PEOPLE living with health conditions and disabilities in the Borders will receive extra help to get into work from next month.

On April 1, the Scottish Government is launching a new employment support service to support up to 4,800 people.

The aim of the 'Work Able Scotland' and 'Work First Scotland' schemes is to help people with disabilities find and sustain work and is one of the first exercises of devolved powers, under the Scotland Act 2016.

And Borderers can find out if they are eligible for the extra help by contacting their local Jobcentre Plus.

Employability Minister Jamie Hepburn said: "The devolution of employment support services is a real opportunity to make Scotland fairer. 

"By making them voluntary we are putting dignity and respect at the heart of our support so that participants are not under threat of benefit sanctions through their involvement with our new services. We want them to be seen as an opportunity and not a threat.

"We recognise that some people living in the Scottish Borders may have different needs to people living in other parts of Scotland, that is why we have made a commitment to making sure our services are tailored to local issues, and are fairer and simpler for people to access.

"These arrangements come ahead of the full programme of support which will be available in 2018 and we will be listening to people who use the services so we can continue to make improvements to our new and Scottish approach to employability."