1000 new jobs to be created in Glasgow in bid to help the young

 

Author - Brian Currie © The Herald Originally published: 17/11/2010

A thousand jobs for young unemployed people are to be created in Glasgow within the next two years.

The project, due to be announced today by council leader Gordon Matheson at the annual State of the City conference, will cost £7 million and will target 18-to-24-year-olds unemployed for more than six months.

Mr Matheson said the message to young people was: “We will not abandon you.”

The scheme to be unveiled today, called the Commonwealth Jobs Fund, follows the success of the Commonwealth Apprenticeship Initiative, which has provided places for hundreds of school-leavers.

Mr Matheson said funding for the scheme was available because of the private sector’s commitment to the Commonwealth Apprenticeship Initiative.

Today, he was due to tell business leaders: “Thanks to the way you enthusiastically stepped up to the plate and invested your own money in taking on almost 600 apprentices in 2010 alone, the council’s own budget for the scheme was significantly underspent.

“Having saved us that money, we are now pleased to be redirecting it back to you through the Commonwealth Jobs Fund.”

Operational from January, the scheme will fund 50% of a full-time salary for each new post.

Mr Matheson said the project would be open to every private and third-sector employer in the city but was particularly targeted at living-wage employers reflecting the council’s commitment to “a vital policy” and to small and medium sized companies “who have historically missed out on this kind of financial support”.

Mr Matheson was also due to tell the conference that Glasgow has become the first UK city to launch a dedicated Major Events Charter to guarantee “exceptional support” for organisers planning cultural and sporting events. These would be of similar stature to big events previously held in the city such as the Mobo Awards and MTV Crashes, or the 14th annual International Gymnastics Grand Prix, which takes place at the Kelvin Hall this weekend.

In the last financial year, more than 460,000 people attended major events in Glasgow, generating £28m in economic benefits, an increase of £10m on the previous year.

Mr Matheson said: “Like many international cities around the world, Glasgow has identified major events as a mechanism to deliver its economic, social and cultural objectives, but it is by adopting a ‘One Glasgow’ approach that sets the city apart from its competitors.”

He was due to add that Glasgow continues to demonstrate economic toughness and an appetite for success.

Although private-sector development for the year stands at £3.84bn compared to £3.9bn last year, the reduction was 2.8% against an 8.7% drop last time. Most city sectors have recorded an increase in the value of completed development activity this year except for residential development, which fell by £328m.

In the retail sector there was an increase of £42.2m to almost £650m, the hotel and leisure sector showed a 200% increase in the overall value of development from £304m last year to £611m and there has been a £21.5m increase in the value of completed developments to £112.9m in office development.

Stuart Patrick, chief executive of Glasgow Chamber of Commerce, said there were positive developments and growth in engineering, whisky and overseas tourism business, with export markets “all across the world proving to be a successful ground for Glasgow”.