People and communities across North Lanarkshire are being encouraged to take part in the Community Priorities survey.
The survey gives local people the opportunity to influence what happens in their communities and ensures that future plans reflect what matters most to residents.
The findings from the survey will outline the key priorities for each community board area. They help guide how public services and community partners work together to improve outcomes for everyone who lives in the area.
Josephine Pravinkumar, NHS Director of Public Health and Health Policy and a member of The North Lanarkshire Partnership Strategic Leadership Board said: “Sharing views through the survey is important because it helps identify the issues people care about most, whether that’s community safety, the environment, health and wellbeing, or local facilities and opportunities.
“Over the next eight months, the survey and associated engagement activity will serve as the central point for gathering residents’ views, insights, experiences, and aspirations.
“By giving this much time and space, we ensure that as many voices as possible can participate, including those who are often less heard.
“This is not a short‑term consultation; it is an ongoing conversation, a deep, inclusive engagement process that we can build together.
“These insights then shape local action and investment, making sure communities have a clear and influential voice in decisions that affect their everyday lives.”
The approach is designed to empower communities and ensure that local groups can work in partnership to deliver improvements that residents can see and feel.
Josephine added: “Your voice genuinely makes a difference. Every response helps us understand what matters most to you, so we can work with partners to take meaningful action in every community.”
A recent survey on community priorities received responses from 2,452 people.
It was completed mainly by older residents, with 22% aged between 55 and 64 and only 11% under the age of 18. Most respondents were women, at 63%, compared with 34% men, and overall the group was predominantly older, white and female.
Across North Lanarkshire, the issues people felt were most important were poverty, food and financial insecurity, followed by mental health and wellbeing, and then community safety.
These three themes were consistently ranked highest. Digital inclusion, by contrast, was seen as less important than the other priority areas.
Although the same top concerns appear across the whole area, each locality also showed its own set of secondary priorities. These tended to focus on transport, environmental issues and opportunities for young people.
A spokesperson from the Community Partnership Team added: “We want as many people as possible to fill in the survey. The more voices we hear, the stronger and more accurate each plan becomes.”
The survey also feeds into wider work across North Lanarkshire to improve areas such as the local environment, mental and physical wellbeing, tackling inequalities, community engagement, community safety, and digital inclusion.
These themes feature strongly in community‑led priorities and help shape collaborative work across local organisations.
Residents can take part in the Community Priorities survey by visiting: Community Priority Survey