Reducing the gaps in employment and benefit claimant rates between the worst performing neighbourhoods and national average

Jobs and Enterprise

Version 1, May 2008

Reducing the gaps in employment and benefit claimant rates between the worst performing neighbourhoods and national average

Why is this a priority?

Access to work is key to promoting people's wellbeing and to lift people out of poverty.

Unemployment has always been a significant problem in South Tyneside – in April 2008 we had the 8th worst local authority unemployment rate.

Getting more of our residents into jobs and reducing the levels of people on benefits is perhaps one of the most significant challenges we face and is the top priority for South Tyneside, so the majority of its resources are allocated to achieving this.

Where are we now?

In October 2007 unemployment declined rapidly and reached an all-time low of 3,645 (3.9% unemployment rate). JSA Claimant unemployment in South Tyneside now stands at 4,157 people or 4.5% of the working-age population of the Borough (NOMIS Claimaint Count: April 2008)
In April 2008 we completed our two-year £6.4m "Supporting People into Work" programme addressing key unemployment issues
We are an active partner in Youth Choice, an employment and training programme aimed at reaching young people who are often furthest from the labour market
We have prioritised a regeneration project at the foreshore to support the creation of more jobs through tourism, including the development of a new hotel, improvements to the coastal caravan parks and raising the profile of Arbeia Roman Fort
South Tyneside and Age Concern are piloting a project using Cultural Volunteering as a stepping stone to employment

Where do we want to be?

We want everyone to have the best possible opportunities to access employment, so we will continue to invest and develop the cultural sector to boost our local economy and increase job opportunities, as well as developing the skill base to work in this sector.

We will continue to work closely with the London School of Economics, the Young Foundation and other partners to deliver 2 key initiatives: - Studio Schools and Guaranteed Apprenticeships, which will focus on non-formal academic routes into employment for young people.

Studio Schools place young people in student-centred business environments, instead of classrooms, while working towards a combination of qualifications and skills.

Guaranteed Apprenticeships help us to reach young people who may not be comfortable with the formal academic route.

National indicators in our Local Area Agreement

NI 152 Working age people on out of work benefits
NI 164 Proportion of population aged 19-64 for males and 19-59 for females qualified to at least Level 3 or higher
NI 171 - New business registration rate

How are we performing?

More information on the New Business Registration Rate

43.5% of South Tyneside's population is qualified to level 3 (A Levels or equivalent) or higher (Jan-Dec 2006). By 2010/11 our aim is that 48% of our residents will have achieved this.

The claimant count (job seekers allowance) is often adopted as the measure of unemployment. This is because it is up to date and provides detailed local area data.

However, since the 1980s, there has been interest in a wider definition, which covers benefit dependency for working age people, expressed more broadly as "worklessness".

Benefits are administered by Department of Work & Pensions (DWP), who provide information on working-age group by different categories.

DWP data - Working age client group as ay May 2007

The above group shows the different groupings (or statistical groups) of benefit claimants. In all 20,220 persons are claiming working age benefits, that is 21.9% of the working age population.

Benefit	Total	As % of total
Job seeker	4,060	20.1%
Incapacity benefits	9,890	48.9%
Lone parent	2,920	14.4%
Carer	1,310	6.5%
Others on income related benefit	720	3.6%
Disabled	1,020	5.0%
Bereaved	310	1.5%
Unknown	0	0.0%
Total working age benefits	20,220	100.0%

Source : DWP - WPLS - Working Age Client Group

Extracted from NOMIS

Three key benefits account for 83% of the total: Job Seeker's Allowance, Incapacity Benefit and Lone Parents. There are 16,870 South Tyneside Residents claiming these benefits.

Changes in total working age benefit rate May 2000 to May 2007

While the national rate for Great Britain has hovered between 14% - 16%, South Tyneside has seen a -4.2% point reduction in rate between May 2000 and May 2007, with a 3,350 (-14.2%) reduction in numbers.

In May 2000, 26.1% of South Tyneside's working age population was claiming a benefit compared to 21.9% in May 2007.

Changes in key benefits: Job Seekers Allowance, Incapacity Benefit and lone parents

Between May 2000 and May 2007, there has been a 20% reduction in key benefit claimants within South Tyneside: 4,390 people no longer need to claim.

This fall is twice as fast as the Great Britain average.

Index of change in key benefits

So in May 2000, people out of work on key benefits accounted for 13.2% of Great Britain's working age population.

In South Tyneside's case, these claimants made up almost a quarter (23.5%) of the borough's working-age population.

By May 2007, 11.6% of the British working age population were on key benefits, a 1.6% fall over seven years.

In South Tyneside, 18.3% of residents were still claiming a key benefit, but this is 5.2% point drop - much faster than the national average.

If you would like access to the figures, they are available on Statistics Online at neighbourhood level and can be compared to national average.

The neighbourhood figures on benefit claimiant rates are part of a wider dataset on deprivation, so that it can be considered as part of a larger picture of social issues.