‘Eye-watering’ job losses in West Yorkshire, claims senior civil servant

West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s director of policy Alan Reiss claimed job losses were spread unevenly around different age groups, warning many of those in their 50s might not ever re-enter the jobs market.

The meeting also heard how Black Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities in the region were disproportionately affected by the Covid-19 virus.

It follows a report which was published by WYCA officers recently, which showed the number of people in West Yorkshire claiming for universal credit rose by more than 40,000 during the first month of lockdown.

Mr Reiss told an online meeting of WYCA’s inclusive growth panel: “There has been an unprecedented increase in jobless claimants across the region, and some quite eye watering figures.

“It isn’t flat across the whole population. Younger people have been particularly impacted and, for over 50s, there is a real concern that some of those people might not make it back into employment.

“The other big issue is the disproportionate impact it has had on black and minority ethnic populations, where the level of infection and mortality has been higher – we need to consider this in the recovery.”

He added that the amount of money to deal with these problems was currently small, adding that regional authorities like WYCA should ask the government for extra help.

He said: “We need to put together and ask the government and say ‘if you give us this much,this is what we will do with it to support the region’s recovery’.

“The underlying challenges facing the region are essentially the same as before the pandemic. Those challenges have not gone away, there is just a new lens to view them through.

“We still have an economy that needs to be more productive, we still need greater investment in transport and infrastructure, and we have the challenge of becoming a zero-carbon city region.”

Panel member Karl Oxford suggested that inclusive growth – a desire to use economic growth to help lift disadvantaged communities out of poverty – should be more of a focus for other panels.

He said: “It shouldn’t have to take Boris Johnson to set up an inequalities commission – we’ve had the information in front of us for three or four decades of census data.

“Clearly social unrest is very high, even in our cities in West Yorkshire. We need to look at social and crime and justice factors that can deter investment and can lead to business closures.”

The number of people in West Yorkshire claiming for universal credit rose by 44,000 during the month after the Covid-19 lockdown was announced, a new report has claimed.

It added the number of jobless claimants rose by 30,000, while vacancies had reduced locally by almost two thirds, with sales, HR and recruitment, hospitality and catering industries hit particularly hard.