Councils not prepared for next wave of recession The Guardian says

Councils are not prepared enough for the fallout from the recession and face a surge in social problems, such as addiction, alcoholism and domestic violence, the leading public sector watchdog says, according to The Guardian.

The Audit Commission said that local authorities in England were now facing the “second wave” of the downturn, as the effects of rising business failures, bankruptcies and unemployment bite.

The Audit Commission said in an interview with The Guardian: “Many councils should be doing more to prepare for the expected social, financial and economic development challenges ahead, this includes councils that have escaped the worst effects to date, some of which are complacent.”

According to another report which coincided with the Audit Commission’s view, found out that despite the recession would lead to an exodus of non-UK national, one in 12 employers in the UK plan to recruit migrant workers in the next few months.

Another study, by the Chartered Institute of Personal and Development and the consultants KPMG, found that the number of migrant workers rose between the first quarters of 2008 and 2009 while employment of UK national fell.

Gerwyn Davies, public policy adviser at the CIPD, told The Guardian that many employers found it hard to fill vacancies with UK workers.

He said: “Most of the migrants are recruited and retained by employers because they provide skills or attitudes to work in short supply amongst the home-grown workforce.”

Official figures due to be published this morning will be closely scrutinized for evidence that the economy is bottoming out.

The broad measure of joblessness has been rising at a record rate, and the measurement covers those looking for work rather than simply those eligible for state benefit.

A third report found low earners are being disproportionately hit by the recession. Amid growing political concern about the alienation of UK-born workers, the Resolution Foundation, a charity, told The Guardian people with household incomes of between £11,600 and £27,150 were facing severe financial pain, were being overlooked by the government, and missed out on help from employers.

Sue Regan, the chief executive of the Resolution Foundation, said despite of economic recovery it was likely that job losses among low earners would continue to rise.

She said: “If you look at the sectors where they are likely to work, they are areas which are likely to have been depressed for a long time.”

A charity estimates 400,000 low earners were receiving jobseeker’s allowance in April 2008 and more 180,000 have joined them since the recession began.

It says the government tends to focus on people with no skills, but the charity would like to see the skills strategy extended specifically to help low earners.