Rotherham among Britain's most vulnerable towns

The research ranks the 324 English councils in terms of their resilience to future economic shocks, such as public sector cuts. Rotherham is 310th in the overall list, with only Barnsley, which was 311th, being rated worse among South Yorkshire authorities, according to a report by research group Experian for the BBC.

Rotherham is highlighted for having a high proportion of businesses in vulnerable sectors like engineering, metals and construction. Vulnerability to economic fluctuations is reflected in the research, which shows high levels of insolvency recorded over the past nine months.

Rotherham’s insolvency rate ranks 15th worst in England, with Barnsley 42nd from bottom and the city of Sheffield suffering high levels of business failure at 55th from bottom in the list of 324 areas.

Doncaster also suffers from having a very low proportion of businesses in high-growth sectors, such as high-tech manufacturing or the knowledge-based industries. It ranks 310th out of 314 on that measure.

On the plus side, Rotherham, along with Sheffield and Barnsley, all score well in terms of the number of firms that export goods.

The study aims to show the ability of areas to withstand and respond to shocks such as job cuts. But it does not indicate the areas which will suffer the biggest public sector cuts after the government’s October spending review.

Researchers looked at four key themes—business, community, people and place and 33 different factors were examined to produce the index. As well as the strength of the local business base, they included people's skill levels, life expectancy, crime rates and house prices.

Sheffield scored poorly in terms of vulnerability to long-term unemployment and levels of social cohesion and deprivation. Rotherham, Doncaster and Barnsley were all among the 50 worst areas in terms of the number of people claiming benefits. House prices in all three towns are among the lowest 10 per cent in England.

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Rotherham among Britain's most vulnerable towns - report