The claim "The benefits bill went up" is well-supported by multiple authoritative sources. **ONS data** on net social benefits (social assistance) shows annual spending rising from £100,136m in 2019 to £117,114m in 2020 (the pandemic year), then continuing to climb to £143,424m in 2023 and £170,880m in 2025. This is a clear and sustained increase. **IFS research** (April 2025) confirms that working-age health-related benefits spending alone grew from £36 billion in 2019–20 to £48 billion in 2023–24 (in 2024–25 prices), driven largely by rising caseloads — disability benefit claimants up 39%, incapacity benefit claimants up 28%. Total health-related benefit spending for all ages rose from £52bn to £65bn over the same period. **OBR welfare trends reports** also document upward revisions to welfare spending forecasts, particularly in incapacity and disability benefits. In the speech context, Badenoch attributes the increase partly to the pandemic. The ONS data shows a notable jump from 2019 to 2020, consistent with pandemic-related spending. The IFS also notes that the surge in health-related benefit claims coincided with the pandemic period, though they note the causes are more complex than just the pandemic alone. The core assertion — that the benefits bill went up — is unambiguously true and corroborated by official statistics and independent analysis. Sources: - Office for National Statistics, "CG: Current expenditure: Net social benefits: Social assistance (D623): £m CPNSA" — https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/governmentpublicsectorandtaxes/publicsectorfinance/timeseries/nzgo/ukea - Institute for Fiscal Studies, "Health-related benefit claims post-pandemic: UK trends and global context" (April 2025) — https://ifs.org.uk/sites/default/files/2025-04/Health-related-benefit-claims-post-pandemic_3_1.pdf - Office for Budget Responsibility, "Welfare trends report" — https://obr.uk/docs/dlm_uploads/Welfare-Trends-Report.pdf - GOV.UK, "Benefit expenditure and caseload tables" — https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/benefit-expenditure-and-caseload-tables-2025