Introduction
North Lanarkshire Council is the local government authority responsible for delivering public services across North Lanarkshire in central Scotland. It serves more than 340,000 residents across major towns, smaller communities and rural areas.
The Council provides and coordinates services covering:
- Schools and early learning
- Housing and homelessness
- Social care and community health
- Roads, transport and street lighting
- Waste collection and recycling
- Planning and building standards
- Economic development and regeneration
- Parks, leisure and cultural services
- Community development
- Council Tax and benefits
- Environmental health
- Licensing and regulatory services
- Community grants and voluntary-sector support
North Lanarkshire Council is a public authority rather than a charitable foundation. Its community grants, contracts and investment programmes are financed through public budgets, government allocations and external funding programmes.
History and Background
North Lanarkshire Council was established in 1996 following the reorganisation of local government in Scotland under the Local Government etc. (Scotland) Act 1994.
The authority brought together areas previously administered by several district and regional government bodies. Its principal towns include:
- Airdrie
- Bellshill
- Coatbridge
- Cumbernauld
- Motherwell
- Wishaw
North Lanarkshire also includes Kilsyth, Shotts and numerous smaller towns, villages and rural communities.
The area has a significant industrial history. Coal mining, steel production, manufacturing and heavy engineering shaped its economy, communities and physical environment. Although many traditional industries declined, North Lanarkshire has developed a more diverse economy based on services, logistics, construction, advanced manufacturing, retail and public-sector employment.
The Council continues to address the effects of industrial change, including:
- Vacant and derelict land
- Economic inequality
- Unemployment and skills gaps
- Town-centre decline
- Poverty and social exclusion
- Ageing infrastructure
- Environmental regeneration needs
North Lanarkshire covers approximately 47,000 hectares and is among Scotland’s largest and most densely populated local authority areas.
Mission and Purpose
North Lanarkshire Council’s purpose is to improve residents’ quality of life by providing accessible public services, promoting inclusive economic growth and reducing inequalities between communities.
The Plan seeks to make North Lanarkshire an attractive place to:
- Live
- Learn
- Work
- Invest
- Visit
Its overall ambition is to achieve inclusive growth and prosperity while ensuring a fairer distribution of wealth across North Lanarkshire’s communities.
Strategic Priorities
The Plan for North Lanarkshire identifies five principal priorities.
Improving Economic Opportunities and Outcomes
The Council supports business development, investment, employment, town-centre renewal and infrastructure improvements.
This priority includes:
- Attracting new investment
- Supporting local businesses
- Creating employment opportunities
- Improving transport and digital infrastructure
- Regenerating town centres
- Developing workforce skills
- Encouraging entrepreneurship
Supporting Children and Young People
The Council seeks to help all children and young people realise their full potential through education, early intervention, family support and access to opportunities.
Activities include:
- Early learning and childcare
- Primary and secondary education
- Additional support for learning
- School improvement
- Youth work
- Family learning
- Employability programmes
- Child protection and social work
Improving Health and Wellbeing
The Council works with NHS Lanarkshire and other partners to improve physical and mental health, tackle inequality and support independent living.
Enhancing Community Participation and Empowerment
Residents, community organisations and voluntary groups are encouraged to influence local services and investment decisions.
This includes:
- Community Boards
- Local consultations
- Participatory budgeting
- Community asset transfers
- Volunteering
- Community-led planning
- Grants for local organisations
Improving North Lanarkshire’s Resource Base
The Council manages public finances, land, buildings, infrastructure, workforce and technology to support sustainable service delivery.
Governance and Structure
North Lanarkshire Council is governed by democratically elected councillors. The area is divided into 21 electoral wards, represented by 77 councillors.
Each ward elects three or four councillors under Scotland’s single transferable vote system. Councillors represent residents, participate in Council meetings and make decisions on local services, budgets and policies.
The Full Council
The Full Council brings together all elected members to consider major policies, strategic plans, budgets and governance matters.
Council Leader
The Council Leader provides political leadership and helps set the administration’s policy direction. Councillor Jim Logue is identified in current Council publications as Leader of North Lanarkshire Council.
Provost
The Provost serves as the civic head and First Citizen of North Lanarkshire. The position involves chairing Council meetings and representing the authority at civic and ceremonial events.
Chief Executive and Senior Management
The Chief Executive is the Council’s senior professional officer. The Chief Executive and senior leadership team implement decisions made by councillors and oversee daily service delivery.
Committees and Subcommittees
The Council operates through committees that examine specific areas of policy and service delivery. These can include:
- Finance and resources
- Education, children and families
- Communities
- Planning
- Housing
- Enterprise and regeneration
- Environment and transport
- Audit and scrutiny
- Wellbeing and tackling poverty
- Licensing
Committee reports, decisions and meeting information are generally available through the Council’s website.
Community Planning and Partnerships
North Lanarkshire Council works through the North Lanarkshire Community Planning Partnership to coordinate public services and community investment.
