Agenda item

Long Term Unemployment in Slough

Minutes:

Rafiq Chohan, Assistant Director, Economic Development and Inclusion, outlined a report to update Members on the impact of long term unemployment in Slough, particularly with regard to those claiming job seekers allowance for more than 12 months and people aged over 50 yrs of age.

 

It was noted that for some years, Slough had managed to keep long term unemployment below the UK and South East figures.  This was in part due to the Council and its partners providing additional investment in supporting newly unemployed individuals and the abundance of jobs in and around the town.  The recent recession had however resulted in an increase in long term unemployment and there was a clear correlation between low skills as measured by qualifications and long term unemployment.  Slough had for some years had a low skilled working age population but this had improved  dramatically in the last few years.

 

The Committee noted that that the total number of unemployed in Slough in October was 3,156 and of these 510 (16.1%) were aged over 50.  This compared to a South East figure of 17.7% and was marginally higher than the UK figure of 15.3%.  The Annual Population Survey 2009 found that the Slough cohort aged between 50 and 64 was 18,400, representing 21.2% of the total working age population of Slough aged between 16 and 64.

 

The Officer advised that there was no direct data available regarding the exact number of over 50’s  that were long term unemployed,  i.e. for over 12 months.  It was known however, that within this group, 220 people had been unemployed for over 6 months.

 

The Committee noted the recent changes to the benefits system and the concern that the provision of universal credits could represent greater challenges to the community in the current climate.  Although many individuals were keen to return to work, a number of barriers included poor health, poor skills including language barriers, benefit traps and jobs that were  not designed to accommodate the physical or mental ability of such individuals.  In addition, Slough had seen its overall population rise and jobs decrease; the jobs density i.e. the number of jobs to number of people of working age had fallen to 0.95, below 1.00 for the first time in many years.

 

It was noted that the greater challenge in the next few years would  be the proportion of over 50’s currently on employment support allowance and incapacity benefit who would be reassessed as fit to work and re-categorised as Job Seekers.  Slough’s  over 50’s faced multiple  and complex challenges including  poor language skills and these would be factors in competing for fewer jobs. Policies and support programmes would need to be developed to respond to this within partner organisations in the private, public and voluntary sectors in Slough.

 

In the ensuing debate, Members raised a number of questions/comments including the following (responses in italics):

 

·  How many of the unemployed in the over 50’s age range were female?

This information was not available but it was known that a high proportion of the individuals were from BAME backgrounds, including a high proportion from the Pakistani community, followed by the white and Indian cohort. There were issues in particular for females regarding the availability of part time work.

 

  • What were the statistics for the 18-24 age range?

Twice as many individuals were unemployed in the Pakistani community and the figures for the white and Indian cohorts were comparable.

 

  • How did the curriculum in schools address unemployment concerns?

Local businesses were influential in this area and regularly visited schools to advise pupils of the necessary qualifications required to obtain particular jobs/ careers.

 

  • It was evident that many graduates who had left university two years earlier were still unemployed. How could this situation be improved?

Discussions were held with business groups to address this problem but it was clear that this was a national and not just a local issue. It would be important to hold more work trials and placements.

 

  • Why were there more people unemployed in the Pakistani community?

`  Economic and historical factors played a part in this- it was also notable that where adults in a household were unemployed, the young adults often did not have a job.

 

  • What was being done to improve the employment situation?

Lots of work was being carried out to bring residents in touch with local businesses to discuss apprenticeships etc. BAA had provided funds to support the council in assisting people with CV’s etc so that Heathrow airport could recruit and retain local members of staff. It was reported that all secondary and grammar schools in the Borough were linked with local businesses.

 

  • Were there many part time or job share opportunities in the town?

The provision of such jobs would be one of the items under discussion at a future meeting with representatives of the private sector.

 

Resolved  -  That the report be noted.

Supporting documents: