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Richard Parker launched the ambitious West Midlands Works plan to help 93,000 people into quality jobs over the next 10 years and raise the regional employment rate by five per cent on Wednesday. West Midlands Works is the response to the Government’s Get Britain Working initiative, which sets out to ramp up employment, health and skills support to help tackle rising economic inactivity amongst people of working age. In a personal message, the Mayor said his own background of growing up in a working class community had taught him the principle of hard work, something he said he saw every day across the Black Country. He also said that he could understand the frustrations of people around wages not going up and lack of opportunities and spoke of what the new plan would do to improve the situation for many people. He wrote: "I grew up in a working class community that believed in hard work and fairness. You did your bit, looked out for your neighbours and expected the same back. "That’s still the spirit I see every day across the Black Country and in people who want to work, who care about their families and who take pride in where they’re from. "But too many people tell me the same story. They’ve done everything right, yet still feel shut out from opportunity. Wages haven’t kept up. Secure jobs are harder to find. Young people are moving away to find work. The system doesn’t feel fair anymore. "I understand why people are frustrated. You’ve been promised change before - and nothing really moved on. You’ve seen people, who should be working, paid to stay at home - that has to change. "We’ve lost too many good jobs and too much confidence. And when that happens, people stop believing that politics can make a difference. "We won’t fix this region by shouting from the sidelines and blaming others. We need to actually shift the dial, we have a moral and economic justification to do so. The only way things get better for us - and our kids - is if we roll up our sleeves and make it happen. "That’s why this week I launched West Midlands Works, our plan to help more local people into good, secure, fairly paid jobs. It’s not about handouts anymore. It’s about getting people back on their feet, back to work, giving them support and making work pay. "We’re setting up neighbourhood hubs, where people can get help to find well-paid work, retrain or tackle the health problems that stop them working, and we’re bringing together the NHS, councils and local employers so that when someone loses their job, they don’t fall through the cracks. "We’re backing good work - jobs that give you a career with a sense of purpose and stability, not just a payslip. "We’ve already seen what works, we have the evidence and the stories of people who haven’t worked for decades now in employment. The Coventry Job Shop has helped thousands back into work. Wolves at Work and Walsall Works have supported people into real, secure jobs. These are local successes we can build on and grow. "This plan is about putting power where it belongs and going to where the issues need to be fixed - in our communities. "There is no point waiting for another roll of the dice, we can’t wait for London. We’re rolling our sleeves up locally and fixing the system. We will work with partners like Pat McFadden, and his team in the Department for Work and Pensions, to fix the system from the ground up. "It won’t change overnight - I’m not going to pretend it will. But it is the start of doing things differently. "Of course, there will always be people who can’t work because of illness, disability or caring responsibilities - and we have a duty to stand by them. A fair society supports people when they need help, but also helps those who can work to do so. "We can’t rebuild our region by walking away from it. We do it by standing up for it. I’m not going to play the blame game, I’m just getting on with it. By backing local people. By believing in fairness again. And by proving that this region still knows how to graft, make and build. "We’ve been knocked back before and we’ve always got back up - stronger. "West Midlands Works is how we do it again."