Partners include:
- Police Scotland
- NHS Lanarkshire
- Scottish Fire and Rescue Service
- New College Lanarkshire
- Skills Development Scotland
- Scottish Enterprise
- Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire
- Jobcentre Plus
- Community and voluntary organisations
- Nine local Community Boards
A Strategic Leadership Board provides direction at the North Lanarkshire level. Its purpose is to coordinate resources and ensure that communities have a voice in planning and delivering local services.
Funding and Grants
North Lanarkshire Council provides funding to community groups, voluntary organisations and other eligible bodies through several grant programmes.
Funding generally supports projects that:
- Deliver community benefits
- Address local priorities
- Reduce inequality
- Improve health and wellbeing
- Build community capacity
- Support vulnerable residents
- Encourage participation
- Strengthen local services
- Improve neighbourhoods
- Create educational or recreational opportunities
Community Grants
The Community Grants scheme provides relatively small amounts of funding within a short timescale.
It supports activities or projects that deliver identifiable community benefits.
Eligible applicants generally include democratically managed voluntary organisations and community groups operating in North Lanarkshire.
Applications may support:
- Community events
- Equipment
- Local activities
- Volunteer development
- Recreational programmes
- Educational projects
- Health and wellbeing activities
- Projects addressing isolation
- Community celebrations
Applicants must satisfy the programme’s governance, financial and operational requirements.
Grant Awards Programme
The Grant Awards Programme provides annual discretionary funding to community and voluntary-sector organisations.
Funded projects and services must contribute to North Lanarkshire’s community priorities, particularly those identified in Local Outcome Improvement Plans.
First-time applicants may apply but are normally required to contact the Council and register their organisation before submitting an application.
In 2026, the programme received 78 applications, including 18 from first-time applicants. Requests exceeded £671,000, and awards were approved to support 59 projects and services across all nine Community Board areas.
Campsies Grant Award Programme
The Campsies Grant Award Programme provides targeted funding for community and voluntary organisations operating in:
- Cumbernauld North
- Cumbernauld South
- Cumbernauld East
A recent funding round made £100,000 available to eligible local organisations. The programme illustrates the Council’s place-based approach to community investment.
Community Empowerment Funding
Community Empowerment funding supports constituted community and voluntary organisations that operate for the benefit of North Lanarkshire residents.
Projects are expected to contribute to priorities contained in the relevant Local Outcome Improvement Plan.
Eligible organisations normally need:
- A written constitution or governing document
- An organisational bank account
- An elected or appointed management committee
- Open and appropriate membership arrangements
- Activities benefiting North Lanarkshire residents
- Appropriate financial controls
- Evidence that the project addresses a community priority
UK Shared Prosperity Fund Programmes
The Council administers or participates in initiatives financed through the UK Shared Prosperity Fund.
Funding may support:
- Local businesses
- Employment and skills
- Community development
- Digital inclusion
- Town-centre improvements
- Environmental projects
- Economic regeneration
- Community facilities
The availability and structure of these programmes depend on annual allocations and government requirements.
Lanarkshire Educational Trust
The Council provides access to information and applications for the Lanarkshire Educational Trust.
Eligible individuals living within the boundaries of the former County of Lanark may apply for specific forms of educational assistance, including travel scholarships and other designated support.
How Community Grants Are Assessed
Grant applications are usually assessed by the Council’s Community Partnership Team or another responsible service.
Assessment may consider:
- Applicant eligibility
- Organisational governance
- Financial management
- Community need
- Number and characteristics of beneficiaries
- Alignment with local priorities
- Project feasibility
- Value for money
- Equality and accessibility
- Safeguarding
- Environmental impact
- Measurable outcomes
- Long-term sustainability
Successful applicants may be required to:
- Sign a funding agreement
- Spend funds within a specified period
- Maintain financial records
- Submit monitoring reports
- Provide receipts or evidence of expenditure
- Report project outputs and outcomes
- Return any unspent funding
The Council approved changes to modernise community-focused grants in 2026. These improvements were designed to strengthen fairness, consistency, transparency, accountability, applicant support and impact reporting.
Major Programs and Initiatives
Transforming Places
The Transforming Places programme coordinates public and private investment in town centres and local communities.
Activities include:
- Town Action Plans
- Community hubs
- Public-realm improvements
- Regeneration of vacant sites
- Housing development
- Transport improvements
- Redesigned parks and green spaces
Town Action Plans have been developed for communities including Airdrie, Bellshill, Coatbridge, Kilsyth, Motherwell, Shotts and Wishaw.
Invest in North Lanarkshire
Invest in North Lanarkshire promotes business growth, inward investment and economic development.
Support may include:
- Business advice
- Investment guidance
- Commercial property information
- Skills and recruitment support
- Connections with public agencies
- Funding information
- Assistance for new and expanding businesses
Sustainable Futures
Sustainable Futures coordinates North Lanarkshire’s work on climate resilience and the transition towards net-zero carbon emissions.
Its priorities include:
- Energy efficiency
- Renewable energy
- Sustainable transport
- Carbon reduction
- Climate adaptation
- Environmental improvement
- Biodiversity
- Greener public infrastructure
Resilient People
The Resilient People programme focuses on whole-family support, poverty reduction, early intervention and inequality.
It aims to provide coordinated assistance locally and prevent difficulties from developing into more serious crises.
