Eight in 10 households affected by the benefit cap cannot work and should therefore be exempt, ministers have been warned.

The Work and Pensions Select Committee has called on the government to only apply the cap – which limits the total amount of benefits a household can receive – to those who are expected to be looking for work.

It warned that only 18 per cent of those currently affected by the cap have been assessed by the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) as capable of looking for work, while 82 per cent of households cannot escape it.

These include single parents with young children and those who have an illness or disability.

“The government told parliament that the cap was meant for people who could work, but were choosing not to,” the committee said in a report on the benefit cap. “But in fact the majority of people who are affected by the cap have been assessed by the DWP as not being required to look for work, usually because they are lone parents with young children or have an illness or disability.

The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned Show all 16 1 /16 The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "One case where the claimant’s wife went into premature labour and had to go to hospital. This caused the claimant to miss an appointment. No leeway given" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "It’s Christmas Day and you don’t fill in your job search evidence form to show that you’ve looked for all the new jobs that are advertised on Christmas Day. You are sanctioned. Merry Christmas" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "You apply for three jobs one week and three jobs the following Sunday and Monday. Because the job centre week starts on a Tuesday it treats this as applying for six jobs in one week and none the following week. You are sanctioned for 13 weeks for failing to apply for three jobs each week" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A London man missed his Jobcentre appointments for two weeks because he was in hospital after being hit by a car. He was sanctioned" 2011 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "You’ve been unemployed for seven months and are forced onto a workfare scheme in a shop miles away, but can’t afford to travel. You offer to work in a nearer branch but are refused and get sanctioned for not attending your placement" 2013 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "You are a mum of two, and are five minutes late for your job centre appointment. You show the advisor the clock on your phone, which is running late. You are sanctioned for a month" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man with heart problems who was on Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) had a heart attack during a work capability assessment. He was then sanctioned for failing to complete the assessment" Rex The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man who had gotten a job that was scheduled to begin in two weeks’ time was sanctioned for not looking for work as he waited for the role to start" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Army veteran Stephen Taylor, 60, whose Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA) was stopped after he sold poppies in memory of fallen soldiers" 2014 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man had to miss his regular appointment at the job centre to attend his father’s funeral. He was sanctioned even though he told DWP staff in advance" 2014 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Ceri Padley, 26, had her benefits sanctioned after she missed an appointment at the jobcentre - because she was at a job interview" Jason Doiy Photography The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "A man got sanctioned for missing his slot to sign on - as he was attending a work programme interview. He was then sanctioned as he could not afford to travel for his job search" 2012 Getty Images The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Mother-of-three Angie Godwin, 27, said her benefits were sanctioned after she applied for a role job centre staff said was beyond her" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Sofya Harrison was sanctioned for attending a job interview and moving her signing-on to another day" The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Michael, 54, had his benefits sanctioned for four months for failing to undertake a week’s work experience at a charity shop. The charity shop had told him they didn’t want him there" Getty The most ridiculous reasons people had their benefits sanctioned "Terry Eaton, 58, was sanctioned because he didn’t have the bus fare he needed to attend an appointment with the job centre" Getty Images

“A policy aimed at people who could work but were choosing not to is now being applied to single mothers with newborn babies and people with serious health conditions, who face significant barriers to finding work. This cannot be what was intended.”

The committee said the cap should only apply to claimants who are either claiming jobseekers’ allowance or claiming universal credit and in the “all work-related” activity group.

Veteran MP Frank Field, chairman of the committee, said: “It would be difficult to think of a more cruel cut. Benefits are being cut with the aim of driving people into work, but four in five people bearing this cut aren’t expected to work.

Work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd (Getty)

“What genius in government thought this one up?”

The committee also called on the government to increase the cap levels in line with inflation and to do more to monitor the impact of it.

The benefits cap was lowered in 2016 to a maximum of £23,000 for families and £15,410 for a single person living in London, and £20,000 for a family and £13,400 for a single person outside of London.

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The DWP said it would “carefully consider” the report’s findings and “respond in due course”.

A spokesman added: “The benefit cap restores fairness so that it pays to work and still ensures there’s a safety net for the most vulnerable. People receiving certain disability benefits are already exempt from the cap.”

Work and pensions secretary Amber Rudd also announced yesterday that benefits claimants in Harrogate, North Yorkshire, had been chosen as the first people to be moved on to the government’s universal credit welfare reforms.

She said: “We have chosen them because they have had universal credit for three years, they are an experienced job centre and they are an area which have both urban and rural claimants. We will be making sure we have the opportunity to test and move as many as possible in an effective way so that we can really learn and demonstrate the success of managed migration.”