Latest figures show the number of people claiming Universal Credit in Liverpool city region rose again from May to June but at a much slower rate. Tony McDonough reports
Jobcentre Plus staff in Merseyside are putting the Government’s ‘Plan for Jobs’ into action as the number of people claiming Universal Credit rose again in June – albeit at a slower rate.
Latest figures from the DWP show there were 163,324 people claiming UC in Liverpool, Wirral, Sefton, Knowsley, Halton and St Helens as of June 11. Claimants will include those out of work and people in work having to claim benefits as well as those who are unable to work.
This represents a 2.8% rise in claimants from May but it much smaller than the 16.1% rise from April to May and the “unprecedented” 37.4% rise seen from March to April, during the coronavirus lockdown.
Liverpool, again, saw the biggest percentage rise in UC claimants, up 3.3% to 55,055; followed by Sefton, up 2.5% to 26,127; Knowsley, up 2.3% to 18,002; Halton, up 2% to 15,902; Wirral, up 1.9% to 29,981; and St Helens, up 1.6% to 17,525.
In his summer statement last week, Chancellor Rishi Sunak unveiled the Plan for Jobs which aims to mitigate the devastating effect the COVID-19 crisis is having, and will continue to have, on the UK economy.
He unveiled a number of measure, including doubling the number of work coaches, a £2bn Kickstart job placement scheme, more training and ‘youth hubs’ for 18 to 24-year-olds, expanding the Health to Work programme, more sector-based work academies, £150m for flexible support via job centres, a job-finding service and extra support for the long- term unemployed.
Gemma Batchelor, spokesperson for Merseyside Jobcentre Plus district, told LBN: “The latest labour market statistics show how important it is that we start to put our Plan for Jobs into action across Merseyside.
“Young people have been affected disproportionately and we are working with the Liverpool city region to gain insight into the support they would like from the new community youth hubs from this autumn.
“We are running extra sector-based work academies in security, social care and construction where jobseekers will get a guaranteed interview after completing some training.
“It is brilliant news that we will be recruiting extra work coaches and we running sessions for people who would like to join the civil service to help them prepare.”
She added that in response to the ongoing vacancies in the construction sector in the Liverpool city region, Jobcentre Plus have put in place a construction training package for 18 to 24-year-olds.
The first one starts on July 27 and includes; CSCS, Face Fit, L2 Industrial Environment Awareness, L2 Warehouse and Logistics, IPAF MEWPs, PASMA Mobile Towers for Users, Working Safely at Heights and Safety Harness Awareness.
A meet the contractor event will be arranged following training to progress the young person onto a placement or vacancy. For all information on all the support that’s available in Merseyside, including the latest local jobs and training opportunities, click here.