Adur sees sharp rise in the number of residents claiming unemployment benefits

Data from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) shows that 1,645 people were claiming out-of-work benefits in Adur as of April 9, compared to just 870 a month earlier.

It means the share of the population signing on rose from 2.3 per cent to 4.4 per cent.

The statistics capture the early weeks of restrictions after Prime Minister Boris Johnson put the country into lockdown on March 23, meaning the numbers are likely to have risen since.

Adur’s claimant rate was slightly higher than the 3.9 per cent across the South East as a whole.

The ONS figures count those aged 16 to 64 who are on Jobseekers Allowance and some Universal Credit claimants, with numbers rounded to the nearest five.

Across the UK, the claimant count rocketed to 2.1 million on April 9 – a 66 per cent rise from March, although the ONS put the increase at 69 per cent if the figures were adjusted to take seasonal variations into account.

Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary Jonathan Reynolds said the rise shows the “severity of the crisis we are facing”.

He added: “Unfortunately these claimants will now discover the UK has one of the weakest out-of-work safety nets in the developed world.

“We support the changes the Government has made so far during the outbreak, but they do not match the scale of the crisis.”

The party has called on the Government to make five immediate changes to the benefits system, which include ending the five-week wait for Universal Credit payments and scrapping a £16,000 limit on the amount of savings claimants can have.

Sara Willcocks, from the anti-poverty charity Turn2us, said: “No matter where you live in the UK, you should be able to rely on our social security system, just as we do our NHS.

“So the Government must take this time to fix the problems with benefits, like the five-week wait for Universal Credit, and make them suitable for the 21st century.”

A Department for Work and Pensions spokesman said: “These are challenging times, but Universal Credit is providing a vital safety net to those affected by the pandemic and we’ve taken action by injecting over £6.5 billion to support people using the welfare system.”

A message from the Editor, Gary Shipton:

In order for us to continue to provide high quality and trusted local news, I am asking you to please purchase a copy of our newspapers.

With the coronavirus lockdown having a major impact on many of our local valued advertisers - and consequently the advertising that we receive - we are more reliant than ever on you helping us to provide you with news and information by buying a copy of our newspapers.

Our journalists are highly trained and our content is independently regulated by IPSO to some of the most rigorous standards in the world. But being your eyes and ears comes at a price. So we need your support more than ever to buy our newspapers during this crisis.

Stay safe, and best wishes.