DWP creams off £62 a month from 2million Brits - full list of 100 worst-hit areas

Two million poor Brits are still having an average of £62-a-month creamed off their benefits to pay back loans and debts.

Some 45% of Universal Credit claimants had “deductions” taken by the Department for Work and Pensions in February this year.

And nearly half of those (43%) were to repay advances people take out to bridge the five-week wait for the first UC payment.

Campaigners say the five-week wait drives people to food banks and must be axed.

Figures handed to the Mirror show some of England’s poorest communities are far worse hit than others.

In Middlesbrough 60% of all claimants had a deduction in February, taking £497,000 out of the pockets of 7,800 local claimants.

(Getty Images)

It was followed by Blackpool South (59%), Knowsley, Redcar (both 58%), Hartlepool, Liverpool Walton and Birkenhead (all 57%).

By comparison just 37% of claimants suffer deductions in Work and Pensions Secretary Therese Coffey ’s Suffolk Coastal seat.

Some 41% have deductions taken in Boris Johnson ’s Uxbridge and South Ruislip.

In York Outer, represented by Tory MP Julian Sturdy, just 32% of claimants - 900 people - were having a UC deduction.

Andrew Forsey, Director of the charity Feeding Britain, said: “There remains a lot more work to be done if people are to have the money they need each month to put food on the table.”

Chris Stephens MP, who obtained the figures, said: “With the cost of living being so high, it’s beyond time that the principle of ‘grants over loans’ was applied to new Universal Credit claims”.

DWP chiefs can withhold up to 25% of people’s Universal Credit allowance each month to pay back loans and debts.

(Daily Record)

These include advances, rent, gas, electric, water and council tax arrears, child support, and old tax credit overpayments.

In April 2021, the DWP cut the normal maximum rate of deductions in Universal Credit from 40% to 25% of the standard allowance.

The average deduction in February 2022 was £62, a fall from £79 in February 2021.

But the overall proportion of claimants having deductions - 45% - was the same.

A Government spokesperson said: “We have reduced the amount that can be taken through deductions twice in recent years to no more than 25%, doubled the time period over which they can be repaid and stopped utility companies from being able to increase payments automatically given the rise in energy bills.

“This strikes a balance between people keeping the significant proportion of their payment and making sure priority debts are paid, such as child maintenance which is vital to parents raising children.

“We know people are facing rising prices due to global pressures, which is why we’re providing targeted help of at least £1,200 to eight million low income families while supporting people to earn more, including a £300 a year tax cut this month and allowing Universal Credit claimants to keep £1,000 more of what they earn."

The 100 places in Britain most affected by Universal Credit deductions

KEY: Area (Percentage of claimants having a deduction - number of claimants having a deduction). Figures from Feb 2022.

