More needs to be done to create job opportunities outside the Douglas area, it was claimed in the House of Keys on Tuesday.

The appeal was made after Economic Development Minister Laurence Skelly was called on to explain why unemployment rates are higher in the north.

Mr Skelly confirmed that one of the issues was transport for jobseekers.

Tim Baker (Ayre and Michael) said: ’Rather than focusing on moving people out of the regional areas to the hotspots of the Douglas and Airport corridor, it would be better to actually focus on creating the jobs in the regions, so we have got balanced economic growth across the whole island.’

In September, there were 67 people in the north registered for jobseekers’ allowance, an unemployment rate of just over 1%, compared with the island average of 0.8%.

But, Mr Skelly, said a movement of just 10 people off the register would bring the north in line with the rest of the island.

Responding to a question from David Ashford (Douglas North), the minister admitted: ’No formal assessments have been made to establish why the unemployment rate is higher in the north than in other areas.

’I am advised, though, that clients in the north often cite the need to travel, both to work itself and to attend appointments and interviews, as a barrier. Clearly, the issue of transport becomes more acute when local employment opportunities are scarce.’

He added: ’It is evident that there is some disparity between the number of jobs available in the north and the number of those seeking work.’

Bus passes could be provided for jobseekers attending interviews, he said.

’The department, working closely with Treasury to provide targeted assistance, has contributed to an almost 60% fall in numbers of jobseekers in the north over the last two years,’ he added. But he insisted the DED was ’not complacent’.

Mr Ashford said local opportunities was the ’nub’ of the issue.

’If you look at vacancies compared to unemployment, in the east of the island there are more vacancies than the unemployment rate, in the west there are more as well, in the south it is around about equal, but in the north the vacancies are a lot less than the unemployment rate.’

Dr Alex Allinson (Ramsey) added: ’Regional regeneration committees perhaps should look more at employment prospects and economic development, rather than purely in terms of landscaping.’