Post Comment: Leave job creation to the experts
Creating jobs and improving skills in areas of high unemployment is not easy.
But that’s all the more reason to ensure the work is carried out by people who know what they’re doing.
Latest figures from the Working Neighbourhoods Fund suggest that Birmingham City Council may not fit this description.
In two years, just 170 people were found work. This is an appalling record for a £46 million investment.
And it makes a mockery of the council’s initial bold claims that 4,000 people would be found sustainable long term employment.
But this is more than a tragedy for those people who could, perhaps, have been helped into work if the fund had been managed effectively.
It also raises serious questions about the strategy for economic development at both a local and a national level.
For many years now, the regional development agency (RDA) has had primary responsibility for promoting economic growth across the West Midlands.
While councils played a role, with the Working Neighbourhoods Fund being a prime example, local RDA Advantage West Midlands took the lead, working with businesses and local authorities.
It was also responsible for Business Link, a service offering free advice and support to employers.
Now, both these bodies face the axe, as part of the Government’s cull of regional quangos.
Clearly, neither organisation is perfect. They have both been criticised, not least in the pages of the Birmingham Post on occasions.
