The increases have been linked to mounting unemployment, with the report voicing concerns that “the suicide rate increases and worrying prescribing trends will be difficult to contain” if “economic growth is slow and training and employment opportunities are limited.”

Prescriptions of the main drug treatment for anxiety and depression according to NHS guidelines, SSRIs, have shot up 8.5 per cent in the last twelve months. While the report argues the data should be treated with caution due to differences in prescription practices, it notes that NHS Manchester view GPs as reporting “increasing numbers of people presenting with mild to moderate health problems as a result of the recession.”

Deaths from suicide and self-harm have also risen since 2007, according to a November report authored by the local Director of Public Health David Regan. Although the report notes that the increase could be due to other factors, for example “poorer reported mental wellbeing” of middle-aged men, it notes that “there seems to be an underlying increase in self-harm deaths across the region.”

Physical and mental impacts

Past research by the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has found links between unemployment and mental and physical ill-health. A major review carried out in 2008 uncovered associations with increased rates of mortality from heart and lung diseases, psychological distress and “minor psychological and psychiatric morbidity”, increased admissions to hospital and use of medicines and “much worse prognosis and recovery rates”.

Other key findings highlighted by the study were of the greatest impacts of unemployment on mental health being felt three to six months after the loss of a job, negative effects on healthy lifestyles and of poorer health for the families of those out of work.

In addition, the review found job insecurity to have “an adverse impact on health”, with symptoms such as rising blood pressure, and increased risk of diabetes and infections “classic consequences” of stress. The report to Manchester City Council noted how these effects “will be present in a significant proportion of the local population during the current economic downturn.”

MULE spoke to clinical psychologist Dr Steve Eccles, who explained that while links between unemployment and mental health are complex, loss of employment is “a very stressful life event” which can have “a profound effect on people’s identity” while increasing social isolation.

Dr Eccles advised people experiencing symptoms of stress, anxiety or depression to attempt to maintain a normal daily routine and to keep up social connections with family and friends as much as possible. He further said people with such symptoms should try to monitor drug and alcohol use, stay active and exercise, keep time for pleasurable activities and hobbies, and consider taking part in voluntary work, while those with more severe symptoms should access services via their GP, or A&E for emergencies.

Decent security

However, the report also noted that for employment to have real health benefits jobs would “need to be sustainable, offer a decent living wage, have opportunities for in-work development, have flexibility to enable people to balance work and family life, and protect employees from adverse working conditions that can damage health.”

And Alan Hartman, chair of Manchester Users Network, claimed the findings should not be used to neglect mental health care needs in favour of a “culture, which is dangerous, that if you’re in work you’re not mentally ill anymore”. Hartman also warned that cuts to welfare benefits for people with mental health issues, the loss of welfare rights officers and changes to legal aid for welfare benefit cases would leave people unable to secure support.

Hartman further labelled attempts to deal with poor mental health which would primarily aim at returning people to work “a con” given the lack of available employment. “If it was in the 1970s it’s be positive”, he argued, but said in recent years “there’s no jobs and people are being pushed off their benefits.”

Government welfare reforms include the highly controversial Work Programme, a taxpayer-funded but private sector-run project with the stated aim of moving people from benefits into employment through training, increased sanctions and unpaid and enforced “volunteering” for companies and other organisations. A DWP spokesperson claimed the scheme allows contractors to use specialist knowledge “to deliver individual tailored support to meet the needs of all out of work claimants – including the most vulnerable and hard to help.”

Although the Work Programme is delivered independently of Manchester City Council’s services, executive member for Adult Services Councillor Glynn Evans said the council would “support” the DWP and others to “assess what people can do – rather than what they cannot – to help them find the right kind of job that will improve their lifestyle and health, while reducing their dependency on public services and benefits.”

Similar “Welfare to Work” projects mentioned in the report have seen limited success however, with only two out of 70 Ardwick residents on one trial stream delivered by training provider Work Solutions, a “jobs broker” for private sector giant G4S, having entered “sustained employment” of longer than 13 weeks. While the report said this figure was expected to rise in the next month, it acknowledged that “not surprisingly, supporting people with long term mental health problems on the pathway to work in such a tough job market is impacting on these problems.”

Richard Goulding

Lydia Besong. Photograph: Christopher Thomond for the Guardian

The couple arrived back at Bury late Wednesday night to the relief of supporters. Both had been detained and threatened with removal from the UK following the rejection of their claim for asylum.

