Local MP expresses outrage as unemployment soars
Shock statistics released today show just how much employment prospects in the Streatham constituency have deteriorated in the last year. Streatham MP Chuka Umunna has blamed the complacent attitude of the Conservative-led Government for failing to boost jobs and growth in the local area.
Figures released today show there are 4,310 JSA (Job Seekers Allowance) Claimants in the Streatham constituency but at the last count there were just 219 vacancies advertised at Job Centre Plus when the survey was taken in October 2011. 22% of JSA claimants, more than 1 in 5, have been out of work and claiming benefits for over a year. Over 10,000 people in the Streatham constituency are claiming one of the key out-of-work benefits.
Particularly badly hit have been women and the young. Over the last year the percentage of adult women claiming JSA locally has risen from 3.8% to 4.7%. At the same time the rate of male JSA claimants locally has risen less slowly, from 6.3% to 6.8%. Nationally, there are now over one million young people unemployed. The office of national statistics said the figure was the highest since records began.
Chuka Umunna MP has called on the Conservative-led Government to take strong action to reverse the decline in employment prospects that has occurred since they came to power. He placed the blame firmly on the Conservative-led Government’s failing economic policy and called for them to end their complacent attitude to those struggling to find work. The Conservative Employment Minister said the youth unemployment figure was ‘a bit of a distraction’.
The Labour Party wants the Government to adopt a five-point plan for Jobs and Growth that would include a £2 billion tax on bank bonuses used to create 11,500 jobs in the capital; bringing forward long-term investment projects; reversing the Governments damaging VAT rise; and a one year cut in VAT on home improvements and a one year national insurance tax break for every small firm which takes on extra workers.
Commenting, Mr Umunna said:
“I was saddened to read the number of people now unemployed. Unemployment is a personal tragedy for those affected and as the MP for Streatham I will not stand idly by on the sidelines while unemployment soars, as the Conservative-led Government has been doing for over a year.”
“The government’s absurd deficit reduction program, which means fewer people in jobs and more claiming benefits, is hitting consumer confidence, hitting business confidence and hitting people in Streatham hard. The figures just released demonstrate just how much of a negative effect this Conservative-led Government has had on our local community.”
“I am calling on the Government to stop its complacent attitude to our economy and towards jobs and business growth in my South London constituency. It is finally time for them to listen to the concerns ordinary people have and change course to prevent unemployment rising further”.
