An influential report on towns and cities in the UK has some good things to say about Barnsley
Barnsley Council has welcomed an influential report on towns and cities in the UK.

The Centre For Cities - Cities Outlook Report 2013 shows that Barnsley is the best performing "city" with regards to private sector employment growth.

While nationally there was little change in private sector employment between 2010 and 2011, Barnsley saw the largest increase in this area and it tops the table with 7.2 percent growth, against a 1.1 percent point average nationally.

The borough is also named as one of only 11 cities to have a greater than two percent rise in employment rate, with a 3.3 percent point rise.

However, despite this strong improvement in employment over the past year, Barnsley's overall improvement rate was 67 percent, placing it 40th out of 64 cities.

When it comes to housing supply growth, Barnsley is also doing well, featuring as one of the top 10 cities with the highest housing stock growth (coming third out of 63).

The report also rates Barnsley as 'medium' on CO2 emissions per capita.Accounting for over 80 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions, CO2 is a key factor in a country's ability to deal with climate change. CO2 emissions are one way to gauge how green a city is and the size of its carbon footprint.

Cllr Linda Burgess, Cabinet spokesperson, Development, Environment and Culture (Strategy, Programmes and Projects), said: "For Barnsley to record the largest increase in private sector employment out of all the 64 main towns and cities in the UK is fantastic news and shows that even despite these challenging economic times, Barnsley is a great place to invest and grow your business.

"There is a lot to be positive about in Barnsley, business survival rates are increasing, jobs are being created, more local residents are in employment and workplace weekly pay is increasing.
"Business programmes such as Enterprising Barnsley are having a real and positive impact on businesses."

Cllr Burgess added that the council recognises that there is still a long way to go and a lot of challenges remain. The Economic Strategy for the town will continue to be developed and implemented, in collaboration with partners from the public, private and voluntary sector.
The full report can be accessed here