The Government’s aim to reduce the number of public sector jobs is to introduce efficiencies and reduce costs in order to balance the books and clear the deficit. It should be remembered that every public sector worker is paid by you and me from taxes, whilst a private sector worker is paid from money a company receives from selling its goods or services. Just as we personally have to pay interest on money we borrow, so does the government, and the level of interest we are charged depends on the lenders assessment of our ability to pay the money back. That is why it is so important for the government to keep our economy on an even keel.
So, a public sector worker earning £20,000 costs us that amount plus their pension contribution of say £1,000 plus the employer’s National Insurance contribution of around £1640. They pay a maximum of £1,880 in income tax and £1433 in National Insurance so are a net cost to us of around £19,327. A private sector worker on the same salary would actually cost us nothing and pay in their income tax and national insurance. These figures show why the creation of private sector jobs are so important.
The Government and local council are looking at more efficient ways to offer the same services. Our nurses, doctors, teachers, firemen, policemen and others are essential to our well-being and if we are to continue to invest in these services it is necessary for us to scrutinize all areas of the public sector to see where savings can safely be made.
A fresh study has found the East Midlands has seen a major increase of more than 120,000 in private sector jobs over the past 5 years, taking the number now employed to more than 1,600,000 people. Over the same period we have also seen a significant decrease in the number of public sector roles.
Despite being an old mining area and its rural nature, South Derbyshire is again leading the way, with double the number of private sector jobs being created than public sector jobs lost. The area has been outstandingly successful in attracting new businesses across the entire constituency which have brought great, well paid job opportunities and the number of self-employed people starting new ventures is amazing.
Existing businesses, both large and small, are expanding, as is the case in Swadlincote where Lidl, recognizing a thriving area, decided to knock down their old store and replace it with a much larger, more modern facility.
This change in the prominence of sectors coincides with the huge fall in unemployment figures across South Derbyshire since I became MP in May 2010. The total unemployment figures as of September 2015 stand at 389, a fall of 191 since March of this year, with unemployment figures falling consistently month by month from 1,540 in 2010. The sharp fall in these figures has been welcome news for the people of South Derbyshire who have been able to get back into work thanks to the thriving private sector. In fact the area is one of the fastest growing in the Country.
Both the South Derbyshire District Council locally and the Government nationally have put measures in place to encourage businesses, cutting red tape where they can and removing, wherever possible, the barriers which impeded their establishment and growth. The aim is always to create a climate which promotes job creation, the key to long term economic prosperity, private sector jobs which allow Government more money to spend on the NHS and education, something we all care about.