Christina McKelvie MSP has warmly welcomed an investment of close to £1.5 million in programmes to safeguard and create jobs in South Lanarkshire.

The funding is South Lanarkshire’s share of a total of £34m in European cash to support Scotland’s economic recovery. It was announced last week by First Minister Alex Salmond, who said:

“The Scottish Government is doing all we can to ensure a strong economic recovery and to secure and safeguard jobs. We are using all our economic levers to support individuals, businesses and communities through the downturn and towards sustainable economic growth.

“This announcement of more than £34 million European funding will deliver vital support such as training opportunities to communities across Scotland, helping 28,000 individuals find fresh employment while assisting business growth, urban regeneration and rural development.

“This Government is committed to working with our partners in local authorities, enterprise networks, voluntary sector, business community, unions, colleges and universities to ensure Scotland is an attractive environment for investment, with the skilled workforce and quality infrastructure required for success.

“Our Economic Recovery Plan has directly supported up to 15,000 jobs in the Scottish economy and this further investment will build on our efforts towards ensuring people across Scotland can achieve their potential through employment and make a valuable contribution to increasing Scotland’s sustainable economic growth.”

Responding to the First Minister’s announcement, Central Scotland SNP MSP Christina said:

“Employment in South Lanarkshire has been badly hit by the recession, so the First Minister’s announcement of this investment to help thousands of people in the area to find jobs comes at a crucial time and is extremely welcome.

“Creating and protecting jobs is the number one priority of the SNP Government, which is using all the tools available to it to drive forward Scotland’s recovery from recession and get people back into work.

“This £1.5m cash injection will considerably enhance South Lanarkshire Community Planning Partnership’s abilities to support people back into employment and give a real boost to the local economy.”

The funding will be used to assist Community Planning Partnerships’ (CPPs) ongoing work to support employability in their areas. The allocation is:
South Lanarkshire – £1.2 million from the European Social Fund, £258,000 from the European Regional Development Fund