A further £1bn is to be provided to the Scottish Government Infrastructure Investment plan.

The plan delivers housing, hospitals, schools and transport infrastructure projects throughout the country.

The Government has said that every £100m of construction activity is estimated to support more than 1,300 jobs, and over the past year, some 40,000 jobs have been supported through investment in infrastructure.

Finance Secretary John Swinney made the announcement alongside the allocation of UK Budget Barnett consequentials for Scotland.

The funding allocations include:

• An additional £31m capital funding over the next two years for local government to further develop the capital infrastructure needed to increase early learning and childcare provision. This will bring the total capital investment to £91m.

• An additional £12m resource funding to local government in 2015-16 to further fund the provision of free school meals for P1 – P3 pupils, with proportionate additional funding available in 2014-15 to reflect the implementation of the commitment from January 2015.

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• An additional £10m of support for Help to Buy (Scotland) in 2014-15 which will bringing overall investment to £235m over three years.

• A further £12m this year to further enhance our extensive existing measures to support youth employment, such as Modern Apprenticeships and enhanced vocational pathways.

• £2m over two years to provide further support for those affected by the UK Government's programme of welfare reform.

Mr Swinney said: "Whenever there has been an opportunity to further invest in our economy, this Government has taken it. That is why I am pleased to announce today a number of measures that will boost our economy, create jobs, support skills development and strengthen Scotland's infrastructure.

"We will develop plans to extend our current programme of NPD with an additional £1 billion investment taking us through to 2019 – 20.

"This investment will build on the successes of the current programme, delivering colleges, schools, roads, hospitals and community health facilities across Scotland. It will also provide the construction sector with the long term certainty of a future pipeline of work.

"We know that every additional £100 million of construction activity is estimated to support over 1300 jobs. And then we get the long term benefits of using the asset.

"Further investment in Help to Buy benefits the construction sector, wider economy and plays an important role in supporting aspiring home owners throughout Scotland."

(JP)