Blow for Brits in UK seaside towns as jobs plummet by 50k in 10 years – but Labour plan to ‘make them great again’
JOBS in once loved British seaside towns have plummeted by 50,000 in just ten years, Labour reveal today.
Shadow Chancellor Rachel Reeves last night vowed to “make our seaside towns great again” by slashing and reforming business rates, stopping sewage being pumped into the seas, and booting tourism.
Holiday homeowners will have to register before letting out seaside properties – or face fines under Labour’s mission to save them from ruin.
Ms Reeves promised Sun readers she will crack down on second homeowners who leave properties empty while pretending to rent them out to holidaymakers.
They will bring in a mandatory licencing scheme like in Wales – where owners will have to sign up and pay a fee to rent out their holiday homes – in a bid help protect communities in rural and coastal areas.
As she visited Haven Primrose Valley Caravan Park in Filey where she tried her hand at bingo and making pizzas, she told The Sun: “I love our seaside towns.
“I have such happy memories of seaside holidays in Gower as a child – everyone has their own stories too.
“There are no better beaches in the world – and wherever you live, you’re never far from one.
“I want to make sure they are thriving again.”
And she’ll be dragging her kids to Cornwall this summer rather than taking them abroad, she revealed.
New stats show how seaside towns from Falmouth to Scarborough are lagging behind in economic growth as young people flock elsewhere for work.
Almost all seaside towns in England and Wales had a fall in employment levels between 2011 and 2021 – with falls of over 10 per cent for some towns.
Most towns had a lower employment rate than their region.
There was a fall in employment levels of almost 50,000 from 2011 to 2021.
But all of England and Wales saw jobs boosted by 1.1million.
Aberystwyth in Wales saw a staggering 26 per cent drop in jobs, losing 1,600 in a decade.
Cleethorpes saw 2,700 jobs go, 2,600 from Bournemouth, and Blackpool lost 1,800.
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On average seaside towns only grew 12 per cent between 2009 and 2019 – compared to the UK as a whole by 20 per cent, the ONS analysis revealed.
The growth per job in real terms (growth value added) increased by, on average, 3 per cent across 35 seaside towns, compared to five per cent across the UK.
Lytham St Anne’s was the town with the lowest growth, with GVA per job falling by 32 per cent over a decade.