Unemployment impact of pandemic on rural areas highlighted
Councils have warned that a narrow concentrate the government’s levelling-up agenda which bypasses rural and shire counties risks England’s economic recovery from coronavirus, with those areas seeing over 1,000 people each day claiming out of work benefits within the Twelve months because the outbreak.
The County Councils Network analysis found that the number of people claiming out of work benefits has grown fastest in county and rural areas since March 2021, more than doubling during the pandemic across the 36 county areas it represents – rising by 123 per cent since March 2021. This is over a rise of 84 per cent in Northern cities and towns.
The CCN has launched a new campaign aiming to highlight that county councils and unitary councils in counties may have the lead role in local economic recovery efforts, particularly in re-skilling individuals, infrastructure, and green growth, as well as in setting ambitious visions for his or her areas.
Additionally, data implies that their economies are projected to contract by almost £60 billion because the start of the pandemic in England. Those 36 county areas also have witnessed the fastest growth in furloughed employees in the past six months that has seen a national lockdown re-introduced – with almost 1.5 million people in county areas now currently on furlough.
The CCN says that the analysis shows that rural and large county areas in most four corners of the country have borne because the brunt of the economic shock as urban locations. They argue a ‘narrow and simplistic’ concentrate on northern cities and towns in the forthcoming Levelling-Up White Paper could overlook the needs of their areas, and risks those communities becoming left-behind areas too, devoid of the employment and skills needed.
Barry Lewis, Economic Growth Spokesperson for the CCN, said: “County areas have not been without their challenges but historically had low unemployment until the economic devastation of the pandemic, which has resulted in an explosion in people claiming out of work benefits. This might just be the start: with 1 / 2 of the workforce in counties used in at risk sectors we fear that lots of people will not have jobs to return into once furlough ends.
“To date, there has been an understandable concentrate on levelling-up Northern towns, but an overly narrow and simplistic focus which bypasses rural and shire counties will hamper the country’s economic recovery. This analysis shows that levelling up must happen right across all four corners of England. To ensure county areas don’t become left-behind communities, we're urging the government to not ignore these places when it comes to the distributing resources included in levelling-up. In addition, county authorities should be given the powers and resource to guide economic recovery efforts locally, in recognition that each county area may have individual solutions.”
