Supermarket giants Asda and Tesco back MPs’ report

A report by the All Party Urban Development Group said planning contracts for new housing developments should prioritise local employment and ensure that training and job opportunities are maximised.

The cross-party group of MPs and peers wants planners to use section 106 agreements with developers to ensure that locals benefit fully from regeneration.

Its report, ‘Building local jobs’, which has received backing from Tesco and ASDA, says that councils, health trusts and other public sector agencies should lead by example and promote use of local labour on their own property development projects.

The report recommends that:

• Councils work with employers to provide useful training to local people and monitor those newly hired through the first five years of the employment.
• Funding for adult training is given to local councils rather than administered centrally.
• The private sector develops an accreditation scheme that identifies the businesses best at hiring locally.

Clive Betts MP, chair of the all party group, said: ‘It is crucial that during these difficult economic times, councils and businesses do everything they can to protect jobs for local people.

‘The planning process provides a prime opportunity for councils to negotiate with private developers, thereby providing good training and job opportunities to local unemployed.

‘Local people bear the costs of new development, so it’s only fair that they should benefit the most. We just need the government to support this and for councils to want to make it work by showing real innovation in how they plan.’