Benefit expenditure and caseload tables 2014
Historic and forecast benefit expenditure and caseload data for people receiving benefits.
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
Documents
Details
This page contains historic and forecast benefit expenditure and caseload data for people receiving benefits, consistent with the Autumn Statement 2014 Economic and Fiscal Outlook (3 December 2014). They are produced under the terms of the Memorandum of Understanding with the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR). They reflect the government’s delivery plans, and the OBR’s additional judgements as set out in their Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
Historic expenditure figures may differ from those published in the accounts due to differing definitions and the inclusion of data that has become available since. Historic caseload data also comes from statistical reports, although may differ from published figures because these tables provide estimates for financial years, rather than point-in-time figures. Some historical information may differ from that previously published on these pages where:
- new information has become available
- methods for estimating expenditure have been improved
Since the previous edition there have been some changes to presentation of Social Fund and Universal Credit expenditure in the tables.
The government has introduced a cap on certain items of welfare spending, excluding State Pensions and the most cyclical elements of welfare. The government formally defined and initially set the cap in Budget 2014. It applies to spending from the financial year 2015/16 until the end of the forecast period. Welfare cap forecasts are included from 2014 publications onwards, but only cover the elements of welfare spending covered by DWP and HMRC. Other spending within the welfare cap is detailed in the OBR’s Economic and Fiscal Outlook.
Forecasts use a number of techniques appropriate to the particular benefits, taking into account demographic, economic, social and policy factors.
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) is currently investigating a discrepancy with the medical condition and International Classification of Diseases (ICD) codes for:
- Employment and Support Allowance (ESA)
- Incapacity Benefit (IB)
- Severe Disablement Allowance (SDA)
While we assess the scale of this issue we have removed the ‘ESA expenditure by reported medical condition and phase of claim 2010/11 to 2013/14’ tables.
When the tables are updated they will only be published on the tables page for 2017 as these will be based on the most up to date information.