped until inflation falls, say MPs

The committee said the government isn’t ‘following its own advice’ when it comes to deductions, as benefits lag behind soaring inflation. Photograph: Dominic Lipinski/PA

Ministers’ policy of clawing back hundreds of pounds a year from benefits has been criticised by MPs, who say it has tipped low-income families into destitution.

About 2.4 million households – nearly half of all claimants on universal credit – have on average £62 docked each month to repay benefit advances, tax credit overpayments and debts owed to landlords and utility companies.