Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 29 June 2017 to Question 1216, on low pay: Barnsley Central, what steps he is taking to increase the average gross hourly earning in Barnsley.

The current employment rate in Barnsley is 74.8% compared with an England average of 78% but has grown by 10.7 percentage points since 2010. The Government is investing in economic and jobs growth in Barnsley through both the Leeds and Sheffield City Region Local Enterprise Partnerships. The first two rounds of both their Growth Deals will deliver up to 24,000 new jobs. Projects supported include the Leeds City Region Business Growth Programme, through which 34 Barnsley businesses have benefitted from capital grants to create jobs. The Sheffield City Region Growth Deal has supported the opening up of employment sites at M1 Junction 36 with further work planned for Barnsley town centre regeneration. The Government’s Education and Skills Funding Agency also supported the development of a Construction Centre at Barnsley College’s Honeywell campus to support a range of construction and engineering training.