More than 100 business leaders from around West Lothian attended the annual Economic Conference, which put the spotlight on growth and development in the area.

The conference focused on key developments in West Lothian which have contributed to growth and the economic recovery.

In supporting economic growth the council works with a host of Community Planning Partners such as Scottish Enterprise, West Lothian College, Scotland's Rural College, the Department for Work and Pensions, Skills Development Scotland, the Federation of Small Businesses and West Lothian Chamber of Commerce.

Speaking at the conference, West Lothian Council's Depute Chief Executive, Moira Niven said: "We want a strong diverse local economy which attracts development and builds strong and resilient communities in West Lothian. However, the Public Sector can only do so much and West Lothian's approach to promoting regeneration and development is very much about a partnership effort which involves the business community and house development.

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"One of the key activities in the past year has been the refresh of the Economic Partnership Strategy, which reflects the opportunities and challenges facing local businesses and organisations. The strategy refresh includes a series of interlinked plans focusing on people, place and business.

"I'm happy to report on the early progress that has been achieved through the economic growth plan since its launch in 2013. Scottish Enterprise is working intensively with 85 key growth businesses and has supported an additional 423 jobs within these firms during the first year of the growth plan. West Lothian Council has committed a further £1.1 million in business growth support to help 17 firms to bring forward investment which will create more than 300 jobs in the medium term. Under the training theme, £2.1 million has been awarded to more than 70 companies and this will help to support over 550 local jobs.

"Building on our undoubted strengths in the engineering sector, we are working closely with our partners within this sector to establish West Lothian as a centre for Engineering Excellence.

"I'm also particularly pleased that the growth plan includes interventions which will invest in our skills base, providing a route into employment for our young people. Educational attainment has continued to improve in recent years, and the most recent examination performance is the best we have ever had. We can and will improve on this. Our school leaver destination survey in January revealed that 92% of our young people in 2012/13 were in a positive destination in further or higher education, training or employment."

(CD/IT)