Budget settlement agreed

Council sets budget v.1
North Lanarkshire Council leader Jim Logue North Lanarkshire Council leader Jim Logue
North Lanarkshire Council leader Jim Logue

North Lanarkshire Council has set its new budget and also agreed a three per cent council tax budget.

Introducing his administration’s proposals, council leader Jim Logue said COSLA had written to the Scottish Government on behalf of all 32 council leaders in Scotland. In this correspondence all leaders, including those from the SNP, said the proposed Scottish budget represented a £371 million cut in core funding for local government.

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He quoted from the letter – ‘Every penny of the proposed cash increase is for Scottish Government policy priorities and in real terms erodes local authorities’ core funding.

“‘Put simply it does not allow us to enable residents to live well locally.'”

Councillor Logue described these comments as “so accurate and so powerful” and asked the SNP group if they shared the views highlighted by COSLA or would they engage in “year on year partisan denial of the presenting financial reality”

He then quoted former SNP cabinet secretary Kenny MacAskill:- “SNP councillors to date have been silent and submissive, stating that supporting your government is one thing but selling out the community is another.”

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Councillor Logue reiterated the view of COSLA that the additional funding for local government provided by the Scottish Government was one-off funding and unless it was included in future allocations it would create cost of living pressures next year where there is a possibility of a six per cent council tax increase.

“In simple terms it is apparent that the SNP Government have offloaded the necessary tax increases to support local services on to councils.”

He added that North Lanarkshire had been left with a £19 million shortfall in addition to £300 million having been removed from its budget since 2007 and that data from the Scottish Parliament Information Centre showed local government was “at the bottom of the proverbial pile”.

Councillor Logue said that his administration’s budget motion was without any additional cuts to services, closure of any facilities or compulsory redundancies.

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“We are fully aware of the current cost of living pressures,” he added. “These will affect every single resident in North Lanarkshire and particularly our most vulnerable. It is vital that we offer all the support we can and the Labour budget presented today does just that with the most comprehensive cost of living packages which this council has ever embraced.”

He added that with the council heading towards net zero carbon emissions,  the motion sets out how to achieve a greener future for North Lanarkshire including investment in four new 4G football pitches in areas which previously had seen little investment. These will be built in the villages of Cleland, Mossend, Harthill and Moodiesburn.

Councillor Logue added that with Scotland emerging from the pandemic,  it was essential to ensure children and young people were “equipped for the world of tomorrow”.

“Too much time has already been taken from them during the pandemic and with a wealth of evidence showing that children and young peple in poverty have vastly reduced life chances we have made the decision with our budget today to support those children and young people who to date have been failed during the pandemic.”

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He added that North Lanarkshire has the most ambitious council house building programme in Scotland which will continue with almost 2,000 new houses coming as part of the Homes for the Future programme. A £40 million investment bringing new faciliites to every town in North Lanarkshire and the programme to replace every school building predating 1996 also continues.

He also said that NLC employs more teachers than ever before and feeds more children through its Club 365 initiative than ever.

“We are also achieving our carbon reduction targets as we head towards net zero by 2030,” he added.

Seconding, finance convener Bob Burrows said the council recognised the cost of living crisis which he called “the number one issue on the doorstep of North Lanarkshire”.

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He said the budget contained a £2.5 million cost of living fund to continue programmes such as discounts on leisure services, £100 fuel grants for pensioners, clothing grants for children and a £500,000 investment in the Scottish Welfare Fund.

Councillor Burrows also highlighted a £20 million investment in health and social care to protect vulnerable groups such as the elderly who have suffered disproportionately due to the pandemic.

Conservative councillor David Cullen tabled an amendment on behalf of his group,

“As we come to the end of the current administration,” he said,” it falls upon us once again to set a budget against a backdrop of sustained and continued budget reductions foisted upon local authorities by the nationalist Scottish Government.

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“The tenure of this and the two previous administrations have seen swingeing cuts to local government but what makes the cuts of the last number of years in particular stand out is that they have been solely down to the decisions of the devolved government in Holyrood yet they still seek to convince their supporters that it is all down to Westminster.

“The budget this year only balances due to further increases in council tax as previously voted for and plans put in place earlier in this administration to identify and head off the worst of the pending impact of the Scottish Government reductions for this year.

“For anyone to say there has been no cuts this year tell that to the residents affected by the £16 million worth of cuts taken in advance of this budget to balance the books.”

Counclilor Cullen cited increased burial costs and job losses in local services as examples of the effect of these cuts.

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He said his group’s budget proposals included a rebate on the council tax rise through a one-off grant, funding for community boards to improve their areas, and funding for events relating to the Queen’s Platinum Jubilee.

The SNP budget proposals were tabled by Councillor Jim Hume. He said: “I am delighted to be able to present a budget motion that allows investment to be made in our services and communities that have faced so many challenges over the two years because of the Covid pandemic and the recent and ongoing cost of living rises including food, energy and fuel. It is a statutory requirement for local authorities to provide a balanced budget where revenue matches expenditure.

