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I shall start with unemployment. In my constituency, the number of jobseeker’s allowance claimants is up a staggering 187 per cent. in the past 12 months. Even from a low base, that is some increase. Men in North Dorset are the hardest hit, with an increase in unemployment of 211 per cent. in the past 12 months. In the first few months of this year, that figure is up some 60 per cent.
There is also a worrying trend towards people claiming for longer. In April last year, only 25 people in my constituency had been claiming jobseeker’s allowance for between six and 12 months. The figure is now 120 and growing. Compared with many constituencies, it will appear small, but the rapid increase worries me. I am also worried about those who will go into the 12 months or longer category, without access to appropriate training for the skills that today’s job market demands. We all know that those who reach that 12-month threshold without appropriate intervention risk staying economically inactive for much longer. There is a huge increase in men claiming jobseeker’s allowance and in people generally claiming jobseeker’s allowance for a long time.
Another trend worries me, and that is that the number of young adults forced into unemployment has increased by 222 per cent. I make no apology for using statistics—indeed, the Minister used them in his opening remarks.
Mr. Martlew: I am listening carefully to the hon. Gentleman. What percentage of his work force is claiming jobseeker’s allowance?
Mr. Walter: I do not have those figures immediately to hand, but I will come back to the hon. Gentleman. The percentage is relatively low—probably just over 2 per cent., but the trend and the effect of the increases on the community are worrying. All those people have lost their jobs, with little prospect of getting new ones in the short term.
My constituency has a high proportion of retired people, but it is disheartening for those of working age, particularly those who are just starting out on their working lives, to struggle to find employment. To make matters worse, in the past 18 months, despite protests from me and others in the constituency, the Government have closed two of our three jobcentres. Those in Wimborne and Shaftesbury have been closed, leaving only one in the constituency, in Blandford. It is open only two days a week, by appointment. That means that those who are unemployed cannot just walk into a jobcentre but have to get on the telephone or use the internet to make initial contact. They are then sent not to the jobcentre in Blandford, but either to Yeovil, which is 20 miles away even from the closest point in my constituency, or to Poole, which is 25 miles away from those who live in the northern part of my constituency, for the initial interview. That is disheartening for anyone who loses a job.
It is unfair that my constituents do not get the opportunity to access vital Government services. In May 2007, I told the Government that the closure of the two jobcentres would hit my constituents hard when they needed a jobcentre the most. Having to travel long distances when there is little public transport puts an intolerable burden on an increasing number of people.
An unfortunate consequence of the jobcentre closures is the withdrawal of essential assistance and advice. Local citizens advice bureaux have reported to me a ballooning number of people seeking their advice and assistance on matters that Jobcentre Plus should be tackling. It was disappointing that the Department for Work and Pensions turned down an offer from North Dorset citizens advice bureau to make its facilities available to Jobcentre Plus and host its employees free of charge.
I want next to consider communications, post offices and the broadband connection. I know that the Minister knows a little about such things. The Government insisted—perhaps it was the Minister himself who did so—on eight post office closures in my constituency. That had a huge impact on the availability of services and on rural businesses, including vital village shops. There has been a drop in the footfall and therefore in the trade in those shops because of the closure of the post office counter.
The Government have withdrawn important services—simple things, such as the renewal of car tax, access to savings accounts and obtaining passport forms—that residents in rural areas had much more difficulty in getting anyway. The Minister might say that the services are available online—they are. However, many of my constituents are older and do not have access to or struggle to use the internet. In some parts of my constituency, broadband access is woefully slower than in towns and cities. In some areas, there is no broadband connection.
Last month, South Tarrant Valley parish council contacted me with concerns about the inconsistency and deficiency of broadband coverage in the four villages for which it is responsible. According to the parish council, internet service providers have no plans to upgrade lines to the affected areas as there is insufficient commercial demand in less populated districts. The absence of high-speed broadband connections has far-reaching consequences for entrepreneurs and local businesses trying to operate in rural and semi-rural Dorset.
Promises of universal broadband access were welcomed, but there are serious concerns. The Minister said earlier that from a European Union fund the entire United Kingdom would get £12 million. That is a drop in the ocean given what is required to invest in necessary rural broadband services, which the Government claim they will deliver. Perhaps in his winding-up speech, the Minister will tell us what else the Government plan to do to ensure that all households have access to good internet connections. That affects not only access to Government services but businesses’ ability to carry on with their work from rural areas.
I have long campaigned for the post office to be more than the place where people send their mail or buy stamps. Post offices could be the hub for local people to access Government services—a one-stop shop for local government and central Government, accessible to a huge proportion of the population. As well as providing layers of government in one place, it would increase the all-important footfall that the Government claim is too low to make rural post offices sustainable.
