Nick Clegg hints at concessions ahead of vote on benefits cap in House of Lords Sources close to the Deputy Prime Minister said that they would include more training to help people who were losing the benefit to find work. Mr Clegg said: "Of course we need to look at transitional arrangements; Iain Duncan Smith has made it quite clear that we need to do that and look at the place of children who are born - if you like - into another set of rules. But the basic principle that the cap should be there of £500 so that you can't on benefits earn more than you would if you actually went out and worked - I think that's got to be a simple principle that most people would subscribe to. He dismissed some of the "apocalyptic" predictions that many families - particularly in London and the South East - would be forced out of their homes by the changes. He said: "This is not going to be some sort of punitive programme of mass homelessness. Of course we won't allow that to happen. Sources close to Mr Clegg said the detail of the transitional arrangements would be published in coming months once the legislation had progressed through Parliament. A similar pledge was made last year for women in their 50s last year when the Government changed the retirement age. Mr Clegg said that he "completely backed" Work and Pensions secretary Iain Duncan Smith's attempts to reform the benefits system. He said: "It surely can't be fair, it can't be right, that you can be earning, if you like, more on benefits than someone going out earning £35,000 which is the equivalent if you were to go out and work." Mr Clegg also rejected attempts by a leading Church of England bishop to take child benefit out of the cap to help hard-pressed families. He said: "If you did that it probably wouldn't make much sense trying to have a cap at all. I think it is highly unlikely we would do that. The move was also criticised by Mr Duncan Smith, who said: "The question I'd like to ask these bishops is, over all these years, why have they sat back and watched people being placed in houses they cannot afford? It's not a kindness. Yesterday former Liberal Democrat leader Lord Ashdown said he could not support the Government's welfare proposals in their "present form," and urged the Government to bring in the transitional measures. Speaking on Sky News" Murnaghan programme, Lord Ashdown said: "I'm not against a benefit cap, I'm in favour of one, but these provisions as currently drafted, as they will appear before us in the House of Lords on Monday, I cannot support. If the Government brings into operation those transitional measures that I know Nick is arguing for and that Mr Duncan Smith has promised us, that might be different but in their present form, I won't support them. Labour's position was unclear last night. A spokesman said: "Labour won't be voting against the benefits cap because we support the principles and the responsibility to take a job if you can work. But we will be seeking to amend the bill, to bring a compromise between the bishops and the government because we don't think council tax payers should be hit with a massive bill for homelessness. In tough times, we don't want this idea to end up costing more than it saves. Labour will today seek to put pressure on the Government over the poor economic outlook, which it claims will add more to the benefits bill. In a speech to the London School of Economics, shadow Work and Pensions secretary Liam Byrne will say: "The bills for the dole, housing benefit and incapacity benefit are now set to rise by an incredible £5.5 billion a year. It is now very clear that the government's plans for welfare to work are failing because quite simply there isn't enough work to go round. Figure based on official Government forecasts and released by Mr Byrne show that the bill for housing, incapacity and unemployment benefit will be £41.3billion this year, £4.6billion higher than was forecast in 2010. This difference between the two forecasts increases to £5.4billion higher next year, and £5bilion in the following year, because of the worsening economic outlook. Mr Byrne will add: "The Government's approach is so badly thought through that council tax payers will be handed a massive new bill for sorting out homelessness - that will put up council tax bills at a time when families are really feeling the pinch."