Gloucester tops county unemployment league
One in 10 men in some areas of Gloucester are unemployed.
New statistics have shown that one in ten men in the Westgate, Podsmead, and Barton and Tredworth wards are all still searching for work.
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Volunteering - Jamie Powell
It comes despite funding worth £6 million being invested into helping to train people to find work in the city through Gloucester Works.
There were a total of 3,082 unemployed people in Gloucester in December, which is the highest in the county. Of those 2,305 are men.
There are 2,629 unemployed people in Cheltenham, 1,850 in Stroud and 1,568 in the Forest of Dean.
Jamie Powell, 19, from Dursley, is currently volunteering at the Mind charity shop, in Southgate Street, but he has been looking for employment for the past year.
He said: “It’s been really difficult trying to find a job.
“Because I’ve only got a few qualifications and no experience, employers won’t look at me.
“There aren’t many jobs around here, and I don’t feel there is much help either.”
Ivan Taylor, chairman of Westgate Quarter, the group representing businesses in Westgate Street, is not surprised to see the unemployment rate in the city centre so high.
He said: “I am not shocked to see that Westgate has the highest level of unemployment.
“I think part of the problem is that a lot of jobs are only offering part time hours and not full time jobs.”
Gloucester Works has received £6 million provided by the European Social Fund, the RDA, LSC, City Council, County Council, Jobcentre Plus, the URC and Gloucestershire First, to fund three years’ work.
Andrew Gravells, deputy leader of Gloucester City Council, is concerned that the amount of money being spent is not justifying the amount of people being found employment.
He said: “I’m very keen to see how many people these enormous amounts of public money are helping to get back into work, and the knock on effect that is having in reducing unemployment rates in some of these wards.”
Ahmed Goga, Gloucester Works director, is confident that they are helping the unemployed in the city.
“Throughout most of 2009, unemployment rose by an average 2,730 a month and those finding work averaged 2,577 a month,” he said.
“In the county as a whole, the number of vacancies in January 2009 stood at 1654 compared to 3,300 by the end of 2009. And, in Gloucester, notified vacancies in June rose from 566 to 1089 by the year end.
“Taking on board what employers are telling us has meant more people in work than at first feared.”
In the past 12 months, they have found work for 400 people.
47 Comments
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by Kath, Chelt
Wednesday, February 10 2010, 11:13AM
“Why do people constantly talk about " the incentive to work" instead of being on benefits?
In my mind the one big incentive is SELF RESPECT.
I would rather work for the same money than be on benefits.
Too many people in this country think that the rest of us owe them a living.
The one thing that we should stop right here and now is child benefit. Why should perfectly well off people be paid to have children? I have chosen not to have any and as I am not burdening the system with offspring shouldn't I be getting some kind of benefit? Instead I am being treated as a 2nd class citizen and missing out on government handouts! Anyone would think childbirth were rocket science, if it were there would be less chavs at it!
Why pay people for reproducing? It has always been beyond my comprehension.”
by Fred Smith, Gloster
Sunday, February 07 2010, 8:27PM
“A two fold approach is needed
Workfare for the unemployed on a sliding scale depending on the length of unemployment.
Reduce the pool of immigrants looking for work.”
by Fat Sam¿, Abbeymead, Gloucestershire
Sunday, February 07 2010, 8:23PM
“Employment opportunity is strongly linked to academic achievement. There is also a strong correlation between academic achievement and the predominance of certain socio-economic and ethnic groups.
Gloucester has its fair share of C2, D and E socio-economic groups as well as a large percentage of its population being of Afro-Caribbean or Pakistan/Bangladeshi (largely Islamic) origin. Look at any area of Britain where people from these social or ethnic groups appear in large numbers and there is a link to higher levels of unemployment.
On the contrary, areas with a higher proportion of inhabitants that fall in the A, B, C1 socio-economic groups, or areas with significant populations of Chinese, Indian (mainly Hindu) or Jewish ethnic groups generally fair better.”
by Jude, FOD
Sunday, February 07 2010, 7:35PM
“Simple solution - first raise tax allowances to allow workers to earn more before they pay tax, cut the working tax credit's for single people who choose to work part time. For the long term unemployed make them earn the benefits by working in the community and pay them in tokens.”
by Typhoid Mary, Cheltenham
Sunday, February 07 2010, 3:39PM
“Fed up with scoungers, Glos how gullible are you? The comment "VOTE LABOUR... " was clearly designed to get you to do anything but!
Frankly you should take anything Dilligaf, forest says with a pinch of salt.
More people could be got off the dole if the DWP was more sensible. If you are a married couple on benefit and you work 16 hours you get to keep just £10 of what you earnt. If you are keen and travel from Cheltenham to say Stroud; fuel will soon eat up that £10.00
If you get to work several hours more and then have to sign on again, just for the benefit of more recent work experience and to reduce the amount honest hard working tax payers have to pay to keep you, you can face several weeks of interupted benefit because the system cannot cope.
Set against all that, it's not peoples laziness that stops them taking a day here and there, it's the hopelessly inefficient Job Centre's who run a system designed to penalise you if you try.”
by WML, Stroud
Saturday, February 06 2010, 12:46AM
“A big problem is that some people can earn more on benefit than they can working. An obvious solution (to me) would be for the benefit system to make up the difference, with a little more added, to act as an incentive.
Once they have gained some work experience they will hopefully earn more and be able to get off benefit altogether. Simples?”
by Anonymous, Stroud
Saturday, February 06 2010, 12:39AM
“Talk about kicking people when they are down! What about the people who have worked for years & have been made redundant during this recession like my self! You just assume everybody is scroungers & label everyone the same anyway!”
by Big Baby, Dymock
Saturday, February 06 2010, 12:32AM
“According to a memo doing the rounds all long term unemployed must now be referred to as "energetically declined".”
by Anonymous, Stroud
Saturday, February 06 2010, 12:30AM
“The 2nd comment is exactly the kind of ignorance that makes people who have been made redundant through-out this recession feel even lower than they already do but then sad people get pleasure from kicking people when they are down! There will always be those that won't work however during the current climate that is certainly not the case! Gloucester & surrounding areas have been hit very hard by this recession.”
by Alien Life UK, Here and There
Friday, February 05 2010, 11:07PM
“There will be a few more of the unemployable on the streets when the county council gets rid of staff next month.”