Douglas Reid: Investing in the young is vital for business

That's why East Ayrshire Council have earmarked funding to launch our 1 million Business Enterprise Fund, which will provide additional career training facilities to help ensure our young people preparing to leave education are more "business ready".

The reality is that in the increasingly competitive global jobs market, school students from Bellfield in Kilmarnock and Barshare in Cumnock aren't just competing for jobs with people from up the road in Barrhead. They are now up against the best talent from Bangalore to Beijing.

No matter how tight public finances are, I believe money spent in our schools is an investment in "Scotland plc" and not a cost that appears on some profit and loss table.

The fund will be instrumental in helping youngsters realise their potential and fill the skills gaps that Scotland has in industries such as retail, food and drink, hospitality and the emerging renewables sector.

It is vital that local government does all it can to ensure we help the next generation of business leaders be ready to take full advantage when Scotland comes out of the current economic slump.

No authority can make an initiative like this work on its own. That is why I'm delighted that it will be supported by some of the best business brains in Scotland.

Entrepreneurs like developer Marie Macklin of the Klin Group and Craig Stevenson from Braehead Foods – both Kilmarnock success stories – have signed up as mentors.

These new links between our schools and captains of industry point the way to an even stronger and more business-orientated education that meets the needs of future generations and of industry.

The bottom line is success for this project means success for business, prosperity for East Ayrshire and Scotland, and the best possible start in the working lives of all our young people.

• Douglas Reid is an SNP councillor and leader of East Ayrshire Council