Stephen Lloyd MP writes:

Whatever our political persuasion we all know the UK is facing a very difficult economic challenge. We may differ on how best UK plc should address the challenges but we all recognise that it exists.

Prior to becoming the MP for Eastbourne and Willingdon my job was as a freelance consultant with the FSB (Federation of Small Business) and over the last few years I met and worked with hundreds of small companies in South London. I was struck by their determination to succeed and by their determination, over the last 2/3 years, to weather the recession. In that, many have already made the right moves to strip out excess costs and to coin a phrase, be lean and keen. Wages have been flat, focus has been on price and significant efforts have been made to weather the downturn. This has put the private sector in a strong position to benefit from the anticipated growth upswing later, hopefully, this year. In fact manufacturing has been growing strongly over the last two economic quarters. In Eastbourne over 500 new jobs have been created in the last 6 months alone. That’s not in any way to say it’s easy out there at the minute but it is moving in the right direction.

For the public sector though the immediate future is uncertain. Few of the tough decisions the private sector have taken over the last few years had, up until recently, been taken by our public services. Naturally, there are exceptions to that and our own local Eastbourne Borough Council had taken some of the difficult decisions and consequently look set to fare much better than most if not all of the other councils in the South East.

For people working in the public sector in the UK, many of whom I know well in Eastbourne and many of whom are good friends, it is a worrying time. I am determined to do all I can to support constituents who work in the public sector, both to try and alleviate the consequences of redundancies by growing the town’s economy so other jobs become available, and also by lobbying the government to ensure we retain as much of the funding stream as possible.
In this difficult climate, Trade Unions have an important role to play and I am committed to working with them. There has been some robust language towards Trade Unions generally from some sections within the Coalition Government. I do not share those sentiments. Never have, never will! I do not mean we always see eye to eye on every issue – we don’t. But Unions’ value and importance to many people, particularly in the public sector is something I respect and wish to encourage and support.

If any Trade Union constituents would like to get in touch, they can call my office in Seaside Road for an appointment on 01323 733030 or drop me an email at stephen.lloyd.mp@parliament.uk

Stephen Lloyd is the Member of Parliament for Eastbourne and Willingdon.