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A £1.8 million initiative has been launched to improve the skills base of Scotland.

The Scottish Funding Council and Skills Development Scotland have approved 12 projects which will examine how skills can be more effectively used in the country.

Education secretary Fiona Hyslop claims that Scotland needs to make better use of its talented workers in order to improve its business opportunities and create sustainable economic growth.

She says: 'We have to unlock that potential and improve how skills interact with the other drivers of productivity, such as capital investment and innovation.'

Hyslop also notes that each of the 12 college-based projects share the aim of improving how skills are used in the workplace.

One of the initiatives which has been approved is the Business Improvement Techniques programme at West Lothian College, which aims to increase productivity for selected manufacturing firms.

Other projects focus on skills in the creative industries, tourism, aquaculture and life sciences.

Recently, the Federation of Small Businesses called for a designated Small Business Sector Skills Council to be established to help support the UK's micro-companies.

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