TWO sets of numbers were published last week, which do not make good reading for anyone hoping for a swift increase in private sector jobs.

The first was research released by North East Chamber of Commerce (NECC), which shows that employment legislation due to be implemented in the next four years will add £730m in extra costs to North-East businesses.

That was followed by labour market statistics, which show unemployment in the North-East is above ten per cent.

In this region, and across the country, the bulk of job cuts are not coming from businesses, but from public sector organisations dealing with the impact of Government spending cuts.

There has been plenty of debate about whether the timing or targeting of these cuts should be altered, but the deficit must be tackled, and the Government is fixed on the course it has set.

However, its strategy is based on the notion that the private sector will increase employment quickly enough to offset the impact of public sector redundancies.

That isn’t happening so far. Businesses are growing, but most have been operating with enough spare capacity that they do not need to hire people in large numbers at present.

Moreover, there is a danger that the Government will keep a lid on any recruitment in future if its £730m employment legislation bill acts as a deterrent to taking on new staff.

Much of this legislation is designed to achieve laudable aims. But in many cases it is being implemented too quickly, piling huge pressure on businesses to adjust to changes, such as the abolition of the Default Retirement Age, which will be in place in a matter of months. Other measures place too heavy a burden on businesses in order to implement Government policy, such as the detailed information employers will need to gather to enable staff to take advantage of proposed rights to paternity leave.

This would be acceptable if the Government made good its promise of a “one in, one out” approach to regulation.

But employers are unlikely to notice the corresponding £730m worth of cuts to regulatory burdens, which would be required to fulfil this pledge.

If ministers truly expect to create new jobs to offset public sector redundancies, it’s high time they got serious about stimulating business growth and made life easier for employers and businesses, rather that strangling the private sector with ever more complex and burdensome employment legislation.