Residents of the UK’s benefits capitals might have been expected to welcome John Healey’s Budget this week, the first under Prime Minister Andy Burnham.

James Turner Street in Birmingham was made famous by the 2014 Channel 4 documentary Benefits Street.

Elsewhere, the Essex town of Jaywick is one of the country’s most deprived – with two-thirds of its working-age residents classed as ‘economically inactive’.

But the Daily Mail found locals in both were unimpressed by Mr Healey, who was also criticised after a U-turn over the Government’s welfare plans.

The Chancellor told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme on Thursday morning that there would be ‘a reduction in the benefits bill’.

Yet by that evening he was telling Channel 4 News: ‘It’s not correct to say that we’re going to bring this welfare bill down in this Parliament because we’ve not set a timetable for that.’

His Budget did include the promise of £100 handouts to reduce energy bills.

But that has not gone down well with benefits claimants, including one who said the cost-of-living crisis had reduced her to having to buy the cheapest cigarettes. 

The Government’s welfare bill was £353billion this year, up from £314.9billion in 2024-2025 – and official forecasts suggest it will rise to an annual £431billion in 2032. 

Julie Carter told the Daily Mail she was now having to resort to cheap cigarettes

The Budget has not impressed many people spoken to by the Mail in the Essex town of Jaywick

Valentine Nicole, 46, is among those living in Birmingham’s so-called Benefits Street

Living on Birmingham’s ‘Benefits Street’, cleaner Heidi Jason, 27, borrows money to cover everyday expenses despite working.

She said: ‘Everyone needs to work. That’s how the country will be built.’

Julie Carter, 51, who said she was disabled and received £700 a month in Universal Credit, argued that support was already inadequate.

She said she no longer switched on her heating and had to cut back elsewhere. 

She told the Mail: ‘I’ve had to buy the cheap cigarettes because I can’t afford any others now.’

Mr Healey announced on Wednesday that up to 20million eligible households in England would receive a £100 household energy payment from January.

The scheme covers council tax bands A to D and qualifying working households as well as benefit claimants. For Ms Jason, whose electricity costs £160 a month at her small two-bedroom home, the payment would cover less than a month’s bill.

The Essex town of Jaywick is one of the country’s most deprived

James Turner Street in Birmingham has been known as Benefits Street since a 2014 TV series

Tommy Cunningham is among the residents in Jaywick who is unhappy about the Budget

She said: ‘We’re struggling to get by. We work hard, but it’s difficult to manage and I have to borrow money and repay it.’

Asked about the £100 payment, she laughed: ‘£100? Ha. Who is that going to help, really?’

She said some people were better off claiming benefits than working and argued that ministers should do more to help people find suitable employment.

Ms Jason said: ‘Some people don’t deserve it [benefits], and they need to go and work. It is unfair how many benefits some people are getting when I am going out and working.’

For Karen Smith, 59, however, the difficulty was securing enough paid hours – with fewer shifts available and no guarantee that her earnings would cover her monthly expenses.

She said: ‘I work as a healthcare assistant, and I have to earn everything I have – I do not receive financial support.

‘Of course I believe the Government could do more to help people find work. But whatever they are doing is not working – there are so many people on benefits, especially around here.’

Ms Smith said she kept her heating between 16C and 18C all year round and would simply wear extra layers to keep off the cold, while preparing meals at home to take to work so she did not have to skip meals.

She added: ‘I think everyone is worried about rising energy bills, and £100 would definitely not be enough to cover the cost.’

Among those calling for greater financial support is Madge Kedroe, 61, who said she relied entirely on benefits and had applied for an additional £220 in assistance. ‘I have already signed up for the extra money for my gas and electricity,’ she said.

‘I am on full benefits at the moment, but I feel much worse off this year than last year financially. Right now, I don’t receive enough government support to cover my living expenses.’

