Social Security Benefits: Dundee

Stewart Hosie
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions how many people in Dundee East constituency are in receipt of (a) incapacity benefit and (b) jobseeker's allowance; and what the average weekly payment to such people is in each case.

Jonathan Shaw
From 27 October 2008 we replaced incapacity benefits for new customers with the employment and support allowance and a revised medical assessment which focuses on what people can do, as well as what they cannot.

The information requested is in the following table:

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|Benefit                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    |Number of cases in payment|Average weekly amount paid (£)|
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|Incapacity benefit/severe disablement allowance                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                            |2,790                     |94.43                         |
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|Jobseeker's allowance                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                      |1,900                     |62.64                         |
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|Notes: 1. Number of cases in payment rounded to the nearest 10. 2. Average weekly amount paid is rounded to the nearest penny. 3. Claimants receiving more than one of these benefits are counted under each benefit. 4. The data do not include claimants of employment and support allowance introduced from October 2008. 5. All data refer to benefit recipients and will therefore exclude credits only and nil payment cases. Source: Department for Work and Pensions Information Directorate: Work and Pensions Longitudinal Study.|                          |                              |
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