Martin Tod emphasises importance of local small businesses for Winchester's unemployed

4.44.00pm GMT Tue 27th Jan 2009

The number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance in the Winchester increased again in December by 35 to 816, the highest level since 1999.

Liberal Democrat Parliamentary Candidate, Martin Tod, has met with the Federation of Small Business to discuss the local situation.

We have below average unemployment in the Winchester area, but the trend is still upwards. And below average figures don't make it any less worrying for anyone who has lost their job.

After speaking to local businesses and the Federation of Small Businesses, the situation locally isn't as bad as we see on the national news. Many businesses I've spoken to are continuing to grow, and new businesses are continuing to start up in Winchester.

Small businesses are going to be vital to any recovery - they're the real engines of employment. More people have jobs in small companies than in medium-sized companies or in large companies.

It's essential that the Government don't forget small business in their recovery plan. The top priority is to get get banks lending again: to small business as well as larger ones. The Council needs to help too, for example by avoiding excessive commercial rent increases and scrapping poorly thought through ideas like their proposals for Sunday parking charges.