Unemployment is rising in Batley and Spen leading to fears it is being left behind the rest of the UK.

The total number of unemployed benefit claimants in Batley and Spen has risen to 2,155 in April 2018 – an increase of 575 people from the same time last year.

This equates to 4.1% of the economically active population, compared to 2.9% across the UK.

In one month alone, between March and April, the number of unemployed claimants rose by 265, according to the latest Office for National Statistics data.

Batley and Spen MP Tracy Brabin said: “The Tory Government want to boast that unemployment is falling but they don’t seem to have noticed that it’s rising here in Batley and Spen.

Batley and Spen MP Tracy Brabin

“This is yet another sign that we are being left behind by a Tory Government who continually use employment figures to mask serious inequalities in the labour market, such as stagnating wages, insecure employment and opportunities shaped by your circumstances rather than talent.

“The shocking truth is that 8,572 children in Batley and Spen are living in now living poverty – and that’s simply unacceptable to me. After eight years of cuts, the Government must act quickly to fix this growing problem.

“Now is time for investment, an end to austerity, an increase in the living wage and urgent reforms to the deeply flawed Universal Credit system in order to bring down unemployment in Batley and Spen.

“We have such talented people here and it’s about time they were given the same opportunities as everyone else.”