Incapacity Benefit/Severe Disablement Allowance

DWP describe Incapacity Benefit (IB) as a weekly payment for people who become incapable of work because of illness or disability while under State Pension age. There are many criteria that are assessed before someone can claim incapacity benefit relating to their ability to work and their previous working history. New claims for Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA) can no longer be made but anyone that was receiving it will still do so. To have been entitled to this a person must have been aged between 16 and 64 years old (special conditions apply for people aged 65 and over) and incapable of work because of illness or disability for at least 28 weeks in a row and been assessed as being 80 per cent disabled. This assessment must have been made before April 2001.

From 27 October 2008 Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) replaces IB and Income Support (IS) paid on incapacity grounds for new customers. The principle of Employment and Support Allowance is that everyone should have the opportunity to work and that people with an illness or disability should get the support they need to engage in appropriate work, if they are able. For new customers, ESA will replace IB and IS paid on incapacity grounds. Existing IB or IS customers will initially continue to receive their existing benefits, so long as they satisfy the entitlement conditions. ESA offers personalised support and financial help if people are not working due to an illness or disability. It gives people access to a specially trained personal adviser and a wide range of further services.

5.8% of working age people in Highland receive IB/SDA, below the Scotland average of 6.5% but higher than the Great Britain average of 5.2%. The number of claimants has been falling steadily across Scotland overall and Great Britain since 2003 but this decline was delayed in Highland, starting some two years later.

Figure 1: IB/SDA Claimants ( November 2006 to February 2011 )

*Relevant population is the population of any relevant qualifying age group described above.

ESA Claimants by Multi-Member Wards ( February 2011 )

The ward with the highest percentage of ESA Claimants is Inverness Central with 3.2% of the working age population receiving the benefit. North, West and Central Sutherland and Wester Ross Strathpeffer and Lochalsh wards all share the lowest claimant rate of 1.0% .

Ward No	Ward Name	All ESA Claimants	% of working age population claiming ESA
1	North, West and Central Sutherland	35	1.0
2	Thurso	85	1.9
3	Wick	80	1.9
4	Landward Caithness	105	1.5
5	East Sutherland and Edderton	80	1.8
6	Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh	75	1.0
7	Cromarty Firth	150	2.0
8	Tain and Easter Ross	105	1.9
9	Dingwall and Seaforth	115	1.5
10	Black Isle	65	1.1
11	Eilean a' Cheò	80	1.2
12	Caol and Mallaig	60	1.2
13	Aird and Loch Ness	85	1.2
14	Inverness West	95	1.7
15	Inverness Central	290	3.2
16	Inverness Ness-Side	105	1.7
17	Inverness Millburn	70	1.4
18	Culloden and Ardersier	115	1.6
19	Nairn	80	1.1
20	Inverness South	90	1.1
21	Badenoch and Strathspey	105	1.3
22	Fort William and Ardnamurchan	130	1.8
	Highland	2,210	1.6
Source: Department for Work and Pensions data from NOMIS

IB/SDA Claimants by Multi-Member Wards ( February 2011 )

There is a wide variation in the number of people in each ward receiving IB/SDA and wards containing deprived areas have almost four times as many claimants as less deprived wards. The wards with the highest percentage of people receiving IB/SDA are Inverness Central (10.0%) and Tain and Easter Ross (8.1%), while the lowest are Inverness South (2.9%)and Black Isle (3.2%).

Ward No	Ward Name	All IB/SDA Claimants	% of working age population claiming IB/SDA
1	North, West and Central Sutherland	190	5.4
2	Thurso	285	6.3
3	Wick	330	7.9
4	Landward Caithness	420	5.9
5	East Sutherland and Edderton	260	5.9
6	Wester Ross, Strathpeffer and Lochalsh	350	5.7
7	Cromarty Firth	610	7.9
8	Tain and Easter Ross	400	8.1
9	Dingwall and Seaforth	435	7.3
10	Black Isle	195	3.2
11	Eilean a' Cheò	370	5.7
12	Caol and Mallaig	230	4.8
13	Aird and Loch Ness	240	3.5
14	Inverness West	385	7.0
15	Inverness Central	905	10.0
16	Inverness Ness-Side	280	4.4
17	Inverness Millburn	215	4.2
18	Culloden and Ardersier	340	4.6
19	Nairn	365	5.2
20	Inverness South	245	2.9
21	Badenoch and Strathspey	270	3.4
22	Fort William and Ardnamurchan	370	5.0
	Highland	7,710	5.5
Source: Department for Work and Pensions data from NOMIS

IB/SDA Claimants by Local Authority ( February 2011 )

Glasgow has the highest claimant rate (9.8%) and Aberdeenshire and Shetland lowest. The number of working age people in Highland claiming IB/SDA fell by 10.2% over the last 12 months.

Local Authority	Claimants	% of working age population claiming IB/SDA	% change in claims over last 12 months
Aberdeen City	7,220	4.9	-15.8
Aberdeenshire	5,810	3.7	-13.0
Angus	3,590	5.2	-10.0
Argyll & Bute	2,820	5.0	-11.0
Clackmannanshire	2,490	7.5	-8.1
Dumfries & Galloway	5,430	6.0	-8.4
Dundee City	7,750	8.2	-10.1
East Ayrshire	5,550	7.1	-11.6
East Dunbartonshire	2,670	4.0	-9.8
East Lothian	3,160	5.2	-9.5
East Renfrewshire	2,260	4.1	-11.0
Edinburgh, City of	16,250	4.8	-8.9
Eilean Siar	930	5.8	-7.9
Falkirk	6,410	6.4	-7.8
Fife	14,170	6.0	-10.0
Glasgow City	39,060	9.5	-9.4
Highland	7,540	5.4	-9.9
Inverclyde	4,850	9.4	-10.4
Midlothian	3,120	6.0	-6.6
Moray	2,550	4.6	-10.2
North Ayrshire	6,340	7.4	-11.2
North Lanarkshire	16,450	7.7	-10.6
Orkney Islands	520	4.1	-10.3
Perthshire & Kinross	4,070	4.4	-7.9
Renfrewshire	7,820	7.0	-10.8
Scottish Borders	3,350	4.8	-10.2
Shetland Islands	530	3.7	-13.1
South Ayrshire	4,550	6.5	-10.3
South Lanarkshire	13,540	6.7	-9.9
Stirling	2,960	5.2	-6.9
West Dunbartonshire	4,910	8.2	-10.1
West Lothian	7,040	6.2	-7.6
Scotland	215,680	6.3	-10.0
United Kingdom	1,976,340	4.9	-8.8
Source: Department for Work and Pensions data from NOMIS