‘Savage’ cuts to communities

I hope Advertiser readers had a wonderful Christmas and a happy new year.

The Christmas period is a time for reflection on the year just gone and an opportunity to look ahead to the future, learning from the successes and the challenges of the previous 12 months.

We have much to be proud of in North Lanarkshire over the past year, with more council homes built as part of the most ambitious programme in Scotland, state-of-the-art new schools built across our estate and the introduction of our Universal Credit Assistance Fund to help those affected by delays to their payments.

Our main challenge, as ever, was to continue to meet demand, deliver innovative services and support the most vulnerable against a backdrop of catastrophic cuts coming to us from the SNP government in Edinburgh; £30m was cut from our budget last year, with a further cut of £100m over the next three years expected to be announced shortly.

Derek Mackay now finds himself in the position that councils across Scotland find themselves in every year; setting a budget against the clock with complete uncertainty as to the government’s plans.

For several years now, our message has been the same – cuts to councils are cuts to communities. Councils aren’t black holes for taxpayers’ money and the cost of these catastrophic SNP cuts are unfixed potholes, icy paths, closed libraries and sports centres and increasing anti-social behaviour; and its care packages cut, jobs lost and community centres shutting up shop. It has got to stop.

We have ambitious plans for North Lanarkshire; to build 5000 council homes by 2035; to rebuild every school built before 1996; and to establish our community investment fund, which will provide new houses and a range of facilities for all eight towns in the region.

We are using the powers available to us to improve the lives of the people we represent. Now we need this SNP government to do the same and provide us with a fair settlement that allows us to tackle poverty and inequality while protecting frontline jobs and services.

With recent information from the Accounts Commission confirming that the SNP have cut council budgets well in excess of other government funding, this year will surely be the last time we hear from SNP councillors that North Lanarkshire gets a fair budget deal.

Instead, I hope they join with us – as the leader of SNP-controlled Dundee has done – in condemning the savage cuts to our communities that the SNP have inflicted and help us fight for a fair deal for North Lanarkshire.

The general election result in December has shown that people simply want politicians to get on with the day job. It is the responsibility of councillors in North Lanarkshire to work together in the best interests of those we represent.

That will be my commitment to you in 2020 and I hope others do the same.

Against the clock Councillor Logue says finance secretary Derek Mackay is now “in the position that councils across Scotland find themselves in every year”