There were 3,990 people in the Harrogate district claiming out-of-work benefits in May, up 186% on the previous month.

The figures were published today by the Office for National Statistics and are accurate as of May 14. They reveal that 4.5% of the district’s population is now claiming out-of-work benefits, which rose from 1.5% before the lockdown.

The figures show how the coronavirus lockdown has hit the workforce in the district, in spite of the furlough scheme, which was brought in by the government to protect employees from redundancy.

2,290 of the claimants were men and 1700 were women.

Harrogate is below the UK figure of 6.4% for people claiming the benefits, which includes Job Seekers Allowance and Universal Credit.

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The ONS said that changes to Universal Credit as part of the UK government’s response to coronavirus meant more people became eligible for unemployment-related benefit support, even if they were still employed.

Sandra Doherty, Chief Executive of Harrogate Chamber of Trade and Commerce, told the Stray Ferret that she fears there will be further job losses when the furlough scheme winds down.

She said:

“Given the devasting effect of COVID-19 on the economy, the rise in unemployment, whilst always regrettable, was only expected.

“For the time being the Government’s furlough scheme, taken up by a significant number of businesses, has enabled many people to retain their jobs, However, when this cash-lifeline is withdrawn, I fear the figure will rise again.

“There is also the chance that many young people, working part-time on zero-hour contracts within the town’s yet to open hospitality sector, could well be missing from the statistics.”

Ms Doherty also said the Harrogate Convention Centre should return to running events as soon as possible to protect further job losses.

She added:

“Although the conversion into a Nightingale Hospital was something we were incredibly proud of, it’s vital this facility is handed back to the town, sooner rather than later. Any delay will only add to an already high level of uncertainty, and could lead to businesses closing and more job losses, something we want to avoid at all costs.”

The Harrogate Jobcentre was closed on March 19 when the government suspended all in-person Jobcentre appointments for three months.

The ONS told the Stray Ferret that out-of-work claims have been centralised, meaning that a small number of claims processed at Harrogate’s Jobcentre were from people living outside of the district.

Businesses preparing to return to work after the coronavirus lockdown could be doing so in completely different ways – and employment levels in the Harrogate district could take a hit.

Mike Patterson, head of employment law at Berwins, said many businesses may have found the enforced change actually suits them and they will keep some of the new ways of working even after lockdown ends.

However, he said there are still many tough weeks ahead for businesses, especially as the furlough scheme changes from August.

“Initially, we were dealing with lots of queries about furloughing. We’re now starting to get into post-lockdown, getting business back up and running. A lot of people were waiting for Boris’s roadmap to see the timetable to get people back to work.”

Mike Patterson of Berwins Solicitors

A series of announcements, changes and retractions in advice since the beginning of the crisis, have made it harder for lawyers, accountants and others to keep up with the latest situation in order to advise their clients, Mr Patterson said. The furlough regulations, for example, were produced in one large document and, when the scheme was tweaked, the document was updated but no information was published about what had been changed, leaving advisors to read it repeatedly to find the updates.

The way the announcements were made this week also gave some businesses and employees hardly any notice, from Sunday evening, that they could be expected back at work the following day. Mr Patterson added:

“I would have felt more comfortable if it was a consistent message with the rest of the UK. I like to think I’ve got a bit of common sense, but everybody’s different in what’s normal, what they think they should do.

“You’re saying tomorrow at 8am people who can’t work from home should go to work? You’re putting it back on the employee to take that decision as to whether it’s safe to go in? That’s pretty unfair in terms of lack of notice and lack of planning.”

Now, many businesses are looking at how they can resume more normal working in the coming weeks and months. The extension of the furlough scheme and the possibility of bringing staff back part-time while the economy gets moving again has been met with relief.

“Speaking to a few businesses and seeing what people are doing, that’s quite a welcome move. Businesses are nervous of this cliff edge the chancellor keeps speaking about. It’s not going to be back to normal over night, it’s going to take time. It helps to have flexibility and phased returns.”

Physical presence

The practical aspects of returning to work are at the top of business owners’ lists of priorities, he said. Enabling social distancing and other aspects of health and safety in workplaces all have to be considered, but businesses are also looking at whether returning to previous operations is even necessary or desirable.

“The traditional view of ‘we have got to be physically present,’, that’s potentially going to be something of the past. Their arm has been forced, given this: they have got to adapt and allow home working. It comes back to physical presence and it will impact on the space they need.”

For some businesses, there has been very little change to how they work. For others, whether changing the services they offer or allowing greater flexibility as parents juggle working hours with childcare, it has been a period of operating differently.

Mr Patterson said the return to work will have to have an element of flexibility too, for both employers and employees, as different sectors return to trading at different speeds.

In the long term, Mr Patterson said it is inevitable some businesses will be forced to make cuts:

“The furlough is a welcome safety net for businesses and employers. The reality is it’s maybe a bit of a honeymoon period that will have to come to an end and businesses will have to make difficult decisions.”