Diamond ward has highest number dole claimants per capita

The Diamond electoral ward off Londonderry city centre - with a population of almost 3,000 people including the residents of the Fountain - has more benefits claimants per capita than anywhere else in the province at 4.2 per cent of working age people.

The Victoria ward has the next highest proportion in the city. The Waterside ward has the fifth highest proportion of people (3.2 per cent) in Northern Ireland who had been claiming unemployment benefits for over one year at January 2010.

In total seven wards in Londonderry were listed amongst the top 20 most deprived areas. The statistics were revealed by Enterprise Minister Arlene Foster in response to a question tabled at the Stormont Assembly.

The Minister listed the fifty electoral wards with the highest proportion of resident working-age persons (females 16-59, males 16-64) who had been claiming the dole for over a year at the beginning of 2010.

Others ward listed were Strand (3.2 per cent), Creggan South (2.8 per cent), Creggan Central ((2.7 per cent), Rosemount (2.6 per cent) and Westland (2.6 per cent).

Neighbouring East Strabane (3.5 per cent), Dungiven (2.8 per cent) and Greystone (2.7 per cent) were also included in the top twenty most deprived areas according to the measure.

The Minister was asked to list the 50 electoral wards with the highest proportion of people in long-term unemployment and economically inactive.

She explained that "robust unemployment figures at electoral ward level are only available from the claimant count, which is a count of all those claiming unemployment related benefits."

A breakdown of the type of benefits being claimed in Londonderry showed that the Diamond ward had the highest proportion of claimants of Jobseekers Allowance (JA) in Northern Ireland.

The ward had the fifteenth highest proportion of Employment and Support Allowance (ESA) claimants but was not even listed in the top 50 wards with the highest proportion of Disability Living Allowance (DLA) claimants.

East Strabane, Strand, Rosemount and Victoria made up the top five wards with the highest proportion of JA claimants. Victoria contained the eighteenth highest proportion of ESA claimants.

Brandywell had the thirteenth highest proportion of sick benefits claimants whilst Shantallow East had the twenty-second highest proportion of these claims.