A GREENOCK councillor today hit out after it emerged that not one of the 25 apprentices recruited to work on the town's new £21m new health centre was local.

Colin Jackson slammed contractors Hub West and bosses at NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde for failing to give opportunities for young people, especially those who live near the new-build in a neighbourhood which has the highest levels of poverty in the country.

Recruitment of apprentices had been included on a list of 'community benefits' trumpeted as part of the wider project.

Health board chiefs insist attempts were made to find apprentices from Inverclyde but Mr Jackson says this is not good enough.

He said: “It is hugely disappointing that we have a £21 million construction contract with a community benefit clause written in that provides for 25 apprenticeships - including trainee electricians, joiners, plasterers and a trainee site manager - and not one of these apprenticeships went to a young person from Inverclyde.

"I welcome the community benefits this project has provided like educational activities and training opportunities for our high school pupils and a community garden, but what our young people need most are well paid skilled jobs.

"While the young people from Falkirk, Clydebank, Glasgow and beyond have benefited from this build, and I don’t grudge any of them the opportunity to learn a trade, too many of our own young people are again left scrapping for the non-unionised, minimum wage, zero hour contract jobs that are left."

Councillor Jackson asked health chiefs to find out if the apprentices were local after the list of community benefits was made public and hailed as a huge success.

He insists such a situation should never be allowed to happen again.

Mr Jackson said: "What is very frustrating is that I know it can be done - the council itself works very hard to make sure that recruiting local apprentices is part of its procurement process.

"When the contractors first arrived on site I requested a meeting to discuss the community benefits clause which is built in to all publicly-funded contracts.

"At this meeting with me and the local residents' group I brought up the subject of apprenticeships and training, and agreement was reached to meet up again to discuss the matter further.

"After that initial meeting I tried several times to set up another one to discuss possible job opportunities, but all my requests went unanswered.

"West Hub Scotland, who are the Scottish Government's partner in this build, have given no consideration to real needs when writing up the community benefits.

"What better legacy is there than giving a young person a skill for life?”

Hub West Scotland and contractors say the the community benefits from the project included the 25 apprentices, the creation of 16 new jobs, nine work experience placements, 12 educational visits to schools, 24 training opportunities for the workforce and investing £13,000 in a local church and In-Work social enterprise based at the nearby Broomhill Community Hub.

The contractors also built the memorial in the courtyard in memory of Greenock nurse Janice Graham, who sadly died after contracting Covid-19.

Health board chiefs say that although Hub West were not able to find any apprentices, they directly employed eight local people on the site.

A spokesman for the health board said: "Hub West Scotland promotes employment within the west of Scotland and while it is not always possible to secure apprenticeships directly from the local area, attempts were made to address this by advertising opportunities within the local area and promoting local employment organisations.

"In the case of the Greenock Health Centre, our employment partner was The Inverclyde Trust and guidance was issued to all contracting companies to promote this.

"We are pleased that this resulted in 16 direct new employment opportunities, with eight of those people being local to the Inverclyde area.

"We will continue to work with Hub West Scotland to deliver employment opportunities in local areas across NHS GGC."