£3m public training portal goes live!

A One-stop website for businesses looking to navigate the maze of public skills, educational and training programmes has been recently launched.

The Talent Map web portal took two and half years to create, costing a total of £3 million. It was developed with the help of Royal Bank of Scotland and BT chairman Sir Mike Rake. It currently pools information from 100 government sites, with more to be added over time.

Scottish skills minister Keith Brown said the portal would mostly help small and medium-sized firms. He added: "Businesses see this as an important tool to bring about the right skills training."

Latest unemployment and Jobcentre vacancy figures released

The latest JSA unemployment figures show a small increase between November and December. With seasonal recruitment tailing off, this is reflected in the drop in notified job vacancies.

• The number of JSA jobless in West Lothian for November is 4,724. This is an increase of 10 on the November 2009 figure.
• West Lothian's unemployment rate of 4.4% is higher than both the Scottish (4.1%) and Great Britain (4.1%) rates. West Lothian's unemployment rate ranks joint 10th highest with Inverclyde out of all Scottish local authority areas.
  Youth unemployment (18-24 year olds) in West Lothian for December is 1,475. This is a decrease of 5 on the last month.
• There were 776 notified Jobcentre vacancies in December - a net decrease of 845 from November 2009 of vacancies.
• Due to the end of seasonal recruitment, the ratio of jobseekers to jobcentre vacancies has increased to 6 jobseekers for every vacancy advertised in West Lothian jobcentres. In comparison, Scotland's ratio is 7.1:1, Great Britain is 5.8:1 with East Dunbartonshire having the highest ratio of 19.1:1 (19 jobseekers for every vacancy) of claimants to vacancies of Scottish local authorities.

JSA based unemployment figures do not provide the full picture. However, the headline JSA figure does help to indicate the latest trend or change at a national or local level and whether the economic down turn is beginning to bite. The Government's favoured method of measuring unemployment - the ILO method does not readily translate into up-to-date local area estimates.

The Jobseeker's Allowance (JSA) is payable to people under pensionable age who are available for, and actively seeking, work.

New Modern Apprenticeship Grant

Scottish businesses of all sizes and in all sectors are to be given the opportunity to receive £1,000 to take on a new Apprentice. This is the latest strand of the 'Invest in an Apprentice' scheme. Businesses across Scotland will be offered £1000 to take on a new apprentice.

The £4 million scheme is time limited and will run from January 11 to March 26, reflecting views from employers and companies who say they need help now. The incentive is available for up to 4000 employers.

The scheme is part of ScotAction, an integrated package combining new and improved measures to help individuals and businesses through the recession and will provide skills assistance - including wage subsidies in some circumstances - for training for work, training in work and training from work to work to help Scottish people and businesses survive the downturn and thrive when the economy starts to recover.

£34m ERDF and ESF funding for jobs announced

A European cash injection of more than £34 million will be invested in programmes to develop Scotland's workforce and safeguard and create jobs. New allocations from the European Social Fund (ESF) and European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) that will help 28,000 people to gain or sustain employment opportunities through skills development and support the creation of 193 jobs.

Funding of £16 million will be invested in Community Planning Partnership (CPPS) initiatives to support and prepare people for work in Glasgow, Dundee, East Ayrshire, Fife, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian. This will help more than 23,000 people to find work.

Funding of £18 million will go towards 43 projects in the Highlands and Islands area which will provide more than 5,000 individuals with help and support to enter employment.

Of the funding used to assist CPPS' ongoing work to support employability in their areas, West Lothian will receive £580,000 from the European Social Fund and £48,000 from the European Regional Development Fund.

Latest unemployment and Jobcentre vacancy figures

The latest unemployment and Jobcentre vacancy figures for West Lothian (Job Seekers Allowance (JSA) based figures) show a small decrease between October and November, which may be partly due to seasonal recruitment. In addition, notified job vacancies increased by 70% in the same period again reflecting seasonal recruitment, however, take up of these positions may not show until next month's figures are released.

• The number of JSA jobless in West Lothian for November is 4,714. This is a decrease of 22 on the October 2009 figure.
• West Lothian's unemployment rate of 4.4% is higher than both the Scottish (4.1%) and Great Britain (4.1%) rates. West Lothian's unemployment rate ranks joint 10th highest with Fife and Renfrewshire out of all Scottish local authority areas. (see attached excel sheet).
• Youth unemployment (18-24 year olds) in West Lothian for October is 1,480. This is a decrease of 15 on the last month.
• There were 1,621 notified Jobcentre vacancies in November - a net increase of 671 from October 2009 of vacancies.
• Due to seasonal recruitment, the ratio of jobseekers to jobcentre vacancies has dropped to 3 jobseekers for every vacancy advertised in West Lothian jobcentres. In comparison, Scotland's ratio is 4.6:1, Great Britain is 4.1:1 with West Dunbartonshire and Eilean Siar having the highest ratio of 11.9:1 (12 jobseekers for every vacancy) of claimants to vacancies of Scottish local authorities