The refusal provoked outcry among local and national human rights groups however, and deportation was averted when an application by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) to overturn Besong and Batey’s right to judicial review was refused by the courts less than 24 hours before their removal was set to go ahead.

The pair have testified that they were subjected to imprisonment and torture in their home country of Cameroon for their involvement with political movements which campaign for the self-determination of the country’s English-speaking minority.

On her return to Manchester Besong thanked her supporters, who fought a high-profile campaign lobbying the Home Office and appealing for her release from detention. “I call them my pillars. If I’m standing here today now talking to you it is because of them,” she said.

“They are like my pillars after the support I had. They are really my support and they lift my spirit up. They give me the strength to know I’m not fighting alone.”

“Greater care and clarity”

It has also emerged that the Home Office has since withdrawn the decision to refuse their protection claim, although it is still not known what the outcome of new considerations on their claim will be. Their solicitor, Gary McIndoe of the human rights firm Latitude Law, said the government’s treatment of the case “continues to baffle”.

In a statement, McIndoe said: “Having confirmed that they are to reconsider their decision on Bernard’s asylum claim, UKBA have today authorised Bernard and Lydia’s release from detention, only 24 hours after communicating to us a refusal to release them.” He added, “We hope the substance of the risks faced by Bernard and Lydia in Cameroon today can now be looked at with greater care and clarity.”

A UKBA spokesperson stated: “The UK has a proud record of offering sanctuary to those who need it, but where we and the courts have found they do not qualify for protection they must return to their home country… Our rules are clear [that] if you have no right to be in the UK you will be required to leave or you will be removed.”

Both Besong and Batey have a long record of working with human rights groups in Manchester including Women Asylum Seekers Together (WAST), the refugee organisation Revive and human rights charity RAPAR. Besong is also a playwright, with productions of her debut play How I Became An Asylum Seeker performed nationwide by WAST members.

Cameroon has received repeated international condemnation by international monitors such as Amnesty International and others for its human rights abuses. Critics include the US State Department, which has noted how “security forces committed numerous unlawful killings; they regularly engaged in torture, beatings, and other abuses, particularly of detainees and prisoners.”

Strong support

High profile support has been won for the campaign, with supporters such as actor Juliet Stephenson and War Horse author Michael Morpurgo speaking out against the couple’s treatment. Gillian Slovo, President of English PEN, which campaigns for the freedom of speech for writers worldwide, described the news as “fantastic”. She added: “Please pass on my congratulations for the campaign they have waged and my hopes that this will now allow the two some stability here.”

Besong told MULE she hoped her upcoming play, Down with the Dictator, would provoke discussion of dictatorships in the developing world and the treatment by the West of those fleeing oppression. She warned that many others who had not received the backing she has are in similar situations, and in need of support.

“I would like justice. Not only for myself, I would like justice for everybody”, she said. “I know it’s happening to other asylum seekers, like for instance those who are not outspoken. How they handle their situation I don’t know.”

She added, “If you see an asylum seeker in need of any form of support please, if you are able to offer anything please do, they really need the support. Because if not, without that support, I wouldn’t be standing here.”

Richard Goulding

Households in the UK are classed as being in fuel poverty when more than 10 per cent of their income is spent keeping warm. According to a YouGov poll nearly one in four people live in fuel poverty, which is mainly determined by the cost of energy, the energy efficiency of the house and household income.

Last year the Big Six energy companies, who provide the gas and electricity to the majority of UK houses, raised their standard tariffs between 18 and 22.6 per cent. Annual energy bills have hit record highs, averaging at £1,345. Between 2010 and 2011, there were 25,700 ‘excess winter deaths’, and according to the government-commissioned Hills Poverty Review 2,700 were directly due to those people being ‘Fuel Poor’.

Campaigners claim this is a conservative estimate, and groups such as 38 Degrees and Friends of the Earth have come out against price increases. Campaigning petitioners 38 Degrees already have more than 85,000 signatures to their e-petition calling the Big Six to “give your customers a fair deal – cut your prices and don’t cream off huge profits”.

In response to widespread criticism to their role in the spread of fuel poverty some companies are agreeing to 4 per cent or 5 per cent cuts in tariffs, with most to come into effect after the winter period. However, with the price of wholesale gas dropping a further 9 per cent in November, and record profits reported to be up to 700 per cent for members of the Big Six, this move has done little to stifle criticism.

