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4w ago

Universal Credit Caseload Tops Eight Million With 3.7 Million Exempt From Work Requirements

The Office for Budget Responsibility warns falling sanction rates with a rising exempt cohort risk pushing sickness and disability costs close to £100bn by 2030

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Overview

  • Official DWP figures show the Universal Credit caseload hit eight million in July 2025, marking an increase of more than one million since Labour’s July 2024 election.
  • The number of working-age recipients exempt from job-seeking obligations has climbed by about one million to 3.7 million, accounting for 46% of all claimants.
  • Sanctions for non-compliance fell to 109,570 in May, reducing the overall rate to 5.3% from 6.2% before Labour took office.
  • Constituency-level audits highlight sharp variations, with Blackpool South reporting 19.3% of adults exempt from work requirements and Holborn & St Pancras seeing a 61.3% year-on-year rise.
  • The Department for Work and Pensions attributes the increase in no-work claimants to the migration of legacy-benefit users onto Universal Credit and a surge in long-term sickness and mental-health claims.