DWP benefits statistics: August 2024
Accredited Official Statistics and Official Statistics release of the main Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) administered benefits through Stat-Xplore or supplementary tables where appropriate.
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
Documents
Details
This is a quarterly Accredited Official Statistics and Official Statistics release of the main DWP-administered benefits via Stat-Xplore or supplementary tables where appropriate.
Statistics on Industrial Injuries Disablement Benefit are also published as part of this release.
Statistics on Maternity Allowance are suspended from the August 2024 release.
Suspension of State Pension statistics in this release
Accredited Official Statistics for State Pension remain suspended, following the initial suspension in the statistical release from 13 February 2024. Benefit Combinations statistics for recipients above State Pension age also remain suspended. The latest available statistics for both series run to May 2023.
The stability of a feed of data from the Get Your State Pension (GYSP) service has not been sufficient to provide accurate and reliable estimates of recipient numbers or entitlement amounts. While the underlying data was received from the service correctly, processing issues have led to observable inaccuracies appearing in the final GYSP data outputs.
Data processing issues have now been resolved and DWP analysts will shortly begin to test data quality to ensure the accuracy of State Pension statistics. Once quality checks are complete, we will confirm when these statistics can be reinstated. The statistics will cover the missing period from June 2023 onwards.
If we can publish them in the next release of statistics on 12 November 2024, we will update this page with confirmation of our intention to publish before then. Updates will be provided via the Statistical Work Programme document.
Other statistics usually published as part of the quarterly releases, including working age Benefit Combinations, are unaffected by the above issue.
Benefit Combinations statistics
The Benefit Combination statistics have been extended to show whether Universal Credit (UC) claimants are on the UC health journey, and give additional details about:
- UC conditionality groups
- Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) payment type and phase of claim
- Personal Independence Payment (PIP)/Disability Living Allowance (DLA)/Attendance Allowance (AA) Daily Living and Mobility Awards
These details were already publicly available on the individual benefit statistical series but have never been included on the combined benefit series before. The changes have been applied to the time series from May 2019 onwards and will allow users to understand the benefit picture for those on health and disability related benefits in greater detail than previously.
Scottish devolution: changes to the presentation of DWP statistics
The devolution of social security benefits to the Scottish Government is now having an impact on DWP statistics.
Refer to our background information note for more information on presentational changes we have made to our statistics in response to Scottish devolution.
More information
A statistical summary document is published every 6 months in February and August each year. It contains a high-level summary of the latest Accredited Official Statistics and Official Statistics on DWP benefits.
Commentary on Benefit Combination statistics is now included twice a year as part of the February and August releases. Benefit Combinations statistics are also released quarterly on Stat-Xplore.
Find further information about the publication and statistics, including details on changes and revisions, in the background and methodology documents.
Further information about this release can be found on the DWP benefits statistics collection page and in the “Welfare and Benefits” community on StatsUserNet.
If you have any comments or questions, get in touch by email at: [email protected]