WIREDGOV

Coverage: Great Britain (unless otherwise stated) Theme: Social and Welfare

Client Group Analysis

Families with Children:

At February, 2005:

* 2.7 million children (20 per cent of the total population of children aged under 19) were living in families claiming a key benefit and receiving additional amounts of benefit and/or CTC for them.

* 65 per cent of them had been on benefit for at least two years.

Population of Working Age:

At February 2005:

4.84 million people of working age (13.5 per cent) were claiming a key benefit.

48 per cent of claimants were women.

Population over State Pension Age:

At November 2004:

* Just over 10.7 million (99.9 per cent) people over State Pension age were claiming a key benefit.

* 37 per cent of claimants were men.

Income Support - Aged under 60:

At 27th February 2005:

* All claimants: 2.1 million (£87 per week)

* Lone parents (excluding the disabled) represent 36 per cent of the IS caseload -780 thousand (£103 per week).

* Disabled recipients represent 53 per cent of the caseload - 1,124 thousand (£81 per week)

* Almost two thirds of recipients are women.

* Pension Credit (PC) replaced the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) in Income Support on 6th October 2003.

Aged 60 and over - Pension Credit/Minimum Income Guarantee: From 6th October 2003 Pension Credit (PC) replaced the Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG).

At 27th February 2005:

* PC caseload: 2.7 million compared to 1.8 million MIG at Aug 2003.

* PC average amounts (£42 per week). Care should be taken when comparing PC amounts to MIG amounts because of other changes that were introduced on 6th October 2003.

Jobseeker's Allowance (not seasonally adjusted):

At 10th February 2005:

* Total claimants: 855 thousand.

* Total recipients: 773 thousand, 153 thousand with only contribution-based JSA, 620 thousand with income-based JSA (including 15 thousand with underlying entitlement to contribution-based benefit).

* Average weekly entitlement: £56 income-based, £53
contribution-based.

* Just over a quarter of claimants are women.

Incapacity Benefit:

At 28th February 2005:

* Working Age IB/SDA claimants: 2.6 million.

* Working Age IB/SDA recipients: 1.7 million.

* Average amounts: Working Age IB £84 per week.

* Working Age SDA £59 per week.

* 61 per cent of Working Age IB/SDA recipients are men.

Attendance Allowance:

At 28th February 2005:

* Total recipients: 1.4 million of whom 720 thousand receive the higher rate and 690 thousand the lower.

* Average amount: £49 per week.

* 69 per cent of recipients were women.

Carer's Allowance:

At 28th February 2005:

* Total entitled: 702 thousand of whom 437 thousand are in payment.

* Average amount: £45.83 per week (provisional).

* 75 per cent of recipients were women.

Disability Living Allowance:

At 28th February 2005:

* Total recipients: 2.7 million.

* Average amount: £58 per week.

* 554 thousand received only the mobility component, 357 thousand received only the care component and 1.8 million received both mobility and care components.

* 50 per cent of recipients are women.

Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit:

At 31st December 2004:

* New Claims in the quarter (Accidents and Prescribed Diseases): 9.9 thousand.

* 17 per cent of these new claims were from women.

* New claims in the quarter (Reduced Earnings Allowance): 0.7 thousand.

* Total people in payment (Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit and Reduced Earnings Allowance): 341.0 thousand (£41 per week).

Housing Benefit:

At 11th February 2005:

* Total recipients: 4.0 million.

* Average weekly amount: £61.

* Total recipients (aged over 60): 1.6 million (at May 2003).

* Total recipients (with dependants): 1.2 million (at May 2003).

* 73 per cent of HB recipients are also in receipt of IS, PC (GC element) or JSA (income based).

Council Tax Benefit:

At 11th February 2005:

* Total recipients: 4.9 million (excludes second adult rebates).

* Average weekly amount: £13.

* Total recipients (aged over 60): 2.4 million (at May 2003).

* Total recipients (with dependants): 1.2 million (at May 2003).

* 71 per cent of CTB recipients are also in receipt of IS, PC (GC element) or JSA (income based).

State Pension:

At 30th September, 2004:

* Total recipients: 47.6 thousand.

* Average amount of entitlement: £84 per week.

* 70 per cent of recipients are women.

DWP Agencies

Child Support Agency:

At 28th February 2005:

* Following IT difficulties with the new computer system, the Agency are making steady progress with revising and quality assuring statistical data. The range of information is set to expand in future quarters.

