Jobs and Employment: Staffordshire

Debate between Andrew Western and Leigh Ingham

Monday 26th October 2026 Commons Chamber

[Andrew Western]

My hon. Friend makes an important and valid point. I will share his contribution with my noble friend the Minister for Skills.

In the interest of time, I will turn to the questions raised by my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme. He was particularly keen to understand how we ensure that people in rural communities can access jobs and opportunities. The Government are supporting employment in rural areas through localised get Britain working plans, a reformed jobs and careers service with expanded digital, phone and in-person support, and increased outreach through a flexible delivery network, including jobcentre vans. We have over 650 visiting officers who carry out home visits for customers with complex needs who cannot engage via digital or telephone channels, or attend a jobcentre. We have outreach work in place with local providers and community organisations to help to reach rural areas so that customers who might otherwise miss out on jobcentre services can access facilities.

On a cross-Government approach, my hon. Friend is entirely right to talk about ongoing dialogue with the Department for Transport. Bus services are incredibly important, and it is key that we retain strategic routes wherever possible. A particular, broader example of cross-Government working is our new jobs plans, which is a key part of the industrial strategy. Last Monday, the professional and business services jobs plan set out an aspiration to deliver 100,000 jobs in the coming years, including 22,400 apprenticeships. Departments involved include not just DWP and DBIST, but the Department for Education as well as Skills England. Departments are really working together to shape these plans, ensure that employment priorities are built in alongside skills and identify where DWP’s employment offer can help sectors to recruit the workforce that they need.

[Leigh Ingham]

My experience with Staffordshire county council is that funding has been allocated to it to deliver employment programmes, which is great, and we have the DWP jobs hubs as well, but they will not talk to each other, so there is real disengagement. If the Minister could push Staffordshire county council to have conversations with partners, it would really help the rest of us trying to do this work.

[Andrew Western]

I had made a mental note, from the contributions earlier, of the issues that colleagues have outlined with Staffordshire county council. It appears to be heading towards a meeting without coffee, but in the meantime, I am very happy to give it a chance to rectify its shortcomings when I write to it setting out some of the concerns that colleagues have raised.

On engagement more broadly, we want to consistently ensure that candidates come forward with the right skills to meet the jobs that employers wish to fill, to rebuild employer confidence in our services and to reduce skills shortages. The crucial thing there is a strong local understanding of the labour market needs. The Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire local skills improvement plan has been shaped collaboratively with employers and other partners to shape a plan for a more productive, inclusive and future-ready regional economy.

On the universities, I give my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme the assurance that the University of Staffordshire and Keele University are important partners for the local skills improvement plan. It is absolutely right that they are, and I reassure him that they are and will remain fully engaged.

Finally, on the point from my hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent Central (Gareth Snell), it is absolutely correct to stress the importance of reskilling and upskilling, as well as giving young people the skills that they need. I am passionate about that, and I know that my noble friend the Minister for Skills is too.

I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle-under-Lyme for bringing forward the debate this evening. The level of interest shows the passion that Members across Staffordshire and beyond have for this important issue, and I will take away the actions that I have committed to this evening.

Question put and agreed to.