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Economic Downturn (Unemployment)

The hon. Lady is right, but she has chosen the wrong period to look at south-west employment trends. The part of the year she is describing is the time when people are recruiting for the summer season, so one would expect there to be more jobs, and people going into more jobs, than there are jobs being lost, particularly in the tourist areas of the south-west. The greatest challenge that we face is our geographic isolation and poor transport infrastructure, which worsens as one goes west. My discussions with local passenger groups, councils, regional bodies and the Department for Transport have shown that the area sorely lacks regional direction and leadership. It is almost assumed that, beyond the Bristol-London corridor, we should not be ambitious enough to demand high-speed rail and electrification, or the full duelling of the Exeter-Salisbury line. The same story goes for road links. More importantly, it seems that while there is communication among the RDA, local authorities and some other interested parties, the gap between our long-term needs for transport and the resources available to meet them is wider than ever. Will the Minister take a lead on that? Another area of vital capital investment on which we have missed out as a region is the further education capital programme. Not one site in the region has received funding from the eventual shortlist at a time when providing good quality vocational skills for younger people is so desperately needed. It is all well to commit taxpayers’ money to future jobs funds and business advice, but if training is not available to local people and the infrastructure is not in place to allow businesses to flourish, the money fails to show taxpayers a return. We have much to be proud of in the south-west. We have many advantages that other regions lack. We do well in hospitality, the environment, creativity, design, heritage, technology and food and drink, mostly through locally owned small enterprises. Central Government seem not to understand that our business model is different. Their focus is on medium and large-sized businesses, when we need to do more in our part of the world to promote localism and retain the profit we make to plough back into our local economy. Many, including the TUC, have highlighted the business-oriented approach of regional agencies and their partners. While business is a key area on which the Government can help, the main issue, and the place where the human tragedy lies, is with the unemployed, and increasingly the underemployed. Despite a small increase in resources, Jobcentre Plus has, as an organisation, failed a large number of people wanting to enter the labour market to be more active or better matched with their skills. The front-line staff in our jobcentres have been let down just as much as the clients they try their best to help. For example, many people with specialist skills complain that the service is incapable of offering them any assistance in finding employment. For others, the system has simply been overwhelmed, preventing staff from being able to offer the level of service Jobcentre Plus has spent a long time devising and introducing. We need to offer an individualised, high-quality support service that kicks in as soon as someone is made unemployed. One thing the Minister can do is to get his colleagues to realise the immense disincentives that face many people looking for work or to increase their earnings. The benefits system does not help people who are looking to introduce themselves to work slowly, as the tax system kicks in too soon. We should be taking the low-paid out of tax altogether, and we should do all that we can to encourage part-time work without removing people’s benefits and making it against their economic advantage to enter the employment market slowly but surely. All parties talk about helping individuals to reach their potential, but sadly this Government have raised people’s expectations and then failed them. The marginal tax rate for those on the lowest incomes is far higher than for those on the highest incomes. The gap between rich and poor has grown, and it has grown wider still in the south-west of England. The way in which support has been offered to businesses, individuals and local authorities can be described only as chaotic. We hear of large sums of public money being devoted to a range of courses, but where is the democratic oversight for that? Where is the assessment of need and the co-ordination between the various activities? Where is the immediate help for those in the far south-west who are subjected to the highest water and sewerage charges in the country? What can the Minister promise to resolve before the next election? This Regional Grand Committee meeting is an historic first. It is a baby step in the right direction of reconnecting politicians with the public, but it is long overdue. The Liberal Democrats support such a move because we know that Britain’s political system is broken. The way in which the country is run means that the Government do not have to listen to the people. One party can gain control of Parliament even if only a quarter of the people vote for it. A party can govern in London without winning a single seat anywhere in the south-west—that is almost true today for the far south-west. That has serious implications for how we regenerate our local economies. The pillars that have underpinned our economy are not the same as in other areas of the country, and one policy applied nationally might not be the most effective response. The Liberal Democrats are committed to fixing our broken politics, starting with a fair voting system. We want to ensure that no regional locality of the country is taken for granted. Where the people want it, we will take power from the state and give it to them. We will allow people to exercise real power in their communities and to share in decisions that affect their lives. Most importantly of all, we will allow the people to determine their region and not impose one on them. All parts of the United Kingdom face challenges in these economically uncertain times. Challenges, however, are not new to us, and if our centralised system of Government is changed, we will be much better placed to meet them.