Groups such as Fuel Poverty Action however want to take things a step further than just lobbying for price decreases: “We want to work towards replacing fossil fuels and corporate-dominance over energy with an energy system based on the democratic control of renewable energy.”

Manchester Climate Action say they agree with the need to take further action.

“We’ll be joining in the winter warm up weekend on 27-30 January and we encourage others to take action and look at local alternatives to corporate and unsustainable energy,” said a spokesperson for MCA.

For more information, to follow the campaign and to see how you can get, see Fuel Poverty Action and Manchester Climate Action. For information on Manchester’s own Carbon Co-op, see here.

]]> http://manchestermule.com/article/winter-warm-up-weekend-of-action-planned-to-highlight-fuel-poverty/feed 1 http://manchestermule.com/article/cuts-take-at-least-1-billion-from-greater-manchester-and-theres-much-worse-to-come http://manchestermule.com/article/cuts-take-at-least-1-billion-from-greater-manchester-and-theres-much-worse-to-come#comments Tue, 17 Jan 2012 12:24:23 +0000 richard http://manchestermule.com/?p=13217 At least £1 billion in public spending was cut from the “city region” of Greater Manchester and Warrington over the last year, according to University of Manchester researchers. The study, carried out for Radio 4, anticipates a total of £10 billion to be slashed from the area over the next four years as part of the government’s austerity drive.

An anti-cuts demonstration in January 2011. Photograph: Roxallison

The report’s authors, Professor Colin Talbot and Doctor Carole Talbot of the Manchester Business School, expect unemployment across the area to “easily go above 100,000 by the end of next year with the effects of public sector job losses alone”, calculating a “reasonably conservative estimate” of 15,000 – 16,000 positions under threat.

Lost council services such as Sure Starts, libraries and adult social care make up “only a relatively small part of the overall picture” according to the study, although the authors warn their figure of £234 million in cuts to local government “is almost certainly an underestimate”. A rough figure of an 8 per cent reduction in spending for all other services aside from health and education, which have been ‘relatively’ protected by the Treasury, heaps an additional £762 million onto the total taken from the area.

Although the authors admit this is a somewhat “crude” calculation, they argue it errs on the side of caution considering some areas of spending such as economic regeneration have been wiped out by as much as 80 per cent. While Greater Manchester is less reliant on public sector employment than comparable cities such as Liverpool, Leeds or Birmingham, 23.4 per cent of the county’s workforce is still employed in that sector and in 2008/09, prior to the cuts, total public spending in the city region amounted to £22 billion, or 44 per cent of the region’s economy.

Tipping point?

To fill the gap left by David Cameron’s axe, the government hopes private sector investment will expand and create jobs once the state is “rolled back”. In response the study warns that as of yet there is “no sign of this happening”. The public sector cuts come on top of what the authors term a “substantial” private sector recession, with 34,100 jobs and £1.5 billion in value already lost from Greater Manchester between 2008 and 2010.

The report notes how even prior to the recession Manchester suffered from a growth in “under employment”, defined as “people working part-time who wanted full-time work and people who were clearly over-qualified for their jobs”. Additional research by local think tank the Commission for the New Economy has found this issue to have worsened since the recession, with employers exploiting a “flexible labour market” to squeeze wages and reduce hours.

On the upside, this has kept unemployment lower so far than in past recessions such as the 1980s or 1930s. However, the Commission noted that any upturn would result in a “jobless recovery” as firms make greater use of the staff they retained, while continuing economic stagnation – which appears likely – risks a “tipping point” of “pronounced” increases in redundancies if firms decide they can no longer afford to maintain their workforce.

Mixed resilience

As previously reported in MULE real incomes for those in work have been slashed as wages failed to keep pace with inflation, and the report expects further benefit cuts to the unemployed and people on low incomes to kick-in over the latter half of the current Parliament. The worst of the crunch in living standards as purses and wallets empty and businesses feel the knock-on effects is still to come, as “the full impact of these cuts will not yet have been felt across the Greater Manchester economy” only nine months in to austerity now planned to continue up until 2017.

On the plus side the report argues that Manchester and its surrounding area is faring “slightly better” on average than the rest of the UK, with a “fairly diversified local economy” compared to the factories and manufacturing of the 1970s. Looking beyond the bare statistics to how different parts of the region are coping reveals a grimmer picture however. Out of the 11 local authorities in the Manchester city region only three – the wealthier suburbs of Trafford, Stockport and Warrington – are in the top half of rankings of “resilience” against the impact of cuts and economic downturn as calculated by the BBC’s Newsnight.

