Next Friday, 15 March, the De La Warr Pavilion will be hosting the 8th annual Bexhill Jobs and Apprenticeships Fair. Each year, the Jobs Fair keeps getting bigger and better and I am incredibly proud to be actively involved in the organisation of this community-led, not-for-profit event.
The Steering group for the jobs fair consists of the De La Warr Pavilion, Bexhill College, Rother District Council and my constituency office team. They all work really hard to deliver an exciting and dynamic event. This year, there will be 56 organisations in the room. Each one has something to offer – jobs, apprenticeships, training, work experience or essential skills to help you find your perfect job. Google Digital will be delivering workshops sessions throughout the day. We will also have workshops for those looking to start a career in creative work alongside a Creatives Industries Zone.
The Jobs Fair would not be possible without the generous sponsorship of a number of local organisations. The key sponsors this year are Bexhill College and East Sussex Healthcare Trust. My thanks to them and all our sponsors for their support of this event.
If you are looking for your first job, a career change, returning to work or you are just interested to find out more about the many businesses and organisations which operate in our local area, do put the date in your diary. You won’t be disappointed, we have gained the reputation of being one of the best jobs fairs in the south east.
Helping people into work and making work pay has always been a priority for the government. Since 2010, an average of 800 new jobs have been created every day and unemployment has halved.
I was in the House of Commons on Wednesday lunchtime to listen to the Chancellor, Jeremy Hunt, deliver his Budget. Building on his 2p cut to National Insurance (NI) in last year’s Autumn Statement, the Chancellor announced further support for workers through an additional 2p NI cut – from 10% to 8% for employees, and from 8% to 6% for those self-employed. This will save the average worker around £450 a year, and £350 for somebody self-employed. When combined with the Autumn Statement reductions, 27 million employees will get an average tax cut of £900 a year.
Through sound economic management, which has seen wages consistently rising faster than prices and better growth than European neighbours, the government has been able to cut NI by one third in six months without increasing borrowing and without cutting spending on public services.
The Independent Office for Budget Responsibility says that when combined with the Autumn Statement reductions, the cuts to NI announced this week will mean the equivalent of 200,000 more people in work, filling one in five vacancies, and adding 0.4% to GDP. The average earner in the UK will now have the lowest effective personal tax rate since 1975, lower than the US, France, Germany and every other G7 country.
The Bexhill Jobs and Apprenticeships Fair is the perfect place for local businesses to recruit into their vacancies. For those considering their options on entering or re-entering the employment market, the Jobs Fair is not only the perfect place to find a job, it also provides a wealth of information about the opportunities right on our doorstep to help you on that journey.
