Levelling Up White Paper fails to provide a serious plan for decent jobs – TUC

Struggling families need help now, say campaigners.

General view of a job centre plus office (Danny Lawson/PA) (PA Archive)

The Government was accused of failing to provide a serious plan to deliver decent jobs despite its levelling up announcement.

TUC general secretary Frances O’Grady said: “If we don’t level up at work, we won’t level up the country.

“The Government has failed to provide a serious plan to deliver decent well-paid jobs, in the parts of the UK that need them most.

“Insecure work and low pay are rife in modern Britain, and for far too many families hard work no longer pays.

“Ministers should have announced a plan to get real wages rising, starting with a proper pay rise for all our key workers and the introduction of fair pay deals for low-paid industries.

“They should have delivered the long-awaited employment bill to ban zero hours contracts as well as new, meaningful investment in skills and good green jobs of the future.”

Mick Lynch, leader of the Rail, Maritime and Transport union accused ministers of cutting the transport network and driving down access to decent services, adding: “With cuts to rail and metro projects and timetables and staff, and the scaling back of bus funding, this government is failing both our communities and the environment.”

Dr Mary Bousted joint general secretary of the National Education Union, said the aspiration of levelling up was not sufficient, adding there was little confidence in a Government “that has neither the right ideas nor the capability to implement them.”

She said: “This White Paper does not provide sensible solutions to the lack of school and college funding, nor the exam factory culture, driven by national policies, which undermines progress on the skills and education agenda in England.”

Stephen Evans, chief executive of the Learning and Work Institute, said: “To truly ‘level up’ demands better investment in skills and jobs, greater local control and longer-term commitment.

“Whilst the metrics provide direction, unfortunately the White Paper falls short on all counts.”

Kirstie Donnelly, chief executive of City & Guilds, said: “If the Government truly wants to invest in and drive forward a levelling up agenda, they need to not just create job opportunities, but ensure that people have the right skills to do them.

“Our research finds the industries that keep our country running are already at risk of collapse, crippled by labour and skills gaps, from construction and food production to health and social care.

“While education is a key pillar of the white paper, it still misses a vital point: that just focussing on schools and specialist sixth forms is not enough.”

Alison Garnham, chief executive of Child Poverty Action Group, said: “Today’s paper has been a long time coming and meanwhile universal credit has been cut, energy prices are rising and living costs are soaring.

“Struggling families need help now, unfunded promises of buses and broadband tomorrow won’t pay today’s bills.”

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan, said: “If the Government is to succeed with its mission, it must recognise that levelling up the UK must not be about levelling down London and withholding the funding and investment our capital city desperately needs.

“London has some of the most deprived communities in the country and they deserve support and funding just as much as other parts of the UK.”