By . Martin Beckford, Home Affairs Editor . PUBLISHED: . 16:06 EST, 21 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 19:00 EST, 21 September 2013 . More than £1.4 trillion has been spent on welfare payments since the turn of the century, the equivalent of every single person in the country paying out £22,500. The staggering sum – which includes state pensions, disability support and jobless benefits – is close to all the money made by Britain’s economy in a single year. Benefits spending has nearly doubled over the past decade to reach £157 billion last year, more than is spent on health and transport combined. More than £1.4 trillion has been spent on welfare payments since the turn of the century, the equivalent of every single person in the country paying out £22,500 . Official figures show the Isle of Wight as the unlikely welfare capital of Britain because of its many retirees. But when payments made to the elderly are excluded Liverpool is the country’s benefits hotspot. Sickness benefits are highest in old mining towns in Wales and County Durham while inner-city Birmingham gets the most dole money. Ministers insist they are carrying out the most radical reforms to the welfare state in 70 years: introducing a £500-a-week cap, forcing those signed off work sick to undergo tough assessments, introducing a simplified universal credit and by cutting child benefit for millions. But some experts believe they must go further as the population ages and millions languish out of work. Even the richest pensioners remain entitled to the winter fuel payment (at least £100 annually), a basic state pension (£110 a week) and free bus passes, while just this week Ministers pledged to extend free school meals to all children aged between five and seven as part of a £1 billion giveaway. Labour leader Ed Miliband announced this weekend that if his party wins the next Election it will scrap the so-called ‘bedroom tax’. Official figures show that when payments made to the elderly are excluded Liverpool, pictured left,  is the country's benefit hotspot, while the Isle of Wight, right, is the unlikely welfare capital of Britain because of the number of retirees . Doing so would add another £470 million to the annual welfare bill. Matthew Oakley, head of economics at Policy Exchange, David Cameron’s favourite think-tank, said: ‘If we are ever going to bring spending under control, we need to continue to reduce how much we spend on benefits. ‘Firstly it will mean making sure people who are mentally and physically able to work do all they can to wean themselves off benefits completely. ‘Some jobseekers are spending less than an hour a week looking for work. This is unacceptable. Even the richest pensioners remain entitled to free bus passes . 'Some claimants should have to spend more time in job centres. Others with little or no experience of working should be made to do community work for their benefits. ‘Secondly we need to tackle the rising cost of the state pension. It is expected to rise by £40 billion in the next 50 years. 'This means we need to both face up to the fact that we can’t afford universal perks like the winter fuel allowance and to accept that we all need to continue to work later in our lives.’ Patrick Nolan, chief economist of the think-tank Reform, added: ‘I think that while the Government has made some good moves they need to go much further and look at areas that have been politically off-limits, particularly around pensioner benefits.’ This graphic shows which areas have the largest welfare bills . Figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions show the massive growth of the welfare state. In 2000-01, as Labour started to roll out Gordon Brown’s complex system of tax credits, payments stood at £81.1 billion. Of this, £38.7 billion went on state pensions. Within a few years the total topped £100billion and on the eve of the last General Election in 2010 it had reached £146.2 billion. Ruth Porter, communications director at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: ‘These figures are startling. They show throwing more money at poverty isn’t the answer.’ Liam Byrne, Labour’s Work and Pensions spokesman, said: ‘We’ll judge our success not by the money we spend but by the difference we make. 'We’ll put the social security system back on an even keel, once again setting a course for full employment, a living wage and a revolution in homebuilding.’ But a spokesman for Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘Labour spent 13 years in government pouring billions of pounds into the benefits system and, in doing so, trapping the very people it was designed to help into cycles of worklessness  and dependency. ‘Our welfare reforms are returning much-needed fairness into the system and giving people an incentive to go back to work.’
Benefits spending has nearly doubled over the past decade to reach £157 billion last year .
Ministers insist they are carrying out the most radical reforms to the welfare state in 70 years .
Even the richest pensioners remain entitled to the winter fuel payment .
Liverpool is the country’s benefits hotspot when pensions are excluded .
