MORE than 700 jobs have been created in Sedgemoor during the last financial year thanks to the district council's work with developers.

Sedgemoor District Council says between April 2017 and March 2018, 738 local jobs were created during the construction of a range of buildings and 115 posts went to people from the district in new premises when they became operational.

The council introduced its Employment and Skills Charter ten years ago and said it has sought to apply a Local Labour Agreement as a planning condition for permission to proceed with major developments such as housing schemes, retail outlets, hotels and offices.

Not only do the agreements lead to the creation of jobs, but they also provide for work placements and work experience as well as training and qualifications for those already in work, which means a rise in skill levels.

A former Royal Marine discharged on medical grounds and students from Bridgwater and Taunton College are just a few of the individuals who have benefitted from an introduction to the Construction Industry made possible by the collaboration between councils and building companies.

The council says the task of monitoring the extent to which companies honour their agreements is made easier by an 'excellent' relationship between council officers and the Construction Industry Training Board, whose National Skills Academy for Construction has set out a matric of achievable goals.

Caroline Derrick, employment, skills and training manager at Sedgemoor District Council, said the figures just released for the last year were really encouraging and proved 'beyond doubt' that the use of Local Labour Agreements was meeting the Council objective of creating opportunity.

She said: “In an area of relatively low unemployment, the priority for us is improving skill levels and enabling our people to compete for higher skill roles.

"We are also keen to bring more women into higher paid roles and working with developers through these agreements is helping us to do that.”