Flintshire MP slams another rise in unemployment in his constituency

David Hanson – MP for Delyn – has said he is concerned by today’s figures which show unemployment continuing to rise in his constituency.

The total number of unemployed claimants in Delyn constituency in February 2019 was 1,170.

This represents a rate of 3.6 per cent of the economically active population aged 16-64.

The equivalent UK claimant rate was 3.3 per cent. The UK unemployment rate, which includes people not claiming benefits and is estimated from survey data, was 3.9 per cent in November 2018 to January 2019.

Across Wales, the unemployment rate was 4.3 per cent –  0.2 percentage points down on the quarter and 0.5 percentage points down on the year.

The number of claimants in Delyn constituency is 230 higher than February 2018 and 45 higher than January 2019.

There were 250 claimants aged 18-24 in February 2019, 35 higher than February 2018.

David Hanson MP said:

“The Prime Minister will stand up in the Commons during Question Time and shout from the rafters how amazing employment figures are, but we know that in the real-world constituencies, like Delyn, are being left behind by a UK Government that seems hellbent on protecting the interests of South East England over everyone else. 

“We shouldn’t forget that in last week’s Spring Statement the Chancellor forgot that Wales even existed when announcing police funding. At each opportunity the UK Government has pushed ahead with damaging policies for people in work.

The reckless changes to Universal Credit, the refusal to invest in cross-border infrastructure and the lack of interest shown in large scale projects like the powerplant in Holyhead have driven up in-work poverty and child poverty.

These are just a small selection of failures that have driven up unemployment.  

“It shouldn’t be forgotten that these figures do not explain the dramatic increase in insecure employment. More and more people are on zero-hours contracts or agency work. This means that they lose out on our hard-fought employment rights.  

“Flintshire has faced some of the worst enforced austerity from the UK Government. Our Council and Welsh Government continue to do all they can in the face of such ideologically driven funding restrictions, but without a supportive UK Government they will continue to fight an uphill battle.”