click on the photograph to enlarge it

We’ve all heard about the north-south divide, but now it seems that Lincolnshire has a divide of its own – between east and west … and that Boston yet again is left at a disadvantage.
A recently released set of figures from the 2011 census, which break down the numbers of people aged between 16 and 74 employed by industry show that whilst Boston Borough scores relatively high percentages in areas such as transport and storage and agriculture – both of which are to be expected – we are sadly lacking in areas of employment which should be attracting more people.
Clearly, Boston suffers from its location, with a poor road and rail infrastructure – and as far as the latter is concerned it has already been reported that staffing at Boston station is to be cut, and no improvement monies have been allocated for the Lincolnshire rail network as a whole.
When you look more closely at the maps reproduced above, you can see where Boston is missing out on opportunities.
Construction, education, finance and insurance, and information and communication are all industries which are seeing growth elsewhere, with Boston the lightly coloured area on the maps – which in every case means that we have the lowest percentage of employees in these sectors.
As we say, part of the problem is down to the transport infrastructure.
But Boston also has a negative history where the great and the good are concerned. The very people who should be championing the borough and trying to bring about improvements have set their sights for Boston far too low – and seem content with the status quo.
Infamously, when our local MP Mark Simmonds was asked about the lack of jobs for local people in a radio interview, he responded: “I can meet some young people in Boston who say ‘Mark, when are you going to get all these migrants out of our town, and I say to them, ‘Well, when you’re prepared to go into the fields or the packhouses.”
Similarly, Boston Borough Council leader Pete Bedford – in another radio interview – declared: “It’s the fact that our population have got to get used to the fact of starting to apply for such jobs (in the packhouses) again.”
The packhouse should not be the be all and end all for young Bostonians leaving school.
Last month we heard that three of the brightest pupils from Boston High School are expected to take up places at Cambridge University later this year, after receiving offers from different colleges.
Once they get their degrees, one wonders what Boston will have to offer them.
Certainly, we consider it unlikely that they will return to look for packhouse work.
No. It’s far more likely than not that they will join the brain drain of brighter young people who leave Boston for further education and who never return – something that has already been identified by Lincolnshire's Chamber of Commerce.
Less than two years ago a report from the University and College Union ranked the 632 parliamentary constituencies in England, Scotland and Wales according to the percentage of working age people between 16 and 64 who have no qualifications.
It placed the Boston and Skegness constituency 17th in the bottom twenty – with 22 per-cent of the group having no qualifications.
The UCU General Secretary, Sally Hunt, said at the time: “There is a real danger that children growing up in certain areas will have their ambition blunted and never realise their full potential.
“The government needs to urgently revisit its education policies if we are to really offer improved life chances to all.”
And in March last year, a survey named  Boston as the worst performing area in the East Midlands for business …  after the borough suffered a net loss of 117 companies over the previous two years.
The study, by Experian – the global information services group - counted the number of new companies and firms made insolvent in local authority districts across England, and ranked   Boston 298th out of 324.
As far as the brain drain is concerned – we are sorry to say that it will continue while our local leaders and the borough’s MP cling to the idea that the career path for our young people is a seamless journey from school to the packhouse.
Inevitably, as the years go by, more and more mechanisation will be employed in the fields and the packhouses – and what will our so-called leaders be saying then?
We need them to stand up and fight for a better Boston, not sit back and let the area decline year on year, as it happening at present.

 

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