Local economy improves as significant achievements are made across North Lanarkshire

Economic growth shows an increase of 5.2% in gross value added per head, gross weekly pay is now higher than the national average and the number of working-age people claiming employment benefits is now 7% lower than pre-pandemic levels.  Latest figures also show 30.4% of babies are breastfed at 6-8 weeks – an 8.8 point increase from eight years ago – helping to give them the best start in life.

This latest data demonstrates that some social and economic conditions and outcomes have significantly improved following council investment in infrastructure, education, employability, housing and family services since The Plan for North Lanarkshire was implemented in 2019.

Councillor Jim Logue, Leader of North Lanarkshire Council, said, “This is compelling evidence that the investment we are making in the physical infrastructure and landscape of North Lanarkshire as well as improvements to daily service delivery is contributing to positive changes in the lives of children, young people, families and communities.

“A network of active travel routes is connecting communities and contributing to improved health and wellbeing, our community hub programme is underway, providing integrated services with whole-family support in the very heart of communities, while our local economy continues to grow, thanks to major infrastructure project opening up more development opportunities.

"We are transforming towns, tackling poverty and putting innovative pathways in place so that young people are set up for new careers.”

Some of the key achievements include:

• Three community hubs completed at Newmains/St Brigid’s, Chryston and Riverbank, one underway at Orbiston and another four at design stage.
• 1,263 new affordable homes built through the council’s new supply programme since 2010, with a further 347 on site. Additional sites for a further
• 1,290 homes have been approved with another 743 homes purchased through the council’s buy back scheme, contributing to new supply and helping to prevent homelessness.  Almost £30m investment this year to deliver energy efficiency measures in homes, including roofing, heating, windows and doors, to lower energy consumption and reduce carbon footprint.
• 1,246 properties from high towers or low-rise block have been demolished with work underway to demolish a further four towers and 30 low-rise blocks.
• New figures show that 94.7% of young people leaving school are entering further and higher education, training or employment – the highest level since data was recorded 13 years ago.
• Improvements have been seen in the winter and summer leavers’ pathways programme with 141 young people enrolled on the programme during 2022/23 with 16 returning to school within the first six weeks of the programme.
• Of the 125 young people who sustained engagement in the programme, 96% have since entered a positive post school destination.
• A network of active travel routes developed connecting communities and improving health and wellbeing including one joining up Craigneuk and Ravenscraig, another 3.5km link between Newhouse and Salsburgh and another £1.2m link between Wishaw Station and Wishaw General Hospital. A further £2m package of active travel links, road safety and junction improvements is underway along the A73 corridor in Airdrie.
• £7.8m investment in local nature reserves, country parks, and key greenspace sites has created places where visitors are more active, share better experiences, and stay longer. This includes the Bellshill-Gateway cycle facilities in Strathclyde Country Park, an improved path and natural play trail network at Palacerigg, improved parking and visitor interpretation at Drumpellier Country Park, peatland restoration at greenspace sites in Cumbernauld, path upgrades at Broadwood Loch, and investment in tree planting and wildflower planting across community greenspaces.
• Town Action Plans have been completed for Airdrie, Motherwell, and Wishaw, and consultation is underway in Kilsyth, Coatbridge, Bellshill and Shotts. The council acquired The Centre Cumbernauld shopping centre in June 2023 which is central in the development of exciting plans to regenerate Cumbernauld town centre. Coatbridge has also been awarded £20m in funding to support its Town Action Plan and a heritage-led regeneration of Airdrie has progressed after securing funding to develop plans. A £1.6m redevelopment project in Motherwell town centre has seen work to completely reroof, re-render, re-wire, and refurbish the Motherwell Library building including a digital hub for schools, communities and businesses to use.
• The first phase of the Ravenscraig Access Infrastructure South project connecting Motherwell at Airbles Road and Ravenscraig is complete, with the bridge crossing the West Coast Main Line installed in April 2023 well as major improvements to access the newly-refurbished Motherwell train station and the creation of the Glenboig Link Road in 2018 all under City Deal investment. 
• We are the first local authority in Scotland to offer a dedicated workspace for female-led start-up businesses with The Hive opening in Airdrie earlier this year. A further £6.5m investment at Braidhurst Industrial Estate has been made to improve and expand available business space and create more employment opportunities.
• 32 local businesses so far have been recognised through the North Lanarkshire Employer Charter for their commitment to the living wage, training opportunities, fair work practices and using local businesses in the supply chain. A further 42 employers have registered their interest.
• Investment in North Lanarkshire continues to be high, with the region attracting more international investment than any other local authority in Scotland over the last two years with more than £100m overseas investment secured. Economic growth shows an increase of 5.2% in gross value added per head (economic productivity measure).  
• Through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund, NL Academies have 10 projects ongoing to improve pathways to leading industries in the region. This new approach kicked off with the built environment academy last year, which saw over 70 pupils doing Foundation Apprenticeships in Construction and the expanded pan-Lanarkshire Care Academy will attract a diverse workforce as a rewarding career choice.
• Keeping the promise to support care-experienced young people remains a priority with the number of care-leavers doubling. Support through an After Care Hub and a bespoke counselling service has assisted more than 40 young people.
• Over 7,700 children, young people and adults were involved in community learning over the last year, with more than 1,000 young people gaining achievements including Duke of Edinburgh’s Awards. More than 500 displaced Ukrainian people have also been supported. Last year 15 young people participated in a paid employed placement through the Young Person’s Guarantee, and in other work 44 SQAs and 85 qualifications were achieved. 
• A virtual classroom launched in 2021 for online and interactive learning now contains around 4,000 accessible resources and has seen over one million visits. Digital isn’t just for the younger generation, and intergenerational digital skills courses have been delivered at retirement complexes by primary school children.
• Three secondary schools and 23 primary schools participated in the Scottish Schools Educational Research Centre (SSERC) primary cluster programme to support Science, Technologies, Engineering, and Maths (STEM).  This has led to a STEM leaders programme being developed to support teachers co-ordinating STEM within their setting, and the Young STEM Leader Award being piloted for the Future Fridays Leadership Academy.
• An inspection of partnership support services in North Lanarkshire has resulted in a highly encouraging report for the positive difference made to the lives of children and young people at risk of harm.
• The council achieved gold status in the first-ever Breastfeeding Friendly Scotland Local Authority Award recognising its commitment to supporting breastfeeding inhe workplace and wider community. Latest figures also show 30.4% of babies are breastfed at 6-8 weeks – an 8.8 point increase from eight years ago.
• The tackling poverty strategy focuses on the key drivers of poverty including increasing income. Welfare rights officers have generated £35.4m in additional benefit income for residents and new approaches such as advice sessions in GP practices have generated additional support for people.
• 340km of ultrafast, full-fibre digital network has been laid across the region with 181 nurseries, primary, secondary and additional support schools kitted out with full-fibre internet connections five times faster than current speeds and with 20 times the current capacity, giving teachers improved ability to deliver digital content.

Councillor Logue continued, “These are just some outstanding achievements that are truly impacting on the quality of people’s lives and reducing the inequality gap. Together with the £660million of capital funding investment, the range of projects and innovative services being delivered with partners and the community is transformational.

“Despite some challenging conditions, we will continue to deliver vital services to people who need support most and to make North Lanarkshire the place to live, learn, work, invest and visit.”