TOURISM and a big digital skills revolution will play a vital part in growing Inverclyde's economy according to the newest member of the area's government-backed task force.

Greenock-born peer Lord Malcolm Offord has joined the socio-economic group set up earlier this year to revitalise the local economy and create new jobs.

The Scotland Office minister hopes he can use the new role to improve communication between local businesses and the council.

The Conservative politician visited the area seeking feedback on the government's Levelling Up agenda, and made stops at the Clydeport container terminal, the Municipal Buildings and export firm PG Paper.

Inverclyde Council outlined plans to land a £20 million share of the UK Government's levelling up fund earlier this year, with the money being used to rejuvenate Greenock town centre.

Lord Offord told the Telegraph that he believed the cash could provide a big boost for the area.

He said: "We're letting local councils decide what they want to do with this money in their community, so it can be a catalyst for change.

"Working on physical buildings is a good way of telling people we want to raise aspirations in the town, but actually the real challenge is how we get our young people into good jobs here.

"I want to see much more co-operation between the public sector and the private sector, an interaction between the council and local businesses.

"There are some major changes in the world right now and Inverclyde's got a part to play.

"Tourism has a role as well - historically tourists have come here on the cruise ships and got on a bus to Glasgow.

"We need to see what we can do here in Inverclyde to create more of a tourist attraction here in Inverclyde, and there will be jobs that come with that.

"To me levelling up is an empty slogan if all it results in is doing up old buildings - it's nice but I don't think it actually changes anything.

"We've got to find a way to bring our young people into these new jobs and the new economy."

Lord Offord, who attended Greenock Academy and Ardgowan Primary, believes that connecting local businesses with schools would help ensure young people are developing the right skills for their future careers.

The Tory politician feels that the Inverclyde task force could play an important role in forming this connection.

He added: "I am very emotionally invested in Inverclyde and I'm keen to get involved in the task force.

"But there's no point in being on it if it's just a talking shop, we need to pull together a range of people from various sectors to try and solve the problems.

"It can't just be the politicians, if you look around the world you realise that Inverclyde has thrown off a huge amount of talented people.

"I want to see more involvement from the private sector employers, perhaps having them ask schools and teachers if we can think about what skills we're giving young people.

"We're living in a modern world, the education I got might not be much different to what's being learned today but these guys need to understand things like coding.

"Rather than learning French, they might be learning [programming language] Python.

"We should be able to give our young people the skills and the opportunities to help them have a career here so they don't have to leave.

"I would like to see real solutions on the ground between the business community and the schools, we need to try and get them connected."