A NEW report suggests Glasgow could lose more than 64,000 jobs if Scots vote for independence.

City council chief executive George Black has considered the impact of a yes vote in next year's referendum in a report which will be presented to councillors on Thursday.

One of his key findings is that Glasgow could lose thousands of jobs from some of its main employment sectors.

Mr Black's report says: "The city economy is built on a number of historic and emerging markets and skills.

"Business and admini-stration support around 47,000 jobs, tourism related providing around 28,200, financial services and insurance 21,800, government agencies providing around 9190, shipbuilding around 3200 and broadcasting 1800 jobs.

"A number of these face specific challenges from the impact of Scotland becoming an independent nation."

Mr Black points out the tourism sector was worth around £601million to Glasgow in 2011 attracting 2.3m visitors

But his report says: "Some early risks were identified to this business in light of the plans for a referendum."

The council boss says Glasgow has a growing reputation for attracting and staging international events and has been named as one of the top 10 sporting cities in the world.

But his report says: "This may be at potential risk if sport governing bodies are separated from UK affiliated bodies.

"This is because UK affiliated bodies tend to have greater resource and experience in staging events and are affiliated in turn to EU sporting federations."

Mr Black adds: "The financial sector and business support companies are concerned about separate or differing regulatory regimes emerging as a result of independence.

"They believe this would incur additional costs and create a business burden."

He also says it is unclear if civil service and government agencies, including the passport office and revenues and customs which are significant employers in Glasgow, would have a continued presence in the city.

And Mr Black says shipbuilding contracts will be under threat as the UK government has stated shipyards on the Clyde and at Rosyth will not be eligible to bid for defence contracts after independence.

He also claims it is not yet clear if separate broadcast and media regulations would emerge after independence, potentially impacting on television and newspaper firms.

His report says: "In total, there are 64,190 jobs in the key industry sectors that may be at risk in the event of a vote for independence.

"However it is difficult to attribute or estimate job losses or growth in the absence of detail from the Scottish Government on its economic plans. In particular, it is important to understand the plans for each sector and the cumulative impact on the city across the sectors."

Council leader Gordon Matheson said: "A little over a year from now, Glaswegians will be asked to take a decision that will, whatever the outcome, have a fundamental and enduring impact on the city and its people.

"This officer report gives us a clear-headed and dispassionate account of what this decision means for Glasgow, including the potential impact on jobs.

"It is now the responsibility of every one of the city's elected representatives to consider its findings, talk about it in our communities, and make sure - whatever our own position on separation - that we do the right thing for our city."

SNP group leader Graeme Hendry said: "With the right leadership Glasgow is in a great position to thrive post independence.

"The bizarre suggestion in the report that jobs in key sectors is at risk while also admitting there is no evidence for this shows just how daft this claim is.

"We strongly believe Glasgow would gain key sector jobs through government departments which are currently in London moving to Glasgow post independence."

vivienne.nicoll@eveningtimes.co.uk