Of the other eight authorities Bury, Manchester and Salford are in the bottom half of “resilient” areas with the remaining five councils in the former mill towns of Rochdale, Oldham, Tameside, Wigan and Bolton in Northern Greater Manchester in the bottom quarter of the country for resilience. The ultimate impact of the various remaining or repackaged schemes for blunting the downturn in these areas remains to be seen, although interesting local responses include Manchester City Council’s decision to increase its level of purchasing spend from £87 million to £154 million in the most deprived nearby neighbourhoods.

How more standard regeneration wheezes such as Salford’s MediaCityUK are to benefit the majority of the city’s residents appears less clear, with figures first reported in the Guardian revealing that just 154 of the 529 jobs made available through the site’s “jobs bank” going to applicants from either Manchester or Salford. Of those, only 24 were from Salford according to the Manchester Evening News. The sad fact that 26,400 young people in Greater Manchester before Christmas were on the dole gives some indication as to the scale of the hole the city is in.

Richard Goulding

Batey is being held at Morton Hall Immigration Removal Centre (IRC) while Besong, detained by the UKBA for the fourth time since she arrived in the UK in 2006, has been taken to Yarl’s Wood IRC in Bedford. Campaigners have accused the UK Border Agency (UKBA) of contravening their own procedures by failing to alert the couple that removal papers had been issued to them.

Besong was first to be detained after arriving at the UKBA Dallas Court Reporting Centre in Salford on Tuesday morning. Batey was later detained near his home in Bury. Despite letters from the Home Office stating both the refusal of Batey’s protection claim and their right to appeal from within the UK being dated 23 December, neither the couple nor their solicitor Gary McIndoe received this information until the letter was handed to them in custody on 10 January.

Their legal representatives Latitude Law were still awaiting a Home Office decision on the protection claim at the time of the detentions. In a campaign statement, McIndoe said that “further materials have been sent to the Home Office, including the report of an expert witness, and so I am surprised that the decision to detain has been made before their legal representatives have been informed in any way.”

When questioned, a UKBA spokesperson said: “Where individuals seek to frustrate their removal through the courts it can delay the returns process, however we will continue to pursue removal in these cases.”

Campaigners have expressed concerns regarding Cameroon’s treatment of government critics, and fear Besong and Batey’s political activity in the country with the Southern Cameroon National Congress (SCNC), a peaceful organisation which campaigns for the independence of Southern Cameroon, could cause them further persecution were they to return.

The government of Cameroon has been condemned by the human rights watchdog Amnesty International, which has previously found the government to have “continued to curtail the activities of the [SCNC], a non-violent secessionist group, whose members faced arrest and imprisonment”. Besong and Batey, as members of the SCNC, say they have been victims of imprisonment and torture in Cameroon, including the rape of Besong by a uniformed guard.

The US State Department have also been critical of Cameroon’s human rights record, noting how “security forces committed numerous unlawful killings; they regularly engaged in torture, beatings, and other abuses, particularly of detainees and prisoners.”

The UKBA refused to answer specific questions on this case. However, a spokesperson claimed that “the UK has a proud record of offering sanctuary to those who need it, but where we and the courts have found they do not qualify for protection they must return to their home country.”

Along with fears for the couple’s safety if the deportation is successful, campaigners are also concerned for the couple’s health and feel it should impact on the decision to remove Besong on an Air France flight at the end of next week.

A spokesperson for the Manchester-based human rights charity RAPAR said: “Lydia has recently undergone an emergency eye operation and had been prescribed a number of medicines to aid her recovery… it is essential that she continue to take them and remains under supervision until a follow up consultation with the specialist in two weeks time.”

Besong and Batey’s long running case has previously won the support of artists including the actor Juliet Stevenson, and organisations such as Women Asylum Seekers Together (WAST) and English PEN, the charity which campaigns for the international freedom of speech for writers.

While living in the UK both Besong and Batey have been involved in helping refugees and asylum seekers in situations similar to their own. Speakers on behalf of the refugee charity Revive, whose meetings Besong attended every Friday, said they were “deeply saddened and angry that our good friend Lydia and her husband Bernard have been detained in this dehumanising and immoral way.