• 1. Middlesbrough (60% - 7,800 )
• 2. Blackpool South (59% - 6,700 )
• 3. Knowsley (58% - 7,300 )
• 4. Paisley and Renfrewshire South (58% - 4,100 )
• 5. Redcar (57% - 4,800 )
• 6. Hartlepool (57% - 6,600 )
• 7. Liverpool, Walton (57% - 7,400 )
• 8. Glasgow East (57% - 5,600 )
• 9. Birkenhead (57% - 6,500 )
• 10. Motherwell and Wishaw (57% - 4,800 )
• 11. Kirkcaldy and Cowdenbeath (56% - 5,300 )
• 12. Easington (56% - 5,200 )
• 13. Liverpool, West Derby (56% - 6,000 )
• 14. Lanark and Hamilton East (56% - 4,100 )
• 15. Middlesbrough South and East Cleveland (56% - 4,000 )
• 16. Airdrie and Shotts (56% - 4,100 )
• 17. Rutherglen and Hamilton West (56% - 4,900 )
• 18. Bradford South (56% - 6,300 )
• 19. Bootle (56% - 7,000 )
• 20. Glenrothes (55% - 4,900 )
• 21. West Dunbartonshire (55% - 4,500 )
• 22. Worsley and Eccles South (55% - 5,500 )
• 23. South Shields (55% - 5,000 )
• 24. Stockton North (55% - 5,000 )
• 25. Great Grimsby (55% - 5,800 )
• 26. Glasgow South West (54% - 5,000 )
• 27. Dundee West (54% - 4,700 )
• 28. Glasgow North West (54% - 4,400 )
• 29. Rotherham (54% - 5,400 )
• 30. Blackpool North and Cleveleys (54% - 4,600 )
• 31. Sunderland Central (54% - 5,300 )
• 32. Coatbridge, Chryston and Bellshill (54% - 4,000 )
• 33. Leeds East (54% - 6,300 )
• 34. Paisley and Renfrewshire North (54% - 2,900 )
• 35. Wansbeck (53% - 3,600 )
• 36. Houghton and Sunderland South (53% - 4,400 )
• 37. St Helens South and Whiston (53% - 5,100 )
• 38. Preston (53% - 5,900 )
• 39. Kingston upon Hull East (53% - 4,700 )
• 40. Nottingham North (53% - 6,600 )
• 41. Darlington (53% - 4,400 )
• 42. Ayr, Carrick and Cumnock (53% - 4,400 )
• 43. Linlithgow and East Falkirk (53% - 4,500 )
• 44. Derby South (53% - 7,100 )
• 45. North Ayrshire and Arran (53% - 4,500 )
• 46. Rhondda (53% - 3,300 )
• 47. Walsall North (53% - 5,800 )
• 48. Normanton, Pontefract and Castleford (53% - 4,900 )
• 49. Livingston (53% - 4,000 )
• 50. Cynon Valley (52% - 3,300 )
• 51. Dundee East (52% - 3,400 )
• 52. Glasgow North East (52% - 5,200 )
• 53. Washington and Sunderland West (52% - 4,500 )
• 54. Merthyr Tydfil and Rhymney (52% - 3,800 )
• 55. Kingston upon Hull North (52% - 5,300 )
• 56. Wallasey (52% - 4,400 )
• 57. Bishop Auckland (52% - 3,800 )
• 58. Leeds West (52% - 5,300 )
• 59. Falkirk (52% - 4,100 )
• 60. Heywood and Middleton (52% - 5,400 )
• 61. Doncaster North (52% - 5,000 )
• 62. Inverclyde (52% - 4,000 )
• 63. Cumbernauld, Kilsyth and Kirkintilloch East (52% - 3,500 )
• 64. Sheffield, Heeley (52% - 4,200 )
• 65. Wigan (52% - 4,500 )
• 66. Sedgefield (52% - 3,600 )
• 67. Garston and Halewood (52% - 4,500 )
• 68. Sheffield, Brightside and Hillsborough (52% - 6,300 )
• 69. Blyth Valley (52% - 3,500 )
• 70. Gateshead (52% - 5,400 )
• 71. Leeds Central (51% - 8,800 )
• 72. Kilmarnock and Loudoun (51% - 4,500 )
• 73. Stockport (51% - 4,100 )
• 74. Ochil and South Perthshire (51% - 3,200 )
• 75. St Helens North (51% - 4,100 )
• 76. Bolton North East (51% - 5,200 )
• 77. Leigh (51% - 4,200 )
• 78. Halton (51% - 5,100 )
• 79. Telford (51% - 4,500 )
• 80. Wythenshawe and Sale East (51% - 5,900 )
• 81. North Durham (51% - 3,800 )
• 82. Aberavon (51% - 3,100 )
• 83. Wentworth and Dearne (51% - 4,500 )
• 84. Hyndburn (51% - 4,600 )
• 85. Cardiff West (51% - 4,300 )
• 86. Scunthorpe (51% - 4,200 )
• 87. Swansea East (51% - 4,200 )
• 88. Salford and Eccles (51% - 6,100 )
• 89. Dunfermline and West Fife (51% - 3,500 )
• 90. Halifax (51% - 5,600 )
• 91. East Kilbride, Strathaven and Lesmahagow (50% - 3,100 )
• 92. Bradford East (50% - 7,200 )
• 93. Burnley (50% - 5,200 )
• 94. Rochdale (50% - 6,100 )
• 95. Blaenau Gwent (50% - 3,300 )
• 96. Stockton South (50% - 3,300 )
• 97. Vale of Clwyd (50% - 3,200 )
• 98. Hemsworth (50% - 3,800 )
• 99. Birmingham, Northfield (50% - 6,100 )
• 100. Stirling (50% - 2,500 )