THE boss of a leading bus company has criticised many jobseekers as simply not 'work-ready' after he had problems finding people capable of driving his vehicles.

Ralph Roberts, managing director of the McGill's Bus Service, has tried to recruit people to fill dozens of vacancies which he has advertised in Renfrewshire where the firm mainly operates.

Mr Roberts said: "I run most of the buses in Renfrewshire and I see the problems every day. I have 50 driver vacancies that I struggle to fill.

"No qualifications are needed to be employed by most big bus companies, just a willingness to work. All training is given and new starts are paid whilst qualifying to drive a bus. No zero hours contracts or minimum wages here either. It sounds like a no brainer for someone seeking work, you may think?

"However, far too many applicants are not work ready, or are put off by the shifts. There are many reasons underlying this, child support and a family network are but two."

He said in the letter more people are being lost in the welfare system and, as a result, are struggling to work themselves off benefits.

The boss said society needs to tackle a cycle of poverty and to help those with family circumstances which keep them out of the workforce.

Mr Roberts added: "We need to do more as a society to make people work ready, equipping them with the skills for work, and cost effective support to make it possible to work.

"This will take years, generations perhaps, but we need to look at ourselves and ask what we can do.

"It is not all about benefits, it starts in school and ends up when that child becomes a parent and the cycle is repeated.

"We are now locked into the wrong cycle, where it is too difficult for individuals to break out on their own."

Last month, the head of ScottishPower Keith Anderson aired concerns of a skills shortage, especially among the younger workforce.

Keith Anderson said the company is upping its graduate and apprenticeship intake and would also be going into primary and secondary schools in a bid to encourage engineering as a career choice.

Last week, Renfrewshire's Tackling Poverty Commission was launched last week to help lift families off the breadline.

Among the recommendations suggested were the halving of the number of people paid below the living wage and greater efforts to ensure more nurseries offer flexible care.