Unemployment in Birmingham

[sefton66]

Unemployment has once again fell in the West Midlands, The benefit claimant percentage in birmingham has dropped again. We now only hold the top 3 areas in the UK of benefit claimants compared to the top 5 going back a few months.
Benefit claimants in Ladywood fell 0.2% to 10.8%, in Hodge Hill it fell 0.4% to 9.6% and in Sparkbrook it also fell 0.2% to 8.8%.

[sefton66]

This seems like the best thread to post this...

Three thousand apprenticeships could be created in three years across the West Midlands.

Birmingham's Chamber of Trade and Metropolitan College are joining forces, along with businesses further afield, to place young people in jobs.

Samsung, BSkyB, BMW, Dixons Retail, E.On and Cadbury are among the firms supporting the scheme.

It was announced by David Willetts, Minister for Universities and Science, at the Conservative Party Conference.

'Badge of honour'
He told the conference, held at the International Convention Centre in Birmingham, that apprenticeships should be seen as a "badge of honour".

"So I can announce today that apprentices in key sectors will be officially awarded the title technician - a badge of honour, just like graduating from university," he said.

The apprenticeships will be offered across the West Midlands in Birmingham, Solihull, Burton-upon-Trent, Lichfield and Tamworth.

A college spokesman said it was being supported by some of the Midlands' largest companies.

He added that a number of apprentices had gone onto degree programmes and were "enjoying well paid careers".

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...ngham-11466829

[sefton66]

Council job losses top 60,000
(UKPA) – 9 hours ago

The number of job losses announced by councils across England and Wales, including Tower Hamlets and Hounslow in London, because of Government spending cuts has reached 60,000, new figures show.

The GMB union, which has been tracking local authority cutbacks in recent weeks, said parts of the country were witnessing the "wholesale dismantling" of public services.

The latest councils to announce job cuts included Birmingham (almost 2,500 jobs), Coventry (1,000), Buckinghamshire (500), Tower Hamlets in London (500) and Hounslow in London (400), said the union.

It warned that the pace of redundancy announcements will speed up in the coming weeks as more councils meet to discuss their spending plans.

Roger Jenkins, GMB officer for Birmingham City Council, said: "We are witnessing the wholesale dismantling of public services as we know them in Birmingham and this is not scaremongering.

"There will, for example, be no remand centre for children in the city when these cuts have gone through.

"There are already three registered unemployed workers for each unfilled job vacancy in the Birmingham travel-to-work area before these job losses kick in."

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ukp...91206913A00001

[Brum X]

Not good

[hoody]

Originally Posted by Brum X

Not good

for those that are immediately affected it is not good. However Councils have long been creating jobs out of nothing and have harvested inefficiency through these means by making work for works sake.

The interesting part will be how the councils redistribute this work or scrap it altogether. The councils have fingers in too many pies that do not immediately go to the heart of the purpose of the council.

As a taxpayer i think this is a good thing to go back to basics, and on the whole I don't think front line services will suffer, back office administrators will.

Interesting times.

[hoody]

On a more positive note.

German developer settles in Birmingham, plans to install 60MW in the UK
Published on 18 November 2010
Updated on 18 November 2010


juwi is expected to install large-scale solar projects across the UK over the next two yearsLeading German project developer juwi, which announced its entry into the UK solar market in August this year, has named Birmingham as the location for its subsidiary “juwi Renewable Energies Ltd.” Over the next two years, juwi is expected to install over 60MW across the country, predominantly in the south.

The company will mainly develop photovoltaic projects independantly, covering the entire process from acquisition of suitable land to the completion of the power plant. juwi will also develop turnkey projects in which the company will act as the general contractor for the design, engineering and construction of ground mounted and rooftop solar installations.

"The UK currently provides excellent conditions for the solar industry; the country is becoming an attractive European market. We are happy that the United Kingdom jumps on the bandwagon on the way to renewable energies and a comprehensive restructuring of the energy supply. We want to contribute to a further acceleration of this train so that we reach 100 % renewable energies as soon as possible,” said Lars Falck, Head of juwi Solar and Managing Director of juwi UK. The management will be taken over by a British candidate within the next few months.

“If the conditions remain that positive, we will create a large number of sustainable jobs in the UK. At the moment, we plan to hire approximately 60 people until the end of 2012”, said Daniel Parsons, Business Development Manager juwi Solar.

“The feed-in tariff will contribute to a large extent to a security of energy supplies in the UK based on renewable energies,” says Amiram Roth-Deblon, Head of Business Development juwi Solar.

juwi did not comment on the recent news that large-scale solar installations in the UK may be under threat.

Solar Power Portal Website

[NeilM]

I posted a story about that in the West Midlands Company News thread, a few days ago, it is good news.

I wish Woody would change the title of that thread by adding "and Economy" between Company and News.

