B

Baroness Sherlock (Lab)

Speaking in the House of Lords on 13 October 2025

Debate

Jobs Market

Contribution

My Lords, within hospitality, there are still 78,000 vacancies in accommodation and food service activities. That is unchanged on the quarter and is only 7,000 below the pre-pandemic level. Of course, there are global headwinds across the economy, but retail and hospitality are sectors where there has always been a lot of churn. We need to make sure that there are the appropriate workers at the appropriate level. Therefore, we have announced the rollout of the hospitality SWAP pilots—sector-based work academy programmes—launched in partnership with UKHospitality. We are spreading them to 26 new areas which are in need of jobs and opportunities, including 13 coastal towns like Scarborough and Blackpool. We are also working with other key sectors. One challenge we have is to make sure we match the skills of workers with the jobs that are available. A SWAP can get someone job-ready and able to move into one of those jobs when they become available. There will always be vacancies and part of our job is to ensure that everyone has a chance of getting one. That is what we are focused on.

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