Brighter Futures
Brighter Futures supports educational achievement, skills, employment, entrepreneurship and volunteering.
Its activities connect schools, colleges, employers, training providers and community organisations.
Digital North Lanarkshire
Digital North Lanarkshire seeks to improve digital public services, connectivity, innovation and workforce skills.
The programme supports:
- Online access to Council services
- Digital inclusion
- Workforce technology skills
- Data-informed decision-making
- Modernised public administration
- Innovative and sustainable service delivery
One Service
The One Service approach seeks to make public services more coordinated, accessible and efficient.
It encourages different Council departments and partner organisations to work together around residents’ needs rather than requiring people to navigate separate systems.
Town and Community Hubs
North Lanarkshire Council is developing integrated town and community hubs where residents can access several services in one location.
These facilities may combine:
- Schools
- Libraries
- Health services
- Council customer services
- Community facilities
- Leisure and sports spaces
- Support and learning services
The integrated model is intended to improve accessibility, encourage partnership working and make more efficient use of public buildings.
Housing and Affordable Homes
North Lanarkshire Council is one of Scotland’s largest local authority landlords, managing more than 36,000 homes.
Its housing responsibilities include:
- Allocating social housing
- Maintaining Council properties
- Responding to homelessness
- Improving energy efficiency
- Supporting tenants
- Regenerating neighbourhoods
- Developing affordable homes
- Addressing antisocial behaviour
The Council has set a long-term objective of delivering thousands of additional affordable homes.
Tackling Poverty and Inequality
The Council’s Towards a Fairer North Lanarkshire strategy addresses poverty, financial insecurity and unequal access to opportunities.
Its work includes:
- Benefits and income-maximisation advice
- Employability support
- Cost-of-living assistance
- Family support
- School-related financial help
- Food insecurity responses
- Community-based services
- Early intervention
- Partnership work with charities
A dedicated Wellbeing and Tackling Poverty Committee oversees this policy area.
Impact and Examples of Work Funded
Improving Economic Performance
The Council reported a 43% increase in gross value added over the six years following the launch of The Plan for North Lanarkshire. This indicator reflects increased economic output and investment across the area, although economic benefits remain unevenly distributed between communities.
Improving Health and Wellbeing Indicators
A 2026 review reported that 68% of North Lanarkshire’s principal health and wellbeing indicators had improved since the strategic plan was introduced.
The Council uses 28 Health Check Indicators to measure progress and identify areas requiring further intervention.
Supporting Community Organisations
Community grants enable voluntary organisations to provide services that may not otherwise be available.
Funded work can include:
- Mental health support
- Youth activities
- Older people’s services
- Disability inclusion
- Community transport
- Food and cost-of-living assistance
- Sports and recreation
- Cultural activities
- Community safety
- Environmental improvement
Empowering Local Communities
Nine Community Boards allow residents and local organisations to participate in planning, investment and service decisions.
Each Board has a Local Outcome Improvement Plan based on local data and community consultation. These plans help direct resources towards priorities identified by residents.
Investing in Community Facilities
For the 2026/27 budget, the Council approved a £10 million boost for community, culture and leisure facilities. It also agreed additional capital funding for its five-year investment programme covering schools, roads and community infrastructure.
Supporting Children and Families
Education, family support and youth services help children overcome disadvantages and improve long-term outcomes.
Council and partner programmes address:
- Educational attainment
- School attendance
- Child poverty
- Family wellbeing
- Additional support needs
- Positive transitions
- Youth employment
Improving Digital Access
Online systems allow residents to manage Council Tax, report housing repairs, make payments, check bin collections and access other services.
Digital development is intended to make services more convenient while supporting residents who need assisted or non-digital access.
Public Accountability and Performance
North Lanarkshire Council publishes information about its:
- Budgets and annual accounts
- Committee decisions
- Strategic plans
- Councillor responsibilities
- Public consultations
- Service performance
- Governance arrangements
- Audit findings
- Equality duties
- Procurement and contracts
Performance against The Plan for North Lanarkshire is monitored through 28 Health Check Indicators and the Council’s Programme of Work.
External bodies, including the Accounts Commission and Audit Scotland, contribute to scrutiny of the Council’s financial management, governance and service performance.
Contact and Access to Services
Online services include:
- Council Tax
- Housing and repairs
- Bins and recycling
- Benefits and money advice
- Schools and learning
- Planning applications
- Roads and parking
- Jobs and training
- Community grants
- Business support
- Social care and health
Conclusion
North Lanarkshire Council is responsible for delivering essential public services and leading long-term social, economic and environmental development across one of Scotland’s largest local authority areas.
Through The Plan for North Lanarkshire, the Council seeks to create inclusive growth, reduce inequality and make the area a better place to live, learn, work, invest and visit. Its priorities cover economic opportunity, children and young people, health and wellbeing, community empowerment and sustainable management of local resources.
Community Grants, the Grant Awards Programme, Community Empowerment funding and place-based initiatives provide important financial support to voluntary organisations and grassroots groups. These programmes help local organisations address poverty, isolation, health inequalities, environmental issues and gaps in community provision.
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