FOI-2026-3800
You asked
I am looking to understand from the latest quarter of the Labour Force Survey (LFS) the number of benefit claimants for each benefit combination. E.g. just Universal Credit (UC), UC and disability, housing support and disability, and so forth.
Could you provide this information as the total number of claimants, the total number by country of birth (UK/non-UK), and within the non-UK country of birth portion, broken down by reason for entry (work, study etc.) and nationality. e.g. European Economic Area (EEA)/non-EEA/British.
I am aware that this info is collected by the ONS and have noticed previous similar releases on your site. I would be grateful if you could advise as to how I go about obtaining a bespoke analysis or whether you would be able to produce this info under FOI rules.
We said
Thank you for your request concerning estimates of benefit receipt from the Labour Force Survey, by country of birth, nationality and reason for entry.
The analysis that you are requesting is not one that we produce or publish, so would not be covered by a Freedom of Information request.
It would be possible to request a tailored analysis, by contacting our social surveys team, although there may be a charge for this service depending on the amount of time taken to develop the analysis and undertake quality and disclosure control processes.
As this information is already available to you via this route ONS considers that S21(1) applies to this request and the information does not have to be supplied under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act. S21(1) is an absolute exemption, and no consideration of the public interest test needs to be applied.