JIM LOGUE Council committed to transforming area

As we continue to work our way out of lockdown, I recognise that the coronavirus pandemic is still challenging for individuals, communities and businesses.

However, as a council we’re determined to press on with our ambitious plans to transform North Lanarkshire.

At the start of the coronavirus emergency, the Scottish Government removed the legal obligation on councils to provide 1140 hours of free early learning and childcare. But we recognise the contribution that delivering this could have to children and their parents.

So, we have decided that, despite no longer being obliged to do so, we will deliver this policy to all eligible children by September. We will be one of the only councils to do so, perhaps even the only one in Scotland – something I am immensely proud of.

Some eligible children will start in August, subject to all settings complying with government safety and staffing rules and work restarting on our newbuild sites.

I believe this is important for a number of reasons. The benefits to children in their development are considerable. Crucially, as the economy of North Lanarkshire, already one of the fastest-growing in Scotland, recovers, the ability of parents to be at work is critical.

And, of course, this gives our partners who run private nurseries the certainty they were relying on about the number of hours they can plan to be paid for, protecting the jobs of those who work at these nurseries.

Throughout the emergency we have provided support for the children of key workers and their parents at our hubs, and this has continued throughout the summer.

We continue, through our Club 365 initiative, to make food poverty affecting children a thing of the past and are continuing to provide free school meals to eligible children, even during the summer holidays.

All of this matters because the health, wellbeing and education of children and young people has been at the heart of our response to coronavirus. And it continues to be at the heart of everything the council does.

A key part of our £3.5 billion investment in towns and communities over the next decade includes our commitment to replace every school not rebuilt or substantially modified since 1996.

These new schools in our planned town and community hubs will be great places for young people to learn.

More than that, they will be places where services run by the council and others will be accessible to communities.

I am extremely confident that over the next few months, residents throughout Airdrie and Coatbridge will become aware of new modern facilities being constructed, along with planned refurbishment of dated town centre buildings.

This investment will create around 12,000 jobs and generate an additional £1 billion for the local economy. This is crucial because more employment means less poverty and better health across North Lanarkshire.

As we continue to adjust to the challenges of the pandemic and establish a new normal, it’s important to remember that we are all in this together and that brighter times are ahead of us.

The administration I lead is as committed as ever to help deliver those brighter times for all the people of North Lanarkshire.

Vision Early illustrations of North Lanarkshire Council’s decade-long plan to redevelop its eight town centres