Richard Exell
BAE Systems and industry association Aerospace, Defence and Security (ADS) have both warned that defence cuts threaten a number of large procurement programmes; orders for the Eurofighter are particularly at risk. Businesses are very likely to respond by looking for ways to increase exports.
Nicola Smith
As Richard’s post on Left Foot Forward has shown, today’s labour market statistics are mixed. While the rise in employment is welcome, full-time work remains elusive and job creation levels (in contrast to Chris Grayling’s assessments) are still low. Vacancies are also far from healthy.
Our analysis of last month’s data showed that vacancies across the economy were down 29% on their pre-recession levels, but today we have learnt that this picture is even worse: data revisions mean that the numbers of vacancies for are lower than were published previously, and the fall from April 2008 has been 30%. Across the economy, in industries including construction, manufacturing , public administration and retail, there are simply far fewer jobs available than there were two years ago. As our new map shows, in many areas of the country there are not enough jobs for unemployed people to do.
John Wood
The jobs figures are out today, and show a headline rate of five JSA claimants chasing every job vacancy listed at Jobcentre Plus. This doesn’t tell the whole story though, and there are huge regional variations, from 43.2 claimants competing for every job opening in Hackney North, through to just 0.7 in Lichfield.
I’ve made (with the help of some great code made available by Tim Craft) an interactive map, that lets you see what this data means at a glance. You can also plot the same constituencies by political party returned at the last election, to get more of a sense of the areas represented.
Richard Exell
Since the Budget we’ve been agitating about the Coalition’s decision to use the Consumer Price Index instead of the Retail Price Index when calculating how much benefits need to rise to inflation-proof them.
As Nigel, Bryn Davies and I have been reporting, uprating benefits and tax credits by CPI will reduce their value and public sector pensions will be cut steadily over time by the switch to using the CPI for uprating; now we know that people with private pensions will also be affected, because the government will use CPI for price indexing.
So it is strikingly convenient for the government that today’s inflation figures from the Office for National Statistics hide the Retail Price Index figures on page 16.
Richard Exell
Unions, bus companies and consumer groups are increasingly worried that the Department for Transport’s contribution to the Comprehensive Spending Review will include substantial cuts to bus subsidies.
Richard Exell
Fresh evidence shows that the government blames unemployed people for unemployment. A story in yesterday’s Sunday Times revealed that there are 7,000 vacancies at jobcentres that have not been filled for six months or more. This brought a response from Employment Minister Chris Grayling that is becoming predictable:
“The fact these jobs are advertised for a long period shows the current welfare system is not working. After a decade of throwing money at the problem, there are still five million people out of work living on benefits.”
What enrages me is the casual segue from 7,000 unfilled jobs to explaining five million people on benefits.
Richard Exell
Michael Gove today announced a review of the Children’s Commissioner for England that will, amongst other criteria, examine whether it provides ‘value for money’. The Children’s Commissioner has a statutory remit to promote awareness of the views and interests of children; her office has a staff of 25 and a budget of about £3 million.
Richard Exell
A survey for Consumer Focus Wales reveals that 72% of people in Wales are worried about the rising cost of living, with nearly fifty per cent saying that they are finding it harder to manage financially than a year ago.
26% believe their cash problems will get worse – and 49% said they had no savings. The implications for the Coalition’s economic plans are very negative.
Richard Exell
The Coalition’s confidence that the rest of the world shares their commitment to cuts has taken a battering with the publication of new reports from the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the International Monetary Fund. In particular, the Office for Budget Responsibility’s growth and employment forecasts are seriously undermined.
The latest edition of the OECD Economic Outlook warns that global recovery may be slower than expected and cautions against the UK’s decision to cut back on employment programmes. The IMF’s Economic Outlook – Update expresses their caution about taking cuts too far in its subtitle: “Restoring Confidence Without Harming Recovery.”
Nicola Smith
Press reports suggest that the Food Standards Agency is to be completely cut. The FSA reportedly has 2000 staff. It was set up set up by an Act of Parliament in 2000 to protect the public’s health and consumer interests in relation to food.
