No slowing down before I retire from the council

Readers may already know that I have decided not to stand for reelection next May, by which time I will have spent 22 years as a councillor and 18 of them as Council Leader.

It is a decision I’ve made with mixed emotions. Inevitably, there’s a degree of sadness to be stepping down from a job I have loved and to which I have devoted such a large chunk of my life.

In fact, I am lucky enough to have had two hugely rewarding careers, as before I became a councillor I worked at the Hoover factory in Cambuslang and spent many years there as a union convener fighting to secure jobs and for workers’ rights.

I’ve done my very best to continue that fight on behalf of people and communities as Council Leader, and that’s what prompts the other emotion I’ll be feeling as I step down next year – pride.

I am proud to have fought that fight for ordinary folk across South Lanarkshire, and proud that they liked the results enough to do me the honour of electing me five times.

It has been the greatest privilege of my life to serve the area in which I have always lived.

There’s still eight months to go and those who know me will not be surprised that I won’t be slowing down.

There’s still a lot to do, not least setting the budget for next year at a time when government cuts continue to threaten local services.

With austerity from London and increasing ring-fencing of funds from Edinburgh, each year it has been getting harder and harder to protect frontline local services. However, I believe we have done the best job possible and I am happy to stand by the record of my administration.

For example, right now communities across South Lanarkshire are being improved by our revived council house building programme. By the end of this year we will have built about 300 new homes and that number will double in the next few years.

We’d like to do more, as this is the best way to tackle the lack of affordable housing in the area. By building our own homes the council can also guarantee quality – all our new homes meet the highest standards for energy efficiency and accessibility.

They are also very wellequipped, but you’d expect that from the council that invested more than £475m to install modern kitchens and bathrooms through the Home Happening scheme, and is now working on a programme to renew central heating systems and improve roofing, fabric and insulation.

We’ve also played an important role in the local economy at a time of difficult global conditions. Most obviously, we’ve helped thousands of people into work and provided support grants to local businesses. But we’re also investing £126m in our roads, to help people get about and improve business connectivity.

I’ve always made looking after our most vulnerable residents a priority, and our eight councilrun care homes offer excellent standards of accommodation for elderly people. We’ve completely refurbished the David Walker Gardens residential home in Rutherglen and created two new sheltered housing complexes in Clydeford View and Eastcroft Gardens. Since 2012 more than 6,000 adaptations have been made to allow other people remain independent in their own homes.

And we have done our duty to the young too – the phrase I have always used is that we must do all we can to improve not only their lives but also their life prospects. That’s why by 2018 we will have rebuilt or totally refurbished every school in the area.

All 19 secondary schools have been transformed already, and our Primary Schools’ Modernisation Programme has delivered a total of 116 modernised primaries, 60 of which include a nursery class, while 19 have additional support needs bases and 13 have community wings.

Our young people are being educated in safe, comfortable schools with modern equipment, and the benefits are already being seen in improvements in exam results. That means the next generation of South Lanarkshire residents will have a better start in life and will be better placed to play a role in boosting our local economy, which can only benefit us all.

To be clear, I don’t take sole credit for any of this. None of this could have been done without the support of my political colleagues or the hard work of council officers. More importantly, none of it would have been possible without the approval of local voters and the communities we serve.

It has been an honour to serve and to have played a key role. I look forward to few more months of that work – and, I hope, to a Labour successor then picking up the baton.

Still a lot to do, not least setting the budget for next year at a time when cuts continue to threaten local services