In normal times, a local employer announcing a 600 job cut would be one of the year’s biggest stories. Yet, these redundancies come after thousands of local job losses already been announced by airlines, cargo handling companies, and travel firms.

Every job lost is a family tragedy, particularly after the country has spent ten years cutting support for the unemployed and the council has less money to help than ever before.

At the council, we’re working to attract new employers to Crawley and help the unemployed retrain, but we must be realistic that with 40% of local jobs at risk it will take years to replace the jobs we’re losing.

The only way Crawley can avoid years of hardship is if the Government provides targeted support for the aviation industry, something we’ve spent months calling for. The sector is only struggling due to Government restrictions and given they planned to spend billions of public money at Heathrow for no direct financial return, clearly the Treasury recognises how important aviation is to the UK’s economy. Only the Government has the power to end the local job losses and save our town, by just targeting the money already committed to COVID-support more effectively.

Cllr Peter Lamb

Leader, Crawley Borough Council