“Lydia is an inspiration to society and to her community- she is such a talented woman and playwright and is an extremely valued member of many refugee organisations including Revive Action Group. Please, we call on all members of the community to come together and fight for their release and safety.”

Besong’s first play, ‘How I Became an Asylum Seeker’, has won praise from many and was hosted by Stevenson in London. Her second piece, ‘Down with the Dictator’ is currently being produced and is due to be performed at the International Community Theatre Festival in Bristol in March.

Katy Tolman

Campaigners are requesting supporters to email the Home Secretary Theresa May at mayt@parliament.uk and Privateoffice.external@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk and express your support for the couple to remain in the UK.

More details can be found here.

Please cc your correspondence to RAPAR via admin@rapar.org.uk.

Manjeet Kaur working on her case with her lawyer Gary McIndoe of Latitude Law, Manchester

Kaur has been granted permission for a judicial review of her case at the High Court in Manchester after the UK Border Agency (UKBA) refused to grant her an “in country” appeal following the rejection of her asylum claim.

Originally from Afghanistan, Kaur says she left her home in India after being beaten and threatened with rape and murder by men looking for her husband, human rights activist and journalist Amitt Bhatt, who disappeared in February this year after investigating suspected human rights abuses against the Kashmiri Pandit ethnic minority.

If the judicial review is turned down there is a risk that Kaur, a wheelchair user will be sent back to India. Whereas Kaur has relatives in the UK who can support her she has no family in India following the disappearance of her husband, and supporters say her disability will greatly restrict her ability to both work and travel and protect herself against future attacks.

Kaur labelled travel for a wheelchair users in India a “nightmare”, saying most roads and paths have “high bumps, broken surfaces and steps not feasible for a wheelchair user”, adding how it was in “no way possible to get from point A to B in a manual wheelchair without any help.”

Kaur’s solicitor Gary McIndoe of Latitude Law said: “Her evidence of her husband Amitt’s politically motivated disappearance, and the physical harm she has suffered, make this a clearly arguable case.”

The campaign ‘Keep Manjeet safe in the UK’ has been organised by asylum seeker charity RAPAR and has the support of community and disability rights activists and trade unionists – who have also contributed towards the financial backing for Kaur to pursue the case.

In May of this year, Kaur faced eviction from her home in Whalley Range when the UKBA terminated her housing support as a result of the rejection of her claim for asylum. The decision to evict a disabled asylum seeker attracted public attention when protesters rallied to her aid, winning the support of Stretford Labour MP Kate Green.

The protest, organised by RAPAR and the Disability Action Network, successfully resulted in Kaur being allowed to remain at her home in Whalley Range. This latest campaign, fighting for her right to appeal the decision of asylum in the UK, similarly has a broad group of supporters.

Dr Rhetta Moran, of RAPAR, said: “The level of support Manjeet has attracted from all sections of the community is a testimony to the strength of her case and to the way she has used her skills to work with people in her community and with other people seeking asylum.”

The UKBA were contacted but declined to comment.

Sam Cordon

The vigil will be held outside Manchester Civil Justice Centre, 1 Bridge Street West  (corner of Gartside Street), Manchester at 10am Monday 19 December

For further information of the ‘Keep Manjeet safe in the UK’ campaign visit RAPAR’s website 

The Eviction Risk Monitor research analysed the number and location of possession claims – an advanced stage in the possession process – across England between October 2010 and September 2011, and displayed the geographical distribution of repossessions on an interactive map.

Manchester had the highest rate of claims in the North West with 17.2 per 1,000 homes, ranked 13 in England, behind a dozen London boroughs and almost twice the national average of 9.0 per 1,000. A total of 3,615 possession claims were made in Manchester over the year. Salford also came in high at 31 in England with a rate of 13.1 per 1,000 homes. The North West came behind London and the North East, with 29,125 claims at a rate of 9.4 per 1,000 homes.

A YouGov poll commissioned by Shelter in April this year suggested that one third of people are struggling or failing to meet their housing costs, while more than two million were using credit cards to pay their rent or mortgage. Last month the charity estimated that between November 1 and Christmas up to 35,000 would face the prospect of losing their home.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said: “As Christmas approaches, this research paints a frightening picture of thousands of families living every day with the fear of losing their home hanging over their heads. It’s sobering to see that so many communities are blighted by the risk of eviction.”

