THE search for workers to take redundancy from the Clyde shipyards starts next week, but Alex Salmond said every effort will be made to help them find new jobs.

The First Minister said workers can look to the successful help given to staff at Halls sausage factory which closed in West Lothian earlier this year, to provide hope.

As reported in later editions of yesterday's Evening times, shipyard owners BAE con-firmed 835 job losses at its Govan and Scotstoun yards over the next three years.

Mr Salmond was asked by Glasgow MSP Drew Smith for an update on Government discussions about the yards.

The First Minister said the Government was looking to provide a "tailored package" of support to minimise the time people were out of work.

He said he felt the argu-ments over the future of Scottish shipbuilding in the event of independence has meant the focus on the people losing their jobs had been lost.

Mr Smith asked Mr Sal-mond if he accepted independ-ence would mean the loss of the shipyards, as they are owned by a UK firm dependent on UK defence contracts.

Mr Salmond said he has activated the Partnership for Action for Continuing Emp-loyment programme which he said was instrumental in securing around 1000 jobs for the 1700 people put out of work when Halls of Broxburn closed seven months ago.

He said: "There is a big challenge that has got to be met, but the fact that chall-enge has been met pretty successfully in other areas which have been faced with significant closures should give confidence that the resolve will be there to do everything we can for these workers and the businesses that supply the yards.

"The Scottish Government's first priority has to be to those workers who will face redundancy."

BAE and the unions have been in talks about the future.

A spokesman for BAE said: "We have held two days of constructive discussions with our trade unions. This is the start of an extensive consult-ation and we are committed to working tirelessly together to explore all potential options to mitigate the impact of our proposals on our employees."

Duncan McPhee, co-convener at the Scotstoun yard: "We are not going public with details until the entire workforce has been told first.

"But we can confirm the total job losses on the Clyde will be 835 and yesterday BAE entered into an official consultation period."

It was reported yesterday that workers were told to expect a pay freeze. However BAE later pointed out that this is not the case.

stewart.paterson@eveningtimes.co.uk