Number of Barnsley unemployment claimaints rise by 3,865

Unemployment statistics released by the Office for National Statistics show a total of 9,045 people in the town claimed either Universal Credit or Jobseeker’s Allowance in April - an increase of 2.5 per cent since March.

Barnsley was placed seventh in a table of increases in unemployment in the UK’s 63 largest cities and towns. Doncaster was also in the top 10, while Sheffield placed 33rd.

Centre for Cities published the analysis, which is an early indication of where the economy has taken the hardest hit since lockdown measures were introduced.

The number of claimants are up everywhere in the country.

Cities and towns in the North of England and the Midlands have seen the highest increases in the UK, and have the highest rates overall.

A total of 2.1 million people in the UK filed a claim for either Universal Credit or Jobseeker’s Allowance in April, a rise of about 850,000 compared with March.

The 10 cities with the lowest claimant counts are in the South of England and Scotland, with York being the only northern exception.

The increase in people claiming benefits corresponds with companies laying off staff, citing an inability to pay wages as business suffers due to forced closure during lockdown and the weakened economy brought on by the pandemic.

Coun Tim Cheetham, Barnsley Council cabinet spokesman for place (regeneration and culture), said: “Barnsley Council was extremely quick in its response to dealing with the economic challenges of Covid-19.

"We knew the ramifications of the lockdown measures would be extremely severe. That’s why we paid out millions of pounds in support to businesses in advance of any money coming through from the government, and we’ve so far paid out more than £39m to more than 3,500 business premises across the borough.

“It is clear, however, that there will be economic impacts. It is devastating that more people are finding themselves unable to work and are having to rely on employment support benefits to get by.

“We have a jobs-based approach to economic recovery and we’ve been working to make it easier for our residents to access support to help them deal with their current situation and plan for the future, whether they are unemployed, at risk, or in work and wanting to change careers.

“Barnsley residents are able to benefit from a number of free to access employment support schemes, providing career advice and guidance, training opportunities and ways to improve the skills they need to access employment. We’ve worked with a number of partner organisations to establish a helpdesk as a single point of contact for residents available at enterprisingbarnsley.co.uk/support-for-employment/

“We will continue to do all we can to support Barnsley’s economy as fully as we possibly can. We are certain that we will get through this, and we’ll continue to work together with the business community to keep Barnsley moving forward into the next phases of recovering from this crisis.

"We’ve also awarded more than £18.8m in business rates relief at 922 retail, leisure and hospitality business premises."

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