UNEMPLOYMENT has fallen in Barnet over the past year – but there remains disparity across the borough.

Figures show 3,727 people were classed as unemployed last month across Barnet, a drop of eight per cent since last year.

But the numbers, which include jobseekers’ allowance and out-of-work universal credit claimants, varied within each of the borough’s three parliamentary constituencies.

In Chipping Barnet, 991 people were unemployed in October, a drop of 15 per cent in 12 months.

Finchley and Golders Green had 1,234 people claim out-of-work benefits, a drop of 13 per cent since 2014.

But Hendon saw a drop of just one per cent over the course of a year, with 1,502 people unemployed last month.

Jobcentre manager Paula Heffernan said the figures could often be “muddied” by demographics, including student numbers.

She said: “It is very difficult to pinpoint any particular reason. It could be because we have high numbers of students moving into Hendon in October, which sometimes muddies the figures.

“It is disappointing Hendon isn’t having the same downward trend as others but there’s probably a lot of factors affecting that. I’m not sure if there have been any major redundancies which would have affected people in that area.”

Ms Heffernan said the employment rate is currently 72.5 per cent in Barnet – slightly lower than the national rate, which is 73.7 per cent.

She put this down to higher numbers of retired people and higher student numbers than average.

Looking ahead, she said: “There are challenges across the whole of the country, but I think I have never felt more positive about what we’re doing and the lives that we are changing.

“Particularly in the lead up to Christmas, in our job centres we have got recruitment and employment drives happening every week.

“Most employers now use online recruitment system. And sometimes that’s very hard for people to get through that. But we are bringing people in and supporting them with online recruitment.”

Asked whether she feared further government cuts would damage Barnet job centres, she said: “Being totally honest, no I don’t, because I think as a department we have been transforming over the last few years. The cuts will not affect frontline services in our job centres.

“A lot of our services we can support and engage people not just face to face, but in a digital way. We are modernising them."