Young Hit Worst by British Joblessness

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One in four jobs in Britain's cities is now in public service, cushioning urban populations from the effects of the recession. But the Centre for Cities says such places will become particularly vulnerable to the inevitable spending cuts from 2011. Dermot Finch, its director, said: "The current size of their public sector workforce is untenable."

The Inland Revenue's National Insurance Contributions Office is based in Newcastle and the head office of the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency is in Swansea. Plymouth has high employment in the naval dockyards. Public sector posts have grown rapidly in Ipswich in recent years, while Newport has a relatively low number of jobs in private industry.

Meanwhile, the shadow Business Secretary Kenneth Clarke warned yesterday that Gordon Brown's "lack of candour" on public spending would cause a lack of confidence in the British economy on the financial markets. He accused Mr Brown of "trying to hide the scale of the crisis" by delaying a government-wide spending review, and said he should "tell it straight".

The former Chancellor told the Institution of Civil Engineers: "The risk, if we do not have a sensible debate on public spending, is that no action will be taken to get public borrowing on to a credible downward course. Interest rates will be driven up and stifle the recovery before it can become established."

Mr Clarke said a comprehensive spending review was needed more desperately than ever, even though the Government appears to have postponed the one due until after the general election. Accusing Mr Brown of being in "denial", he said: "We need frankness in our political dialogue. It is going to be very tough."

Steve Carter: 'I've cut my hours and my pay by 10 per cent to keep my job'

Steve and Shelley Carter, both 36, live in Stone, Staffordshire, with their two children. Steve works in Toyota's human resources department at the manufacturing plant in Burnaston, Derbyshire, where all members of staff have taken a 10 per cent cut in hours and pay since the beginning of April. This is a loss of 16 hours' pay each month.

"Everyone from senior management downwards has taken a reduction in hours to protect jobs. There's also no pay increases this year, and overtime has been cut. There are some people within our team who have had to find other part-time work. Each week, staff aren't paid for four hours (half a shift), but rather than coming in just to do half a shift, every employee takes a full day off once a fortnight. My wife was made redundant in the past 12 months from the corporate events company she worked for.

We had to tighten our belts and be careful, especially with two young children. Fortunately, she's back in a full-time marketing position, but there was a period of real uncertainty for us.

It forced us to look at our household income to see where we could make savings. There are benefits – I'm able to pick my children up from school, and there's DIY around the house. And it's a longer weekend. It's a challenge, as we've all got commitments. But it's working towards long-term job security.

In the next few months I'll be back to full-time hours, as the recently introduced scrapping scheme has led to an increase in volume. So people are making the most of their day off, knowing that soon they won't have it."

With Alexandra McGowan

Provided by The Independent—from London, for Independent minds

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