BAE Systems has made hundreds of redundancies

The executive said some workers will be trained by Transco to meet a shortage of gas central heating installers.

The top-level report also called on BAE Systems to renew its efforts to tap into lucrative export markets.

The Clyde Shipyards Task Force, set up in July 2001 after the announcement of 1,000 job cuts between both the yards, made 29 recommendations to secure the future of ship building on the Clyde.

Speaking at the launch, Scottish enterprise minister Wendy Alexander said shipbuilding was now a complex industry which required a highly skilled workforce.

She said: "There has been a positive revolution in the use of computers and information technology which is changing shipbuilding beyond recognition.

Planned redundancies

"For many, many years the Clyde yards have struggled at the wrong end of the market, never able to build in expertise for the future and never working at the highest end of the market.

"We have seized the opportunity of BAE Systems taking over the yards and the work on offer from the Ministry of Defence to form the basis for the plan."

The defence systems company had announced that 1,000 jobs were to be cut last year, but after a number of initiatives by the taskforce the number of planned redundancies was reduced.

A total of 50 workers left the yards last December and a further 400 are expected to leave between now and April.

The report recommends that Scottish Enterprise should develop "conversion" training schemes seeking to retrain workers into growth industries, particularly in the oil and gas sector and in central heating installation.