Cut employment costs - Bassi plea.

BUSINESS leaders in Birmingham and Solihull today went on the warpath with a call for a moratorium on new employment regulations to ease dole queues. The rallying cry came as figures show the West Midlands again has the highest percentage of unemployed in the country. Leading the call, Paul Bassi, president of Birmingham Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCI), urged the Government to do more to support companies, with cash flow remaining a problem for many firms. "At a time when lack of cash flow is still hindering the business community, we are calling on the Government to reduce employment costs," he said. "We are meeting with the Low Pay Commission to discuss National Minimum Wage (NMW) proposals. "Over 60 per cent of our members feel that the NMW should be frozen in 2010.

We will be portraying our members' views and submitting our position to the Government this week. "Unemployment in the West Midlands stands at 270,000 (equal to ten per cent of the working age population) and although this is a decrease, and therefore a step in the right direction, this region still has a higher percentage of unemployed than any other area." Figures for youth unemployment across the region were "unacceptable". "In the West Midlands we have a huge wealth of talent in our young people. We are encouraging businesses to work with key partners to support young people's development and employability, through schemes such as Future Jobs Fund and West Midlands Graduate Internship Programme."