* There are up to 200 thousand cases assessed under old rules that are currently administered on the new IT system. These cases are not included in this chart.

* However, current totals for 'live' and fully assessed cases are available: on the new scheme, 198.6 thousand; on the old scheme, 846.5 thousand.

The Appeals Service:

Quarter ending 31st December 2004:

* Number of new lodgements: 57.2 thousand.

* Total number of appeals cleared at hearings: 40.0 thousand. Of these, 17.9 thousand (45 per cent) were found in favour of the appellant.

* 53.1 per cent of appeals heard at oral hearings were found in the appellant's favour.

* 21.9 per cent of appeals heard at paper hearings were found in the appellant's favour.

Employment Programmes

New Deal for Young People:

By end of March 2005:

* Over 1.2 million completed spells on New Deal by the end of March 2005; there have been 1.29 million starts and 1.22 million leavers. At the end of March 2005, there were 72.8 thousand current participants.

* Of the leavers, 38 per cent have entered sustained unsubsidised jobs, 11 per cent have transferred to other benefits, 20 per cent have left for other known reasons, and 31 per cent for unknown reasons.

By end of March 2005:

* 562.3 thousand young people in jobs to the end of March 2005. Of which, 446.5 thousand were sustained jobs, and 115.8 thousand were jobs lasting less than 13 weeks.

New Deal for Lone Parents:

By end of March 2005:

* Starts on the NDLP caseload reached 813.1 thousand. at the end of March 2005, an increase of 43.3 thousand on December 2004.

* A total of 741.2 thousand leavers from NDLP by end of March 2005.

* 71.8 thousand lone parents were participating on NDLP at end of March 2005.

By end of March 2005:

* 382.7 thousand jobs gained by participants on New Deal for Lone Parents, with 332.0 thousand individual lone parents gaining a job.

New Deal 25plus:

By end of March 2005:

* 792.5 thousand starts on New Deal by the end of March 2005 - 740.8 thousand have left. A total of 51.6 thousand were participating on the New Deal 25plus at the end of March 2005.

By end of March 2005:

* 221.4 thousand people on New Deal into jobs to the end of March 2005. Of which, 172.6 thousand were sustained jobs, and 48.8 thousand were jobs lasting less than 13 weeks.

Employment Zones:

By the end of March 2005:

* 137.8 thousand starts amongst people aged 25+ (of which 101.3 were first time entrants). There had been a total of 7.1 thousand starts amongst people aged 18 to 24, and 5.9 thousand starts amongst lone parents.

* At end of March 2005, there were 14.5 thousand people aged 25 plus, 4.4 thousand people aged 18-24, and 3.7 thousand lone parents participating on an Employment Zone.

By end of March 2005:

* 54.2 thousand Employment Zone participants aged 25 and over entered employment.

* 42.2 thousand Employment Zone participants aged 25 and over had been employed for 13 weeks or more.

* 2.7 thousand people aged 18-24 and 2.0 thousand lone parents have entered employment.

New Deal for Disabled People:

By end of March 2005:

* 147.4 thousand starts to NDDP, of which 63 per cent were male, and 37 per cent were female.

* 97.2 thousand current participants, of which 72 per cent were aged 35 and over.

By end of March 2005:

* 76.1 thousand jobs through NDDP, amongst 62.1 thousand individuals.

New Deal 50+:

Between April 2003 and end of March 2005:

* 39.2 thousand people have gained a job through ND50+ since April 2003.

Up to March 2003:

* 98.0 thousand Employment Credit starts on ND50+ between April 2000 and March 2003.

Work-Based Learning for Adults:

By end of March 2005:

* 339.6 thousand starts to Work Based Learning for Adults of which 300.7 thousand have left, leaving 38.8 thousand participants.

* Of the leavers, 39 per cent have gained a job within 13 weeks of leaving.

Work-Based Learning for Adults into Employment:

By the end of December 2004:

* 72.8 thousand people into jobs from Work Based Learning for Adults. Of these, 12.2 thousand people gained jobs from Basic Employability Training, 18.2 thousand from Short Job Focused Training, 25.2 thousand from Longer Occupational Training, and 17.2 thousand from Self Employment.

Other Statistics

Jobseeker's Allowance Sanction and Disallowance Decisions:

Quarter ending 30th March 2005:

- Number of decisions made: 111.7 thousand.

