Liverpool City Region entered the Covid-19 pandemic with high levels of unemployment, and the number of people claiming unemployment-related benefits has increased by a further 34,000 since March 2020. While we expect the bounce back from Covid-19 to be swift, the city region’s challenges pre-pandemic will continue to be an issue post-pandemic. And so the priorities set out in this briefing focus on tackling these challenges.

Policy priority 1: Raise employment rate and participation in the labour market up to the national average

• Establish a ‘skills compact’ for adult education, and undertake an audit to trace how much money is spent on adult education in the area.
• Support people that are economically inactive to be work-ready
• Launch a Working Well programme

Policy priority 2: Ensure young people are ready to enter the labour market

• Support more young people to take up and complete apprenticeships
• Challenge schools that are underperforming and improve investment in education
• Champion take-up of extracurricular activities

Policy priority 3: Make it easier for people to move around the city region and get to the city centre

• Introduce a congestion charge in Liverpool city centre
• Press ahead with progress on bus franchising
• Re-introduce bus lanes on key strategic roads