Rising unemployment due to Covid-19 and businesses feeling the effects of Brexit are seen as some of the biggest risks currently facing Gwynedd, a new report has suggested.

Meeting on Thursday, Gwynedd Council’s Audit Committee also heard  concerns over a lack of nursing beds following last year’s closure of the Penrhos Polish home.

But responding to the findings of the report, one councillor suggested there are a number of vacancies within the hospitality sector in areas such as Llŷn, amid ongoing difficulties facing many businesses to attract enough staff.

The authority’s Corporate Risk Register considers those likely to pose challenges to the council and the people of Gwynedd, based on its own matrix.

Found to be among the highest risks was that of unemployment rising sharply due to the lingering effects of Covid-19.

The report noted that mitigation measures available to the authority itself include working with Grŵp Llandrillo Menai and the third sector to provide support to support local businesses and employers to employ young people for a period of six months and develop their work skills.

It was said that a taskforce will also consider if there are further steps Gwynedd Council and its partners can take to support businesses and employers to offer work and employment experiences.

But amid ongoing and high profile struggles of several hospitality businesses to retain and attract staff to meet growing demand as the summer opened up, one pub owner said that jobs were out there in areas popular with tourists.

Cllr John Brynmor Hughes, the councillor for Llanengan, added: “There is work here in Pen Llyn but people don’t want to do it, hospitality is one of the biggest employers locally and is desperate for workers.

“I think people have got used to not working and plenty of time at home and have enjoyed themselves, leading to the problem now that the hospitality sector, especially here but also further afield such as  Aberystwyth and Newquay, they are all looking for staff.

“The work isn’t the problem as long as people are willing to do it.”

Figures suggest more than one in 10 UK hospitality workers have left the industry in the last year, with factors said to include not only Covid-19 but also Brexit.

Other major risks noted included the need to pay particular attention to the agriculture sector where further support was also said to be needed to help rural businesses adapt.

With Cllr Angela Russell stressing the need for more nursing beds, particularly on Llyn following the closure of the Penrhos Polish home, the report also acknowledged the need to set up a Recruitment and Workforce Development Plan to address the authority’s needs amid the scaricity of social workers.

On the need to secure better paying employment opportunities in Gwynedd, after noting that the people of Gwynedd were not benefitting to the extent that they should from tourism, the approved report stated: “Low wages continue to be a problem in Gwynedd, particularly in the Meirionydd area. An opportunity to respond by continuing to work together to create the right conditions to develop high value jobs within Gwynedd.

“We will have agreed a programme to create more higher value jobs in Gwynedd taking into account the impact of COVID and Brexit on employers.

“The programme will focus on promoting skills and careers in the Science, Technology, Electronics and Mathematics Area and on safeguarding and creating new jobs for the future at Trawsfynydd site, Llanbedr airfield site, within the medical, engineering, digital and creative industries sectors.”