Council had to work hard over the budget decisions

Last week was an important one for the council but, more importantly, for the communities of North Lanarkshire.

The budget has become increasingly difficult over recent years. I had asked, very publicly, for a fair deal for councils. The Scottish Government decided not to give a fair deal to local services which all the readers of this column value.

So we were left with difficult decisions to make. But the group I lead came up with a positive budget which, despite some posturing, was agreed by the council.

Our first big decision was on council tax. There has been some confusion over what exactly is happening with council tax so I think it’s vital that readers understand.

Last year, the Scottish Government decided that, from April, people who live in Bands E to H households should pay more council tax. North Lanarkshire Council has no power to challenge or overturn that decision. It means that, from April, a Band E household will pay 7.5 per cent more council tax, rising to a 22.5 per cent increase for Band H households.

Then the Scottish Government said that councils could raise council tax across the board by up to 3 per cent. We decided not to do that. We refuse to put more pressure on hard-pressed families. However, the Scottish Government’s increase still stands.

But the most important thing our budget does is protect vulnerable people.

The Scottish Government, in its budget settlement to us, allowed for a £5.2million cut to Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire. This would have led to real harm to the services which help people, young and old, requiring care. That is not something we were prepared to accept.

But we went further, actually increasing the budgets in this area by £11million. This will make a huge difference, with more money for older people needing care in their own homes and more money for vulnerable young people.

We were able to give extra money to schools and we were able to lock in our massive investment in housing which will see the biggest housebuilding programme in a generation delivered in North Lanarkshire as well as a quarter of a billion pounds of investment in our existing houses.

And what was the alternative proposed by the opposition? More cuts in social care, more cuts across the board in other services, a downgrading of investment in education and a rise in council tax.

I believe that we should stand up for our communities. With this budget, we’ve done just that.

I was baffled to read Alex Neil MSP’s latest fantasy about a station for Plains last week. The facts are simple: he promised a station for the people of Plains. Having done so, his Scottish Government colleagues forced the council into spending money to commission an independent report which said that a station was the less feasible of the options. There was no council input into that report.

Let me be clear: the council supports the concept of a station for Plains. But the delivery of railway stations is not the responsibility of the council, it is the responsibility of the Scottish Government through their agency, Transport Scotland.

I used to think that Mr Neil would use his influence as a government minister to keep his promises. He can’t do that now as he has no influence after being booted out of the cabinet by Nicola Sturgeon. It looks very much like Mr Neil can’t keep his promises.

I was baffled to read Alex Neil MSP’s latest fantasy about a station for Plains

Baffling comments Alex Neil