ALARM OVER CLAIMANT COUNT RISE
ECONOMIC hardship continued to hit Halton in June amid the impact of the coronavirus pandemic.
Latest figures published by the Department For Work And Pensions showed the number of Universal Credit (UC) claimants in the borough increased by 2% between May and June, rising from 15,589 claims on May 14 to 15,902 by June 11.
The figure includes residents in employment whose pay is topped up by UC and those unable to work.
Unemployment was massively up on last year, particularly for young adults.
The ‘alternative claimant count’, which is published every three months and is a better indication of joblessness, showed that among 18-24-yearolds in Halton, the number claiming out-of-work benefits more than doubled by 653 from last year to 1,287 in June 2020, an increase of 103%.
It was up 61% compared to five years ago.
For all age groups, unemployment in Halton was up 92%, nearly twice what it was in June 2020, and an increase of 62% on five years ago.
The figures mean there are now an extra 2,876 Halton residents looking for work, or 5,994 in total.
Gemma Batchelor, Jobcentre Plus customer service leader for the Liverpool City Region, acknowledged it was a gloomy picture but said hard work is taking place to help jobseekers and that the Government has launched a package of measures to boost employment, particularly aimed at helping young people.
The Jobcentre is working on recruiting for vacancies at TK Maxx,
B&M distribution, the care sector, and high-level apprenticeships at SciTech Daresbury.
She said steps include doubling the number of front-line work coaches to 27,000 by March 2021 and holding specific sessions on how to join the civil service.
The department is also creating a £2bn Kickstart scheme to provide ‘highquality six-month placements’ from autumn that will cover the National Minimum Wage for 25 hours a week with the option for employers to top it up.
Also being launched is an expanded youth scheme to support 18-to24 year olds, including a 13-week programme.
Upon completion, participants will be encouraged to take work-related training or an apprenticeship and further support will be provided through youth employment coaches and youth hubs.
A health and work programme is being expanded to provide personalised support for up to six months for those who have been unemployed for three months.
The DWP is also increasing the level of participation in sector-based work academies, aiming to support 40,000 jobseekers to obtain skills suited to the roles on offer.
In addition, £150m has been assigned to flexible support aimed at rapidly adapting to large redundancies in an area.
The Government has also committed £40m to fund external capacity to introduce a job-finding support service in Great Britain.
Miss Batchelor said: “Today’s labour market statistics show how many people have sadly lost their job as a result of the pandemic in Halton and how important it is that we start to put our Plan For Jobs into action.
“Young people have been affected disproportionately and we are working with the Liverpool City Region to gain insight from young people into the support they would like to see delivered from the new youth hubs that will be created in the community.
“We are running extra Sector Based Work Academies in security, social care and construction and running sessions for people who would like to join the civil service.
“We have been supporting employers such as TK Maxx, B&M distribution centre and several care employers in Halton to fill vacancies.”
Mims Davies, employment minister, said: “We know that people are worried about their livelihoods which is why we’ve put in place a ‘Plan For Jobs’.
“A crucial part of that is doubling the number of frontline work coaches so that every jobseeker gets support to find work as well as launching the Kickstart scheme to create hundreds of thousands of new, fully subsidised jobs for young people across the country.”
Search online for more information from Jobcentre Plus or jobhelp.campaign.gov.uk