Roger Pushes Blair On Unemployment

Council Leader urges Blair to tackle long term Unemployment

The Council Leader has urged the Prime Minister and Work and Pensions Secretary John Hutton to do more to tackle unemployment in Leicester.

Roger Blackmore, along with several other local authority leaders, was invited to Downing Street last week to discuss the problem of long term unemployment in Britain's big cities.

Roger argued that the Government must do more to improve "second chance" education and skills training, helping youths failed by the education system.

He also called upon the ministers to move a Government department to Leicester, thus creating jobs and improving the local economy.

The Council Leader also appealed for investment in transport links, enabling unemployed people from Leicester access to job opportunities at Nottingham East Midlands Airport.

He said: "I hope some notice will be taken of the issues we experience on a day-to-day basis, on which our Government ministers are not always so focused on."