Business leaders in Birmingham and Solihull have welcomed the fall in unemployment in the West Midlands following the release of figures by the Office of National Statistics today.

However, they say the trend is unlikely to be sustained without action from the government to stop the relentless flow of complex employment law.

Katie Teasdale, Head of Policy at Birmingham and Solihull Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BCI), said: "Basic workplace protections have been supplemented with burdensome rights to request extended time off provisions and unreasonable health and safety restrictions which risk future job creation.  

"We are also calling upon the government to cancel the planned one per cent rise in National Insurance contributions, scheduled to take effect in April 2011. If we are to emerge from this recession the government needs to encourage investment and growth.  

"Significant public sector cuts are now on the horizon and many large and small firms have taken steps to seek alternatives to redundancy by reducing hours and implementing wage reductions. 

"Businesses have done their bit to come through this recession. We are now looking for the government to do theirs."