Number of Universal Credit claimants continues to rise in Rochdale borough

The number of people receiving Universal Credit support in the Rochdale borough continues to rise, proven by the latest official figures from the Department for Work and Pensions.

New data released this week (Tuesday 10 November) shows that as of 8 October 2020, a total of 26,709 people were claiming the benefit throughout the borough.

This sees an increase of 1.6% since the previous month, September 2020, with 419 new applicants in just four weeks.

The Alternative Claimant Count (ACC) are those people in the ‘searching for work’ Universal Credit conditionality group. As a local authority, Rochdale’s ACC for 18-24-year olds stayed the same as the previous month, standing at 2,357.

The current total of claimants (of all ages) receiving ACC in Rochdale is 12,418.

Across the United Kingdom, the number of people who claimed Universal Credit, Job Seekers Allowance, and those under the additional ‘searching for work’ group was 2.76million in August 2020. This is a 4% increase on last quarter and a 118% increase in the last year.

But even though the figures continue to rise, mirroring the current national picture, the numbers claiming Universal Credit do not necessarily indicate a corresponding rise in unemployment; the benefit is designed in such a way to adapt to changing circumstances - it tops up income if earnings drop, so not every new claimant will have lost their job or be fully unemployed.

The latest statistics are not just representing those who are unemployed.

Universal Credit is a monthly payment to help with living costs. You may be able to get it if you are on a low income, out of work or you cannot work. It replaces Child Tax Credit, Housing Benefit, Income Support, income-based Jobseeker’s Allowance (JSA), income-related Employment and Support Allowance (ESA), and Working Tax Credit.

In contrast, the number of people employed in the North West is at a near record high of 3.49million - up 308,000 on 2010.

A spokesperson for the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP), said: “Our main priority, currently, is to ensure that we are connecting local people to local jobs. We want to ensure that local people have skills to meet demand and have access to the opportunities available.

“Job centres across the UK are set to double the number of work coaches supporting those looking for employment by next year. As of November, we have started 17 new work coaches across the Rochdale borough job centres (including Heywood and Middleton) and will be having more joining over the coming months.

“A recruitment drive will see 13,500 new work coaches join the department by March 2021.”

The government’s Kickstart programme is also due to provide six-month placements for young people from Autumn this year and is set to continue until December 2021. The programme will see the government pay national minimum wage for up to 25 hours a week to help people into work, and employers involved in the scheme will be able to top that wage up if they choose to.

In Greater Manchester there have already been around 450 enquiries from employers interested in the scheme.

In total as of October, there are now 309,295 people claiming Universal Credit in Greater Manchester as a whole – which accounts for just over 10% of the city-region’s 2.8million population – with 4,440 more people on Universal Credit this month that weren’t in September.

Minister for Employment, Mims Davies MP, said: “This remains a challenging time for families across the country and these figures show the impact the virus is having on our labour market.

“We are doubling the number of work coaches across our jobcentres with 4,500 already taking up posts, our £2bn Kickstart scheme is under way with the first recruits starting last week.

“We continue to take the necessary action to save jobs and protect livelihoods as our response to coronavirus evolves, which is why we’ve extended furlough and the Self-Employment Income Support Scheme.”

An extension to the furlough scheme was announced on 5 November by the Chancellor of the Exchequer Rishi Sunak, meaning employees can continue to receive 80% of their current salary for hours not worked until the end of March 2021:

• www.rochdaleonline.co.uk/news-features/2/news-headlines/137439/furlough-scheme-extended-to-march-2021