THE annual benefits bill for Mid Devon has reached just over £145 million, according to figures released as part of a new campaign highlighting welfare spending across England and Wales.

The TaxPayers’ Alliance (TPA) says its new online ‘Benefits Bill’ tool shows that as much as £145,036,765 is spent annually on benefits in the Mid Devon local authority area, equivalent to £1,706 per resident.

The area ranks 286th out of 318 local authority areas by total spend.

The figures also show that the overall benefits bill has increased by 19.8 per cent over two years, while the median local wage has risen by 11.2 per cent to £35,391.

Universal Credit accounts for the largest share of spending, at an estimated £78.7 million a year.

The figures represent around £927 per resident, with 6,645 households claiming the benefit.

Personal Independence Payment (PIP) is the second-largest category, costing an estimated £34 million a year.

There are 4,662 PIP claimants in the area, an increase of 18.8 per cent over two years.

The data shows that 39.8 per cent of PIP awards in Mid Devon are for psychiatric conditions.

Other benefits included in the analysis are Disability Living Allowance, costing £12.2 million annually, Housing Benefit at £8.2 million, Employment Support Allowance at £6.1 million and Carer's Allowance at £4.8 million.

The figures also indicate that one in 19 working-age adults in the area has been assessed as having limited capability for work and work-related activity (LCWRA).

A total of 2,360 people are recorded as eligible for a Motability vehicle, according to the TPA's analysis.

The figures have been published as the TaxPayers’ Alliance launches its Benefits Bill tool, which allows people to enter their postcode and see an estimated breakdown of welfare spending in their local area.

The organisation says the tool is designed to turn national welfare spending figures into a localised “receipt”, showing the total cost, spending per resident, numbers of claimants and types of benefits being claimed.

John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said the tool was intended to demonstrate the impact of welfare spending “in the real world”.

“Britain’s benefits boom is everywhere, in almost every neighbourhood, and it’s bankrupting us”, he said.

The TPA is calling on politicians to reduce welfare spending, arguing that the growth in benefits is placing increasing pressure on public finances.

However, the figures are estimates rather than a direct calculation of payments made during a single financial year.

The TPA says it uses official data from the Department for Work and Pensions’ Stat-Xplore database, with the latest available figures for each benefit.

As a result, the data for different benefits may relate to different months.

The organisation estimates annual spending by multiplying the mean award by the number of claimants and then annualising the resulting monthly figure.

For Universal Credit, the number of households is used instead.