By Ian Findlay, industrial reporter

First Minister Jack McConnell will be urged to give Dundee a better crack of the whip over civil service job relocations as new statistics show the city continues to trail well behind Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen and Inverness in numbers of such jobs.

The figures—in a Scottish Parliament written answer given to MSP Shona Robison—show that despite some success in being chosen as a relocation site, Dundee’s net gain in civil service-related jobs over the past few years has been minimal.

Dundee East MSP Ms Robison had asked Finance Minister Tom McCabe how many Holyrood-related civil service jobs there are in Edinburgh, Glasgow, Aberdeen, Dundee and Inverness, and also that the total be expressed as a percentage of the workforce in each city.

The minister’s response shows that as far as the number of permanent staff employed in the core departments of the Scottish Executive, Executive agencies and associated departments in each of the cities is concerned, Edinburgh is way ahead of the other cities.

The capital is listed as having 7748.2 such posts, representing 2.51% of the working age population in the city. Next is Glasgow with 2399.5 posts (0.63%) and then Aberdeen with a total of 551.6 posts (0.41%).

Inverness is listed as having 282.5 posts, although comparable figures for the working age population in the Highland capital are said to be unavailable.

In bottom place comes Dundee, shown as having 185.7 posts, just 0.21% of the working age population locally.

Dundee has had some success, such as being chosen as the site for such bodies as Scottish Commission for the Regulation of Care, the Scottish Social Services Council and the Scottish Charity Regulator.

However, the city has also lost civil service-related posts.

Ms Robison said, “Not only is there an overall lack of progress, but what opportunities there might be seem to have been kicked into the long grass.”

Ms Robison said she will now be writing to the First Minister.

“I will be saying to him that these new figures show there has been little or no progress on the civil service jobs relocation front as far as Dundee is concerned and this is disappointing and unsatisfactory,” she said.