New figures have revealed how many working-age adults across the constituency covering Wells and Shepton Mallet are receiving Personal Independence Payment.

Department for Work and Pensions data shows 3,599 people aged between 16 and 64 in Wells and Mendip Hills were claiming PIP as of 31 July 2026, equivalent to 6.9 per cent of the constituency's working-age population.

The figures come from the DWP's latest quarterly PIP statistics, published on 15 September, which include geographical breakdowns by the current Westminster parliamentary constituencies.

Wells and Mendip Hills includes Wells and Shepton Mallet, meaning the figures give a wider constituency picture rather than separate claimant rates for the two towns.

The 6.9 per cent rate was towards the lower end of the figures across Somerset's parliamentary constituencies.

It was below neighbouring Glastonbury and Somerton, where 7.4 per cent of working-age adults were receiving PIP, and Frome and East Somerset, where the figure stood at 7.3 per cent.

Across the wider county area, Weston-super-Mare recorded the highest proportion at 10.8 per cent, representing 6,623 working-age claimants.

Bridgwater stood at 8.8 per cent, Tiverton and Minehead at 8.5 per cent, Yeovil at 8.1 per cent and Taunton and Wellington at 7.6 per cent.

North Somerset recorded the lowest rate among the Somerset constituencies in the supplied figures, at 5.6 per cent or 3,031 working-age claimants.

The figures mean the proportion in Wells and Mendip Hills was 3.9 percentage points below Weston-super-Mare's rate and 1.3 percentage points above North Somerset's.

Personal Independence Payment is designed to help with extra living costs for people who have a long-term physical or mental health condition or disability and have difficulty with certain everyday tasks or getting around.

The benefit is not based simply on having a particular condition, with entitlement depending on how someone's condition affects them.

The DWP's July statistics cover PIP caseloads as well as registrations, decisions, awards, reviews and changes of circumstances across England and Wales.

Nationally, the figures supplied show some considerably larger differences between constituencies, with Liverpool Walton recording a working-age claimant rate of 19.3 per cent.

At the other end of the scale, Bristol Central stood at 3.3 per cent.

For Wells, Shepton Mallet and the surrounding Mendip communities, the latest constituency figure remains 6.9 per cent — 3,599 working-age adults receiving PIP as of the end of July.

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