article_snippet: Britain's highest court narrowly ruled by three judges to two that the Benefit Cap restricting welfare to the equivalent of a £35,000 a year salary was not unlawful.
article_snippet: Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith, pictured in Downing Street this morning, welcomed the Supreme Court ruling .
article_snippet: But Supreme Court said the cap, introduce by the Coalition government to clamp down on spiralling welfare bills, was legally okay.
article_snippet: the Benefit Cap limits the amount of benefits a household can receive to £500 a week for couples and £350 a week for households of a single adult.
article_snippet: Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said: 'I am delighted that Supreme Court has agreed with this Government and overwhelming public opinion that the Benefit Cap is right and fair.'
article_snippet: Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith added: 'I am proud to say that it is one of the most significant reforms we've implemented over the past five years. '
article_snippet: A key part of the long-term economic plan, the Benefit Cap is encouraging people to change people behaviour and motivating people to find work.'
article_snippet: The justices hearing the case included Lord Reed.
article_snippet: Lord Reed, giving the lead judgment, said Lord Reed accepted that the Benefit Cap was 'a proportionate means' of meeting Government Government aims, which include deficit reduction and incentivising parents to find work.
article_snippet: Lord Reed noted that the Benefit Cap was equivalent to a gross annual salary of £35,000, which is higher than the earnings of half of the UK's working households.
article_snippet: Although the short-term savings were a small proportion of the total welfare budget, the short-term savings were a small proportion of the total welfare budget nevertheless contributed towards deficit reduction, and were also intended to change behaviour over the longer term.
highlights_snippet: Supreme Court narrowly ruled  that the Benefit Cap was not unlawful .
  