Podcast Transcript – North Lanarkshire Council 

I’m here with Paul Reilly, Secretary of the Accounts Commission, to talk about a new report on North Lanarkshire Council. 
Paul, can you start by telling us briefly what this report is about? 
The Accounts Commission’s reports on councils cover many important issues that impact the lives of local people. This includes how effectively councils are delivering services; the extent to which local communities are involved in making decisions; whether a council has enough skills and time to deliver clear priorities and ensuring that they are providing the public with clear information to enable them to assess improvement. 

For North Lanarkshire, what has the Accounts Commission found?
We found that North Lanarkshire Council and its partners have an ambitious vision for developing the area that could lead to significant regeneration and change. We report that the council are in a good place to meet future financial challenges, which may include a budget gap of 67 million pounds between 2019 and 2024. Improvements have largely been made to services since our last report in 2008, particularly in housing and educational attainment. Now the council needs to gain a better understanding of the reasons for falling satisfaction levels in some areas, such as care services. 

So what areas do North Lanarkshire need to focus on?
We are saying that the council should do more to actively engage with and involve residents in the significant changes planned for the future of the area, in The Plan for North Lanarkshire. 
To deliver on these ambitions, effective working between councillors and council staff must continue, as well as the council needing to ensure that they have the right workforce in place with the right skills. 
From your report, North Lanarkshire Council seem to have an emphasis on improving services for young people and engaging with them. What did you find in your report?
One of the council’s priorities is supporting children and young people to realise their full potential. This includes closing the gap between how well children from the wealthiest and poorest areas perform at school. This is improving, but for those living in the most deprived areas the attainment gap has not reduced.

But there are real challenges for the council. For example, child poverty levels are above the Scottish average in all but two council wards and by 2041 it is projected that the area’s working age population will fall below the national average. The council needs to plan and manage the impact of this on services and the local economy.

In our report we also highlight that young people are actively engaged in North Lanarkshire. For example, there is an agreement between North Lanarkshire Children’s Services Partnership and the children and young people of North Lanarkshire, which sets out how partners will work together with children and young people. This demonstrates a continuing commitment to youth engagement. 

The council has also established Club 365, providing free meals and learning-based activities to children during weekends and school holidays. Other innovative schemes include a health and social care academy, providing opportunities for pupils to gain qualifications and practical experience to help them get jobs in this sector.

Finally, then, what challenges lie ahead for North Lanarkshire Council?
As I’ve already said, the vision for North Lanarkshire is ambitious. The Commission would now like to see the council develop plans to ensure that they can deliver on this.

At the same time, the council needs to keep focusing on underperforming services, as well as better understanding the reasons for falling satisfaction levels. And finally, the council must finalise its workforce plans, looking ahead to the skills and resource they need for the future.

With this, we think the council can be well placed to meet the financial challenges ahead.

Paul, thank you very much. And you can download and read the full report at www.audit-scotland.gov.uk