Zoning in on jobs concerns

THOUGH much needed in the region, the formal approval of Yorkshire’s first two enterprise zones is indicative of the challenge ahead for both the Government and local authority leaders.

It is eight months to the day since Chancellor George Osborne unveiled the concept of enterprise zones in his growth plan. Within days, sites in the Aire Valley, Leeds, and along the M1 corridor through Sheffield had been identified, correctly, as the most likely beneficiaries of this policy.

Yet it has taken two-thirds of the year for formal approval to be granted, and it could take another 12 months before these two zones are fully functioning and putting in place bold plans that will, hopefully, yield a long-term economic dividend for this region.

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However, Mr Osborne and his fellow Ministers do not have time on their side. This week’s near stagnant economic growth figures confirmed the fragile state of the recovery and why the speed of the Government’s public sector cuts could backfire unless a new generation of jobs are created in the unemployment blackspots of the North.

It is a requirement that Business Minister Mark Prisk – and others – need to comprehend sooner rather than later.

While he pointed out that 450,000 new jobs had been created since the election, he seemed oblivious to the fact that the number of people in employment in this region has actually fallen since May 2010 – one of the statistics that has prompted this newspaper to lobby David Cameron for a fairer funding deal for Yorkshire.

Though the enterprise zones are welcome, it should also be pointed out that many other parts of the region in need of investment will not benefit from tax breaks and other incentives.

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They include Wakefield, the home city of Peter Box and, ironically, one of the key movers behind the successful Leeds bid. He hopes that his city, and other parts of the region, will receive the necessary support from the Government in due course.

He’s right – but this Government is going to have to be far quicker off the mark, and far more dynamic, if Yorkshire is not to be left even further behind the South. It is a lesson that Ministers now need to heed.