In many villages in my constituency, the only retail business left is the village pub. In the past couple of weeks, I have received nearly 100 representations from constituents about the increased duty on alcohol and the impact on their local pubs. I am sure the House agrees that the village pub is an integral part of any rural community. Since 2005, the rural county of Dorset has lost some 36 pubs—nine in my North Dorset constituency. That has inevitably had a detrimental effect on community spirit and rural life.
The Government have penalised the millions of people—I include city dwellers in this—who enjoy a pint after work or on a Sunday afternoon. The tax regime ought to work against those who consume excessive amounts of drinks with a high alcohol content on Friday and Saturday nights, not against the beer drinker. Binge drinking is obviously a problem in our cities and large towns, although Dorset police tell me that binge drinkers cause a nuisance in some towns in my constituency as well. However, the Government appear to be intent on penalising sensible drinkers, together with the less than sensible. I cannot stress enough how important local pubs are to rural and semi-rural life, not just economically but in terms of their effects on the community. The closure of our village pubs—forced to close because people cannot afford to visit them as once they did—is painful for local communities. I urge the Government to think carefully about how attempts to deal with binge drinking will affect those important amenities.
We will discuss business rates later this evening, so I will not speak about them, other than to say that they are also a particular concern to rural businesses in my constituency.
The rural economy is not just about agriculture and tourism; it is manufacturing, as in my constituency, and often high-tech, state-of-the-art manufacturing, at the forefront of technology. If the Government are to address the recession and the effect that the economic downturn and the unemployment that is its consequence are having on ordinary people’s lives, they must be even-handed. They must focus not just on their heartland, but on the rural areas of Britain.
6.11 pm
Christopher Fraser (South-West Norfolk) (Con): I apologise for not being in the Chamber at the beginning of the debate, but I was chairing a Statutory Instrument Committee. Fortunately, however, I arrived to hear my hon. Friend the Member for Arundel and South Downs (Nick Herbert) speak eloquently about the problems faced by rural communities.
It is a great pleasure to follow my hon. Friend the Member for North Dorset (Mr. Walter), who articulated the problems of large rural constituencies extremely well. I have the same problem in my constituency, which, for the record, is approximately 1,200 square miles. It contains 47 villages and five towns, with quite a disparate community spread out between Thetford forest and the fenlands. Those who live in my constituency therefore feel that the Government’s one-size-fits-all urban agenda of the past few years is just not for them. They feel that they are not listened to. However, also for the record, the results of the local elections in Norfolk last week spoke volumes about how people feel that the Conservative party in Norfolk represents and can articulate
their point of view. It is a great pity that the Government have not woken up to the challenges that Norfolk faces in the current climate.
The number of JSA claimants in my constituency has increased by 92 per cent. in the Breckland area and by 82 per cent. in the King’s Lynn and West Norfolk area. They are shocking figures. We have cited various figures this evening and asked the Government to look into what is happening. However, the truth is that the evidence shows not just that local people are disheartened, but that they are losing their jobs and cannot cope. The demand in rural areas for financial services such as debt advice far outstrips supply. For someone who has lost their job and cannot cope, that is a profound thing to deal with. In a large rural area, it is difficult for someone to access the services that they might get in an urban area. The Government need to consider that very carefully. I have had dealings with the Minister over the years, and he is a reasonable man, but does he accept that that combination is particularly worrying for people living in constituencies such as mine?
For many people in South-West Norfolk who have lost their jobs or whose jobs are under threat, the internet, which colleagues have already spoken about this evening, is a vital tool for accessing banking and financial services. However, in some rural areas broadband access is still well behind that in other parts of the country—I stick my hand up and say that Norfolk is no exception. I ask the Government: what is being done to ensure that the countryside has adequate access to broadband? I am not sure that the assistance the Minister spoke about earlier is enough, either in how it is applied or how much money is being put in, to alleviate the problems in constituencies such as mine. I ask him to look at that carefully, and I would be very grateful if he came back to me about the issue in my constituency.
It is vital that those living in rural areas should feel able to live and work in an area that is equal to other areas in terms of help and access to services. For too long, Norfolk has played second fiddle to other parts of the country. For too long, constituents of mine have felt like second-class citizens. That is a great shame. For too long, Norfolk, and in particular Thetford in my constituency, has been seen by many people in the House as a problem, rather than as the opportunity that it is and always will be, because of the people of Norfolk’s dedication and their desire to get on, make a contribution and live in vibrant communities in the areas where they work. That desire has always been there and it always will be there, but the area needs a lot of help from the Government.
The current imbalance has not gone unnoticed by the Commission for Rural Communities. A recent CRC report states:
“Some rural local authorities and Job Centre Plus offices are struggling to...support their unemployed because of distances to training and support centres and the lower numbers involved.”
Does the Minister agree that those in rural areas are suffering particularly as a result of the economic crisis, and because we have an extremely poor public transport system? The problem is acute in South-West Norfolk. Bus operators have to try to work across a large, disparate county, and a lot of people obviously encounter long distances between villages and towns. When someone is on a fixed income or has no income, things are made
even more difficult when they have to go so much further than their cousins, brothers, sisters or other family members who live elsewhere.
