One of the successes we had locally over the last five years in Wyre Forest is the drop in unemployment. When I first became Wyre Forest's MP, I inherited an unemployment number of well over 2,000 people and a rate nearing 5% of the workforce. Now unemployment is close to 700 and the unemployment rate is just 1.6%.
At this level, it is the case that many of those people who feature in these figures represent many people who are in the process of switching jobs, and those who are increasingly hard to help for one reason or another. Indeed, it has been the case for a number of years that the biggest complaint I have been seeing from businesses is that they have plenty of jobs available, they just can't find the people with the skills to fill the vacancies.
This so called skills gap means that we in Wyre Forest still have lower wages than average. To a certain extent this is being taken up with the large numbers of apprenticeships being delivered here locally and that is a good thing. But with the advent of Amtec and Vision Express coming to the district, each bringing 500 jobs, we are now set to see a period of local wage inflation, redressing the shortfall we suffer here with low wages. Add that to the large number of construction jobs we will see with new housebuilding and the new investment at the safari park, and the future looks good for people here.
However, with wages going up, there will be pressure on existing business to meet extra overheads. It is important to understand that this is not just as a result of the government's move to a living wage (from minimum wage) but it is that plus local factors. If the increase comes too quickly, it will hurt businesses who are otherwise viable but need more time to adjust to rising local costs. Of course, a cut in corporation tax to just 18% will help.
The economy, both locally and nationally, is still adjusting from the trauma of the credit and government spending binge leading up to the financial crises, and the crises itself. The economy is healing and it is taking time. But my aim has always been to make sure we outperform other districts in terms of our recovery. The challenge is still very much there.