By . Martin Beckford, Home Affairs Editor . PUBLISHED: . 16:06 EST, 21 September 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 19:00 EST, 21 September 2013 . More than £1.4 trillion has been spent on welfare payments since the turn of the century, the equivalent of every single person in the country paying out £22,500. The staggering sum – which includes state pensions, disability support and jobless benefits – is close to all the money made by Britain’s economy in a single year. Benefits spending has nearly doubled over the past decade to reach £157 billion last year, more than is spent on health and transport combined. More than £1.4 trillion has been spent on welfare payments since the turn of the century, the equivalent of every single person in the country paying out £22,500 . Official figures show the Isle of Wight as the unlikely welfare capital of Britain because of its many retirees. But when payments made to the elderly are excluded Liverpool is the country’s benefits hotspot. Sickness benefits are highest in old mining towns in Wales and County Durham while inner-city Birmingham gets the most dole money. Ministers insist they are carrying out the most radical reforms to the welfare state in 70 years: introducing a £500-a-week cap, forcing those signed off work sick to undergo tough assessments, introducing a simplified universal credit and by cutting child benefit for millions. But some experts believe they must go further as the population ages and millions languish out of work. Even the richest pensioners remain entitled to the winter fuel payment (at least £100 annually), a basic state pension (£110 a week) and free bus passes, while just this week Ministers pledged to extend free school meals to all children aged between five and seven as part of a £1 billion giveaway. Labour leader Ed Miliband announced this weekend that if his party wins the next Election it will scrap the so-called ‘bedroom tax’. Official figures show that when payments made to the elderly are excluded Liverpool, pictured left,  is the country's benefit hotspot, while the Isle of Wight, right, is the unlikely welfare capital of Britain because of the number of retirees . Doing so would add another £470 million to the annual welfare bill. Matthew Oakley, head of economics at Policy Exchange, David Cameron’s favourite think-tank, said: ‘If we are ever going to bring spending under control, we need to continue to reduce how much we spend on benefits. ‘Firstly it will mean making sure people who are mentally and physically able to work do all they can to wean themselves off benefits completely. ‘Some jobseekers are spending less than an hour a week looking for work. This is unacceptable. Even the richest pensioners remain entitled to free bus passes . 'Some claimants should have to spend more time in job centres. Others with little or no experience of working should be made to do community work for their benefits. ‘Secondly we need to tackle the rising cost of the state pension. It is expected to rise by £40 billion in the next 50 years. 'This means we need to both face up to the fact that we can’t afford universal perks like the winter fuel allowance and to accept that we all need to continue to work later in our lives.’ Patrick Nolan, chief economist of the think-tank Reform, added: ‘I think that while the Government has made some good moves they need to go much further and look at areas that have been politically off-limits, particularly around pensioner benefits.’ This graphic shows which areas have the largest welfare bills . Figures published by the Department for Work and Pensions show the massive growth of the welfare state. In 2000-01, as Labour started to roll out Gordon Brown’s complex system of tax credits, payments stood at £81.1 billion. Of this, £38.7 billion went on state pensions. Within a few years the total topped £100billion and on the eve of the last General Election in 2010 it had reached £146.2 billion. Ruth Porter, communications director at the Institute of Economic Affairs, said: ‘These figures are startling. They show throwing more money at poverty isn’t the answer.’ Liam Byrne, Labour’s Work and Pensions spokesman, said: ‘We’ll judge our success not by the money we spend but by the difference we make. 'We’ll put the social security system back on an even keel, once again setting a course for full employment, a living wage and a revolution in homebuilding.’ But a spokesman for Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith said: ‘Labour spent 13 years in government pouring billions of pounds into the benefits system and, in doing so, trapping the very people it was designed to help into cycles of worklessness  and dependency. ‘Our welfare reforms are returning much-needed fairness into the system and giving people an incentive to go back to work.’
spending has nearly doubled over the past decade to reach £157 billion last year, more than is made to the elderly are excluded Liverpool is the country’s benefits hotspot. Sickness benefits are dole money. Ministers insist they are carrying out the most radical reforms to the welfare state in 70 years: introducing a £500-a-week cap, languish out of work. Even the richest pensioners remain entitled to the winter fuel payment (at