[sefton66]

Benefit Claimaints in Birmingham has fallen over the past month, however when compared with the last time i posted the updated figures they have actually rose since August..

Ladywood now stands at 10.9% a fall from 11.1% in September
Hodge Hill now stands at 9.7% a fall from 9.8% in September and finally
Sparkbrook now stands at 9.1% down from 9.2% in September

Atleast Birmingham only holds the top 3 spaces in the UK of benefit claimaints, this time last year we had the top 5

[sefton66]

Latest Figures are out:

Unemployment in the West Midlands has gone up by 12,000 to 238,000 or 8.9%, only Yorkshire, London and the North East are worse percentage wise

Birmingham still has the Top 3 areas of benefit claimants, although the 2 actually fell from October - November

Ladywood rose from 10.9% to 11%
Hodge Hill fell from 9.7% to 9.6%
and Sparkbrook actually fell from 9.1% to 8.8%

[BABYCAKES]

get out the bunting

[NeilM]

Good to see, but will it actually make a difference, or just be another talking shop?

Politicians join forces in bid to revive West Midlands economy

* by Jonathan Walker, Birmingham Post
* Jan 24 2011


Politicians from all three major parties have teamed up in a bid to bring new industries and jobs to the West Midlands.

The MPs aim to quiz employers, local authorities and chambers of commerce about what can be done to cut unemployment and help businesses succeed - and then to present their findings to the Government.

Black Country MP Ian Austin (Lab Dudley North), Solihull MP Lorely Burt (Lib Dem Solihull) and Worcestershire MP Mark Garnier (Con Wyre Forest) are leading the new All-Party Parliamentary Group.

They will hold inquiries in Westminster to gather evidence from civic and business leaders about the local economy and the needs of industry.

It follows the publication of new unemployment figures showing the West Midlands has seen the swiftest growth in unemployment in the country.

The number of people out of work rose by 48,000 in the three months to November, with 264,000 people unemployed in the region.

That gave the West Midlands an unemployment rate of 9.9 per cent. Nationally the jobless rate is 7.9 per cent.

Youth claimant count in the region remained stable with 44,800 16 to 24-year-olds claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance during the three-month period.

Mr Austin said: “The West Midlands was hit hardest by the downturn, and will take longest to recover.

“We have great strengths in our region: hard work, ingenuity, adaptability and innovation. But we face challenges when it comes to skills, transport or our ability to exploit new economic opportunities.

“We need to get Whitehall to understand the challenges we face so it’s great MPs from all parties are working together to ensure the West Midlands gets the help and support it needs.”

Ms Burt said: “In these difficult times it is very important that West Midlands MPs all work together to defend and promote the interests of our region. We have tremendous resources in our region: human, technical and physical. Together, this group will focus on all the positive things that we can achieve and I know we can tackle the challenges that our region faces.”

And Mr Garnier added: “I am honoured to be a founding co-chair of this important group. The economy of the West Midlands is fragile, but its success is important to the millions who live in the region.

“Creating a structure in which Parliament and local MPs can support our region is vital.”

Read More http://www.birminghampost.net/news/n...#ixzz1C3zF3l4I

[Erebus555]

In the heat of the news from Egypt, it's easy to miss this. Awful news.

Birmingham City Council 'to shed 7,000 jobs'

Birmingham City Council says 7,000 jobs must go in a bid to save £300m.

So far 1,500 staff have requested voluntary redundancy, meaning forced losses will be "significantly reduced," council officials have said.

Some £212m - 71% of the savings target - will be made in the 12 months from April this year.

The details were revealed by officials and councillors in a briefing document. A final decision will be made in March.

'Challenging budget'
The union Unison described the job losses as "devastating".

The council says the jobs will go over the next three to four years, with 2,450 going in the next financial year.

Councillor Mike Whitby, leader of Birmingham City Council, said: "Undoubtedly this has been one of the most challenging budgets to plan.

"Although, inevitably, there will be a focus on reduced spend across the public sector it is important to remember that more than £3.5bn is still to be spent on quality public services."

'Devastating'
Birmingham is the UK's largest local authority. The city council has 18,993 full-time staff posts.

A consultation in November detailed plans to reduce staff numbers to 11,877 by 2014/15.

Unison's assistant general secretary Roger McKenzie said: "It's not just devastating news for people losing their jobs, but for the people of Birmingham.

"This is 7,000 people thrown into three to four years of uncertainty.

"Uncertain how they are going to pay their mortgage, their rent or put food on the table."

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england...ngham-12431949

[Anup24]

Yea this is bad for the economy, but from what i hear from people working in the council and health trust is that there is just too much middle management.
These people dont have a big role to play, and can easily get rid of them without too much disruption.
Like i say this is what people tell me working in those sectors but if im wrong, please dont shoot me!

