The rising costs of public transport has been highlighted as a major barrier to employment and economic activity in Birmingham, particularly for young people, a study has found.

The Birmingham Social Inclusion Project has found that high unemployment and low level aspiration on many city estates is being exacerbated by the inability of people to move around cheaply.

The project, chaired by the Bishop of Birmingham and involving a wide range of public, private, community and voluntary sector leaders, was set up earlier this year to look at ways of closing the gaps between rich and poor in Birmingham and has just delivered its interim findings before moving on to establish a set of recommendations to be published in the autumn.

Alongside this the city council’s new Labour administration has appointed a Cabinet member, Coun John Cotton, to look solely at the issue of social cohesion and building successful communities.

The council has also launched an inquiry into what it means to be a 21st century ‘Brummie’ in a bid to find some shared values and common ground.

The map of relative deprivation in Birmingham has gone largely unchanged since the Handsworth riots of the early 1980s despite a string of government and European Union funding initiatives such as SRB6 and Aston Pride pouring millions into deprived areas.

The decline of manufacturing and the car industry has seen a new white working class deprivation grow in outer city areas like Kingstanding, Shard End and Northfield. A key finding has been that the success of Birmingham city centre, with the ICC, the Bullring and Brindleyplace, has not trickled out to the rest of the city and many have no direct contact with the city centre.

One resident of north Birmingham told the project: “Many residents have not even seen the Bullring. It’s like visiting Europe.” Another from Welsh House Farm in Quinton said: “We don’t connect to the city centre. It’s £8 for a family day saver just to get there. Everything is just much more expensive. The city has set itself up in a way that excludes people from outlaying estates.”

The study has also thrown up a series of surprising facts about Birmingham’s social make-up including that over half the population is under 35, while at the same time many are living longer.

Linked research, from the University of Birmingham, found that between 2007 and 2010 people moved to Birmingham from 187 different countries – many of them settling in with no connection to the city.

Meanwhile, the city council has already established that the population needs about 80,000 extra houses by 2030 and in order to achieve the UK average unemployment level its needs to find jobs for 150,000 more citizens.

Bishop of Birmingham the Right Reverend David Urquhart insisted that the value of the research will be in the recommendations it produces.

Already some ideas were being discussed at a summit of the social inclusion partnership, including welcome packs for new arrivals and subsidising transport costs for young people starting work or training.

Mr Urquhart said: “It is all about getting realistic proposals to improve the lives of young people in Birmingham, particularly so that they have access to economic activity. ‘Jobs’ is coming out all the time. People want to be productive to be fulfilled. But cost of transport is a major issue. We had a very strong discussion on this. At the least if someone finds new employment or training programme one of the barriers was the cost of travel. £3.80 per day on the bus is a lot of money for someone with no income.”

He said that with the city’s population expected to grow, creating a cohesive identity would be welcome.

“A key issue is does Birmingham want to be known as a welcoming city? If you are new to Birmingham, whether it is because you have got a job, or for political reasons, or whether you have come from abroad or from one side of the city to another from say Sutton Coldfield to Longbridge.

“We felt there needs to be a welcome pack or welcome centres to introduce them to the city and its values.”

He added that ultimately the success will be measured by whether people enjoy living in Birmingham.

“Our aim is that Birmingham becomes one of the very best places to live on the planet – so no pressure there.”

Comment: Page 24