Westminster often talks about big numbers – whether it’s the billions being spent on tackling high energy prices, or the thousands of extra police officers across the country. But actually, what matters the most to me is what happens right here in Burnley and Padiham. Not the headlines nationally, but the impact locally.
And that’s true for the employment numbers that came out this week too. For a long time our rate of unemployment locally has been significantly higher than the national average, being above 9% in 2010.
Whilst this has been coming down steadily over the last 12 years, continuing to tackle the problem has always been a big priority. Because having a job is not just a nice to have, it totally transforms a person’s life. It brings confidence, skills, development and opportunity. And getting more people into work is key to creating the thriving local economy and community we all want to see.
This week independent figures released by the Office for National Statistics showed unemployment dropping every month over the last twelve months, with 1,830 fewer local people unemployed when compared to this time last year. And this follows the national news showing the lowest levels of unemployment since 1974 – a remarkable achievement.
One of the most encouraging aspects of this for me is the drop in youth unemployment too. Because when the pandemic hit, I said that one of our focuses should be on making sure that our younger generations do not pay the long-term price of Covid-19. Through the investment being pumped into places like Burnley College to develop skills, the new drive to link education facilities with local employers, and schemes such as KickStart we have made huge progress. And youth unemployment is now lower than pre-pandemic.
Together, the drop in headline unemployment, and youth unemployment, shows that our national Plan for Jobs is working. It isn’t about the state creating jobs – we can’t do that, the private sector does. But it is about ensuring the skills of local people reflect the skills our businesses need. There are now more tools available to JobCentre staff to do that, with tailored support on a one-to-one basis. And with job vacancies now exceeding the number of unemployed for the first time, the situation is looking up.
We can and must continue on this mission to drive up employment and opportunity, and that’s what I’ll be doing with partners in Government and our local businesses.
