THE £1BILLION City Deal for Glasgow is hoped to help crack the problem of long-term unemployment, according to the UK Government.

Chief Secretary to the Treasury Danny Alexander said that the scheme can succeed where others failed because this is a tailored programme devised by the people in Glasgow and not a one-size-fits-all imposed from London.

The City Deal, revealed in the Evening Times last week, sees the UK Government providing £500million to Glasgow over 20 years to fund major infrastructure projects, including a rail link to the airport.

The Scottish Government will also provide £500million.

However improving job prospects is also a crucial element, with millions of pounds being invested in three schemes.

An employment support service for 16 to 24-year-olds will be set up with £15m provided by local partners in the City Deal.

An in-work progression programme in the care, hospitality and retail sectors will support staff training and development, with £300,000 from the Government in the first year of a pilot.

The aim is to boost skills and wages, reducing the reliance on in-work benefits.

A new employment scheme for people on Employment Support Allowance seeking work will supply a case worker to deliver tailored support to each individual.

The UK Government will provide £4.5m over three years to be matched by local councils.

Mr Alexander said: "The whole point of the City Deal is people in Glasgow know what's best for Glasgow. It is about money following the power. Other schemes have been handed down from on high, but this time Glasgow has come to the Government with the ideas."

Glasgow City Council said it has been a long-held aim to have a programme in place to support people who are newly in work to help them stay in work and progress up the income ladder.

Council leader Gordon Matheson said: "While the City Deal is fantastic news for Glasgow and our partners, there is more to it than infrastructure projects.

"Another key component will be the programme to help people stay in work, develop their skills and help them progress in the career. Such support benefits not only those taking part, but their employers and the entire City Region."

The sectors identified, care, retail and hospitality have been chosen because they are often where people who have recently been unemployed find their way back into employment.

The city council, and other local authorities in the Clyde Valley will work with the department of Work and Pensions to devise the pilot programme.

Mr Alexander said Glasgow deserved the deal.

He added: "It was Gordon Matheson who approached us and asked for Glasgow to be also considered.

"The reason we are doing it is because cities are generators of wealth and growth which raised tax.

"Gordon Matheson said that argument held for Glasgow the same as it did for Manchester, Liverpool or Birmingham."

stewart.paterson@ eveningtimes.co.uk