COST OF LIVING: People are turning down jobs because they can’t afford the fuel to get there, council’s own team tells inquiry

Some people in Swansea are being offered jobs and saying no, because they cannot afford the fuel to get there and back every day.

That is the account of the council’s own employment team, in a written report to councillors running a cost of living inquiry, which meets at the Guildhall on Wednesday morning.

The Communities for Work Plus team, which supports people with the biggest barriers to work from hubs including Y Storfa, Sion Newydd in Morriston and The Phoenix in Townhill, says the rise in fuel costs “has directly affected some participants, with reports of offers of employment being rejected”.

The bus fare to the food bank

The picture the team paints goes beyond the commute. Its partnership officer reports clients who still need to get to a food bank but cannot afford the bus fare, more people asking for fuel vouchers through Citizens Advice, and a rise in requests for debt advice.

More people on the team’s caseload now give “no fixed abode” as their address than before, the report says. Some have told mentors they can no longer afford a phone contract and are relying on free handsets and SIM cards.

Requests for clothing have gone up, and not just for interviews or a first day at work. The team says it is going to the Cwtch Mawr multibank more often because “many clients cannot afford to pay for everyday clothing”.

There are also more applications for white goods through the Welsh Government’s Discretionary Assistance Fund, from people in work as well as out of it. And some employers, the team says, could not afford to take on summer staff this year.

“Not enough” apprenticeships, and the people the rules won’t let them help

Asked whether Swansea has enough training and apprenticeship places, the answer is no. “Local training and apprenticeship provision is limited,” the report says, with many opportunities “highly competitive, located outside communities or difficult to access for people who do not drive or cannot afford travel costs”.

The council’s own apprenticeships in plumbing, carpentry and electrical work are “very limited compared with demand”, it adds.

The team also names one change it would make. Welsh Government rules for the programme stop it helping anyone who already has a job, yet “many people have contacted us seeking support to increase their working hours or retrain while employed”. There is, it says, little support for those people anywhere in Swansea.

DWP: write to the ministers instead

The Department for Work and Pensions was invited to give evidence to the panel on 23 September. It declined.

In a letter to the panel, it said many of the councillors’ questions related to national policy and ministerial responsibilities, local staff “would be unable to provide authoritative responses”, and it did not think it appropriate to attend in person. It suggested the panel write to DWP ministers, and pointed them to the department’s online statistics.

It did answer two operational questions in writing, listing childcare costs now paid up front, jobs fairs, an employer suite at Swansea Jobcentre and a youth hub for 18 to 24-year-olds. Councillors will discuss the letter at Wednesday’s meeting.

Facing the panel

Cllr Rebecca Fogarty, the cabinet member for community, faces the panel on Wednesday with the two managers who wrote the report, in the same week the council admitted new housing benefit claims are taking nearly six weeks because it is short of staff.

Citizens Advice and the food banks are up next, and councillors’ recommendations go to cabinet in March.

By then it will be two years since the inquiry started. The people saying no to a job because of the price of diesel are not waiting that long.