For every extra private sector job generated in the North & Midlands ten were created in London & the South.
Date: 07/06/2010Centre for Cities has identified the scale of the "jobs deficit" facing cities.
Even before the recession began, over half a million more posts would have been needed to raise these cities' employment levels to the national average.
In addition to replacing jobs lost during the recession, 620,000 extra posts would be required to raise England's cities with low employment rates up to the national average. That's over 20,000 jobs in Middlesbrough or the equivalent of 8 Corus steelmaking plants. Or 124,000 jobs in Birmingham - that's over 50 Cadbury's factories.*
The report warns of tough challenges ahead for the new Coalition Government to rebalance the economy, as the public sector rolls back. New jobs are more likely to be created in cities across England like Preston and Milton Keynes where businesses have already been adding large numbers of private sector positions.
The Government needs to support the expansion of cities where businesses are already adding large numbers of private sector jobs - and find realistic opportunities to develop struggling city economies.
Some cities have been losing private sector employment for years. This was masked by the surge in public sector jobs over the past decade. The last Government tried to redress this jobs deficit, by adding large numbers of public sector jobs to struggling city economies and creating Regional Development Agencies to support private sector growth. But these efforts did not stop the geography of job opportunities shifting.
Some cities in the north and south which grew as ports, dockyards and factory towns now find themselves isolated from international airports, universities, and motorway transport links. These cities aren't as well placed to generate new private sector jobs, regardless of Government's desire to grow their economies.
For example, while Burnley, traditionally a textile town, shed 7,500 private sector jobs, Preston, with strong motorway and rail links, gained 17,100 private sector jobs.
The report recommends:
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Prioritising scarce capital investment budgets on buoyant city economies that have the best chance of generating extra jobs by expanding.
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Relaxing planning rules, such as brownfield land regulations to provide affordable housing and allow businesses to expand in our most dynamic cities.
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Stronger financial incentives for local authorities in expanding cities like Reading and Brighton to bring forward land for housing.
Dermot Finch, Chief Executive of the Centre for Cities said,
"England's cities have become too dependent on the public sector, and now need to generate more private sector jobs. With public spending cuts now a reality, many cities are facing a wave of public sector job losses.
"The Coalition Government is right to want more enterprise and growth in the towns and cities outside the M25 - but rebalancing our economy in this way will be an enormous challenge. Some cities like Milton Keynes, Brighton and Preston have been much better at generating private sector jobs than others.
"New private sector jobs will not grow overnight, and will not emerge smoothly across the country. The Government should support the further expansion of buoyant cities like Milton Keynes, where new private sector jobs are most likely to appear - and look for realistic opportunities to develop struggling city economies like Burnley."
For more information, please contact:
Rosamund Taylor, External Affairs Manager
020 7803 4316/07876 175 426
Notes to editors:
Private Sector Cities: a new geography of opportunity by Chris Webber and Paul Swinney is available at www.centreforcities.org/privatesectorcities.
A full table of city level statistics is available to download also.
Last July the Centre for Cities' published Public Sector Cities, by Kieran Larkin on the future for public sector employment across UK cities in a government spending squeeze. The report is available for download at www.centreforcities.org/publicsectorcities
The Centre for Cities also published a series of articles, by Kieran Larkin on the future for regional development agencies in December 2009 and January 2010. RDAs - our position is also available to download.
*2,300 people were employed by Middlesbrough's Corus steelmaking plant, before it was mothballed earlier this year. 2,200 people are employed by Cadburys' Bournville plant - including office based departments.
