TUC publishes plan to avoid mass unemployment as a third of jobs revealed to be at risk

A new TUC report ‘A better recovery for the South West, published today, sets out a plan to prevent mass unemployment following the pandemic, with secure jobs and decent pay for working families.

The report by the trade union body warns there is a high risk of mass unemployment in the South West if the region does not have a recovery plan centred on protecting and creating jobs, backed by major investment.

This comes as the trade union body publishes their latest analysis on the number of jobs at risk by local authority in the South West region.

Risk of mass unemployment in the South West

Workers who have required support from the job retention scheme and self-employed income support scheme are most likely to face unemployment risks in the months ahead.

In the South West region, TUC analysis estimates at least 878,800 workers (32% of the workforce) have required support from government schemes. And local authorities in the region with the highest proportion of workers seeking support through these schemes are Cornwall, Torbay and Dorset at 37% and 36% respectively.

According to the report, rural and coastal communities with lower average pay and higher insecure employment have been especially affected, thus exposing the cracks in the region’s economy.

On top of these figures, there are many other people who have been laid off or who entered the employment market during the crisis and unable to find work, and are ineligible for the government support schemes.

A plan to get the South West growing out of the crisis. 

The pandemic alone did not cause the current crisis. It was made worse by a decade of deep cuts to local councils and services, and a failure to strengthen the South West economy, says the TUC.

Choosing the wrong approach now risks embedding low growth, long-term unemployment and all the social ills that go alongside.

The report recommends an approach based on recently published TUC research (see notes), which found that the fastest recoveries from economic crises in UK history were based on investment for growth.

An investment for growth approach must be resourced by central government, and will need action at regional level in three key areas:

1. Investing in jobs: Combined authorities, local councils and local enterprise partnerships (LEPs) should work in partnership with trade unions and businesses to:

• Secure investment for local infrastructure needs
• Leverage public sector spending to support local jobs and enterprise
• Develop a regional-level green industrial strategy that builds on the region’s strengths to meet climate targets

2. Decent work and a new way of doing business: Combined authorities, local councils and LEP’s should attach conditions to commissioning and procurement that will improve job quality, strengthen worker voice, increase training opportunities and tackle discrimination and disadvantage in the workplace.
 

3. Rebuilding public services: Combined Authorities and local authorities should adopt a policy of managing all services in-house by default, so they can raise employment and delivery standards, and strengthen the resilience of essential services such as social care.

A regional recovery council 

The report calls for the formation of a regional recovery panel with representation from unions, employers, Job Centre Plus, relevant civic partners and local and regional government.

Regional panels would work in tandem with a UK National Recovery Panel to turn headline objectives into tailored strategies for each region.

The TUC says that regional structures with devolved powers are essential to achieving the best recovery possible, because the nature and scale of the challenge varies greatly across different parts of the UK.

Both the regional and national bodies should have worker representation so that workers’ voices are at the heart of decision-making for recovery plans.

TUC regional secretary Nigel Costley said:

“People are very worried about their jobs. Many have been laid off already. And just last week, our unions received dozens of redundancy notifications – with many more expected to come. This situation is only going to get worse unless something is done now.

“Losing your job is a dreadful experience – devastating for families. And devastating for our communities. 

“If we allow mass unemployment to take hold, our economy will be smaller, and the recovery, much slower.

“That’s why investing in good jobs is at the heart of our recovery plan for the South West. Jobs in a reborn manufacturing sector. Jobs in the green tech we need to safeguard our future. More and better jobs in our revived tourism and creative sectors. It’s just common sense.

“And we must value our public services much more than we did before. Because after ten long years of cuts, our key workers found it much harder than it should have been. Our communities will always remember the key workers who kept us going through the crisis. But the people with the power to do more – the politicians - they must not forget.

“This week, we’re asking the Chancellor to put his faith in the people of the South West with big and bold investment. If he backs us in this way, we can avoid mass unemployment, work our way to recovery and build back better.”