“Because of the level of Scottish Government revenue grant and the availability of other one-off funds we are in the welcome position of having £13 million to invest in enhancing council services and improving local communities. However this must be used in one-off spending and we cannot choose options that incur ongoing spending, for example that means improvements rather than new builds.

“The SNP group based their investment proposals on those areas we felt would be most beneficial to our communities and what local people told us were important to them. We were particularly concerned about the significant cost of living increases across all aspects of people’s lives.”

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Councillor Cullen added that the investment proposals from the SNP were an attempt to redress these issues, highlighting £900,000 for community boards, £1 million for swimming lessons for Primary 5 pupils, £250,000 to support people impacted by the current situation, for example in grants to food banks.

He pointed out that a sigificant amount of funding for the council’s housing programmes came from the Scottish Government and that it had also initiated and funded several educational programmes.

“Scottish Government grants will also be provided in the future to support many more programmes including discretionary housing payments, removal of music tuition charges and free school meals including a holiday provision.”

Councillor Hume said there were numerous other Scottish Government investments which were never mentioned by the other parties, such as free prescriptions student tuition, childcare, bedroom tax and more.

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“I have been disappointed but not surprised by the criticism of the Scottish Government by non-SNP members. The points they made are very selective and biased. They never acknowledge the extra money provided by the Scottish Government for programmes that they think will be most beneficial to their communities,” he added.

“Every year they provide more money to the council to spend on these programmes than the shortfall in the general revenue.  Every year the council receives more money from the Scottish Government than it did the previous year. Labour’s poor performance in running the council for decades provides no surprise that the Scottish Government decided money could be spent more beneficially than giving it to Labour to waste.”

As examples of this Councillor Hume cited the £135 million paid in equal pay settlements and the council’s use of PFI, adding that poverty continues to increase in North Lanarkshire and recent benchmarking placed North Lanarkshire poorly compared to other local authorities.

With regard to the Conservatives, Councillor Hume referenced the conduct of Prime Minister Boris Johnston which had resulted in criminal investigations into the Partygate scandal and the lack of support from his party’s own backbenchers.

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“The tories have tried to say their government in Westminster does a good job. Every aspect of evidence goes against that.

“In terms of general Tory policy the imbalance between rich and poor has never been greater and what does the Tory chancellor do but increase reductions that hit the poorest harder.”

He was seconded by SN group leader Jordan Linden who further highlighted the overall settlement for Scottish councils, which he said represented a 7.3 per cent cash terms increase for North Lanarkshire versus the previous year.

Councillor Linden noted that the Labour speakers had not once mentioned the Conservatives, Westminster or the UK Government and accused the Conservatives of sharing the administration of the council with Labour.

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“They speak with one voice because they are two peas in the same pod,” he added. “They are inseperable and the people of North Lanarkshire know it.”

He added that the Tory budget proposals were “half baked”.

“It wouldn’t be a Tory budget without £150,000 for parties. We know that Boris enjoys a party and I am sure the Tories in North Lanarkshire enjoy one too”.

Ultimately, following rounds of voting first against the Conservative then SNP proposals the Labour budget was agreed.

The final budget package includes £1 million invested in culture and leisure facilities, as well as extensions to programmes which see those over 60 able to access membership for £50 and active teens get free membership access to leisure during the week, as well as free provision of sport and leisure facilities for care experienced young people.

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 £2.2 million will be spent upgrading existing grass pitches to synthetic and replacing some existing synthetic pitches reaching the end of their life.

 £2.1 million will be invested in mandatory 20mph speed limits around schools and early learning centres, with £1.4million of infrastructure and footpath improvements to cemeteries and £700,000 in parks and other green spaces.

 An additional £500,000 top-up to the Scottish Welfare Fund budget will  provide crisis and community care grants, a £100 grant for pensioners on low incomes to help with fuel bill rises and the continuation of enhanced grants for school and early years clothing.

 Scottish Attainment Fund money lost through changes to the Scottish Government budget will be reinstated for a year by the council.

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 The Community Investment Fund will continue alongside a one-off additional £1million for other town investments.

 After the meeting council leader Jim Logue said: “There’s no doubt that our priority has been supporting people and communities, both with continued recovery from the impacts of Covid and in helping where we can with the challenge of the cost of living, particularly for the most vulnerable people.

 “I believe this budget does that, while ensuring that our bold ambition and vision for North Lanarkshire continue to be funded.

 “Key to North Lanarkshire’s recovery from Covid is a real appetite for healthier lifestyles and use of outdoor spaces, and we are supporting that recovery by building on the success of Active Teens and Active 60, while continuing to invest in our already excellent facilities.

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 “Our track record is exceptional, with one of the fastest-growing local economies, more than 4000 additional jobs created since 2016 and transformational investment in housing and towns. This budget reinforces our approach.

 “It is undoubtedly the case that we would have liked to have more money to invest in communities, but I strongly believe that our excellent financial stewardship has put us in as strong a position as possible while ensuring we can keep council tax rises well below inflation.”