In March, we revealed West Dunbartonshire Council had managed to meet the same goal nearly one year ahead of schedule, which was promised in the 2012/2013 budget.

Since then, the council has set a similar target for 2017 and according to a report on Jobs Growth and Investment Framework, 473 jobs have been secured within 177 days.

The council is also in the process of recruiting another 90 apprentices this year and should complete the recruitment in October.

Martin Rooney, council leader, said: “The council’s 1,000 jobs in 1,000 days is without doubt a great success story.

“It has been a cross-party initiative and has been supported by a range of partners in the public and private sectors. Our partnership approach has helped to secure additional funding from the Scottish Government and UK departments.

“As well as securing additional funding, partners have worked together to deliver projects such as the Youth Jobs Hub in Dumbarton, and to reduce duplication and better target our combined resources.” “The tremendous efforts of council staff and our partners demonstrate our absolute commitment to helping young people into work.

“Achieving 473 jobs in only six months is a fantastic achievement and shows that we are well on track to achieve another one thousand jobs before May 2017 deadline.” As well as the 90 apprentices the council are taking on this year, WDC’s partners will also be recruiting youngsters.

Over the courst of 2013/14 Skills Development Scotland (SDS) supported 763 Modern Apprentices in Dumbarton, the Vale and Clydebank and helped meet employer demand in the area for 581 Modern Apprenticeships last year.

One of Cllr Rooney’s fellow councillors has urged caution when looking at the figures, however, claiming the previous target was misleading. Cllr George Black commented: “I applaud this administration for creating jobs but don’t ask me to accept they have created 1,000 jobs — these are not permanent positions.

“The previous claims of 1,000 jobs actually turned out to be 80 permanent jobs, the rest were training opportunities.”