Ms Carter, meanwhile, said the pressure on her finances had left her choosing between essentials and that she intended to spend the extra £100 payment not on energy bills but on food instead.

She said: ‘I’m disabled, so it’s a choice between heating and eating. They are giving people £100 that is not going to do anything.’

Another local resident, 46-year-old Valentine Nicole, said: ‘The Government does nothing to support me.

‘I used to work in construction and renovating homes, but I lost my job and I have struggled to find any more work. It is so tough out here and I am trying everything.

‘Even getting money together for a bit of food is impossible. I don’t know what to do.

‘People think there is too much money given to people not working, but I don’t think it is enough. People are struggling. We need more.’

The Government said the energy payment formed part of a wider package that included extending the temporary VAT cut on domestic electricity until July 2027, while minimum wage rates will increase by 3.9 per cent in April.

For some residents, however, uncertainty over housing and employment compounded the pressure from rising bills.

Terry Lindsay, 39, a mother of four who does not work, said her family were in temporary accommodation after their private landlord wanted the house back.

Her partner works part time, but she said their income was insufficient and the support they received was going towards rent, while a long-running dispute with the council remained unresolved.

She said: ‘We’ve had to cut back on things for the children. During half-term we went to the park a couple of times, but we couldn’t afford to do much else. Everything is just too expensive.

‘They make promises, but it doesn’t seem like the help ever comes.’

Nick Halash, 25, was trying to establish himself in self-employment while caring for his father, whose bills and TV licence payments he said he had taken over.

Having recently started doing branding for T-shirts, he estimated that he received about £280 a month in Universal Credit, saying his payment was affected by Carer’s Allowance.

Mr Halash said: ‘The money runs out very quickly – within a couple of days – so an extra £100 wouldn’t make much difference.’

He told of medical issues ending his plans to join the Army, while poor treatment during a subsequent warehouse job had left him reluctant to return to work.

He added: ‘I don’t mind hard work. Since then, I’ve been trying to find work that is manageable for me.

‘It’s difficult, because many job listings on sites like Indeed ask for things such as a driving licence.’

Neighbours had helped him get by, he said, adding: ‘I do feel lucky in one way, because I live in an Asian neighbourhood where people bring me free food.’

The Budget included a commitment to reform Carer’s Allowance so that recipients would no longer lose their entire benefit for exceeding the earnings limit by a small amount.

But another resident, who declined to be named, said his household was struggling to meet basic daily costs and questioned whether ministers were directing help where it was most needed.

He said: ‘We are living day to day. The £100 will do nothing for us.’

He argued that veterans were being overlooked while support went to people arriving from overseas, adding: ‘The Government can do more to help people out but they are helping the wrong people.’ 

And Jaywick, one of the most deprived areas in Britain, locals said Labour should go further and give them more support.

The unemployed in the area want more and those working also say it should be easier to claim benefits.

At a stall selling crystals, Toni Clifford, 53, told the Mail she had already spent more than a year trying to get her Personal Independence Payment restored and was challenging the decision to stop it.

She said: ‘They took PIP away from me over a year ago. And I’ve literally had to choose between food, heating and anything I want.

‘Basically, I’ve gone weeks without food. I just don’t bother eating these days because I can’t afford to.

‘And that mucks around with my mental health, which then makes me even worse.’

Ms Clifford, who said she had undergone operations on both knees, said she usually managed about half a day a week at the market.

She previously worked at a local food bank, handing out food to other people.

Giving her verdict on the Budget, she said: ‘As far as I’m concerned, everything shouldn’t go up every year. The Government get too much tax as it is.

‘They tax everything and then they still expect us to pay tax on top of that.

‘Everything’s gone up and it’s just stupid. People are not going to be able to afford to live soon, at all.’

Tina Symonds, 51, who also runs a stall at the market, said she was seeking mobility support through PIP.

She said: ‘I’m going through PIP at the moment for mobility because my mobility’s just totally dropped.

