Getting People Into Work

More than 20 per cent of Kent’s working age population are currently not in work

A new report says that percentage equates to 204,000 people in Kent who are economically inactive. 55,000 of those are out of work due to long-term health conditions.

Young people who are not in education, employment or training (NEETs) account for 1,672 of the total, or 4.3%.

In Kent 7.2% of the working age cohort have no qualifications at all.

The figures are contained in a report for the July 2nd meeting of Kent County Council's Growth, Economic Development and Communities cabinet committee.

Contributing factors include long-term sickness and disability, low levels of educational attainment, caring duties, access to secure, quality work and mismatches between vacancies and suitable skill sets.

If Medway is included in the headline figure, it rises from 204,000 to 235,000.

The report is a background document to the “Get Kent & Medway Working Plan”, required by central government. It aligns with current work aimed at reducing health inequalities in the boroughs of Swale, Canterbury, Thanet, Dover, Folkestone and Hythe, and Ashford.

In its conclusion, the report states: “Given the level of economic inactivity due to ill health, the numbers of young people classified as NEET and the skills gaps faced by employers nationally and in Kent & Medway, the Get Kent & Medway Working Plan will play an important role to tackling related challenges and provide opportunities to support the local workforce and employers which will in turn, benefit the local economy.”

Committee member Cllr Paul Thomas, of Reform UK, said: “It seems to be happening up and down the country. I know that it is something that Nigel (Farage) and our MPs are worried about and devising policies to encourage people to work.

“We need to identify what we can do, as a council, to create job opportunities and better employment for Kent. These are the sorts of things we want to be picking up on.”

The report highlights three wider determinants for economic inactivity – housing, transport and healthcare.

It says “anxiety about housing affects ability to focus on employment” while a lack of transport options are consistently cited as a barrier to getting to work, accepting work with anti-social shifts and for access to skills training.

Waiting lists and delays in getting GP appointments “exacerbate the health economic inactivity driver”, the report notes.

Thanet, Dover, Folkestone and Hythe, and Swale exhibit the highest rates of poor health. Thanet, Swale, Canterbury have the highest rates of long-term illness. The reports states that mental ill-health is “very widespread”.

While Kent’s older retired population is not counted in the strategy’s target cohort, older populations may be more vulnerable to illness and require greater care needs.

Despite Kent being in the more affluent south-east, the report suggests a “spiral” of “entrenched poverty” in certain areas.

For instance, where the labour market opportunities are poor, it leads to brain drain, and the older population leaves those more vulnerable to ill health.

Papers reveal that funding of £125,000 for the KCC strategy has come from the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP).

They note: “The future implementation of the strategy’s action plan has no current funding allocation from KCC or its partners, but it is anticipated that future funding for government programmes will support delivery activity based on the evidence base, and actions detailed in the plan.

“External partners, KCC and Medway Council may wish to align current and future funded activity with actions outlined in the plan where this achieves benefits for local businesses and residents.”