Unemployment halves in four years
UNEMPLOYMENT in Warwickshire has more than halved in four years, the latest figures show.
The claimant count dropped from 3,565 to 3,550 in December. It is part of a longer term trend that has seen the overall figure for the region drop from 7,595 since January 2013.
The fall comes amid concerns over a lack of employment land being earmarked by councils in their planning strategies for the next 15 years.
The Chamber has put together a taskforce to look into the problem and has written to Gavin Barwell, Minister of State for Housing and Planning, saying plans for more employment sites fall way short the predicted population increase.
Louise Bennett, chamber chief executive, said: “The general fall in unemployment is excellent news for the county.
“Businesses have told us, in the main, that they want to grow and take on new people consistently and the figures over the last four years bear that out.
“Of course, the likes of Jaguar Land Rover are very well known and continue to grow and create jobs, which is wonderful news for the region.
“But we also have a thriving community of small and medium sized businesses from a variety of sectors that are growing too and they must be credited for their efforts in going for growth in what have been uncertain times.
“There is still a great deal of uncertainty on a national and international scale but businesses in Coventry and Warwickshire are still looking to grow.
“We know there are barriers to that, particularly around skills and employment land, on which we are working very hard to make a significant difference.
“And if, as a region, we can make sure that there is space for business to grow and to provide the necessary skills for our future workforce, there is certainly an appetite for businesses to expand and take on more people.”
In her letter to the Mr Barwell, she wrote: “Our arguments and evidence about the inadequacy of new employment land provision now seem to have been acknowledged and accepted by the CWLEP, our political leaders and our local MPs but the ability and willingness to do anything about this precarious position is being thwarted by, what we are told in feedback from some of our MPs who have taken up the issues with the relevant local authorities, is the requirements of the Government’s National Planning Guidelines.
“We are being told that to re-open discussions to make increased provision for a realistic provision of new employment land at this stage of the Development Plan process would require all LAs to also reopen/revise the ambitious housing targets that we’ve all collectively sign up to. This doesn't make sense, is unnecessary and counterproductive.
“Hence, this direct approach to you as planning minister, and your business and exchequer colleagues, to intervene so that practical, on-the-ground common sense can prevail.”
