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A £20 million plan to boost skills in Tayside and Fife could help reduce unemployment.

The project, backed by Tay Cities Deal cash, is being led by Skills Development Scotland.

Skills planning lead Ronnie Palin said the ambition is to ensure more people have the skills to access high-quality jobs.

He explained: “It’s a very exciting and ambitious project.

“The funding is approved by the Tay Cities Region joint committee, made up of elected members.

“We are charging on with the projects that sit under the programme.  We need to ensure the £20 million is spent across the region.”

The outcomes of the £20 million skills programme aim to be:

• An incremental reduction in unemployment and economic inactivity;
• Employers reporting fewer skills shortages and gaps;
• Individuals being able to access training and employability support;
• A long-term policy of continued improvement in for the most disadvantaged people;
• Greater diversity of talent within our workforce

The goals will be achieved by offering more advice and guidance to young people and promoting foundation apprenticeships.

Mr Palin added: “The Tay Cities investment means we’ll see an incremental reduction in unemployment and a reduction in economic inactivity.

“Hopefully there will be fewer skills shortages through this work.”

Several projects in the Tay Cities Deal are designed to create jobs to boost the local economy.

The £700 million deal supports a total of 26 projects across Angus, Dundee, Perth and Fife with the aim of creating 6,000 quality jobs.

Among the projects approved is the Tay Cities Biomedical Cluster led by Dundee University, which will create an innovation hub for life science companies to grow.

Abertay University has created a cyberQuarter, backed with Tay Cities cash, to specialise in cyber security.

Meanwhile, at the James Hutton Institute in Invergowrie, there are investments in the fields of vertical farming and an international barley hub.