Half of Yorkshire areas see rise in workers not in employment

Research from the opposition found that 11 of the 21 council areas in Yorkshire have seen a rise in the number of people who are “economically inactive” since the pandemic.

The thousands of people, some of which have been signed off sick, while others have stopped working in order to live off savings they have made during lockdown, are of working-age and are neither in work nor searching for employment.

In an interview with The Yorkshire Post, Jonathan Ashworth, Labour’s shadow work and pensions secretary, said that we are seeing a repeat of the trends of 40 years ago with workers being “left on the scrapheap”.

“We know what happened in the 1980s when a lot of our traditional industries in Yorkshire disappeared, with the pits and other industries across the region,” he said.

“In those days men were often put on the scrapheap, signed off sick and never worked again.

“What we’re now seeing is that there are increasing numbers of people who are unemployed, particularly younger people, worryingly, who are out of work for reasons such as mental health including stress and anxiety.

“But the difference between the 80s and today is that the Labour Party has a plan to bring good quality jobs in the green energies of the future.

“But we also want to help people move into these jobs, by giving them the skills and training but crucially putting forward a set of proposals that we believe will help people who are currently inactive find jobs.”

Today will see an Opposition Day Debate in Parliament where Labour will urge the Government to adopt its plans for reforming job support.

Labour's reform plans will localise employment support, open up Jobcentres, target help to the over 50s, provide specialist support for those with ill health which it claims will “make sure that work pays”.

The party’s analysis found that economic inactivity among over-50s has risen in every part of the country since the pandemic.

The Yorkshire council areas with the largest increases include Barnsley (7,000), Hull (6,800) and Kirklees (6,100).

Official statistics also show that there are over 230,000 people in Yorkshire and the Humber who were either unemployed and looking for a job or were economically inactive and wanted a job in the year up to September 2022.

Mr Ashworth told The Yorkshire Post that devolving powers of employment support to mayors will mean that the regions such as Yorkshire can start to grow.

“We still have a million vacancies in the economy, a million people unemployed, and a growing inactivity problem. Delivering all of this from Whitehall isn’t working.”

It comes as the Government announced that a national hub for financial technology, or Fintech, companies has opened in Leeds, backed by £5.5 million of funding from the Treasury and City of London Corporation.

Andrew Griffith, the Economic Secretary to the Treasury, said: “The UK is a world-leading location for fintech growth and investment - it’s a real British success story and one that’s spread across the whole UK.

“Today’s launch of the Centre for Finance, Innovation and Technology doubles down on this, boosting prosperity and investment in exciting cities for growth and innovation such as Leeds.”