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97,000
MANUFACTURING JOBS LOST DUE TO RECESSION AND STALLED RECOVERY
CHESHIRE East with a loss
of 17,700 manufacturing jobs tops the North West league for
manufacturing jobs lost during the recession. The number of
workers employed in manufacturing the North West has fallen by
97,000 from 444,000 employed in 2006/7 to 347,000 employed in
2010/11 a new GMB study shows. The North West was 3rd in the
regional league for manufacturing jobs lost due to the recession and
stalled recovery.
The number of workers employed in manufacturing in Cheshire East has
fallen by 17,700 from 36,500 employed in 2006/7 to 18,800 employed
in 2010/11. This puts Cheshire East top of the league for the area
with the highest number of manufacturing job losses during the
recession and the stalled recovery.
Next in the North West league for the fall in Manufacturing workers
are: Cumbria, 11,000; Lancashire, 9,700; Manchester, 9,400;
Tameside, 7,100; Oldham, 5,900; Wirral, 5,900; Bolton, 5,800;
Warrington, 4,400 and Rochdale, 3,900. Set out in the table below
are the details for the 23 areas in the North West for the fall in
manufacturing employment.
In the UK as a whole the recession has cost 706,300 manufacturing
jobs. That is an average of 3,398 per week. That is an average of
3,398 per week. In 2006/7 there were 3,546,100 employed in
manufacturing industry in the UK. The latest figure shows employment
of 2,839,800 in 2010/11. This fall is on top of the 1.25m fall
between 1994/5 and 2006/7.
All these figures come from a new GMB study of official data
released by the ONS.
Paul McCarthy, GMB Regional Secretary, said:- "The Downing
Street led recession accelerated the haemorrhaging of jobs from UK
manufacturing. In the UK as a whole the first four years of this
recession has cost 706,300 manufacturing jobs. That is an average of
3,398 job losses a week.
This fall is on top of the 1.25m fall between 1994/5 and 2006/7 an
average of 2005 job losses a week.
Governments since Thatcher, from both parties, have ignored warnings
from GMB and others that this migration of manufacturing jobs is not
sustainable. This 'march of the
makers', 2 million of them
in 16 years- is the most tragic economic story from Britain in the
last 2 decades.Unless action is taken to support and develop manufacturing
the economic future for this nation is bleak. Only the British state
has enough strength and power to halt and reverse the decline. This
strength and power must be mobilised without delay to support a GMB
programme as follows:-
► The creation of a strategic investment bank that could raise large
sums of money in the commercial markets backed by a smaller capital
base provided by the government.
► Increased support for medium-sized companies in the UK, and new ways
to encourage small firms to grow so they can employ more people and
supply big industry.
► A smarter approach
to procurement - other countries make a much better use of public
money to boost their own industries - where every pound of public
money in the UK is spent encouraging the development of a modern,
highly skilled economy."
Urgent action on skills to deal with the skills shortages
plague the UK. Germany has many more apprentices and a
long-established dual vocational system which puts the country in a
much better place than the UK.
The creation of a fairer economic model; a UK version of the social
market, with a stronger role for unions and employer organisations,
to include the introduction of employee representatives on works
councils or supervisory boards, as exists in Germany.
There should be a concentration of effort on high skill, high value
manufacturing sectors; for example in the field of environmental
technology; on those British companies most likely to succeed in
the face of global competition.
UK manufacturing should be used as the supply chain in the
multibillion pound capital investment programme needed to up-grade
and modernise the UK’s infrastructure.
Agriculture and land
management should feature in flood defence policy, says CLA
THE Government policy on
flood defence does not recognise the importance of agriculture, food
production and land management, the CLA has warned. The Association
said a report on flood risk management published on 31 January 2012,
by the Public Accounts Committee is short-sighted not to consider
the economic contribution of food production and land management
when setting spending priorities. CLA North Regional Director
Dorothy Fairburn said:- "We agree with the Committee that
there is not enough money available for defending homes and
businesses against flooding. However, farmers are already suffering
due to a lack of awareness of the economic contribution that
agriculture and land management makes to the local economy and this
is having a serious impact on rural communities. We understand flood
defence funding has to be more targeted but the Government must
begin to recognise the importance of food producing businesses,
especially in light of increased population growth and climate
change. Food production and land-based businesses make a significant
economic contribution and should be adequately protected against
flooding." |
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Mersey Tunnel
refurbishment fit for a queen...
FOLLOWING an 18 month, £7
million programme of improvements to the Queensway Tunnel,
Merseytravel has unveiled a unique first; an impressive piece of
public art, set within the famous tunnel.
Queensway is the first road tunnel in Europe to incorporate public
art in tunnel cladding and can now boast another record for the
people of Merseyside; spectacular new interpretations of the
Liverpool and Wirral skylines by local artist Alison Barker.
The 78 year old road tunnel has been given a 21st century makeover
with new ceramic steel cladding throughout, enhancing the driving
experience for customers and improving light reflectance. The new
cladding replaces the previous plastic coated corrugated wall
cladding installed by Merseyside County Council in 1983, with a
total of 5999 panels, including18 panels at either end displaying
the artwork.
The light reflective panels provide enhanced lighting luminar of 14%
which has extended the timeline for the tunnel lamp replacement from
7 years to 8 years, reducing both financial and environmental cost.
Crests for both Wirral and Liverpool at the historic boundary have
been updated to create a sharper, more contemporary, design and
positioned either side of a separate panel representing the boundary
line.
Councillor Mark Dowd, Chair of Merseytravel, which owns and operates
both the Queensway and Kingsway tunnels, said:- "When the
Queensway Tunnel first opened in 1934 it was the longest tunnel of
its type in the world and a true construction wonder. This flagship
scheme has given us the chance to be first again, this time with the
inclusion of artwork at each end of the tunnel."
Jim Barclay, Merseytravel interim Chief Executive and Director
General added:- "The tunnels are a vital part of our transport
network and this investment represents not only improved safety for
the hundreds of thousands of customers who pass through the tunnel
each week, by enhanced visibility, but also reduces the
environmental impact of the tunnel operation."
Wirral Composition
Depicts the major buildings,
condensing the notable buildings from a long stretch of Wirral, but
including Lady Lever Art Gallery, which isn’t visible from
Liverpool. The colour green, rather than representing one of the
notes of the scale, is used to show the green landscape of Wirral
seen from Liverpool. Below the buildings is a musical stave,
overlaid with a flowing, repeating design of the leaf of the bog
myrtle, the plant that in Anglo-Saxon times was widespread across
the peninsula and gave Wirral its name.
Liverpool Composition
Depicts the major buildings of the
Liverpool cityscape, based on Alison Barker’s photographs from
Seacombe. The height of each building corresponds to a note on the
musical stave, which in turn gives each building its colour from the
artists own colour scale. The keyboard below alludes to the
significance of music in both the design and in Liverpool life.
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