[daumal]

It's all very well banging on about 'middle management' being inefficient, but I'll say two things:

Firstly, middle managers are rarely the people who actually lose their jobs in culls like this - 'efficiencies' can often be achieved much more easily by getting rid of some low earners and increasing the workload of the staff remaining - the managers are more likely to get rewarded than anything else for that.

Secondly, these mythical 'middle managers' doing 'non-jobs' are unlikely to make up the 38% of the workforce that these redundancies amount to. 38%! It's an insane figure for any organisation.

[SimonTheSoundMan]

Unfortunately, most middle managers become middle managers because they are useless at their jobs — see Dilbert Principle and Peter Principle.

[blahblah]

I've been told (by a relative who works there) of a local authority in Yorkshire which has made the entire Home Help department redundant - apart from the managers of course.

[Sonny97]

My wife works in a Primary Care Trust in Birmingham, and her admin job is at risk.

She has been working there for around 9 years and she could never quite understand why Primary Care Trusts were introduced when they replaced just the one local health authority for the city.

So rather than having one Chief Executive, there's now a CE for each PCT. Same for other departments heads - like a Finance Director, rather than having one under the old Authority, the PCTs created 4, one for each Trust. But each PCT covered exactly the same area!

Multiple jobs across PCTs that were originally achieved individually under the old Authority: is it any wonder the NHS budget is so huge with such wastage.

And as for middle management: when my wife started in 2003 there were 20 people in her department, mostly admin, but with 3 managers and 1 director (ratio of around 6:1). Last year the same department had a staff of 60, but with 14 managers (or their derivatives) and 4 directors (ratio of 3:1) !!

I wonder how many of those managers will find their jobs at risk? My wife will find out in the next few weeks.

[daumal]

Labour peer says 'weak' leadership will bring jobs crisis to Birmingham

Former Labour cabinet minister Lord Adonis has attacked Birmingham’s “weak” leadership claiming the city faces a mounting crisis of jobs and deprivation due to lack of direction.

The former Transport Secretary, who is also an academic and life peer, made the comments during a lecture to the Lunar Society in Birmingham.

He said the city was trailing behind others such as Liverpool and said it “made a big mistake” by not following London in having an elected mayor.

He said high speed rail could also play a key role in transforming the city’s fortunes.

Lord Adonis said: “Birmingham’s unemployment rate is above 11 per cent, more than twice the national average.

“In the five years to 2008 it gained 10,000 public sector jobs, but lost 3,000 in the private sector. Now losses in the public sector are starting too.

“Worst of all, Birmingham almost tops the league of Britain’s low-skill cities. More than two in 10 residents have low skills, compared with just over one in 10 nationally.

“Birmingham is behind even Liverpool, which has lost nearly half its population in the past 50 years.“Birmingham made a big mistake in not following London a decade ago by creating an elected Mayor.

“As the largest single-tier local authority in Europe with a £4 billion annual budget covering a population of a million, Birmingham might have had the best of both worlds: an authority that could significantly influence transport projects and regional economic development, while holding direct responsibility for key public services.

“Instead, the city council has had the worst of both worlds. It is hard to be an effective leader, promoting radical change, if people do not know who you are.

Jerry Blackett, chief executive of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce, said: “Clearly, Birmingham is changing from manufacturing to service and there is no reason why it can’t make a success of it.

“We are undertaking a detailed study of the impact on the elected Mayor for Birmingham and part of that process will involve consulting our members.”

Did anybody else go to his lecture last night? I thought it was all very interesting.

[greatmoseley!]

Rather worrying statistics published on the BBC website regarding unemployment. Unemployment figures published on the 14th september:

Ladywood has risen to 12.4%
Hodge Hill 11%
Sparkbrook 9.8%
Erdington 9.2%

I know this was probably expected but I question whether our inward investment agency is doing enough to attract low skilled jobs into these areas (i.e. call centres etc). Manchester is still successfully attracting this sort of investment so where is Business Birmingham going wrong?

i think the question needs to be raised, are the right people working for these agencies?

[sefton66]

I don't think business Birmingham can be put to blame, A lot of people who work in the city centre and Birmingham area live outside the Birmingham area, If you look at the BBC unemployment tracker graphics they show the other areas within Birmingham and the wider area where people live and commute from are actually below the national average for unemployment. I think its more the attitude towards working in these areas with high unemployment

some examples of the areas in and around Birmingham and their unemployment rates
Stratford 1.5%
Solihull 2.4%
Warwick 2.5%
Warwickshire N 3%
Sutton Coldfield 3%
Bromsgrove 3%
Redditch 4%
Selly Oak 5.5%
Hall Green 6.1%
Edgbaston 6.1%
Northfield 6.4%
Yardley 7.2%

The National Average is actually 8.1%

I do admit the areas with high unemployment are not the most invested in areas but there are jobs there for them and elsewhere. Northfield isn't exactly full of places offering jobs but the unemployment rate is fairly low considering