THE unemployment hotspots in the UK have been revealed, where residents are relying on benefits to get by.
The Welsh valleys have been hit hardest, with Blaenau Gwent officially named the unemployment capital of the UK.
To find these hotspots, we analysed the latest Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) data on working-age benefit combinations.
This looks at the total number of people aged 16 to 65 claiming either Universal Credit with no work requirement and/or Jobseeker’s Allowance.
In Blaenau Gwent, over 38% of working-age population is currently claiming support, meaning nearly two in every five residents aged 18 to 65 are on the books.
New figures show that, of the council’s 41,235 working-age residents, 15,772 are claiming benefits – including 6,773 on Universal Credit who are not required to seek work.
Close behind is the seaside resort of Blackpool, with a claim rate of 36.4%.
DWP figures show that 31,728 people in the area are claiming benefits – which in this area (87,137 people).
Some 14,891 people were claiming Universal Credit with no requirement to seek work, while a further 130 were receiving Jobseeker’s Allowance.
Merthyr Tydfil ranks third on the list, with 36.2% claim rate.
In total, 12,873 residents receive monthly DWP payments, out of a working-age population of 35,602.
At the other end of the scale, the affluent areas of the South and the Scottish suburbs are seeing the lowest levels of dependency in the country.
East Renfrewshire in Scotland boasts the lowest proportion of claimants at just 6.1%, followed closely by East Dunbartonshire at 6.2%.
In England, the Surrey borough of Wokingham leads the way for jobs with only 7.3% of its 112,071 working-age residents claiming unemployment benefits.
While the City of London records an ultra-low 3.3% claim rate, typical commuter hubs like Hart in Hampshire and Windsor and Maidenhead also see claim rates well below 9%.
The surge in claims comes as welfare spending is set to rise by £18billion to a massive £333billion this year, according to documents published alongside the Spring Statement earlier this month.
The Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) has warned that the bill will then climb by roughly £15billion every year on average, reaching a total of £407billion by 2030-31.
According to the OBR, this spiralling cost is mainly because more is being spent on benefits for pensioners and people with long-term health conditions.
These additional costs are expected to grow by about 0.4% of the entire country’s GDP over the next five years.
The rise in spending coincides with a 6.7% hike in Universal Credit payments this April, worth roughly £466 a year for a typical couple.
Other benefits, including PIP, will also rise by 3.8% in line with last September’s inflation figure.
It comes as the number of “NEETs” – those not in education, employment, or training – has hit 957,000, up 36,000 since Labour came to power.
Shadow Chancellor Mel Stride said: “The welfare bill is spiralling out of control.
“Health and disability spending alone is heading for £100billion by 2030 – yet Labour would rather dodge the hard choices than fix the system.
“Britain can’t afford more benefits. We need to fund our defence, cut taxes, and reward work – not pour ever more money into welfare.”
Reform UK’s Lee Anderson said: “Of course we should support people who genuinely need help, but taxpayers aren’t mugs.
“When numbers rocket like this the system clearly being abused.
“The government needs to show some backbone and get a grip on this otherwise the country’s heading for bankruptcy.”
A DWP spokesperson said: “Behind every one of these numbers is a person who deserves a real chance to get on in life, instead of written off by the broken welfare system we inherited
“We are changing this by giving people the genuine support they need to move into work – from voluntary support in our Jobcentres and the £3.5billion investment to support more sick or disabled people into work, to our Connect to Work programme which is being rolled out in every corner of the country – while getting rid of the financial incentives for ill health.”
