FURTHER QUESTIONS ON UK GOVERNMENT’S JOBS SCHEME

FURTHER QUESTIONS ON UK GOVERNMENT’S JOBS SCHEME

OVER 1,300 JOBS MISSING FOR SCOTLAND

SNP MSP Bob Doris, a member of the Scottish Parliament's Local Government and Communities Committee, has raised further questions about how many jobs Scotland has missed out on from yesterday’s announcement by the UK government on the creation of jobs from the Future Jobs Fund.

Yesterday Mr Doris queried why there were only 2,838 posts announced for Scotland compared to 47,000 for the UK as a whole. On a pro-rata basis Scotland would have acquired funding for 4,100 jobs.

However the Herald also reports today that the majority of bids from Scotland for funding were rejected. This is despite claims by the Scotland Office that the "vast majority" of bids to create Scottish jobs had been accepted. The figures seen by The Herald show only 48% were successful.

Commenting Mr Doris said:

"I am already on record as saying that any additional funding to create new jobs in Scotland is welcome. However the numbers benefiting in Scotland appear well out of kilter with the number for the UK.

“On a pro-rata basis Scotland would have secured over 4,100 jobs from this funding. However we have only secured 2,838 posts. That means Scotland is missing out to the tune of 1,300 jobs.

“There also appear to be further question marks about the number of bids that were rejected. As the Herald reports 52% were rejected. This is despite the Scotland Office saying the ‘vast majority’ were accepted.

"Someone in the Scotland Office has some explaining to do and must answer why so many bids were rejected and why Scotland is losing out on funding for a third of the posts on offer?”