People in certain parts of Scotland, including Glasgow, are more likely to be affected by a Universal Credit crackdown than anywhere else in the UK.
With Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak both vying for UK leadership, the topic of benefits has been a major talking point in the Conservative Party leader race.
Both Truss and Sunak have vowed to crack down on claimants, with the latter promising to end "light touch" work search. He stated: “Ultimately, it's your taxes and someone who's working very hard’s taxes that are paying for that.”
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Likewise, Truss answered calls to “fix the benefits system” by claiming she would “change the incentives” for benefits in order to push more claimants towards work.
However, according to recent data, 41 per cent of all Universal Credit claimants were actually in work in June 2022, with 35 per cent of claimants in Glasgow being employed.
A crackdown on Universal Credit will likely hit certain regions in Scotland harder than others, with 11.9 per cent of the population of Inverclyde being on Universal Credit. This is the highest proportion of anywhere in Scotland the 35th highest in Great Britain.
North Ayrshire is second, with 11.6 per cent of the population being on Universal Credit, followed by Glasgow in third (11.3 per cent). Rounding out the top five are East Ayrshire (11.2 per cent) and Dundee City (11.1 per cent).
Meanwhile, in East Renfrewshire, only 4.1 per cent of the population are on Universal Credit — the lowest in Scotland. It is also low in the City of Edinburgh, with 6.3 per cent claiming Universal Credit.
In the UK, Blackpool has the greatest proportion of the population claiming Universal Credit, with 15.7 per cent, followed by Hartlepool (14.6 per cent), Middlesbrough (14.3 per cent), Newham (14.3 per cent), and Burnley (14.1 per cent).
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