Grant blazes a trail for nursery kids
North Lanarkshire is to become the “first council in the Uk”to introduce a clothing and footwear grant for nursery children.
The authority’s budget allocates £317,000 to extend the existing grant available to eligible school pupils to include families with eligible children in early years settings, as well as a further £400,000 to increase the existing school uniform grant by £30 to £140.
Finance convener Bob Burrows called the new nursery grant“an amazing achievement”and said:“it will ensure the most vulnerable have the extra support they need to have the best start in life.
“Our young people have perhaps been the hardest hit during the pandemic; allied to [meals programme] Club 365 and the North Lanarkshire child payment, this administration is placing faith in young people as we seek to recover.”
Education convener Frank Mcnally added:“i’m proud that this council is leading the way in tackling the scourge of child poverty – we’re increasing clothing and footwear grants to the highest in Scotland.
“A quarter of children in North Lanarkshire were living in poverty before this pandemic, but an even more stark reality is that will have increased as a result of Covid-19. Jobs have been lost, businesses are closing and people are being pushed to the brink.”
A further £400,000 will be spent on“maximising employment opportunities for young people from all educational backgrounds”.
Meanwhile, Christmas lights will be turned back on in Motherwell and Wishaw for the next two years after a deal was struck to reverse last year’s unpopular cut.
Now £300,000 will be spent on reintroducing festive decorations in towns across North Lanarkshire, after the measure was included in the Conservative group’s budget and then adopted by the Labour administration.
Members of the opposition group also secured £400,000 for an anti-social behaviour service to be available to private residents as well as council tenants under the deal.
Conservative leader Meghan Gallacher said:“we were able to secure investment to tackle major issues, and feel proud that we have secured major investment to tackle day-to-day issues affecting the communities we represent.”
Also being reversed are plans to reduce the number of public grit bins, while the budget also includes £300,000 to give grants for “owner-occupiers in mixed tenures to facilitate structural upgrades”.
The area’s local development programme will also receive £500,000, while the budget document outlines that a £500m transformation programme will go to the policy and resources committee later this month, to “support the kickstart of North Lanarkshire’s economy after the pandemic”.