The introduction to the report explains how “[r]ising inflation, stagnant wages, unaffordable housing costs and expensive fuel are just some of the forces tightening spending power”, while “[r]eckless lending prior to the credit crunch has left many families burdened with unsustainable debt”.

Possession claims in the increasingly important private rented sector have been climbing more quickly than elsewhere, rising 8 per cent. On top of those other factors contributing to rising repossessions, those in private rented accommodation are, according to the research, “frequently left vulnerable to possession action as a result of hold-ups, changes and errors in the benefit system”.

There has also been a 22 per cent increase in possession claims issued by landlords using the ‘accelerated procedure’, where an order can be made at the end of shorthold tenancies on written evidence alone, without any hearing of grounds necessary. Accelerated procedure is used almost exclusively in the private rented sector.

As rents continue to reach record levels across the country, Shelter’s research also demonstrated the strong correlation between possession claims and rates of unemployment, and vice versa. Figures released last week by Manchester Monitor showed that unemployment in Greater Manchester rose by 13.5 per cent in the past year, while MULE also reported how real incomes in the city region have fallen more sharply than the national average.

Andy Lockhart

Thursday’s night shift at the Trafford site were the first in Manchester to walk out as part of an unprecedented national one day strike of over 2,000 workers at twelve sites. “I have worked here for 37 years and we have never had a strike before” explained Sheena Mitchel, one of the senior trade union stewards from Unite the Union speaking at the picket line in Trafford Park.

Nevertheless, Mitchel noted support for the action: “There are 250 people working here, but only one worker and one of the casual staff have gone in tonight. We have over twenty five on the picket line.” Strikers in Manchester picketed for 14 hours and Unilever sites across the country were hit by walkouts halting the production of the global giant’s leading brands including Marmite, Pot Noodle and Hellmann’s mayonnaise.

The dispute was spurred by Unilever’s intention to close its workers’ final salary pension scheme, which unions say will slice 40 per cent from retiring members’ incomes and cost thousands of pounds to people who had been with the company for decades.

High profits, squeezed pensions

In a statement to the press, Unilever argued final salary pensions were “a broken model” which was “no longer appropriate”, saying “it is our responsibility to protect the long-term sustainability and competitiveness of our UK business.” The company remains awash with cash however, having just increased full year profits by 18 per cent to £5.2 billion. Chief Executive Paul Polman even recently boasted to the BBC that “growth is the highest we’ve seen in 30 years. It’s coming from across the world.”

Trade unions Unite, USDAW and GMB participated and more industrial action is expected in the New Year. The walkouts came just weeks after public sector workers also defending their pensions took part in the largest strikes in decades, and car manufacturers BMW also look set to face stoppages in upcoming months unless the company stops plans to close its pension scheme to new starters and ends the use legal loop-holes to deny agency staff equal pay.

The Manchester picket lines received support from health and council workers. Caroline Ridgeway, a local joint branch secretary for the public sector trade union Unison, said “we were well received on the picket line. What they are fighting for is the same as what we are fighting for – our pensions.”

Unison’s national executive declared support for the Unilever strikes last week and Unite have declared that, where possible, future strikes will be co-ordinated to ensure public and private sector workers take action on the same day.

Mark Krantz

In a grim sign of a hardening labour market the number of long-term unemployed passed 32,000, an increase of 27.6 per cent throughout the year. The total number of people on JSA in October 2011 was over 82,000, compared to just 24,196 vacancies in Greater Manchester according to the report – more than three applicants for every position.

Women were particularly hard hit, with female JSA claimants rising by 29.7 per cent compared to an increase in male claimants of 7.2 per cent between October 2010 and October 2011. Despite government efforts to move large numbers of groups such as the disabled off other benefits including incapacity benefit and onto the cheaper JSA rate the total number of benefit claimants in Greater Manchester remained stable at 316,000, decreasing by just 0.8 per cent over the past year.

Youth unemployment in the city region was higher on average than the rest of the country, with a quarter of all job seeking youths on the dole for more than six months. People aged 16 – 24 made up two thirds of the extra 7,000 JSA claimants since January.

The report argued the government’s new £1 billion Youth Contract programme set to come into force in April and seen by many as a U-turn following the scrapping of the Future Jobs Fund made for “welcome reading”, although it warned that forecasts for worsening unemployment as the economy plummets meant 2012 would be “just as challenging as 2011”.