We have also seen the closure of local jobcentres. How can closing the focal point for retraining and getting back into the work force help rural communities to survive? I am afraid that that speaks volumes about the Government’s attitude towards constituents such as mine. We also have deprivation in Norfolk—social, economic and geographical. We have vast amounts of fenland, which needs not only to be policed but to be looked after in terms of the Government’s commitment. What advice would the Minister give to people in the 1,200 square miles that I represent? It is terribly important for me that I be able to return with a positive message, which I hope my hon. Friend the Member for South-East Cambridgeshire (Mr. Paice) can give me from the Opposition Front Bench, even if the Government cannot.
I have received many letters from constituents who have lost their jobs and are desperate to retrain. However, they are prevented from taking up full-time courses for up to 18 months. They live in communities that do not have services, in areas that do not have adequate public transport systems. They want desperately to get out there and get a job, but every time they take one step forward, they take two steps back. That is killing our communities and killing a lot of people’s will to get back into the work force, which we desperately need them to do if enterprise and initiative are again to be the backbone of our economic success. Does the Minister accept that many people in rural areas who have lost their jobs and who want to reskill are penalised twofold, owing to Government-imposed restrictions and the long distances to training centres, coupled with poor public transport?
I want to talk briefly about small businesses, which are an enormously important source of employment in our communities. I have already mentioned Thetford, where small businesses have been hit particularly hard. We have a first-class manufacturing base and a need for apprenticeships. We also have a need for investment in Thetford. We have growth point status, so we are getting the houses, but we need the infrastructure that goes with them and—dare I say it?—the roads infrastructure. Let us not forget that Norfolk is the only county in England without a dual carriageway linking it to a national trunk road network. Although there have been good indications from various Ministers that such a scheme will be unlocked, Norfolk has for too long been unable to play its true part in the economic success of our nation. Every time we go forward, another barrier is put in the way to prevent us from making the contribution that most, if not all, of my constituents desperately want to make, for their own well-being and for that of the nation.
We have high transport costs and—dare I say it?—high energy costs. The price of fuel in rural areas is disproportionate, because vehicle use in those areas is a necessity, not a luxury. People, such as pensioners, on fixed incomes and farmers are unable to cope. I regret to say that the Government have adopted a one-size-fits-all urban agenda, and it just does not work. In Norfolk, that agenda also applies to local government reorganisation. To suggest that what someone in the middle of Norwich needs is the same as what people in the fenlands need is a complete insult to the people in my constituency.
Their aspirations might be the same, but their needs are different and they need to be treated with individual care and respect. They also need to know that someone is going to look out for them, and if this Government will not do so, the next one will.
James Duddridge (Rochford and Southend, East) (Con): My hon. Friend is making some fascinating points, particularly about the rural economy. He has just mentioned Norwich. To what degree does he think the Government’s failure in this recession impacts differentially between constituents in seats such as Norwich seats, and the slightly more rural seats that he is describing?
Christopher Fraser: I do not want to get diverted on to by-election issues, but I will say that it is no coincidence that the accounts of Norwich city council have not been written and agreed for many years, because of the way in which they have been put together. In my constituency, where we have two Conservative councils, we have proved, year in, year out that Conservative councils in Norfolk deliver for the people because they listen to the people and develop services for the people. It will be interesting to see how the people of Norwich take up that issue in the coming weeks leading up to the by-election.
I now have more companies writing to me to say that they cannot get business loans than to say, “Thank you very much indeed. The bank has come to my rescue and I have got my loan.” That is just not happening, and companies are going under. They are good third and fourth generation owner-managed companies that have invested in their business and spent every moment of every day trying to build up the well-being of their work force and produce products that are in many cases world-beating. They are run by dedicated people who are not profligate and who do not drive big cars or go on swanky holidays.
Those people work every day of the year for the well-being of their organisation and the people they employ, but the banks are not helping them. They are pulling the rug from beneath them, and it is quite sickening to hear that bank profits are at their present levels. The fact that they are also paying such large bonuses against the will of the Government and of the people is quite extraordinary. It saddens me to think that the Government are not confronting this issue and dealing with it head on. Small businesses and enterprises in constituencies such as mine are desperate for a hand up, not a handout. This is not a question of the state coming to the rescue.
I will pass on to the Minister some of the stories of the people in my constituency, because they are doing more than their best, but they are not being paid. They are trying to re-mortgage their houses in order to put money into their businesses, but the mortgage companies are not interested. Those people are in a Catch-22 situation. They take one step forward—and then have to take two steps back. That will not get us out of the recession or help those people in the future. It is a very sad day when I have to say these things, but they are true. This saddens me and all my colleagues. I would much prefer to fly the flag for our local businesses and tell the House how good things are for them, but I am afraid that that is not the case.
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