A report by the authority's head of regeneration and planning, to be discussed at the cabinet next Tuesday, recommends that the council accept a £1,542,758 grant from regeneration body Yorkshire Forward to start up a scheme called Scarborough Job Watch.

The report admits there has been a failure of the labour market in the borough.

Currently there are 7,000 people unemployed in the town, and a further 3,000 across the borough, but more than 70 per cent of employers say they find it difficult to recruit staff, according to council research.

The national unemployment rate at the end of July was 5.5 per cent, according to the Office of National Statistics. The borough of Scarborough's population is 106,243, meaning that at 10.6 per cent, unemployment in the area is nearly double the national average.

The Job Watch plans aim to give employers, particularly small and medium sized businesses, advice and practical support on getting and keeping employees.

Help would be given in a variety of areas, including support with the recruitment process, encouraging employers to consider taking on local workless people and matching workless people with the right skills to job vacancies.

It will also create "community access points" in the most disadvantaged areas of town where the unemployed can get the support they need to find and keep a job.

However, one town centre businessman who employs 33 people has expressed doubts about the scheme.

The man, who asked not to be named, said: "I don't understand why a council that has a lot of responsibilities and a lot of problems would wish to involve themselves in something that appears to duplicate the role of the national job service.

"There are ways in which the council could improve the employment market – by getting people in from surrounding areas to shop at the town's businesses and providing a comfortable and attractive atmosphere for business to operate in. People should be actively encouraged to shop here as well as visit as tourists.

"We've not really found it difficult to recruit suitable staff, though there has been little need to do so as we have a high level of retention."



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