Speaking at a National Job Summit in Glasgow today, First Minister Alex Salmond has announced a total of £34 million in European funding to support jobs. The funding will assist up to 28,000 people to gain or sustain employment through skills development.

Commenting on the £2.8 million allocation for the City of Glasgow, SNP MSP for Glasgow Bob Doris said: "This is terrific news for the city. Everything the Scottish Government is doing at present is geared towards Scotland's economic recovery. This investment will help to step-up that recovery for Glasgow, with investment in programmes to develop Glasgow's workforce and to create jobs.

"Job creation should be the single most important focus of every politician at this time and the SNP Government is stepping up to the plate. Glasgow has the potential to recover well from this treacherous Downing Street recession, with record investment in skills and support for small businesses coming from the SNP Government."

"The Scottish Government Economic Recovery Plan has already supported up to 15,000 jobs in the Scottish economy. SNP policies for job creation have buffered the most serious effects of the recession and are the reason why Scotland has had lower than UK average unemployment figures in every month since the SNP came to power."

Notes:

The funding will be used to assist Community Planning Partnerships (CPPS) ongoing work to support employability in their areas. The 11 CPPs which applied for the latest funding, as well as CPPs in Clackmannanshire and Edinburgh, have already received a share of over £50 million from the 2007-13 European Structural Funds programme. The new allocations are:

• Dundee - £1.6 million from the European Social Fund;
• East Ayrshire - £1.4 million from the European Social Fund, £153,000 from the European Regional Development Fund;
• Fife - £1.7 million from the European Social Fund, £47,000 from the European Regional Development Fund;
• Glasgow - £2.8 million from the European Social Fund;
• Inverclyde - £634,000 from the European Social Fund, £88,000 from the European Regional Development Fund;
• North Ayrshire - £366,000 from the European Social Fund, £148,272 from the European Regional Development Fund;
• North Lanarkshire - £2.1 million from the European Social Fund, £1.3 million from the European Regional Development Fund;
• Renfrewshire - £901,000 from the European Social Fund, £234,000 from the European Regional Development Fund;
• South Lanarkshire - £1.2 million from the European Social Fund, £258,000 from the European Regional Development Fund;
• West Dunbartonshire - £444,000 from the European Social Fund;
• West Lothian - £580,000 from the European Social Fund, £48,000 from the European Regional Development Fund
• The allocations of European funding for projects in the Highlands and Islands are:
• Argyll & Bute - £200,000 from the European Regional Development Fund
• Highland -  £1,280,000 from the European Social Fund and £2,441,000 European Regional Development Fund
• Moray - £287,000 from the European Social Fund and £53,000 European Regional Development Fund
• Orkney - £3.7 million from the European Social Fund and £176,000 European Regional Development Fund
• Shetland £2.7 million from the European Social Fund
• Eilean Siar (Western Isles) - £3.7 million from the European Social Fund and £1.1 million European Regional Development Fund