Tories under fire over job figures

Job-seekers in Oldham outnumber available vacancies by more than eight to one, according to research by the Conservatives.

But the Tories were immediately condemned by the Department for Work and Pensions and Employment Minister Tony McNulty for using misleading figures.

According to Tory research, a total of 4,211 people are claiming job-seekers allowance across Oldham, with only 524 jobs available.

The research is based on the number of “live vacancies” at job centres on a specific count period rather than the whole number going through the system in any given month, in line with the way JSA claimants are calculated.

The Conservatives say there are almost nine times the number of JSA claimants in Oldham East and Saddleworth (1,892) than the vacancies on offer (216). For Oldham West and Royton the ratio is eight to one, 2,319 claimants chasing 274 vacancies.

The Tories claim that in Hackney North and Stoke Newington, there are 49 times more people claiming JSA than job vacancies.

Shadow Work and Pensions Minister Theresa May said: “These figures show just how seriously unemployment is affecting every corner of Britain.

“While I am pleased that the Government have finally adopted Conservative proposals to incentivise companies to take on new staff, I only hope that they will now go further and wholly adopt our proposals for a national loan guarantee scheme.

“Real action needs to be taken now to help businesses and protect jobs.”

But the Department for Work and Pensions said the total number of vacancies in each area should be used because it took into account all jobs advertised in any given month. It said that using only the “live” figure was misleading.

A spokesman added: “This ignores the 10,000 jobs which are on average being notified to Jobcentre Plus every working day which people are filling, and ignores all the jobs which are privately advertised through other channels.

“The truth is that in no constituency in the country are there 50 job-seekers to every job — far from it. Across the country there are still over half a million vacancies that employers are trying to fill.”

Employment Minister Tony McNulty said: “What planet are the Tories on if they think people are restricted to looking for jobs in their own constituency.

“We are funding real help for people to find jobs in their local area — the Tories would do nothing to minimise the effect of the downturn in Britain.”

The total number of jobs across Oldham registered at Job Centre Plus is 1,776. It is estimated JCPs hold a third of all vacancies in each area meaning there could be about 5,328 jobs up for grabs in Oldham.