COMMUNITY groups and volunteers are to be given support in developing digital skills.

East Ayrshire Council employees will also be given the opportunity to attend in-house training sessions as part of the Scotland’s Digital Participation Charter.

The council has signed up to the national scheme which is run by the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) which ensures that everyone has the basic digital skills, motivation and access to allow them to fully participate in our digital world.

Digital Participation forms one of the core objectives set out in East Ayrshire Council’s Transformation Strategy, which was approved in February 2018.

As well as council staff, the community will have access to a range of digital learning opportunities to give them the skills and confidence to share this expertise with others.

Councillor Gordon Jenkins, cabinet member with responsibility for management and resources welcomed the move.

He said: “The digital landscape continues to evolve and increasingly features in more and more aspects of our everyday lives.

“We want to support our workforce and communities to ensure they have the skills to access all the digital opportunities available to them and this charter demonstrates our commitment.

“We have recently established a Digital Participation Network, bringing together key partner organisations and community representatives to encourage digital participation, assess the digital skills gaps across East Ayrshire and promote digital access and learning opportunities.

“We have already made significant inroads towards tackling digital exclusion in a number of service areas. Our Employability Team is leading the way in terms of providing digital support to customers.

“Assistance and training is available through a range of different channels to young unemployed people, job seekers, modern apprentices and those requiring additional support in employment, to enable them to acquire digital skills and IT qualifications to help them in their pursuit of employment.”