Unemployment benefit claims rise by 11%

THE number of people claiming unemployment benefit in the area served by the West Midlands Combined Authority is up by 11 per cent over one year, official figures show.

And a Labour MP said the increase showed West Midlands Mayor Andy Street was failing in his promise to get unemployment down.

Ian Austin (Lab Dudley North) said: “I celebrate every new job that is created, but unemployment is a serious problem in parts of the Black Country and Birmingham and people on benefits need a mayor who is on their side and will work night and day to tackle the problem instead of complacently spinning carefully chosen figures to claim everything is rosy.”

It comes after Mr Street, a Conservative, highlighted separate figures which showed more people are working in the West Midlands region – which includes the area he serves but also other towns and cities – than ever before.

Official figures for the number of people claiming unemployment benefit show they have risen by 7,320 people in the West Midlands Combined Authority area over the past year. The total number of claimants is 71,365.

Comparisons are difficult because a new benefits system, Universal Credit, has been introduced in some parts of the region.

But the claimant number has risen even in places where the new benefit has not been fully rolled out, such as Walsall, Sandwell and Coventry.

Mr Street has highlighted a statement by the Office for National Statistics, which said the number of jobs had risen in the wider West Midlands region. This includes Worcestershire, Warwickshire, Staffordshire, Shropshire and Herefordshire, which are not part of the Combined Authority.