What is Lichfield Council doing to attract Jobs to the City?
Lib Dem Cllr Paul Ray raised at Lichfield District Council's full council meeting last week an important question about employment in our district. He asked what the council was doing to attract Whitehall jobs to Lichfield as part of the government's Levelling Up policy.
Cllr Doug Pullen (Conservative Leader of Lichfield District Council) has responded with a press statement.
Cllr Paul Ray has said
"I am glad to hear Cllr Pullen's commitment to this agenda and I now await to see results and action.
We desperately need to attract more employment into our district. Too many residents have to commute out for their work and more local employment will grow our local economy. It will also help make our community more sustainable as more local jobs means less travel and less damage to our environment.
And following COVID 19 we know residents are looking to reduce their commuting time. Many people are wanting to work closer to their homes and Lichfield is so well placed to attract employers due to the office-based skilled of many residents in the district.
I urge the council to be proactive in attracting more skilled employment into the district including government jobs out of Whitehall. The department responsible for the Levelling-Up policy opened an office last year in Wolverhampton for 250 people. If something like that could happen here that would give such a boost to our local economy.
I fully support the council in pushing this and really do hope that the council is actively engaging with Government to attract jobs out of London to Lichfield District. I now await to see delivery and action."