THE leader of Inverclyde Council has appealed directly to Scotland’s First Minister for support to tackle the area’s jobs crisis.
Councillor Stephen McCabe has written to John Swinney calling for intervention from the Scottish Government to help stem the flow of posts leaving Inverclyde and create new opportunities for residents.
It comes after private health care company Cigna announced that nearly 200 jobs are at risk across its sites in Glasgow and at Knowe Road in Greenock where 129 roles could potentially be lost.
The council leader says a further 22 positions are also under threat at the town’s Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) Mortgage Centre.
Potential cuts at Cigna and RBS would be on top of around 1,500 Inverclyde jobs already lost as a result of site closures and business restructures by big employers like Amazon, IBM, BT/EE, Berry BPI, and Webhelp.
The council leader had previously written to Mr Swinney inviting him to visit Inverclyde to discuss the employment challenges facing the area and has requested an urgent meeting.
In his latest letter to the First Minister, Mr McCabe said: “This repeating pattern of significant job losses must be addressed by [Inverclyde socio-economic] taskforce partners and I would request a meeting with you to discuss a package of support to be offered by the Scottish Government.
“There have been many instances across Scotland where job losses announced by a significant employer has triggered support packages to help the communities affected; and the current local circumstances, and the continuing pattern of job losses, is commensurate with, if not, more profound in terms of impact on Inverclyde communities, given our small, and declining, population base, and socio-economic challenges.
“I would welcome an early meeting and a firm commitment to providing the support and resources Inverclyde needs.”
Cllr McCabe also highlighted to the First Minister how data has shown that Inverclyde is an ‘outlier’ in the Glasgow City Region area for ‘lowest jobs density, highest proportion of job losses (particularly high value jobs) and health impact affecting the workforce and productivity’.
