Despite increasing concern of the loss of highly qualified school leavers and university graduates from seaside towns throughout the South West, the Government has yet to recognise the problem, let alone measure the effects or find a response on this issue. The Government's ignorance of the issues was revealed in a response to questions from Torbay MP Adrian Sanders.
In areas such as Torbay, a persistent problem has been the lack of incentive for young people to remain in the area, especially after leaving university, and this has caused a demographic imbalance and a skewed social profile. This creates problems for local authorities when addressing the needs of the local community. Adrian said: "This has always been a serious problem facing Torbay, as well as other areas. We have fantastic local schools but on the whole our local community does not benefit from the skills and expertise of young people once they complete their education."
"This contributes to the catch-22 of creating high quality jobs in Torbay. Without the skilled labour force, businesses will not invest and without the employment opportunities, young people will continue to move away. With the resulting imbalance in the population, we get a disproportionate burden on certain services and a hole in the economy. This overwhelmingly affects seaside towns."
"Rather disappointingly the Government is hardly even aware of the problem and has left it up to local authorities to solve it. Much is being done in Torbay with investment in further and higher education at South Devon College but without recognition and resources from central Government, there will always be more to do."
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