Jobs struggle is far from over

Yet, even if Britain recorded a slither of growth between January and March of this year, there is no scope for complacency – or smugness – on the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s part. Quite the opposite. Today’s job data for individual cities and districts across Yorkshire confirms that the Government faces an uphill struggle to create a new generation of private sector jobs across this region.

For, while private enterprise is booming in York and Selby, two areas that have been earmarked for growth because of their proximity to the motorway network and East Coast Main Line, the Office for National Statistics reveals some surprising losers.

While Sheffield has seen a four per cent increase in private sector jobs over the past two years, Leeds has seen a three per cent reduction since 2010 – while the fall is even more pronounced in Harrogate.

Yet, while Leeds Council will probably apportion the decrease to the significant changes taking place within the financial services industry after the banking crisis, it proves that the fledging local enterprise partnerships – and other bodies set up in place of Yorkshire Forward – still have much to prove.

Significantly, David Cameron tried to brush this aside at the launch of his party’s local election campaign, saying: “Labour’s empire of top-down, target-driven, big, bossy, bureaucratic, we-know-best arrogance has been turned upside down.

“The Regional Development Agencies, Regional Assemblies, Regional Strategies, Government Offices for the Regions, the Local Area Agreements, the Standards Board, the Comprehensive Area Assessment – all gone.”

That maybe so. Yet, while 53,263 new private sector jobs in Yorkshire is to be welcomed, Ministers need to ensure that their policies deliver lasting change sooner rather than later. After all, time is not on the side of those looking for work – or a coalition looking to prove its economic competence prior to the next election.