Unemployment is higher in Sittingbourne and Sheppey than the rest of the South East because residents in the area lack vital skills, says the regional JobCentre manager.

Jane Durant made the comments when discussing the latest figures showing the month-on-month change in the number of people claiming job seeker’s allowance.

Although the total of claimants in the area has dropped for the fifth successive month, the percentage of people on out-of-work benefits in Sittingbourne and Sheppey is still significantly higher than the average for this part of the country.

Last month, there were 1,188 people on the dole, which is a fall of 144 from July.

This brings the average percentage of Sittingbourne and Sheppey residents claiming the benefit to 1.7% - compared to the South East average of 1%.

But Ms Durant has argued that while there are plenty of jobs in the area, there are very few people with the necessary training and education to fill the posts.

She said: “There’s actually a really buoyant labour market, with full-time and part-time vacancies coming through.

“There’s actually a really buoyant labour market, with full-time and part-time vacancies coming through" - Jane Durant, JobCentre manager

“But I think in this area there are vacancies we will have that we will struggle to fill - like driving vehicles such as HGVs, because people don’t have the skills to do that.

“Also, positions in the care sector, which has been the biggest growth area, but it’s a profession people don’t find particularly appealing.”

However, Ms Durant, who manages the JobCentre Plus offices in Sittingbourne, Sheppey and Canterbury, added there were a number of schemes being rolled-out to try and improve employment skills in the working-age population.

Last month, a sector-based work academy was temporarily set-up in Snodland, offering people driver training courses.

Ms Durant said that should the funding become available, the JobCentre would like to see a sector-based scheme for the care industry set-up in Swale.