Action needed now to tackle unemployment in Lambeth & Southwark

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Local Labour London Assembly member Val Shawcross is calling on the Mayor and government to tackle unemployment in Lambeth and Southwark as jobless rate across London reaches worst level for almost fifteen years.

 

Figures released by the Office for National Statistics this week revealed that one in ten people across London are now unemployed. The number has risen by 28,000 in the last three months to 425,000. The London jobless rate of ten per cent is the highest since 1997 and the second highest in the country.

 

South London boroughs have some of the worst unemployment rates in the city at 9.8% in Southwark and 9.7% in Lambeth.

 

Val Shawcross, Assembly Member for Lambeth and Southwark said the figures were "devastating".

 

Calling on the mayor and government to take urgent action, Val said: "These devastating figures are a direct consequence of the government's policy of putting people out of work in the public sector and stifling growth in the private sector. It's very worrying, not just for South London bus also the whole country. The government and mayor need an urgent plan for growth and to get people off the dole and back to work."

 

She added ‘Thousands of families in our area are suffering from the double misery of unemployment and a staggeringly high cost of living in London.  The Government should be stimulating the economy and scaling back the cuts to local councils and public services which are putting more hardworking people onto benefits every week.’

 

Ends

 

Notes

 

• Unemployment figures taken from the Office for National Statistics here https://www.nomisweb.co.uk/reports/lmp/la/contents.aspx

 

• Number of vacancies by borough taken from the Office for National Statistics here
• http://www.nomisweb.co.uk/query/89.1/advanced.aspx

 

• According to the latest official figures there are 13 unemployed people chasing every Jobcentre Plus vacancy Lambeth and 11 in Southwark.