Get Lincolnshire Working Plan aims to tackle poor employment rate

Leading councillors say they’re developing a plan to get more people into work in Lincolnshire — after the county was ranked the among the worst in the UK for employment.

Members of the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority’s (GLCCA) employment and skills board approved a Get Lincolnshire Working Plan at a meeting on Wednesday, October 15.

The GLCCA said it wants to get more people in the county into work after Greater Lincolnshire has been found to have among the lowest rate of employment in the country — at just over 71%.

The government’s target is for 80% of people to be in employment.

The plan sets out a series of issues which the GLCCA needs to address to improve job retention and increase the number of people in employment in Lincolnshire.

These include the variances in seasonal employment in coastal areas, a lack of skilled people for specific industries including in manufacturing and engineering, transport barriers and caring responsibilities.

Clare Hughes, interim strategic lead for employment and skills said the proposals aim to address the areas which the national strategy hasn’t covered.

She said: “We’re waiting for the final guidance from the government. It hasn't actually been published yet.

“We are expecting that to say that the combined authority has a role in co-designing a programme and we can take that point forward and ensure there’s a mechanism for picking up something in between the plans.

“The plans at the moment are being published every two and a half to three years and that’s a long time. So, if we build that into that mechanism, we can make sure that happens.”

Coun Rob Waltham (Conservative), leader of North Lincolnshire Council, who was chairing the meeting, said it was important that the GLCCA got feedback from local businesses to inform its strategy.

He added: “It’s not just about setting the policy but it’s also about raising awareness of this research. We need to reach out to as many businesses as possible.

“Don’t consider yourself as just people supporting a paper today. Go out and champion this and champion the cause and make sure businesses connect with it because we need their voices. It’s no good having a policy without considering their contributions.”

But Coun Jackie Brockway (Conservative), leader of West Lindsey District Council, said it was important to ensure that the responsiblities of other local authorities should not be overlooked.

She added: “I think it’s important to recognise the extensive work that the districts have done on this with the partnership. For instance West Lindsey engaged with the consultants to put this forward.

“But I do feel there’s a risk that if we don’t look at the detailed work done by the districts then there could be duplication.”

Coun Phil Dilks (Independent), county councillor for Deepings East, who also sits on South Kesteven District Council, said he wanted to see more focus on working with logistics and port industries in the plan.

He added: “The analysis covers employment across 10 sectors which is fine.

“I’m just a little bit concerned that it doesn’t cover ports and logistics, particularly since that was one of the sectors we talked about in the devolution deal in terms of connecting the ports to the rest of the UK from a strategic point.”

Ms Hughes told councillors that there were two stages to the plans and that the GLCCA is working with local organisations to ensure it doesn’t repeat their work.

The Get Lincolnshire Working Plan was approved by councillors, subject to any minor amendments from the chief operating officer and the mayor.