What actions have been taken since 1 July 1999 to help North Ayrshire improve its record as one of the worst areas of unemployment and what…

The Scottish Executive is working closely with the Ayrshire Economic Forum to ensure that through investing in jobs and skills, and encouraging the growth of new businesses, we create sustainable economic growth and employment opportunities.In recognition of the particular economic problems of North Ayrshire, I announced last week an allocation of an extra £1.2 million to North Ayrshire Council for strategic local transport infrastructure projects.The Ayrshire Strategy for Jobs is a five-year strategy designed to create a more diverse economic base, to facilitate the acquisition of new skills, to enhance Ayrshire's competitiveness as a business location and to address problems of economic exclusion. The New Deal has helped nearly 3,000 people in North Ayrshire enter employment and there are special initiatives for those clients who face particular difficulties.The Executive-funded Training for Work (TfW) programme is also available to unemployed adults on a voluntary basis and, in 2002-03 aims to offer 500 work-related training opportunities to clients in Ayrshire. In February there were 221 trainees on TfW from North Ayrshire. Scottish Enterprise Ayrshire also provides training via programmes such as Skillseekers, the Individual Employment Fund and the Employment Initiative for SIP Areas.North Ayrshire has benefited directly from £775,358 from the European Regional Development Fund and £1,412,367 from the European Social Fund from the Objective 2 Programme 2000-06. These projects should cater for some 1,280 trainees. Under the Objective 3 Programme 2000-06 more than £14 million has been awarded to projects operating in North Ayrshire.Since July 1999, 39 projects from companies in North Ayrshire, creating and safeguarding jobs in the area, have benefited from over £13 million in Regional Selective Assistance.Through the Better Neighbourhoods Services Fund (BNSF) the Scottish Executive is providing £6.75 million over three years (2001-04) to improve services in the Vineburgh/Redburn and Ardeer areas of North Ayrshire, including a Jobs Access Fund, guidance and training to help people improve their employability, and an Intermediate Labour Market (ILM) programme.The claimant count unemployment rate between February 1999 and February 2003 for Scotland reduced by 1.5 percentage points, as against 1.3 percentage points for North Ayrshire, however claimant count unemployment rates have fallen in 26 out of the 30 wards in North Ayrshire. Furthermore, the gap between the average claimant count unemployment rate for Scotland and the average for the worst four wards in North Ayrshire has decreased by 0.5 percentage points.Average earnings in North Ayrshire have increased by 5.1% between 1999 and 2002 and the number of employee jobs in North Ayrshire has increased by 11% between 1999 and 2001, compared with 6.5% in Scotland.Overall attainment levels in publicly funded schools have remained fairly steady since July 1999, although the percentage of the S4 roll who attained five or more standard grades (or equivalent) has increased from 91% to 93% in 2002 in North Ayrshire (whilst the national average has remained at a constant 91%).