REDCAR & CLEVELAND: Steelworks taskforce ‘can tackle jobs crisis’
The taskforce that was set up to assist stricken steelworkers and their families in the wake of the SSI steel plant closure five years ago should be reconvened to tackle a fresh “jobs crisis”, according to a senior councillor.
Former Redcar and Cleveland Council leader Sue Jeffrey said the taskforce which was given tens of millions of pounds of Government funding to help workers re-train, find new jobs and set up new businesses, could fulfill a new role in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
In September 2018 the taskforce began winding down when it announced its training programme would come to an end, with £49m of the original £53m the Government originally provided for its mission having been spent by that point.
However it remains a legal entity to fulfil what has been called a legacy function and counts local MPs Simon Clarke, who represents Middlesbrough South and east Cleveland, and Redcar MP Jacob Young as members.
Cllr Jeffrey told a meeting of the council: “It should be reconvened as soon as possible to look at the jobs crisis we have here in the borough.”
In July a report provided to members on the council’s growth, enterprise and environment improvement committee predicted that up to 3,000 jobs could be lost in Redcar and Cleveland because of the impact of coronavirus.
However the council was quick to point out that in all probability this would be a worst-case scenario.
To date and since its creation in 2015 the taskforce has spent £51m on local employment schemes in the local area and wider Tees Valley with 2,703 people accessing training, 2,082 jobs being created and 387 new businesses being set up.
But unemployment in Redcar and Cleveland has remained stubbornly high.
Between April 2019 and March this year the unemployment rate stood at an average of 6.1% – before the impact of the pandemic began to be felt.
This compared to 5.6% for the North-East as a whole and 3.6% in England, Scotland and Wales.
Meanwhile, in June this year 13.4% of 18-21 year olds in the borough were claiming benefits principally because they were unemployed.
This compared to 10.6% in the North-East and 8.8% in England, Scotland and Wales.
Councillor Alec Brown, deputy leader of the Labour group on the council, said figures showed that overall earnings had fallen in the borough since the steelworks closed and some of those finding work had moved into insecure part-time jobs.
He also questioned whether the borough was more at risk from the economic shock the coronavirus had caused.
Councillor Wayne Davies, cabinet member for economic development at Redcar and Cleveland Council, said: “It does look potentially gloomy for Redcar and Cleveland in the short term, but this is not just a Redcar and Cleveland jobs crisis, it is country-wide.
“I am still upbeat and positive that we are as best placed as anyone in the country to get a post covid bounceback and get jobs for people and the economy going.”
Conservative MP Mr Young said: “The SSI taskforce succeeded in its primary aim of providing training and support for those workers who lost their jobs following the closure of the SSI steelworks.
“Our Tees Valley Mayor Ben Houchen is focussed on bringing new jobs to the area through the redevelopment of the site with the hugely ambitious ‘Teesworks’ project.
“I am committed to doing what’s best for the people of Redcar and Cleveland and I will carefully consider any proposals which can benefit the area and our skilled workers.”