A MULTI-million pound funding plan to help get people in Renfrewshire into work has been approved by councillors.

The £4.5million boost for Invest in Renfrewshire, the council's economic development service, will mean it can provide targeted job support to people, communities and local businesses over the next five years.

It is already achieving positive results for residents such as Ronnie Lockhart from Ferguslie, who has been out of work for the past 20 years, but is now a gardener with Linstone Housing Association.

The 49-year-old said: “I love it. I’m out cutting grass, using the leaf blower, strimming, litter picking and tidying places up. It’s the best thing that’s happened to me, I’m even out cutting the neighbour’s grass for them.

“I was in a routine of going out once a fortnight to sign on then back home to watch TV. Eventually I got sick of being in the house doing nothing. Now I never want to go back to that - I love the job and the team work. We have such a laugh and we get the work done. I’m learning every day and I’m hopeful I can get kept on.

“My mum is proud of me, my whole family are proud of me and I couldn’t have asked more of the support from Invest. They do a great job and I’m really grateful for what they have done for me.”

The new service will start in October and will include further development of a community-based pilot project underway in Ferguslie in Paisley, which supports people facing barriers to employment.

More will be done to support start-up and early stage businesses through the new service, with exciting plans in place to grow the creative business sector and increase the number of sustainable small businesses and social enterprises.

Local communities will also reap the benefits of staff working locally to grow services and support voluntary groups looking to secure external funding, with 40 applications already in development.

And there is a major focus on maximising key economic growth opportunities in Renfrewshire, including in manufacturing, care and the creative industries by working with local businesses to provide direct pathways into these job growth areas.

Council leader Iain Nicolson said: "We want to provide support to the people and places most in need, to make the greatest difference.

"We must ensure the area's economic growth benefits everyone and that's why we are targeting our resources to communities facing deprivation and to help people unemployed and underemployed, changing their opportunities and that of future generations.

"Renfrewshire is open for business and there are major areas of growth coming here, with new jobs in the creative and tourism sectors as we build on the legacy of our Paisley 2021 bid and in the care sector as we expand our childcare provision."