THERE is still a shortage of quality jobs in many former coalfields communities, four decades after the Miners’ Strike began.

That is according to a fresh report published at the end of April by the Coalfields Regeneration Trust (CRT) and carried out by the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research at Sheffield Hallam University.

The State of the Coalfields 2024 study, the third report of its kind, found that although there has been substantial job growth in former coal mining areas such as the Wee County, the rate of growth has been far slower than in main regional cities.

In former coalfields across Scotland, Wales and England, there are only 57 employee jobs for every 100 residents of working age, compared to the national average of 73 per 100 and 88 per 100 in the in regional cities.

In Clackmannanshire, Stirling and Fife – areas which the report combines under the Fife umbrella with a population of around 272,000 – that figure matches the average exactly at 57 per 100.

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The rate of overall out-of-work benefits claimants is 18.5 per cent of adults aged 16-64, third worst among former mining areas behind Durham and South Wales in joint first place at 19.2 per cent.

A key part of the increase of employment in the former coalfields has been the growth in warehousing.

In the wider area, there are around 6,500 warehousing jobs, an increase of 2,900 since 2012.

There are around 13,000 more people in employment, an increase of 11 per cent in the last around 10 years.

Overall, the report argues, these changes mean that many of the young and better qualified are having to move away from the communities in which they grew up to seek better opportunities elsewhere.

This leaves a population in the former coalfields which is generally older and in poorer health, with seven per cent of all residents saying their health is “bad or very bad” and more than 10 per cent claiming disability benefits.

Linda Mcavan, CRT chair, said: “We are seeing positive steps towards improving the economy in the former coalfields – however it is concerning that our progress is slower than in other parts of the country.

“We know that the issues affecting coalfield communities around low quality jobs, lower wages and poor health can be tackled and the Coalfields Regeneration Trust is playing its part in addressing these issues.

“We are keen to work with political decision makers at all levels so that we can enable our communities to reach their full potential.”