Four London councils have introduced a cap on benefits as part of the government's ongoing welfare reforms.

Claimants in Haringey, Croydon, Bromley and Enfield will, from today, receive a maximum of £500 per week across a range of benefits including job seekers' allowance, income support, child benefit and others.

A single person without children will have their benefits capped at £350 per week.

The DWP said the levels represent the average take home pay for ‘working households', but London Councils' has said the capital should be made a ‘special case' because of the high cost of living and estimates that 27,000 households in London will be affected by the cap.

Lewisham Mayor, and London Councils' member for housing, Sir Steve Bullock said: ‘For some ordinary families (in London) with two children looking for work their benefit could drop £183.00 per week, while an identical family unit in Manchester would be unaffected.'

But councils across the country are wary of being left to pick up the pieces once the scheme is rolled out nationwide.

Allen Graham, chief executive of Rushcliffe BC and the District Council Network lead on welfare reform compared the changes to a game of Ker-Plunk at the recent MJ Future Forum. 'If you pull one strand out, you don't know what impact it will have elsewhere.'