Up to 10% on handouts in Britain’s benefits capital
BIRMINGHAM has been named as the benefits capital of Britain, according to official figures.
Four areas of Britain’s second city feature among a league table of constituencies with the highest proportion of claimants.
The Ladywood district topped the list, with 10.3 per cent of residents receiving unemployment handouts.
Neighbouring Hodge Hill came second on 8.9 per cent, while Perry Barr and Erdington were fifth and sixth.
Using data from the Office for National Statistics, the figures were compiled by the House of Commons library.
And they lay bare the extent of welfare dependency in some parts of the UK. One source said: “Different areas of the country fare considerably better than others.
“But I’m afraid Birmingham as our second city appears to have many problems.”
Birmingham Ladywood had 6,125 people receiving handouts among its working age population of just under 60,000 people.
The number of claimants in Hodge
WELFARE HOTSPOTS ACROSS THE COUNTRY
Hill was 4,075, in Perry Barr it was 3,845 and Erdington 3,475.
Birmingham was the focus of the 2014 Channel 4 shock documentary Benefits Street.
The show followed a year in the life of inhabitants of James Turner Street, where 90 per cent were said to be claiming from the state.
It made a “star” out of controversial White Dee.
Elsewhere, the figures showed a wide variety when it came to an area’s reliance on the benefits system.
Northern Ireland was also confirmed as a benefits hotspot, with Foyle third in the rankings, recording a claimant rate of 8.7 per cent. Belfast West was seventh on 7.4 per cent and Belfast North 10th with 6.8 per cent.
Other areas with high percentages of people claiming benefits included Middlesbrough, at 8.3 per cent, Hartlepool seven per cent and South Shields seven per cent.
In stark contrast, South Cambridgeshire had the lowest rate in the UK of just 0.6 per cent.
Across the country the average benefits claimant rate was 2.6 per cent.
In Scotland, the highest benefits claimant rate was 6.3 per cent in Glasgow North East, while Methyr Tydfil and Rhymney constituency in South Wales recorded 4.6 per cent.
The figures come after more upbeat employment statistics were released earlier this week.
They revealed that unemployment has fallen to its lowest level in a decade as a record number of job vacancies are on offer.
The jobless total was cut by 45,000 in the quarter to February to 1.56 million, a reduction of 141,000 since a year ago and the lowest since the end of 2006.