THE total number of north Shropshire residents claiming Universal Credit has nearly doubled since before the Covid-19 pandemic.

The latest figures, from November 2020, suggest that across the region there were 2,958 people claiming Universal Credit across all age ranges.

This is an increase of 1,423 people compared to November 2019, or a 93 per cent increase.

Ben Vaughn, Shropshire Employer Manager for Job Centre Plus, says that despite the continued challenging employment conditions, many local employers have joined the national Kickstart scheme which has helped create jobs.

He said: "Both of our local authorities have seen their Universal Credit claimant counts more than double between Nov 2019 and Nov 2020 and this gives us all a stark reminder of the impact the pandemic has had for us locally in Shropshire.

"However, when looking at the most recent comparable data between August 2020 and November 2020, both have seen significant reductions in their Universal Credit claimant counts, with Shropshire's reducing by 682 claimants and Telford & Wrekin's by 590 during this period.

"As we begin 2021, many of our employers were not able to enjoy the seasonal trade they would have hoped for after such a challenging 2020, and we have entered the new year in another extended period of uncertainty.

"We will however see significant job growth in Shropshire because of the national Kickstart scheme.

"We are now in the process of recruiting for our first locally led Kickstart jobs with our colleagues at Telford Council.

"We have had a phenomenal response from local employers to create jobs through the scheme, with both our local authorities and many of our key partners and providers such as The Shropshire Chamber of Commerce, FSB, Shrewsbury Colleges Group, Telford College, A.L.I.N, and Wrekin Housing Group putting a considerable amount of time and resource into creating roles and supporting our local Micro and SME employers to do the same.

"We will see hundreds of exciting, new jobs created as we move towards the Spring, giving opportunities to unemployed younger jobseekers and giving our local economy a huge boost."