Taxpayers are footing a £130m-a-year bill for disability benefit claims linked to alcohol and drug abuse, official statistics show.
More than 18,500 people who were eligible for Personal Independence Payment (PIP) in October last year received money to help cope with alcohol-related liver disease, or drug or alcohol misuse, according to the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).
This figure has climbed by almost a third since lockdown, while the number receiving the highest amount of support of more than £9,500 a year has more than doubled, hitting 7,406 last year.
Sir Iain Duncan Smith, the former work and pensions secretary, said it was mad that people were eligible for unconditional welfare related to alcoholism.
“What’s going on here is madness, really, because these are self-induced problems,” he said. “They’re not like somebody who’s a paraplegic or is autistic. You can understand why they might need support.
“The alcohol stuff comes with no conditions. It has to be a finite term because this is not a one-way street. If you get benefits because you have a drug problem, the answer is: we’ll give you some support, but it’s a finite amount, because you have to attend rehabilitation courses to get off your habit.”
Liz Kendall, the Work and Pensions Secretary, will unveil a major overhaul of sickness and disability benefits on Tuesday as she battles to stop the bill rising to £100bn-a-year by the end of the decade.
However, she faces a backlash from both Labour backbenchers and disability charities, who are already warning it will undermine government plans to cut poverty.
PIP claims are currently rising by roughly 1,000 claims a day, an increase that means more than 3.6m people are now eligible for PIP, up from 2.4m before the Covid lockdowns.
The increase has been led by a huge jump in the number of claims related to mental health, with more than half a million claims now linked to anxiety and depression.
PIP is Britain’s main disability benefit paid to people to help with the extra care or mobility costs associated with long-term illness or disability.
Claimants receive up to £9,500 extra a year on top of benefits such as Universal Credit.
They can also benefit from lower council tax or road tax bills and discounts on travel.
Payments are linked to how an individual is affected by a condition or disability, rather than any particular illness, and are not based on income.
They are also made regardless of whether someone is working or not.
Previous analysis by the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) suggests that just 16pc of claimants have a job.
