Wales has five out of the 10 hotspots for economic inactivity
SHOCKING new figures show that five of the 10 local authority areas in Wales and England with the highest level of working age people who are economically inactive and either sick or disabled are in the south Wales Valleys.
Results from the 2021 census show Blaenau Gwent has the highest proportion of such residents in the whole of Wales and England at 36.1%
Merthyr Tydfil is immediately behind on 34%, while Caerphilly (32.2%), Neath Port Talbot (30.8%) and Rhondda Cynon Taf (30.6%) are in fifth, sixth and seventh places respectively.
By contrast, the three council areas with the lowest proportion of such residents are Oxford (7.2%), City of London (7.8%) and Cambridge (also 7.8%).
Asked why the area he represents was top of the league, Blaenau Gwent Labour MS Alun Davies said: “The proportion of people who are recorded as being economically inactive as a result of sickness or disability is a direct result of poverty and deprivation.
“That’s why we need both a stronger economy but also a fairer economy and a fairer redistribution of wealth across the UK. Wales has been shortchanged by the Barnett Formula for decades and has never seen the sheer scale of investment that is poured into London and the south east of England.
“To address the human impact of these decisions we need a fair funding formula based on need and not population and we need to see the urgent devolution of areas such as rail infrastructure which will give the Welsh Government the means of investing in our futures.
“In short, we need a radical and fundamental change to the way in which UK wealth is created and redistributed.”
Caerphilly Labour MP Wayne David said: “The figures for Caerphilly are as high as they are because of the coal industry.
“Pits in the area were closed later than elsewhere.
“Many miners were put on the sick and this has created a problem of inter-generational economic inactivity.”
Mr David said two of the biggest mines in the south Wales coalfield had been in Caerphilly borough – at Bedwas, which shut not long after the year-long miners’ strike in the mid-1980s, and the Penallta colliery, which lasted until 1991.
He added: “A lot of the men who lost their jobs were classified as long-term sick and disabled because the government of the day didn’t want them to appear in unemployment statistics.
“Many of those today who are economically inactive and sick or disabled will be from the heads of the Valleys, where there is little work.
“They’re some of the poorest areas in Britain and, indeed, Europe.
“What’s needed is more investment, with UK Government money used to provide generous incentives to companies that open plants there.
“There also needs to be a lot more financial help for entrepreneurs who start businesses and create jobs.”
Former Bridgend council Labour leader Jeff Jones said: “The figures are quite shocking and can’t be explained by referring to old miners who contracted industrial diseases after working in the pits for many years. Most of the mining industry in south Wales went shortly after the long miners’ strike – and it ended 37 years ago. Most of the workers who lost their jobs would have been in their 20s at the time.
“I was interested in the contrast between the high levels of economic inactivity in south Wales with the low level in places like Wokingham, near Reading, where I lived and worked as a teacher.
“What has to be remembered is that many settlements in the Valleys were created because of the huge influx of workers when the pits were developed.
“Since the mines were shut, no one has come up with a solution about how to create new kinds of work that provide local people with well-paid jobs.
“Improvements to the public transport network are going ahead with the new Metro project, and the idea is that people will travel for work to Cardiff.
“In Wokingham, people will get up early to commute to London for jobs that pay £50k, £60k or £70k, but using a train or bus to get to Cardiff to work in a shop for the minimum wage isn’t an attractive prospect. It’s no surprise that people would rather stay on benefits – and I say that without passing judgement on them.”
Mr Jones said an inclination to stay on benefits was passed down to people’s children in Valley areas because of the lack of well-paid work.
“I think it would make sense to carry out a survey of all the people in Blaenau Gwent who are economically inactive and sick or disabled to find out genuinely what they think. Such an exercise would help politicians decide what needs to be done.”