When businesses thrive, so does our economy. I love Wolverhampton. It is a great city, but has been left behind for too many decades. This is now starting to change - with unprecedented levels of investment received to level up opportunities and unleash our fantastic city’s potential. We are improving public services, developing better infrastructure, and backing local businesses. We are also delivering better employment and training opportunities for people of all ages, supporting disabled people, and helping people have a good retirement.
Jobs for Local People
- With 1.25 million job vacancies across the UK, our focus is firmly on supporting people to move into, and progress in, work. We are investing £3.8 billion more in further education and skills over the Parliament as a whole, to ensure people can access high-quality training and education that leads to good jobs. For more information on employment support, please visit www.stuartanderson.org.uk/employment-support.
- Wages are growing at the fastest pace in 20 years, and a record number of people are in work - with ONS figures showing that pay rose by 6.4 per cent annually between September and November, and the number of employees on he payroll is now 880,000 above pre-COVID levels. This news means that more people across the country are in work, helping to drive long-term growth, higher wages, and better living standards for everyone.
- Our Plan for Jobs includes our £2 billion Kickstart Scheme, which has already got around 160,000 young people into work; our £2.9 billion Restart Scheme, helping over 1 million long-term unemployed people find work; and our Lifetime Skills Guarantee, offering 11 million adults a free qualification. We are also getting 500,000 job seekers back into work through our Way to Work campaign.
Levelling up in Wolverhampton
- In Parliament, I called on the Prime Minister Boris Johnson to make a firm recommitment to reach into some of the most deprived areas and level up the country. The Prime Minister not only accepted my request, but confirmed that Wolverhampton will benefit from around £217 million of the growth deal funding across the Black Country. This aims to create 5,000 jobs and 1,400 new homes. £20 million has also been announced for the City Learning Quarter.
- The Government accepted my request to hold part of the Commonwealth Games and establish a new dual headquarters for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities in our great city. This is part of the Government's Places for Growth agenda, its commitment to relocate more than 2,100 roles across the West Midlands by 2025. The new HQ in Wolverhampton already has over 230 staff in place and includes the presence of Ministers – making it the first such ministerial office outside of London with a regular ministerial presence. Senior civil servants will also be based here, ensuring that our city becomes a centre for policy development and decision making. This will ensure that more local voices are reflected in the creation of government policy.
Regenerating our Economy
- I serve as a member of the Towns Fund Board, a consortium of elected leaders, local businesses, and key partners which identified priorities for our city and proposed projects to deliver on them. We secured £25 million to fund these projects, with an extra £1 million secured a year before and £15 from the Future High Streets Fund. This will help revitalise local commercial areas and support transformative projects such as the City Learning Quarter, National Brownfield Institute, Wolves at Work, and Grand Theatre expansion. You can find further details about investment we've secured here.
- Wolverhampton is the birthplace of the industrial revolution. While this continues to be an asset, it has also left a legacy of brownfield sites that present development challenges. We are determined to change these challenges into opportunities as we continue to regenerate towns and city centres. Our Levelling Up White Paper makes a new offer to support local leaders deliver transformational regeneration in towns and cities including Wolverhampton, creating new homes, jobs and communities. As part of this, Homes England is working with the City of Wolverhampton Council and the West Midlands Combined Authority to utilise collective expertise and investment tools to unlock new homes; exploring how a delivery vehicle, supported by investment from the partners, might create new residential and commercial uses in the City Centre.