Blackpool, the town whose local economy will be the hardest hit in the whole UK by the government’s welfare reforms, boasts just 43 charities that work to prevent or relieve poverty – and only 23 of these provide services.

Yet Surrey, the county that boasts 11 of the least-affected local authority areas, has 549 charities that count relief or prevention of poverty among their charitable purposes – an average of 49 per local authority district, and many of these will work cross-county. Some 229 provide services, an average of 20 each.

Research by Sheffield Hallam University for the Financial Times has found that Blackpool stands to lose an average of £914 per year for every working-age adult as a result of the changes to the benefits system – more than any other local authority area in the UK.

According to the FT report, almost one in four working-age adults in Blackpool claims unemployment or incapacity benefit, double the national average; an equal number work in the ever-shrinking public sector.

Surrey’s 11 boroughs, which include Guildford, Woking, Elmbridge and Waverley will lose between them an average of just £290 per working age adult.  Yet these areas have more charities working to relieve or prevent poverty than Blackpool.

The analysis shows that cuts to social security are hitting poor people in the north and Wales far more than those in southern Conservative heartlands.

Neath Port Talbot and Merthyr Tydfil in the Welsh Valleys will suffer the greatest impact from changes to incapacity benefit – Merthyr Tydfil will lose £264 per working age adult purely from cuts to this particular benefit, out of a total loss from the changes of £722 per working age adult.  Yet it has just 22 charities that provide services in the area of disability, 22 that relieve or prevent poverty, and 46 that offer education or training.