Jobs gap opens up as Yorkshire towns and cities are left behind

Hull and Doncaster are among the five English towns and cities which will find it most difficult to launch an economic revival this year, according to a report by think tank Centre for Cities.

It reveals the economic crisis has already taken its toll, with the unemployment gap between Hull and economically successful Cambridge doubling between 2008 and 2011. In general cities in the South have seen smaller increases in the numbers of people claiming jobless benefits, although the report concludes it is “more complex” than simply being a North-South divide.

Over the next year, the report warns all cities will be “squeezed”, but while some will experience a “glimmer of growth” others will endure ongoing recession or stagnation. However, the Government said new deals it is striking with cities to hand down extra powers would give them the “potential to drive economic growth”.

Alexandra Jones, chief executive of Centre for Cities, said: “The year ahead is going to be tough for all UK cities but Cities Outlook 2012 shows that some cities are well-placed to kick-start economic growth.

“However, some cities have been hit particularly hard by recession and the gap between cities is widening. This makes it vital that Government policy is tailored to meet the needs of each city rather than one-size-fits-all. What is right for Brighton and Reading will not be right for Dundee and Middlesbrough.”

In the report, analysts examined levels of people claiming Jobseekers Allowance in different cities and found that while in February 2008 the gap in the claimant count rate between Hull and Cambridge was 3.2 percentage points, by November 2011 this gap had widened to 6.1 percentage points.

Across Yorkshire there are significant differences with the claimant count standing at eight of the working age population in Hull, but just 2.4 per cent in York.

Hull North MP Diana Johnson said: “These findings are no surprise. Despite their rhetoric about rebalancing the economy virtually everything that the coalition has done has been more beneficial to wealthier areas, mostly in the South, at the expense of Hull and similar places in the North.”

Hull and Doncaster – along with Newport, Sunderland and Swansea – are identified as places facing “real challenges” this year because the private sector already struggles, although the Government hopes its council and business-led Local Enterprise Partnerships will help change that. They have lower skills levels, fewer business start-ups and are more vulnerable to public sector job cuts.

Among the cities tipped to drive a national economic recovery are Milton Keynes, Aberdeen, Cambridge, Edinburgh and London, with strong private sectors, larger pools of highly-skilled residents and already highly innovative with significant numbers of patents registered.

Wakefield council leader Peter Box, chairman of the Local Government Association’s Economy and Transport Board, said: “It is vital that local council and business leaders, who understand their cities best, are given the tools they need to deliver growth, create jobs and start businesses.

“Councils have already started the process towards re-energising cities and communities and must now be allowed to go further. Changes to the planning system can help, but the LGA is now calling on the Government to localise the running of apprenticeship schemes and the ability to improve transport infrastructure to increase growth further.”

Cities Minister Greg Clark said: “Cities Outlook 2012 shows the scale of the challenges our cities face today, but it also underlines their potential to drive economic growth.

“The key to unlocking that potential is a new deal. This year the Government will enable cities to exercise new powers, new choices about how local public services work, and new flexibility over funding, in proportion to the evidence of strong and accountable local leadership.

“Letting our cities do things their own way will help make them the most liveable, vibrant and prosperous places they can be.”