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£6m increase in housing benefits spending in Dundee

£6m increase in housing benefits spending in Dundee

Dundee City Council is spending millions of pounds more on housing benefit than ever before.

The local authority handed over £76 million to claimants in the 2012/13 financial year £6m more than the previous year. The total figure is more than £12m higher than the £64m spent in 2009/10.

Housing convener John Alexander said the figures showed people in Dundee were struggling.

“That’s a huge concern,” he said.

“We have quite a few measures to mitigate the impact of the economy but people are still struggling. A £6m increase is a huge indicator of what’s happening across the city and across the whole country.

“Housing benefit is means-tested so to qualify for that you have to be on a low income.

“And if we’re seeing that huge an increase then that appears to be down to a lower income across the board, whether that’s because of pay freezes, the rising cost of fuel and food, or people losing their jobs.”

The figures, which were revealed under a Freedom of Information request, cover a period from before the so-called bedroom tax was introduced in April.

That is likely to see the council spend on housing benefit fall away dramatically by the end of the year.