The Government should be taking a lead from abroad in helping to kick start car sales, shadow Black Country Minister Francis Maude claimed this week.

Not enough was being done to support the industry, he insisted.

Speaking on a visit to the Wolverhampton offices of consultants Network
Recruitment Partnership, Mr Maude said it was three months or so since Business Secretary Lord Mandelson had talked about how best credit finance could be turned back on – Jaguar Land Rover and others have been complaining bitterly about the resulting inaction.

“The time it is needed is now as people keep losing their jobs,” he asserted.

“Other countries are finding ways of allowing those who want to buy cars to do so.”

These have included credit initiatives and incentive schemes for the scraping of old vehicles.

Bemoaning the “descent into difficulty”, Mr Maude, MP for Horsham but formerly the Member for North Warwickshire, said components suppliers were finding it particularly hard going.

“Once you lose such businesses it is very difficult to rebuild,” he cautioned.
Mr Maude said he did not want to talk things down, but the position in the Black Country remained gloomy and the economy appeared to be in freefall.

He went on: “I hope it will pick up later this year but we are now at the end of the first quarter and there is no evidence at the moment that the speed of the descent has even levelled out.”

In visiting Network Recruitment Partnership Mr Maude was also taking time to catch up with managing director Ken Wood, Prospective Parliamentary Candidate for Wolverhampton South East.

NRP specialises in social housing, the public sector, engineering, manufacturing and supply chain recruitment.