Agenda item

Unemployment

It was moved by Councillor Bob Johnson, seconded by Councillor Nikki Sharpe, that this Council:-

(a)       is concerned that youth unemployment has edged towards a million, increasing by 15,000 on the quarter, to 974,000;

(b)       regrets that the Deputy Prime Minister’s flagship Youth Contract has paid out for less than 4,700 placements for its target group of 18- to 24-year-olds who have been out of work for more than six months;

(c)        supports efforts by the present Administration through the Sheffield Apprenticeship Programme, however, regrets that this local action is not backed up by national action from the Government;

(d)       is concerned that long-term unemployment continues to rise and the number of people out of work for more than twelve months increased on the quarter to 909,000;

(e)       regrets that more than half of the long-term unemployed have been out of work for more than two years, with 474,000 people being unemployed for more than two years, its highest level since June 1997;

(f)        believes that long-term unemployment is spiralling out of control because the Government’s Work Programme has underperformed;

(g)       believes that the country urgently needs a real plan to get Britain back to work on a national level and supports Labour’s Compulsory Jobs Guarantee, to get anyone locked out of employment for more than two years into a real paying job which they would be required to take;

(h)       is concerned that Remploy, Sharrow Industries and other vulnerable groups of workers, for instance, have suffered disproportionately due to Government cuts; and

(i)         is committed to assisting disabled people in employment and recognises that, wherever possible, through the Council’s procurement and commissioning processes, opportunities for these workers should be sought and bidders should evidence how they can assist the Council in achieving this goal and securing employment and support for these vulnerable workers.

Whereupon, it was moved by Councillor Colin Ross, seconded by Councillor Ian Auckland, as an amendment, that the Motion now submitted be amended by the deletion of all the words after the words “That this Council” and the substitution of the following words therefor:-

(a)       recalls the failure of the last Government to tackle the scandal of youth unemployment, with numbers rising steadily from 2004 onwards, reaching almost half a million prior to the economic crash;

(b)       praises the tough action taken by Liberal Democrats in Government, which has stabilised the British economy and is delivering economic growth;

(c)        welcomes action by Liberal Democrats in Government to support young people into jobs, including increased spending of £250 million on apprenticeships within the first year of the Coalition – a 50% increase on the previous Government’s commitments;

(d)       notes that Sheffield has seen a massive 54% increase in the number of young people starting an apprenticeship, bringing the total number of people who have benefited from an apprenticeship since 2010 to 12,270;

(e)       reiterates that all participants on the Sheffield Apprenticeship Programme will receive at least Level 2 training, funded by the Coalition Government, and thanks the Government for this support;

(f)        reminds Members that it was the main opposition group that first suggested doubling the number of young people on the Sheffield Apprenticeship Programme and identified funding to do so;

(g)       is also delighted that a radical apprenticeship scheme forms a key pillar of the Government’s City Deal with Sheffield and thanks Liberal Democrats in Government, in particular the Deputy Prime Minister, for helping to secure the deal;

(h)       supports the numerous other actions that have been taken to support young people into jobs in Sheffield, including:

(i)         new jobs and investment at the Advanced Manufacturing Park;

(ii)        a new University Technical College for Sheffield, which will provide the skills the next generation of Sheffielders need to compete;

(iii)       a £1.2 billion investment enabling the Streets Ahead project to proceed, creating new jobs and apprenticeships;

(iv)       massive investment in Sheffield’s transport infrastructure including buses, trams and trains; and

(v)        a cut in National Insurance contributions, allowing businesses to create new jobs, which was opposed by the Administration;

(i)         contrasts this record of action to the Labour Party whose economic plans remain far from credible and would add an estimated £201 billion to the national debt; and

(j)         endorses the Liberal Democrats’ ‘A Million Jobs’ campaign, which aims to support more young people in apprenticeships.

On being put to the vote, the amendment was negatived.  The original Motion was then put to the vote and carried, as follows:-

RESOLVED:  That this Council:-

(a)       is concerned that youth unemployment has edged towards a million, increasing by 15,000 on the quarter, to 974,000;

(b)       regrets that the Deputy Prime Minister’s flagship Youth Contract has paid out for less than 4,700 placements for its target group of 18- to 24-year-olds who have been out of work for more than six months;

(c)        supports efforts by the present Administration through the Sheffield Apprenticeship Programme, however, regrets that this local action is not backed up by national action from the Government;

(d)       is concerned that long-term unemployment continues to rise and the number of people out of work for more than twelve months increased on the quarter to 909,000;

(e)       regrets that more than half of the long-term unemployed have been out of work for more than two years, with 474,000 people being unemployed for more than two years, its highest level since June 1997;

(f)        believes that long-term unemployment is spiralling out of control because the Government’s Work Programme has underperformed;

(g)       believes that the country urgently needs a real plan to get Britain back to work on a national level and supports Labour’s Compulsory Jobs Guarantee, to get anyone locked out of employment for more than two years into a real paying job which they would be required to take;

(h)       is concerned that Remploy, Sharrow Industries and other vulnerable groups of workers, for instance, have suffered disproportionately due to Government cuts; and

(i)         is committed to assisting disabled people in employment and recognises that, wherever possible, through the Council’s procurement and commissioning processes, opportunities for these workers should be sought and bidders should evidence how they can assist the Council in achieving this goal and securing employment and support for these vulnerable workers.

(Note: 1.Councillors Simon Clement-Jones, Shaffaq Mohammed, Rob Frost, Sylvia Anginotti, Colin Ross, Joe Otten, Penny Baker, Roger Davison, Sue Alston, Andrew Sangar, Cliff Woodcraft, Denise Reaney, Ian Auckland, Bob McCann, Katie Condliffe, David Baker, Alison Brelsford and Trevor Bagshaw voted for paragraphs (a) and (i) and against paragraphs (b) to (h) of the Motion and asked for this to be recorded.

2. Councillors Jillian Creasy and Robert Murphy voted for paragraphs (a) to (f), (h) and (i); and abstained from voting on paragraph (g) of the Motion and asked for this to be recorded.)