Stagnant markets

Vacant office space. Photograph: Phil Simpson

While retail rents were “subdued” those for offices and industry remained “fairly steady”, perhaps offering slight relief to many in the city’s business establishment who are hoping to make some cash from commercial property markets. Flights at Manchester airport and hotel occupancy rates even increased from last year, with the number of visitors staying overnight the highest since reporting began in 2000.

The people of Manchester did not seem to reap the benefits, however. As revealed last week in MULE incomes for those in work fell, with slight average wage increases for full time employees who live and work in the city region more than wiped out by over 5 per cent inflation. Only in Trafford did residents earn higher than the national average, with Greater Manchester as a whole earning 8.6 per cent less than the country as a whole.

More misery was confirmed on the housing front, with the number of new homes built standing at 77 per cent less than the peak of just under 14,000 in 2007/08 – one of only two years in the last ten in which more than the needed 10,000 homes per year to keep up with local demand were built. A frozen housing market since the 2007 crash and house prices still stuck well above their pre-bubble figure suggest prices have a long way yet to fall – not quite an enticing prospect for property developers with a need to turn a profit.

Despite the gloom the press statement for this report tried to end on a positive note, hailing the rather small regional growth fund and cash for various broadband and transport projects as some “good news” for the area. Yet there is reason to be sceptical that handouts for business will do much good for any recovery while the wages of those ‘fortunate’ enough to work for them and buy their products remain shredded and the government’s ongoing cuts to public spending are extended to 2017 and deepened by £15 billion. As even the report’s authors admitted, the expectation all round is that things will get much worse before they get any better.

Richard Goulding

The Bakers, Food and Allied Workers Union (BFAWU) has announced the end of the ongoing industrial dispute to protect the rights of temporary workers at Park Cake Bakeries, Bolton, following concessions from management.

The agreement announced yesterday by union officer Roy Streeter provides the temps with a route into becoming permanent staff and rescinds prior contracts which gave no guaranteed hours to workers.

Commenting on the agreement, Streeter said: “I am so pleased that we stood up and did everything we could to safeguard our jobs and those of the agency workers that we feel were brought in to attack our terms and conditions.”

The dispute began over agency working and has become a major issue for trade unions concerned at the trend for employers to use agency workers to replace staff on permanent contracts. The practice drives down the wages of some of the poorest paid workers in the country, including those in the baking industry.

An attack on all wages

From October this year agency workers were given new rights under the Agency Workers legislation, including equal terms and conditions after 12 weeks. Park Cake Bakers however took on new staff in September, just before the legislation became law, paid at the national minimum wage and given ‘zero hour’ contracts with no guaranteed hours. At the same time they had not been replacing their core workers.

BFAWU took this as a direct attack on their members to drive down their wages and make permanent staff a minority within the whole workforce. Park Cakes were forced to sit down with trade unions following the threat of a strike action just prior to Christmas, one of the busiest times of the year for the industry.

Streeter conceded the deal was “not everything we want. We are a small union and the new legislation on agency working is full of holes so we have agreed a deal that we feel is the best we can get given the economic situation”.

Undermined rights

The agreement means that the 20 staff taken on in September will have to serve a probationery period of 18 months to two years before they can go on the core workforce’s payscale and conditions. BFAWU have also brought an end to the zero hour contract and Streeter anticipates the agency workers will be absorbed into the permanent workforce as the core workforce ‘naturally’ diminishes as staff leave or retire.

Few agency staff belong to unions because of the nature of their employment but some have now joined BFAWU due to the union supporting their employment rights, bucking the national trend of a wider decline in union membership. While Streeter was dismayed that it will take so long for the agency staff to become permanent members of the  core workforce, he felt it was a victory for both the union members and most importantly the agency workers, who will be offered some protection and a future in the workforce.

Streeter was also pleased about the response he has had from within his union, saying “we had fantastic support including offers of financial help if we did go on strike.” He was less happy with the Labour Party, arguing that “only 21 Labour MPs supported our Early Day Motion and they are supposed to be socialists.” He had previously viewed the national minimum wage as one of the better achievements of New Labour but now questions the way it is becoming a wage level that employers are using  to undermine both negotiated pay levels and the actions of unions to protect their members’ standards of living.

And although he welcomed the legislation on agency workers he argues that flaws in the law remain: “It’s not progress if you still have people working at the same job but getting different rates of pay.”

Bernadette Hyland