Towns facing crisis: Districts where jobs hope hangs by a thread

Instead it is hoped the bleak prospects they lay out in the document will spark some kind of action to stave off the crisis which their evidence shows could have long-lasting effects for Yorkshire.

The devastating 31-page Work Foundation report will be uncomfortable reading for those leading communities out of recession and through public sector cuts.

Figures show that the five towns are falling behind economically, and are expected to fare worse than almost anywhere else in the coming years, after suffering badly in the downturn.

This is despite the efforts of local authorities and the regional development agency Yorkshire Forward – which itself is a victim of the Government axe and is to be abolished.

Yorkshire Forward yesterday admitted that the Work Foundation report "echoed" its own studies on recovery – an admission which will worry people faced with losing their jobs.

Chief economist Patrick Bowes said: "Our work on responding to the recession does tend to back up what the Work Foundation says. These towns face a challenge as we return to growth.

"While cities such as Leeds and Sheffield are more likely to emerge, we face challenges in growing the private sector."

Over the past decade, millions of pounds have been spent trying to regenerate the areas named in the report – Doncaster, Barnsley, Grimsby, Hull and Wakefield and Castleford.

But according to the Work Foundation, those efforts have not secured a future for the communities, which saw a boom, but only in the public sector as it expanded under Labour.

As the recession began, what remained of traditional industry suffered badly and now replacement jobs on the public payroll will also be axed

Further concerns are also raised over Yorkshire's inability to attract key "growth industries" – industries which have been courted by the regional development agency in recent years.

The reason for this, the Work Foundation suggests, is a lack of skills and low standards of education, factors which put off high-tech manufacturers and those in the creative industries.

Mr Bowes said Yorkshire Forward also recognised that some towns in Yorkshire had become over-reliant on the public sector – one in three jobs in Barnsley are taxpayer-funded.

But he claimed the agency had worked to bring firms involved in growth industries such as wind energy and carbon capture into Yorkshire.

Last night a spokesman for Barnsley Council's Barnsley Development Agency (BDA) said: "As at May, Job Centre Plus had more than 1,000 vacancies, a 50 per cent increase on the same month last year. There are jobs in Barnsley.

"However, BDA is well aware that the private sector economy of Barnsley needs to grow. This is why Barnsley Markets Project and the investment made in other major regeneration schemes are of vital importance to the town.

"They will promote Barnsley's key role as a market town, strengthen its distinctiveness and help to attract, secure and retain investment and jobs."

Nobody at North East Lincolnshire Council, which covers Grimsby, Wakefield Council or Hull Council was available to comment but Peter Dale, director of development at Doncaster Council rejected the idea that the town was struggling.

Struggle to recover after pits closed

BARNSLEY

THE growth of Barnsley is linked almost entirely to the coal

industry, although in the early days of the industrial revolution it was also involved in glass making and the manufacture of linen.

Since the demise of the coal industry in the 1980s, Barnsley has struggled to recover. The town has benefited from a large amount of public investment, with a "digital media centre" built in the town centre, and a huge refurbishment of its arts centre The Civic.

It also has a new transport interchange and there are plans, which may now be in question, to rebuild its markets complex, a scheme central to council leaders' aspirations.

Those council leaders, however, admit that the town is too reliant on public sector jobs, with many people employed by the council – and have announced the authority needs to make 40m cuts which could lead to 2,000 job losses.

Around 150 jobs are also set to go at the town's hospital. According to the Work Foundation, Barnsley's growth potential is "very low" with eight per cent of the workforce in growth industries.

The public sector employs 31 per cent of the workforce.

Towns built around vanished industries

WAKEFIELD AND CASTLEFORD

IN the 19th century Wakefield was a thriving community which was moving away from the rural wool trade and into cloth where steam-powered mills turned out fabric.

Grain mills, malt kilns, glass making, chemical and dye works and iron foundries also played their part in sealing the town's prosperity.

The town was also a centre of the coal mining industry and at its height there were more than 40 collieries operating in the district. In 1832 the town's population was around 16,000 but just over 60 years later it had risen to 23,000.

Castleford was also known for coal and its industries also included the manufacture of glass bottles and pottery, but all of these have now disappeared, leaving Allinson's flour mill, now owned by Allied Mills.

According to the Work Foundation report, just nine per cent of the area's workforce is now employed in a "growth industry".

The same report estimates that 27 per cent work in the public sector.

Wakefield Council employs almost 15,000 people, while the West Yorkshire Police headquarters and the base for the Yorkshire Ambulance NHS Trust is also in the district.

Little hope for former coal town

DONCASTER

DONCASTER tops the Work Foundation's list of towns least likely to successfully recover from the recession.

Like Wakefield and Barnsley, Doncaster was decimated by the decline of the coal industry, but had also made its name as a railway town, where famous locomotives were made.

Even today, Doncaster is seen as occupying an enviable position on road and rail links, and council chiefs are keen to sell the benefits of Robin Hood Airport.

Recent Government cuts have thrown Doncaster's huge civic and cultural quarter project into doubt and today's report reveals that just seven per cent of workers are employed in the growth sectors, while 33 per cent are public employees.

The town was known for manufacturing tractors, but the McCormick plant finally closed in December 2007. Royal Mail also recently announced it was closing its sorting office in the town, threatening more than 400 jobs.

Doncaster's recovery may also be hampered after its council suffered a damning inspection by the Audit Commission.

Seafaring tradition brought prosperity

HULL

LIKE its neighbour on the south bank, Hull built much of its prosperity on its seafaring traditions, with fishing playing a major part alongside the city's docks operation which still exists.

The trawler industry in the city suffered in the same way as that in Grimsby and parts of Hull were obliterated in the Second World War – it was the second worst bombed city after London.

Hull is still the major import hub for timber from Europe and large pharmaceutical firms Reckitt Benckiser and Smith & Nephew have factories in the town, employing thousands .

Ferries also operate from the city, serving destinations such as Rotterdam in Holland and Zeebrugge in Belgium and efforts are being made to attract tourists from the continent. Despite this, the statistics in today's report show that the city's growth potential is low, with 11 per cent of the workforce employed in what economists have identified as growth sectors.

The report also shows that 33 per cent of people in the city work in the public sector. Hull University employs 2,500, while Hull City Council employs almost 14,000 people.

Work rooted in 19th century

GRIMSBY

FISHING transformed Grimsby from a small community to a thriving port in the early 19th century and since then the fortunes of the town have been linked with the industry.

Today it is still a major employer in the town, but the number of people involved is much reduced from its heyday. The town's fish market was to be improved but news that a 550,000 grant was to be withheld as a result of spending cuts dealt that blow recently.

Fishing industry links have made Grimsby home to more than 500 food businesses.

Grimsby has only seven per cent of people in growth industries and 27 per cent in the public sector.