16 May 2000
INCAPACITY BENEFIT AND SEVERE DISABLEMENT ALLOWANCE STATISTICS PUBLISHED
A report detailing claims for Incapacity Benefit and Severe Disablement Allowance during the year ending August 1999 was published by the Department for Social Development today.
The main findings for the period from 31 August 1998 to 31 August 1999 are:
Incapacity Benefit
- There were 97,587 Incapacity Benefit (IB) claimants in Northern Ireland at 31st August 1999 - a decrease of 1% over the previous year.
- The number of IB recipients fell by 5% over the period. There were 71,053 recipients at 31 August 1999, of which 87% were receiving long-term rate awards.
- At August 1999, 86.3% of IB recipients were not in receipt of additional benefit for dependants. Of the remaining recipients, 5.3% were receiving additional benefit for adult dependants only, 4.9% for child dependants only and 3.5% for both adult and child dependants.
- The average weekly payment rose from £78.72 to £80.00 over the year, partly because of the annual uprating of the benefit in April 1999. The Northern Ireland average payment for all IB rates was £3.19 less than the average payment in Great Britain.
- The proportion of people of working age in receipt of IB in at 31 August 1999 was 7.0% which is higher than the figure for Great Britain (4.3%). These proportions for the district councils in Northern Ireland range from 4.0% in Castlereagh to 9.6% in Cookstown.
- At August 1999, the main diagnosis groups for claimants were mental and behavioural disorders (27.1%) and diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue (22.4%). A higher proportion of women (32.7%) were recorded in the group of mental and behavioural disorders compared to men (23.6%). However a higher proportion of men (14.1%) were in the group diseases of the circulatory system compared to women (5.3%).
Severe Disablement Allowance
- Claimants and Recipients of Severe Disablement Allowance remained constant over the period 31s August 1998 - 31 August 1999. This was also the case for Great Britain. At August 1999, there were 15,571 claimants and 15,494 recipients.
- 98% of recipients of Severe Disablement Allowance in Northern Ireland did not receive an increase for dependants.
- The average weekly payment of Severe Disablement Allowance was £50.94 in August 1999 - £0.51 less than the average in Great Britain.
- The main diagnosis group for claimants of was mental and behavioural disorders (38.1%). A higher proportion of men (43.3%) were in the group of mental and behavioural disorders compared to women (34.1%). However a higher proportion of women (13.0%) were in the group diseases of the musculoskeletal system and connective tissue compared to men (4.8%).
- The proportion of people aged 16 and over in receipt of the allowance at 31 August 1999 was 1.2%. These proportions for the district councils in Northern Ireland range from 0.6% in Castlereagh to 1.9% in Antrim.
Further Statistics for Northern Ireland relating to Social Security Benefits can be obtained by visiting our website: www.dhssni.gov.uk/the_department/statistics/sssb/.
Statistics on Social Security Benefits in Great Britain can be found on website: www.dss.gov.uk/asd/contacts.
NOTES TO EDITORS