NEW statistics have revealed that one in 10 households in Swindon is‘workless’.

Figures from the Office of National Statistics estimate that last year there were around 7,000 such households in the area.

This is a rate slightly under the national average.

The report highlights that a household is defined as workless if every person aged from 16-64 in the house is not in employment at the time of the annual population survey.

A spokesperson from the Department for Work & Pensions said: “Since 2010 the proportion of workless households is down in every region of Great Britain.

“The unemployment rate remains at its lowest since 1971, but we’re committed to ensuring that everyone who wants to work has the opportunity to do so while making sure there is a safety net for those who can’t.”

In the South West, 11 per cent of households were out of work, and across the UK the figure to 15 per cent. Across the South West, the most common reason people gave for not being in work was being sick or disabled - 28 per cent of out-of-work individuals cited illness or disability as the primary reason for not working.

Students made up 14 per cent of the group, and 20 per cent were early retirees.

Just 12 per cent of jobless people in the area were officially ‘unemployed’ - looking for work and able to start within two weeks.

However, there is an organisation called Working Links, which is helping people from the age of 16 to get into work.

It is working in partnership with a number of Wiltshire-based voluntary sector organisations to deliver the programme across the county.

Jobseekers are given a 52-week programme where they are given one-to-one support, focusing on health and wellbeing, basic skills, confidence and motivation.

A Working Links spokesman said: “Our Links to Work programme, funded by the European Social Fund, runs across Swindon and Wiltshire and is aiming to help 1,500 people on their journeys towards work.

“Intergenerational worklessness is something we have been trying to tackle for a long time. We believe that sustained work is good for the individual, their family, the local community and wider society. Work improves lives and the benefits extend far beyond just financial.

“But we know a one-size-fits-all approach does not work. Thankfully a lot of work has been done over the last decade to reduce unemployment, but there’s work to be done through schemes like the Links to Work programme in Swindon and Wiltshire.”