JOB creation is vital to the Borders and Dumfries & Galloway – either through the targeted location of public sector jobs or through attracting larger companies to the area.

That is the view of Scottish Land & Estates (SLE) which represents rural landowning businesses across the Scotland and whose members currently sustain about 2,000 full-time jobs across the two council regions.

It is among a raft of aspirational targets which the group, which has branches in south-west and south-east Scotland, has highlighted to the Westminster-based Scottish Affairs Committee of MPs.

The SLE claims the issues of jobs, low pay, a lack of affordable housing, inadequate broadband coverage and the need to support self-employment must be addressed “regardless of the governance structure” - a reference to tomorrow’s referendum.

The committee, chaired by Labour’s Ian Davidson MP, who hails from Jedburgh, launched an inquiry – entitled “Our Borderlands, Our Future” – earlier this year and hosted informal seminars in Galashiels, Peebles and Dumfries in May and June.

Its brief was to “investigate key issues that affect the daily lives of those people who live in the south of Scotland”.

“The committee feels the region has been consistently overlooked and thus inadequately served by the people of Scotland,” said Mr Davidson.

The committee invited public consultation responses with a deadline of September 1 and the SLE submission is the first of these to be published.

On the issue of low-pay, the group says it is important to consider the local employment structure.

“The largest part of the economy in the south of Scotland is small-scale rural and small and medium enterprises which typically have only one salaried owner and waged workers without a middle management salary structure,” states the submission. “These businesses often have little capacity for growth.

“Self-employment is very high and perhaps specific steps could be taken to support the many self employed people in the construction, forestry and other sectors. We would suggest that the profile of Business Gateway [run by Scottish Borders Council] could be increased and consideration given to further resources being provided to it.

“In addition, collaborative working to reduce costs to individual businesses should be increased and this should be a vital element of funding for land based businesses as not only will it assist the businesses but it will provide better value for public spending.

“It is equally important that those companies who do wish to grow are supported and stay within the region. Specific actions could be taken to encourage larger employers to locate in the area.

“Adequate broadband provision is also vital. It is a significant problem in some areas of the south of Scotland and can act as a deterrent to people pursuing home working and other employment opportunities.

“As well as addressing the low wage economy, it is vital that the issue of lack of affordable housing is tackled. Provision of such good quality affordable housing sustains tenancies and assists in retaining people in the local area and developing energy-efficient homes keeps tenants’ outgoings down and contributes to tackling fuel poverty which is of special assistance to those on low wages.

“The way in which funding for housing is allocated by the Scottish Government has in our view disadvantaged rural communities, which has had a knock on effect in terms of the overall economy of the area.”