A week can be a long time in politics VOICE from WESTMINSTER

NEIL COYLE MP

The country has been celebrating King Charles III’s Coronation and a month of bank holidays. It has been a chance to take stock of where we are at and look to the future. I want the UK to thrive and for people to feel confident about our shared prospects but, sadly, Southwark employers and local people report their concerns to me about the state of services, the tough environment in which businesses are trying to operate, and the more limited opportunities facing our country after thirteen years of Tory rule.

I hear first-hand how Southwark businesses experience Government failures. Hospitality and retail firms struggling to recruit. Businesses paying the Apprenticeship Levy but seeing no qualified applicants for jobs advertised. Employers struggling with soaring bills and customers unable to spend in a cost-of-living crisis exacerbated by the Tory ‘mini-Budget’ which caused inflation and mortgages to rocket. The UK economy has failed to catch up to pre-covid levels and is growing lower than any other major economy (except sanction-hit Russia). Last month we also saw the number of employees listed on UK payrolls fall for the first time in two years, a negative step as the country continues to falter post-covid.

Southwark-based business, MPE, told me recently they were recruiting specialist engineers requiring visas on the Government’s priority ‘occupational shortage list’. Applications for the visas and associated surcharges cost MPE £15,000 but after two months they had heard nothing from the Home Office and came to me for help. I raised the issue in Parliament, highlighting that MPE’s German office accessed equivalent visas at no cost to the company and in a fraction of the time. I hope things are now progressing but Government policies are sadly routinely making the UK less competitive in 2023.

Job vacancies are 282,000 higher than before the pandemic, but remain unfilled as the Government continues to ignore severe skills shortages across the country exacerbated by Brexit. The Government needs to make the UK more attractive as a workplace, yet the Tories fail to train and focus on future jobs and Ministers continue to ramp-up right-wing rhetoric and an anti-migrant narrative despite net migration in the UK now being higher than pre-Brexit. Their detachment from reality is quite astonishing but equally worrying given the need to ensure our country is better equipped for the future. Universities help meet and create future business demand but rely on international students and watch in horror as the Government now attacks visas for students despite our economic and academic needs.

There are complex challenges facing Southwark businesses, but the Labourrun council is helping to support and encourage aspiring entrepreneurs through the ‘Southwark Pioneers Fund’. The scheme is seeking applications supports anyone starting out with a business idea with grants up to £5,000 and a further ‘Grow Your Enterprise’ scheme offering up to £10,000 to scale-up established businesses. You can find more information online, via the council or drop me a line and I’ll try to help. I encourage anyone thinking of starting or growing a local business to apply!