A jobs summit with some of the most powerful employment creators in the UK will be held in Dundee under a plan from the new Scotland Office minister.
Andrew Dunlop wants both the UK Conservative and SNP Scottish Governments to work together to tackle the problem that plagues the city.
It emerged earlier in the summer that, with almost 40% of people in Dundee not having a job in 2014, the city had the fourth lowest employment rate in the UK and the worst rate in Scotland.
Baron Dunlop said: “It is absolutely a cross-section getting in the one room the two Governments, the different agencies that can affect change, businesses and other interested parties, because no one Government, no one grouping has all the levers at their disposal to affect the transformation that is required in Dundee.
“We do need to work together on that transformation and I think it would be a very powerful symbol to say that we are prepared to work together to really take Dundee a giant step forward to where it needs and wants to be.”
The former special adviser to David Cameron, who helped set up Scottish Enterprise during his time in Margaret Thatcher’s policy unit, admitted there was a “noticeable difference in terms of levels of employment” between Dundee and the rest of the country.
But he said that was improving fast and dismissed suggestions the Tory majority, with just one MP north of the border, would forget about Scotland now the independence referendum and general election have passed.
“For the Prime Minister, Scotland’s place within the United Kingdom and the huge contribution it makes to the United Kingdom is one of his absolute top priorities,” Baron Dunlop said.
“I think David (Mundell, the Scottish secretary) and I see our role as being that really strong voice for Scotland right at the heart of the UK Government and I think it is not unhelpful to the influence we can wield that both of us have worked very, very closely with both the Prime Minister and the Chancellor.
“The Scotland Office will be very focused on delivering tangible results that advance the interests of Scotland.”