Employment minister warns ‘job deserts’ and long-term sickness are holding back Britain

Employment minister Alison McGovern has warned that “job deserts” and high rates of long-term sickness are holding back towns and cities across the UK, leaving too many people “on the scrap heap” and stifling local economies.

Speaking as the Government unveiled new plans to boost recruitment through Jobcentre Plus, McGovern said concentrated pockets of economic inactivity were harming both individuals and the regions in which they live.

“We’ve got too many people who’ve essentially been put on the scrap heap and that’s bad for them individually,” she said. “But it’s also bad for those places in our country where there are high concentrations of people in that position, because that town and that city is also held back.”

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), the UK’s overall rate of economic inactivity stands at 21%. In some areas, more than half of working-age adults are out of work and not seeking employment.

The 2021 census showed that part of Stockton-on-Tees in County Durham has the highest rate of inactivity in the UK at 67%. Knowsley in Merseyside has the highest proportion of working-age residents receiving fit notes from their GP, at 31.4%.

McGovern linked the issue to the nation’s health, warning that the number of people leaving the workforce due to long-term sickness has risen sharply since the pandemic.

With only 9% of UK businesses using job centres to hire staff, the Department for Work and Pensions is writing to more than 8,000 of the country’s largest employers to promote the benefits of recruiting through Jobcentre Plus.

The Government is investing in additional staff to provide “comprehensive recruitment support” and launching pre-employment training programmes in partnership with employers.

KFC is among the companies working with the scheme, offering paid work experience to help young people move into full-time jobs. “It’s about giving young people a fair shot at a first job,” said Shaffra Gray-Read of KFC. “So many young people are locked out of opportunity.”

Between January and March 2025, there were 923,000 people aged 16–24 not in education, employment or training, according to ONS figures.ke me to prepare that?