REPORT RAISES FEARS 27,000 JOBS MAY GO IN THE CITY DUE TO COVID-19 CRISIS

Report calls for more generous benefits and ‘job rotation’ scheme

AROUND 27,000 jobs could be lost in Stoke-on-trent due to the Covid-19 crisis, according to a new report.

Research carried out for Stoke-ontrent’s Hardship Commission looked at the potential impact of coronavirus on the economy and deprivation levels in the city.

Stoke-on-trent’s high proportion of retail and other lower-skilled service jobs could make it particularly vulnerable during the recession, the report says.

Its authors, from Staffordshire University Business School, conclude that more a generous benefit system and a ‘proactive’ approach to boosting employment will be needed.

So far, the Government has provided Stoke-on-trent City Council with £16 million of bailout funding, while small businesses in the Potteries have been offered grants worth around £60 million. Workers in North Staffordshire have also received more than £140 million through the government’s furlough and selfemployment support schemes.

Chancellor Rishi Sunak, above, announced further measures in a £30 billion rescue package last week.

But Professor David Etherington, lead author of the report, says more help is needed in Stoke-on-trent.

He believes that with the basic rate of Universal Credit only worth about a sixth of average weekly pay, the current benefit system will ‘force thousands into destitution’.

Prof Etherington said: “Government rescue packages are insufficient to guarantee a safety net for those who will have to rely on benefits and other forms of social protection.

“As well as raising the level of benefits, cancelling out benefit delays and stopping the implementation of benefit sanctions is also important.”

Prof Etherington estimated how many jobs could be lost in each economic sector in Stoke-on-trent, based on a recent study by the University of Essex.

He predicts 9,900 lost jobs in the wholesale/retail/motor sector, and another 9,240 in transport and storage. Three-quarters of the jobs in the city’s accommodation and food sector – amounting to 6,008 workers – could be lost.

But increased demand for health and social care work could lead to 7,400 new jobs in those sectors.

Last month’s figures showed that the number of people claiming unemployment benefit in Norh Staffordshire almost doubled during the lockdown to 19,505.

And the claimant count is certain to rise further as the Government’s job retention scheme is tapered off in the coming months, with employers in North Staffordshire having furloughed nearly 60,000 workers up to the end of May.

Prof Etherington believes the job retention scheme could be replaced with a ‘job rotation and guarantee scheme’.

This would see unemployed people matched with organisations with existing workers who need time away for training and development.

Prof Etherington also says there should be ‘social dialogue’ with ‘enhanced’ partnerships with trade unions and community groups.

Steve Wyn Williams, chairman of the Hardship Commission, said: “This report is a vital addition and update to the Hardship Commission Report we produced last year and, in particular, underlines the threats of the current Covid crisis on poverty and destitution in the city. We welcome the proposals in the report for more proactive and comprehensive policies to tackle unemployment.”