How does my area compare?

Hartlepool has the highest spending on Carer's Allowance and Carer Support Payment per person aged 16 to 64 in 2024-25.

Money for people who care for a disabled person for at least 35 hours a week. In Scotland, Carer Support Payment replaces Carer's Allowance. Shown in 2026-27 prices, adjusted for inflation so that years can be compared.

Spending on Carer's Allowance and Carer Support Payment, per person aged 16 to 64, 2024-25, by local authority

Per person aged 16 to 64, low to high

  1. Under £79
  2. £79 to £104
  3. £104 to £130
  4. £130 to £155
  5. £155 to £181
  6. £181 and over
  • Estimated value
Spending on Carer's Allowance and Carer Support Payment, per person aged 16 to 64, 2024-25, by local authority. Northern Ireland is not covered. Every value is in the table below.
More ways to look at itHow ranks change, why spending changed, and spending compared with the expected level

Total or per person

Does the order change when you count per person?

Each line is one of the 350 ranked local authorities. It joins the area's rank for each way of counting. The 10 highest per person aged 16 to 64 are drawn in dark lines.

TotalPer residentPer person aged 16 to 641350Hartlepool 1Bradford 2Merthyr Tydfil 3Neath Port Talbot 4Knowsley 5Sunderland 6Rotherham 7East Lindsey 8Redcar and Cleveland 9Blaenau Gwent 10

What changed

More people, more claims or bigger payments?

Great Britain, Carer's Allowance and Carer Support Payment: yearly spending at the rate in February 2023 and in March 2026. The chart splits the change into three parts: the number of people in the age group, the share of them claiming, and the average payment. 2026-27 prices.

£3.6bnFebruary 2023+£40.9mPopulation+£579.2mShare claiming+£217.0mPayment size£4.4bnMarch 2026
What changed: Carer's Allowance and Carer Support Payment
February 2023£3.6bn
Population+£40.9m
Share claiming+£579.2m
Payment size+£217.0m
March 2026£4.4bn
The share claiming is the number of people claiming per person aged 16 to 64. Yearly spending here is the number claiming, times the average weekly payment, times 52. It is not the amount paid out over the year. Population after mid-2024 stays at the mid-2024 figure, so later growth shows in the share claiming. Scottish areas are left out because Social Security Scotland pays this benefit.

Compared with similar areas

Is spending higher or lower than expected?

Spending on working-age benefits per person aged 16 to 64, 2024-25. We compare it with the level we would expect from each area's share of children and of people aged 66 and over, how deprived it is compared with the rest of its nation, and the typical pay of people who live there. 2026-27 prices.

Chart step
This chart needs JavaScript. Each area's expected level is on its area page.
Expected level = −£567 + £3,670 × share aged 0 to 15 − £115 × share aged 66 and over − £170 × deprivation decile + £257 × ln(median pay) + £432 × Wales + £94 × Scotland. Fitted by ordinary least squares across 348 local authorities. R² = 0.85. Gold dots are above the expected level and grey dots are below it.

Every local authority

Spending on Carer's Allowance and Carer Support Payment, 2024-25. Rank is for per person aged 16 to 64, and 1 is the highest. Areas with fewer than 1,000 people in the age group have no rank. The first 50 of 350 rows are shown.

Spending on Carer's Allowance and Carer Support Payment for every local authority, 2024-25
RankNotes
1Hartlepool£14.0m£143£234
2Bradford£76.9m£137£221
3Merthyr Tydfil£7.8m£133£216
4Neath Port Talbot£18.6m£130£214
5Knowsley£21.4m£132£211
6Sunderland£37.1m£129£209
7Rotherham£35.4m£128£209
8East Lindsey£16.3m£112£206
9Redcar and Cleveland£16.7m£120£206
10Blaenau Gwent£8.5m£125£203
11Walsall£36.4m£124£201
12Great Yarmouth£11.7m£116£200
13Tendring£16.9m£108£198
14South Tyneside£18.0m£119£197
15Blackpool£17.3m£121£197
16Middlesbrough£18.9m£122£194
17Thanet£15.7m£110£189
18Barnsley£29.0m£115£187
19County Durham£61.3m£114£185
20Pendle£11.2m£112£185
21Oldham£28.6m£114£184
22Caerphilly£19.8m£113£183
23Blackburn with Darwen£18.7m£116£183
24Sandwell£40.6m£115£181
25Birmingham£139.7m£118£181
26Burnley£11.0m£111£179
27Denbighshire£10.0m£102£178
28North Ayrshire£14.2m£106£177Estimated, Includes Scottish benefits
29Swale£17.2m£108£177
30St. Helens£20.5m£109£176
31North East Lincolnshire£16.8m£105£176
32Rhondda Cynon Taf£26.0m£108£173
33Stockton-on-Tees£21.8m£106£173
34Halton£14.0m£107£172
35Ashfield£13.6m£106£172
36Wirral£33.4m£102£171
37Torfaen£9.7m£103£170
38Doncaster£33.5m£105£170
39East Ayrshire£12.5m£103£169Estimated, Includes Scottish benefits
40Derby£29.2m£107£167
41Bolsover£8.7m£104£166
42Mansfield£11.6m£102£166
43Kingston upon Hull, City of£29.3m£107£165
44Liverpool£56.8m£112£165
45Inverclyde£8.0m£102£165Estimated, Includes Scottish benefits
46Wolverhampton£29.0m£103£165
47Bridgend£14.7m£100£164
48Rochdale£23.8m£101£163
49Gateshead£20.3m£101£163
50Hyndburn£8.6m£100£162

League table of every local authority for the latest period

Values are per person aged 16 to 64 unless a column says otherwise. Sources: Department for Work and Pensions, Social Security Scotland, Office for National Statistics, National Records of Scotland.

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