- Total number of adverse decisions made (i.e. a sanction or disallowance was applied): 56.8 thousand

Of which:

19.4 thousand were varied length sanctions

6.6 thousand were fixed length sanctions

30.8 thousand were disallowance decisions

50.9 per cent of decisions made resulted in an adverse decision.

Jobcentre Plus vacancies:

* Vacancies notified to Jobcentre Plus do not represent the total number of vacancies in the economy. Of those notified to Jobcentre Plus, the single largest group are for elementary occupations (28 per cent), 14 per cent are for managerial or professional trades.

* Data on vacancies notified to Jobcentre Plus, the stock of unfilled vacancies, and vacancy outflows are summarised in a set of newly published DWP tables.

* More detailed data is available via the Nomis website.

Notes to Editors

Developments

New National Statistics on Jobcentre Plus vacancies and JSA Sanctions and Disallowances are published for the first time in this release. More detailed information is available on the DWP website.

The Nomis website (www.nomisweb.co.uk) gives access to official labour market statistics, especially concentrating on local areas. It holds data such as Claimant Count, Census, Labour Force Survey and Jobcentre Plus vacancy statistics. Tabulations of key DWP benefit series are now available on Nomis. More series will become available in the months ahead.

In July 2004 the DWP completed a consultation exercise with the customers of National Statistics publications about modernising these outputs. The proposals included the use of a new data source: the Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study, and making our statistical information available more flexibly via the internet. A detailed response to the points arising from the consultation has been published on the DWP Internet.

To comply with the 1995 Disability Discrimination Act, DWP is redeveloping its website in order to improve its accessibility for visually impaired and dyslexic users. This may lead to slight delays in the appearance of certain statistics on the web.

Background

The DWP Statistical Summary is a National Statistics publication and is produced to the high professional standards outlined in the National Statistics Code of Practice. National Statistics publications undergo regular quality assurance reviews to ensure that they meet customer needs. They are produced free from any political interference.

The purpose of the DWP Statistical Summary is to provide an up-to-date overview of the most important benefits, schemes, agencies and associated bodies administered by the DWP in a concise format. Users seeking more detailed information are directed to the web pages listed or to the contact point on the front page. The Department's web pages provide easy and convenient access to the latest information about a wide range of DWP responsibility.

* From June 2003, the Department released most of its statistics on the same day. All tables previously published within individual benefit publications are now available on the Department's Internet site at: http://www.dwp.gov.uk/asd/statistics.asp.

Figures in this, and future DWP publications are affected by the introduction of Child Tax Credit (CTC) in April 2003. The main changes are:

* Child dependency increases paid with non-income related benefits were abolished for new claims to State Pension, Bereavement Benefit, Incapacity Benefit and Carer's Allowance from April 2003.

* From April 2004, CTC replaced the child elements of Income Support (IS) and income-based Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA(IB)).

Dates when there may be particular changes in the figures are: * April 2003, when Child dependency increases paid with non-income related benefits were abolished for new claims.

* October 2003, when families on Minimum Income Guarantee (MIG) with children had child elements migrated to CTC.

* Financial year 2004/05, when families on Income Support and income-based Jobseeker's Allowance will have child elements migrated to CTC.

A small number of IS/ JSA(IB) recipients will no longer be eligible once CTC is in payment. This is because CTC payments will raise total income above the IS/JSA(IB) threshold, or other income exceeds the threshold once child allowances are removed. We therefore advise that customers exercise caution when performing year on year comparisons, or when comparing with the previous quarter.

Additional financial year benefit expenditure information is available in the Department for Work and Pensions Departmental Report 2004 (http://www.dwp.gov.uk/publications/dwp/2004.foreword/home.asp).

The average weekly amounts and caseloads in this summary are derived from administrative data which have been validated, cleaned and published by DWP. Many of these statistics are calculated from samples drawn at particular points in time and are therefore subject to some sampling variability. The figures have not been seasonally adjusted. Average amounts are rounded to the nearest pound.

Issued by:
Information Directorate
Department for Work and Pensions

Telephone :
Public Enquiries : 020 7712 2171

Website :
www.dwp.gov.uk

Statistician:
Martin McGill
Information Directorate
Department for Work and Pensions
BP 5201
Benton Park View
Benton Park Road
Longbenton
NEWCASTLE UPON TYNE
NE98 1YX

Next Publication:
21 September 2005