‘Today’s a good day for me – really good day for me, ’cause I’m not sat down most of the day. Tomorrow I won’t be able to move because I’ve done this.’

Ms Symonds, who fosters cats for a local charity, said even the cost of their food had risen.

She was scathing about the Government, saying: ‘The Labour Party used to be for the people. Now they aren’t.’

One man who has lived in the town for 20 years and been unemployed for ten, said he was ‘really struggling’ despite being on Universal Credit.

He said: ‘Everything is more expensive, there’s no jobs. I cannot find work around here. I can’t travel far.

‘The benefits I get are nowhere near enough. More needs to be done. We’re forgotten. This town gets nothing as well.’

Patrick Green, 54, has not worked for ten years and welcomed the Budget, saying: ‘If you don’t support people on welfare, what are you doing?

‘I do try and get jobs but they’re not there. I am happy with the Budget – it looks good to me.

‘Everything is really expensive. I don’t waste my benefits on stuff like some people probably think.’

Pensioner John Crawford said the help announced in the Budget would barely make a dent in his costs.

Asked how much it would help him, he replied: ‘Very, very slightly, and I mean very, very minimal – because after this, whatever the Government give you, prices are all going up anyway.’

On the help with bills, he said: ‘Towards your bill, it will help slightly, but not a lot. Everything else is going up. They’re going to put it all up after anyway.’

‘I don’t think a lot of it.’

At the Three Jays Pub, Gerry Hollingsworth, 66, said he feared any help would be overtaken by higher costs.

He said: ‘They do that, and then they put the gas bills up, everything else goes up, and what you’re getting goes down.

‘I’m not pleased with Labour. End of. That’s it. In fact, they’re all the same. They really are all the same.’

Fellow pubgoer Lenny Cousins, meanwhile, wanted more action on welfare spending, complaining that costs would continue to go ‘up and up and up’.

Giving his assessment of the Chancellor’s Budget, Mr Cousins said: ‘I feel that he betrayed the workers.’

At the Three Jays Pub in Jaywick, Essex, 66-year-old Gerry Hollingsworth said he feared any help from the Budget would be overtaken by higher costs

The Essex town of Jaywick has been classed as one of the country’s most deprived 

Two-thirds of working-age residents in Jaywick are economically inactive

He accused Mr Healey of offering only small measures, saying: ‘He sprinkled on little things.

‘I was more than disappointed in what he’d done. That’s my opinion.’

Tom Cunningham, 84, who said he joined the Navy at 15, voiced his anger at the treatment of pensioners.

He said: ‘They took everything off us. They never gave us damn-all. They’re still taxing us.’

Asked whether Labour had betrayed pensioners, both Mr Cunningham and Mr Cousins answered: ‘Yes.’

The Budget includes a new Pension Tax Allowance from April 2027 intended to prevent pensioners with total incomes at or below the value of the full new State Pension from being brought into income tax by pension increases.

There was a more favourable response to the announcement that the National Living Wage would rise by 50p, from £12.71 to £13.21 an hour, in April 2027.

Simon, a security guard working locally, said the increase should provide some help, although getting enough paid work remained a problem.

‘I don’t get enough weekend work,’ he said, explaining that he mainly gets shifts when bands are playing or there is a disco.

He described security work as ‘tough work’ and said its pay was ‘a bit poor, really’.

Asked whether he welcomed the wage rise, he said: ‘It’s got to help, hasn’t it? It’s got to help a little bit.’

But he added that the increase may deter employers from hiring, adding: ‘I suppose it could put employers off in recruiting.’

A Government spokesman said: ‘To ease cost-of-living pressures, we have brought forward a wide range of measures including cutting costs on everyday essentials by suspending tariffs, raising the National Living Wage and supporting households with their energy costs.

‘We want to build a welfare system that incentivises work, backed by £3.5billion in employment support for sick or disabled people and £2.5billion to support almost one million young people and help deliver up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn.’