Published: Wednesday, 1st July, 2009 2:41pm

£2m job fund is left unused

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MORE THAN £2 million earmarked for job creation in Clackmannanshire has been left untouched for nearly a year.

In September 2008, John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, agreed the maximum allocation of £2,210,223 from the European Social Fund (ESF), and £140,378 from the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), to be used by Clackmannanshire Council for job creation schemes.

Yet 10 months on and the money isn"t being used for that purpose because the council has failed to provide a 'revised submission" of its proposals.

ESEP Ltd, who administer the funds, says it is an unusual situation and confirmed it wrote to the council a month ago to ask for the submission.

In Scotland, 13 local authorities were awarded European funding, and all have taken up their allocations – apart from Inverclyde and Clackmannanshire.

An ESEP spokesperson told the Advertiser, 'The council needs to resolve some technical issues, but it is in their interest to get the claim in.'

The £2.2 million awaiting collection is to assist unemployed and inactive people of all ages towards sustainable employment.

And with 10 people going for every job at the job centre, the job creation fund could provide a lifeline for many local people.

Council leader Janet Cadenhead, who is also chair of the Clackmannanshire Alliance, the body which would administer the projects locally, told the Advertiser, 'The Council, working with our community planning partners at a strategic level in the Clackmannanshire Alliance, is in communication with ESEP working to finalise the submission and hope to conclude the technical issues in the near future.

'The ESF and ERDF funding will support and develop our overall approach and our ongoing work through the Clackmannanshire Works programme.'

Ms Cadenhead said that all interested parties were responding to the economic downturn to maximise funding for employability programmes and jobs.

She said, 'Our strategic approach includes working with Skills Development Scotland, Forth Valley College, Job Centre Plus and local employers.

'Funding from the Fairer Scotland Fund has supported the ongoing Clackmannanshire Works employability programme which supports local people to move towards and enter into the labour market.

'There is also support for young people through the More Choices, More Chances programme which aims to address the needs of young people aged 14 to 16/17 who are most likely to have difficulty moving from school into further and higher education, training or employment.'

Ms Cadenhead added that partners in Clackmannanshire were working to attract funding from the Future Jobs Fund, which was announced by the UK Government in the 2009 Budget.

This Fund seeks to support the creation of jobs for long-term unemployed young people and others who face significant disadvantage in the labour market.

Successful projects could create at least 30 jobs locally.