BUSINESS chiefs in north Essex last night called on the Government to do more to stimulate economic growth after it emerged seven people in Tendring are chasing every job vacancy.

Research carried out by UNISON shows the area is ranked the third worse affected district in the whole of the East of England.

Only Castle Point and Southend-on-Sea faired worse than Tendring where there are 12 and 9 people respectively, applying for every vacancy.

On average, there are three unemployed people in the eastern region applying for each job.

David Burch, director of policy at Essex Chambers of Commerce, said: “We feel the Government needs to do more to stimulate growth in the economy and raise confidence for both consumers and businesses in order to get people spending again.

“That could be done by means of giving people tax cuts in some way, raising tax allowances for individuals and certainly businesses, reducing things like corporation tax so they have more money to invest and reducing employers’ national insurance contributions to get them thinking about taking on more staff.

Mr Burch said they would like to see investment in improving the A120 from Ardleigh to Harwich and opening up opportunities for the port – especially the Bath Side Bay development which he said would generate jobs.

He added: “We were also disappointed that Colchester Borough Council refused planning consent for the development at Horksley Park. “That would have created a considerable number of jobs. We would like to see more positive consideration from local authorities when looking at planning applications for business use that could lead to job creation.”

Sarah Candy, portfolio holder for inward investment and growth at Tendring District Council, said schemes were in place to boost employment but the district was missing out on funding because affluent areas were masking pockets of severe deprivation.

She said: “We have the most deprived ward in the country. A lot of that gets masked because of our more affluent areas. Therefore the additional national investment that is going to people who are facing the same challenges that we face, we are not getting. That’s been happening historically.”

The council is currently piloting a scheme with JobCentre Plus and asking businesses if they do need extra staff which has created 14 new jobs

Ms Candy added: ““We are also using £1m from our new homes bonus to bring about inward investment in the district. There is a lot going on but we don’t under estimate the challenges that coastal communities have.”

A spokeswoman from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills said: “The Government is giving people in East Anglia more powers to decide how money is spent in their area. The business-led New Anglia and South East Local Enterprise Partnerships are targeting money at local projects, and the Greater Norwich and Southend City Deals have the potential to unlock new and innovative ways to drive growth.

‪“We are also investing £54 million of Regional Growth Fund money in the east of England. This will help local companies to create jobs and lever in significant private investment.”