COUNCIL tax has been increased by three per cent and cuts of £16 million were agreed as North Lanarkshire Council set its budget for 2019-2020.

The measures agreed include introducing a £25 fee for special uplifts, increasing burial fees to £1936 and closing the Coatbridge and Bellshill registration offices.

It also means the council will stop funding the Shopmobility service in Coatbridge and Motherwell, halve funds for local area partnerships and reduce the management fee to North Lanarkshire Leisure and Culture NL by £1.4 million.

North Lanarkshire has also allocated £696,000 to a new community investment fund and now plans to replace every school in the authority area not already been rebuilt in the past 25 years; plus a further £1 million to fund holiday hunger project Club 365 for another year.

The Labour group’s budget was passed 44-28 after incorporating Conservative group amendments, following a four-hour meeting at the Civic Centre in Motherwell.

A total of 43 full-time equivalent posts will be lost following the changes, with the administration promising that there will be no compulsory redundancies involved.

Presenting the budget, council leader Jim Logue reiterated his view that the funding settlement to local government is “catastrophic”, noting that North Lanarkshire was this year addressing a £30m budget gap, reaching the figure via base budget adjustments, the council tax rise and package of savings measures.

The Airdrie Central representative said: “There’s been a £230m cut since 2007; £30m for next year means there are less and less services to cut and we’re now having to consider cuts which in the past would have been no-go areas.

“Councils must make decisions best suited to local identified needs – cuts to councils are cuts to communities and only through sound financial management are we able to protect services with no compulsory redundancies.

“We’ve tried to minimise the impact but it was inevitable that unpalatable savings would have to be found.

“However, the budget allows for our planned £500m community investment fund to begin, which will see every school not already rebuilt since 1996 being replaced and our community campus model will see council and partner services, leisure and culture facilities and business support placed at the very heart of communities.”

The three per cent council tax increase – the second in as many years following a decade-long freeze – had been separately proposed by both the Labour and SNP groups, and was passed by 66 votes to eight.

It means the bill for a band D property in North Lanarkshire will be £1164.87 for 2019-2020, with the authority’s council tax now ranging from £776.58 for band A to £2853.92 for band G.

See this week's Airdrie and Coatbridge Advertiser for more on the North Lanarkshire Council budget for the year ahead.