Dumfriesshire MP David Mundell is backing calls for cross-party talks on attracting and retaining quality jobs in the county.
Having people out of work who want to and are able to work is extremely frustrating and disheartening - not least for the individuals and their families, said the local MP.
Welcoming calls for a cross-party solution Mr Mundell said this issue was more important than party politics.
“There is a major problem attracting and retaining quality jobs in this region, and I am ready to work together with other politicians and help put in place an action plan and to use all the combined influence we can to demand a better deal for Dumfries and Galloway. Ultimately that is what people living in this region expect from their politicians," he added.
"Many of the problems we face in the local economy are not new, particularly those affecting young people and they have never been far from the surface for the last decade or so. However, I am not in the business of talking down our region and we clearly have a number of strong selling points and numerous examples of successful businesses and individuals who show that we can compete and that there are a lot of skills and experience on offer in this region."
Mr Mundell also drew attention to the more localised figures also available from the Office for National Statistics which show wide variation across the region. For example the number of people claiming Job Seekers Allowance in some parts of Stranraer it is approaching 10% whilst in Georgetown in Dumfries it is 1.4%. Equally in Langholm where Mr Mundell recently held his own jobs summit the percentage of people claiming out of work benefits sits at 2.7% well below the national and regional average. However the local MP believes that changes to the balance of the local economy within the town means that things are actually quite critical.*
Commenting he said: "Given the wide variation in the localised figures we have to be extremely cautious about lumping Dumfries and Galloway together as single economic region as there are clearly a number of specific issues which affect particular communities and towns within the region."
The Dumfriesshire MP is also concerned that the rest of Scotland has benefited from positive economic indicators in part because they have better infrastructure and have seen more investment from the Scottish Government. Mr Mundell believes that improvements in the local roads network and broadband are two major barriers to economic growth in Dumfries and Galloway.
Mr Mundell added: "The Scottish Government must also take their fair share of the blame for the economic challenges this region faces. Time and time again they overlook and ignore Dumfries and Galloway and refuse to invest the available resources in the infrastructure projects like faster broadband roll out and roads and transportation links this region badly needs to get our economy moving and attract inward investment, preferring instead to inject money into the central belt."
*ALL FIGURES ARE TAKEN FROM WWW.NOMISWEB.CO.UK WARD FIGURES FOR JUNE 2013