The British public’s number one priority for levelling up is more and better jobs, according to a report published today.
It follows TUC polling, conducted by YouGov, which revealed one in two Britons (49% ) think increasing the number and quality of jobs available should be front and centre of the government’s strategy to level up the UK.
Other popular policies include upgrading transport infrastructure, which 35% backed and improving high streets and towns, which 33% wanted.
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The levelling up policy of Prime Minister Boris Johnson's government has reported aims to reduce the UK's imbalances and raise the levels of income in regions like the North East, seen as vital in maintaining his party's Red Wall seats won at the 2019 general election.
In the TUC poll, increasing the number and quality of jobs is popular across the political spectrum.
In all, 49% of those who voted Conservative in the 2019 general election want more and better jobs, along with more than half of Labour voters (56%) and Lib Dem voters (54%).
And it is popular among older voters – the demographic most likely to vote Conservative. Half (52%) of over 65s back better jobs to level up the UK.
The polling also revealed what respondents thought the government should prioritise when looking at which areas to invest in.
Two in five (40%) said areas with lots of people in poverty, 30% said areas with mostly low wage, and insecure work and 30%, areas with high unemployment.
The new polling comes as the government prepares to publish its levelling up white paper.
The TUC says the key test of the white paper is whether it sets out a plan to deliver decent work across the country.
The union body warns that if the government does not “level up work”, the government’s much-vaunted levelling up agenda will fail.
Recent TUC research has revealed the widespread nature of low-paid and insecure work in the UK.
It showed 3.6 million or one in nine working people are in insecure work, that the the size of the gig economy has near tripled over the past five years and now one million children in key worker households are in poverty.
The TUC is urging the government to finally deliver its long-awaited employment bill and put an end to the scourge of insecure work by banning zero hours contracts and giving workers greater rights – including greater union access to workplaces.
TUC General Secretary Frances O’Grady said: “Everyone deserves to be treated fairly at work and paid a wage they can live on. But for too many in the UK, work isn’t paying the bills.
“After more than a decade of lost pay and with the cost-of-living crisis taking its toll, it’s time ministers got their priorities right. We can’t level up the country without levelling up work.
“The public has spoken. They want better jobs in every corner of the country.
“The key test for the government’s white paper is whether it will set out a plan for decent work across the country.
“That means ministers must finally deliver on an employment bill to put an end to the scourge of insecure work by banning zero-hours contracts and giving unions greater access to workplaces.
“And the government must invest in good green jobs in industries of the future and give key workers the decent pay rise they deserve.”
A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing & Communities said: "As this research demonstrates, bringing more, better paid jobs to every corner of the UK is an essential part of levelling up.
“That’s why we’re investing in the projects that will help to deliver more jobs. From upgrading local transport to improve access to employment to a new programme of Freeports – including Teesside - that will bring thousands of jobs to some of our most deprived communities.
“The UK Shared Prosperity Fund will also support a range of skills and employment focused programmes, helping spread opportunity and make a real difference to people’s lives.”
But the Government's education plans "show the limits of Tory ambition for the country according to a statement released by Labour.
The party commented: “The government is desperately trying to distract from the utter chaos at the heart of Downing Street by recycling old announcements which shows the limits of the Conservatives’ ambition for Britain.
"Under the Conservatives, forty per cent of young people are leaving education without the qualifications they need to prosper, while rehashed ‘investment areas’ would not be needed if Ministers had only given our communities the respect they deserve for the last 11 years.
“Labour has set out plans to ensure that every young person leaves education ready for work and ready for life with the skills they need to secure good jobs in every part of this country, meaning no young person has to get out to get on. Supported by over 6,500 new teachers and with a professional careers advisor available for every school, Labour’s National Excellence Programme would help set every young person on the path to success.”
