A UK borough has been revealed as the welfare capital of Britain, with a higher rate of benefit claims than anywhere else in the country. Enfield, in north London, one of the most deprived parts of Britain, ranks top of the list for benefit claimants – with £3,868 spent per person of working age in 2024/25. Analysis conducted by shadow minister Neil O’Brien, using official data for Universal Credit, Disability Living Allowance, Personal Independent Payments and working-age housing benefits, found that Enfield was the smallest borough with a benefits bill over £1 billion.

The borough has previously been named as the seventh-worst funded local authority area by the Institute of Fiscal Studies (IFS), with more than a third of residents living in “income-deprived” homes and over a fifth on out-of-work benefits. Trevor Blackman, chief executive of the Edmonton Community Partnership, told the Enfield Dispatch: “It’s because of historic underfunding and being badly resourced. We’ve got inadequate housing for a lot of our families. We should not be putting them in housing with mould, with rats, with no heating, but these are the realities for many people.”

Enfield was followed on the list by Blackpool in Lancashire, which paid out £3,678 per person, Hackney in central London, which handed out £3,669, and Haringey in north London, where residents received £3,419 each.

Birmingham topped the chart for the overall benefits bill, which totalled £3.3 billion in 2024/25, but ranked lower for payments per claimant, at £3,216.

Trailing behind were Glasgow, which spent £1.7 billion on welfare, and Leeds and Manchester, which each spent £1.5 billion.

On the other end of the scale, the areas that spent the least on benefits were Wokingham in Berkshire, at just £971, Hart in Hampshire, at £1,021, and Waverley in Surrey, at £1,094.

Mr O’Brien, who oversees policy renewal and development for the Conservative Party, argued that the large sums could significantly improve communities if allocated elsewhere.

He told The Telegraph: “You could have tax breaks to get big investors into County Durham and Sheffield … With £15 billion over a decade, Leeds could finally build its tram without requiring Whitehall approval. The tram was recently cancelled by central Government for the umpteenth time.”

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The number of people claiming benefits such as Universal Credit has risen sharply in recent years, from two million in May 2019 to 3.3 million in August 2025.

Britain’s benefits bill is also expected to rise from £140 billion to £177 billion by 2029 – with proposed reforms to the welfare system heavily watered down after a backbench revolt last year.

A spokesperson for the Department for Work and Pensions said: “We are committed to spreading opportunity to every community across Britain, ensuring people in all parts of the country have access to the support they need to find good, secure jobs.

“That’s why we’re deploying over 1,000 Pathways to Work advisers in Jobcentres across England, Wales and Scotland. Alongside this, our Connect to Work and WorkWell programmes offer localised support, which will help hundreds of thousands of people to enter and remain in employment – backed by over £3.5 billion by the end of the decade.

“We are also increasing the main rate of Universal Credit, sustained above inflation for the first time – putting hundreds of pounds more per year into the pockets of low-income families.”