Website: www.dwp.gov.uk

Dear Natalie Nicholles,

Thank you for your Freedom of Information request of 07 January 2010. You asked:-

`I would like to know the cost to the state of supporting the average unemployed person (e.g. benefits received, health-related costs such as visits to the GP, therapy costs).

I would also like to know the number of unemployed people in UK in receipt of Incapacity benefit due to mental illness.

All figures to be the latest ones please.'

In response to the first part of your question about the cost of supporting the average unemployed person, DWP has estimated that the annual cost to DWP of the typical unemployed person claiming Jobseeker's Allowance in 2008-09 is approximately £4, 000. This includes the cost of paying Jobseeker's Allowance, housing benefit and council tax benefit. It excludes the costs of helping unemployed people get back to work. We do not have estimates of the costs borne by other government departments, including visits to the GP and therapy costs. Most Jobseeker's Allowance claims last considerably less than a year. For example, the average length of a Jobseeker's Allowance claim which ended between August and October 2007 was 19 weeks.

In answer to the second part of your request, to qualify for Incapacity Benefit, claimants have to undertake a medical assessment of incapacity for work which is called the Personal Capability Assessment. Therefore, the medical condition recorded on the claim form does not itself confer entitlement to Incapacity Benefit. So for example, the decision for a customer with a mental illness claiming Incapacity Benefit would be based on their ability to carry out the range of activities in the Personal Capability Assessment; or on the effects of their mental health problems. It is also important to note that, where someone has more than one diagnosis or disabling condition, only the predominant one is currently recorded.

Section 21 of the Freedom of Information Act allows us to direct you to information which is already reasonably accessible to you. The Department publishes a wide range of statistics on benefit claimants and expenditure on its website www.dwp.gov.uk and on the Nomis website www.nomisweb.co.uk , which is the Office for National Statistics' official website of labour market statistics, both of which allow you to construct your own tables.

To produce the information you require go to http://www.statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/tabtool.asp

Scroll down and select Benefit Caseload National Statistics (WPLS) data under Benefit data.

Under Benefit/Scheme, select Incapacity Benefit or Incapacity Benefit / Severe Disablement Allowance - combined data, then choose

Analysis = caseload

Row = IB (ICD) disease code

Column = gender (this produces the least columns if just looking for caseload)

Subset = none

Date = May 2009 (most recent available)

And click Get Table.

Note that Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) replaced IB for new claims from October 2008. Breakdowns by medical condition are not available for ESA.

If you have any queries about this letter please contact me quoting the reference number above.

Yours sincerely

DWP Central FoI Team

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Your right to complain under the Freedom of Information Act

If you are not happy with this response you may request an internal review by e-mailing [DWP request email]. or by writing to DWP, Central FoI Team, 5^th Floor The Adelphi, 1-11, John Adam Street, London WC2N 6HT. Any review request should be submitted within two months of the date of this letter.

If you are not content with the outcome of the internal review you may apply directly to the Information Commissioner's Office for a decision. Generally the Commissioner cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted our own complaints procedure. The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner's Office, Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow Cheshire SK9 5AF www.ico.gov.uk