Youth Unemployment in Hartlepool

[DRiddle]

Those who attended last nights council meeting might recall me challenging the council leader regarding the issue of youth unemployment in the town.

I was told that the figure stands at "around 9%" and Councillor Akers-Belcher ended his verbal response to a member of the publics question with positive comments about the fall in the figure.

Well, this information below is from the Office for National Statistics and is the source of the statistical information I quoted last night when I pointed out that it was in fact the highest rate in the country according to figures released as recently as March this year.

Hartlepool and Wolverhampton had the highest unemployment rates for young people across England and Wales

Looking at youth unemployment at a local level, Hartlepool and Wolverhampton had the highest youth unemployment rate excluding full-time students at 28.1%. This was followed by Middlesbrough at 27.7%, Birmingham at 26.0% and Redcar and Cleveland at 25.5%. Three of these areas are in close proximity in the North East of England. The highest youth unemployment rate within Wales was in Blaenau Gwent at 25.5%, the same as Redcar and Cleveland.

I'm not entirely sure where the discrepancy between the "about 9%" figure the Labour Party quote and the 28.1% suggested by the ONS comes from.

Any offers?

[steveL]

You'll find the answer at the link given below.

The difference is between the total number of 16-24 year olds who are unemployed and the much smaller number who are claiming JSA. The emphasis is very much on getting people off the JSA register and there are various ways of doing this.

To me, a 'job' is when someone is employed by a company and able to progress to a point when they can support a family or apply for a mortgage. Apprenticeships, part-time contracts or zero hour contracts don't qualify in my view but they are enough to get someone off the register.

These are points that you would normally expect to be made by a Labour politician of any description but last night we had an abomination of a council Leader adopting the same spin as the Government because he believes it helps the illusion he wants to create that the lifelong job prospects of the young in Hartlepool are improving. That will only happen when the number of real jobs, capable of providing sufficient income to support a family increase in our town.

Your figures were spot on last night or should I say the figures of the Office of National Statistics were correct.

http://tinyurl.com/nkoxy3v

[DRiddle]

Thanks Steve, that's what I feared. So it doesn't really matter that large sections of the young people in Hartlepool don't actually have jobs, so long as they're kept off the JSA figures then that's good enough for some councillors.

Last night was a very bizarre meeting at times.

We saw some councillors rolling their eyes, looking at the clock and tutting, before ultimately deciding they've had enough and going home before it had finished.

Then there was the Labour Front bench actually making some effort to engage with me in meaningful/polite debate. Only for the mantle of obnoxiousness to be picked up by councillors Clark, James and most bizarrely of all Beck. With their catcalls and pointless comments in response to mine.

Then toward the end of the meeting, we saw Councillor Brash put forward knowledgeable, constructive views and advice regarding healthcare. Not only was it crystal clear he was far more clued up on the issue than anyone else in the room, it was probably very likely he was commenting in detail on a section of the paperwork I'd like to bet some councillors hadn't even read.

So did the Labour group opt to tap into that knowledge for the good of the 90,000 residents of the town, or instead opt to freeze him out because they've fallen out with him?

No prizes for guessing the answer.

[mk1]

So it doesn't really matter that large sections of the young people in Hartlepool don't actually have jobs, so long as they're kept off the JSA figures then that's good enough for some councillors.

It seems the  pact with Wells is paying off for the Tories. The SCABs now parrot Conservative propaganda in order to hide the reality of life under their stewardship-a lifetime of the dole!

It is all in the wording.
Unemployed and getting Job Seekers Allowance =  unemployed and counted.
Unemployed and not getting  any benefit = you don't exist or appear in any Politician's speech.

If we use just the simple number of  people unemployed then the % goes through the roof. Hence CAB using the Tory excuse to cover his fat behind.

[craig finton]

Unemployment levels in Hartlepool have been high for the past 50 years if not longer. Any variations over the years are mostly down to either the fiddling of the figures by Governments (of both varieties) or the plethora of schemes introduced to get people off the register. The town needs more REAL jobs. Simples.

[steveL]

Neither Wells nor Morris were at last Thursday's council meeting and it was mildly amusing watching Brenda Loynes trying to decide which way to go on the various votes. She basically scanned the room each time to see who was voting which way beforehand but eventually voting for the budget,  against doing away with ward budgets and against Brash's motion calling for the Government to introduce a transaction tax (following Tory policy on the latter). It's a pity Wells wasn't there really as Labour supported the motion (which is LP Policy) because it would have left him a right quandary. 

[DRiddle]

Are you sure she voted against the Robin Hood tax Steve? Because I'm sure i remember her smiling and Labour members chuckling as she voted FOR it.

I wouldn't swear to it, but I think she voted for.

[steveL]

No I'm pretty sure she voted against it. I think they were sniggering because she was the only one in the room who did, if I remember correctly. Her behaviour along with SAB's 'impartial' chairing of the meeting were the two main things that caught my eye.

I suspect SAB was sulking after us revealing he'd been knocked back for the Mariner Care job - you know how he likes to keep these things quiet. . Just wait till we get to the New Year