Birmingham Epitomises The Plight Of England's Regions |
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 Birmingham epitomises the plight of England's regions, as summed up in two new landmark reports.
Gillian Robinson has a certificate resting precariously on the stereo of her neat home in the Ladywood area of Birmingham. It marks her nomination as resident of the year in what is officially the country’s most deprived ward.
She deserves the accolade. Twice last year she was made redundant, first from her job as area manager of an office cleaning company and then from a residents association that was backed by Birmingham City Council. The council made cutbacks, so it let her go.
Robinson and Birmingham are emblematic of the expanding property divide between the south of England and the rest of the UK. While City of London investment bankers pocket another round of bumper bonuses and developments resume across the south-east, two reports released last week by thinktanks the Centre for Cities and the European Institute for Urban Affairs have starkly laid out the challenges facing Britain’s regional cities.
Both warn that cuts in public spending, high unemployment and a low skills base threaten to leave the rest of the country lagging behind the recovery in the south.
The Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry estimates that local authorities nationwide will have to save £11bn over the next three years as the government attempts to cut the £178bn public deficit. This poses a threat to cities such as Birmingham, Newcastle and Ipswich, where local authorities, with backing from central government, created public sector jobs to combat the decline in manufacturing.
Deep impact
Robinson is already feeling the impact of this north-south divide as the public sector jobs start to disappear. She lives in Birmingham’s most deprived ward as measured by figures from the Office of National Statistics on unemployment and income. After losing her job at the cleaning company, she found work as a development manager at the Birmingham Association of Neighbourhood Forums and is now the Chair. The organisation helped to give ordinary people a voice in local government on issues such as health and education. It has since become a purely voluntary outfit.
Now approaching 60, Robinson does not think anyone will employ her again. She also worries about her grandson and whether there will be any work for him when he completes his construction course at a local college. Talk of regeneration being used to create local jobs sounded hollow to her, even during the boom years.
“We don’t really feel connected with the regeneration in the city,” she says. “The fact is there are still lots of people losing their jobs and the council does not seem to have any money. My grandson is studying construction, but I don’t know if he will be able to find anything. When developers talk about creating local jobs for people, it is usually just menial jobs that last for a few weeks. We don’t really feel the benefit of any of it.”
Article and Image by Propertyweek.com
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