Council tax has been increased by three per cent and cuts of £16million 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 – a three per cent rise – 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 £1.4million.

The £781million budget includes changing nursery admissions for children not living in the area to start the term after their third birthday rather than from the next day.

North Lanarkshire Council's civic centre headquarters in Motherwell.

School budgets will be cut by £650,000 and organisation grants by £280,000. The number of litter bins will be reduced by a fifth and floral features, shrub pruning and grass cutting reduced.

North Lanarkshire has also allocated £696,000 to a new community investment fund and now plans to replace every school that has not already been rebuilt in the past 25 years; plus £1million 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.

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A total of 43 full-time equivalent posts will be lost following the changes. The administration has insisted that there will be no compulsory redundancies.

Council leader Jim Logue reiterated his view that the funding settlement is “catastrophic”, noting that North Lanarkshire this year had a £30m budget gap, reached via £6.8m in base budget adjustments, the council tax rise and the 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.

North Lanarkshire Council leader Jim Logue

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

“Councils must make decisions best suited to local identified needs – cuts to councils are cuts to communities.

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