THERE are 25 benefits hotspots where at least one in ten adults get extra welfare cash without a need to look for work, stats show.
Almost 2.4million people aged 20 to 64 in England and Wales got the bonus in March, according to the TaxPayers’ Alliance.
There are 25 benefits hotspots where at least one in ten adults get extra welfare cash without a need to look for work, stats show Credit: Getty
Bridget Phillipson said that she imagined the number of young people not in education, employment or training was ‘going up and will for some time’ Credit: PA
People on Universal Credit or Employment and Support Allowance who have a health condition or disability preventing them from looking for work fall under the category of Limited Capability for Work and Work-Related Activity.
It can be worth an extra £429.80 a month in benefit.
Sign up for the Money newsletter
Thank you!
Blackpool had the highest rate of residents with the status, at 14.4 per cent.
And seven council areas — West Devon, Torridge, North Norfolk, Stroud, Monmouthshire, Derbyshire Dales and Wealden — had people in their 20s who were more likely than those aged 60 to 64 to be getting the extra payments while not expected to seek work.
IT’S NOT BBC FREE
BBC gets strict at canteen to crack down on staff abusing ‘honesty tills’
TaxPayers’ Alliance chief John O’Connell said: “These hotspots underline just how severe Britain’s benefits crisis has become.”
Labour chairwoman Bridget Phillipson said yesterday that she imagined the number of young people not in education, employment or training was “going up and probably will for some time”.
The figures sparked fresh demands for the Government to speed up welfare reform.
Shadow Work and Pensions Secretary Helen Whately said: “This has to stop — we can’t afford it and it’s not fair on taxpayers footing the bill.”
A DWP spokesman said: “We’re rebalancing Universal Credit to tackle the perverse incentives that discourage work while giving sick and disabled people support they were denied previously.”
THE 25 HOTSPOTS
Blackpool, Blaenau Gwent, Neath Port Talbot, Hartlepool, Merthyr Tydfil, Knowsley, Liverpool, Caerphilly, Rhondda Cynon Taf, Kingston upon Hull, Redcar and Cleveland, Torfaen, Middlesbrough, Hastings, Great Yarmouth, Blackburn with Darwen, Thanet, Wirral, North East Lincolnshire, Hyndburn, Swansea, Burnley, Halton, County Durham, Rotherham.
