North Lanarkshire ranked "most broken" local authority, according to think tank

North Lanarkshire has been ranked as Scotland’s most “broken” local authority, according to a think tank.

The New Britain Project looked at the performance of council services such as the NHS, education and policing.

The index indicators were broken down into three topics: "health emergency" which looked at NHS performance; "forgotten generation", which looked at education attainment and absences along with young people's mental health services; and "crumbling communities", which looked at crime clear-up rates, food insecurity, the number of derelict buildings and the number of roads requiring maintenance.

North Lanarkshire, according to the findings, ranked 25th in health, 28 in the "forgotten generation" category and 24th in "crumbling communities".

Glasgow - the largest local authority in the country, ranked second lowest - while both health and education and young people's services were in 16th - infrastructure was dead last, according to the think tank.

Meanwhile, Falkirk was in 27th place, ranking the same in health and children's issues and 14th in infrastructure.

The three best rated areas were in Shetland, Renfrewshire and Highland, respectively.

"Urgent need" for transparency from the government

Anna McShane, the director of the New Britain Project, said: "As Scotland faces a crucial budget announcement, our Broken Britain Index sheds light on the urgent need for transparent and comparable data.

"With public services varying greatly across Scotland and the UK, it's vital the Scottish Government provide clear and comprehensive information.

"This is crucial for addressing the challenges in essential services, which are now more critical than ever.

"Transparency shouldn't be an option - it's a necessity for a Scotland striving for accountability and genuine progress."

"Highly selective" findings - council boss hits back

Leader of the Council, Councillor Jim Logue, said, “This supposed ‘think-tank’ has used highly selective and in some cases, not the most up to date information, taking no account of relative levels of poverty and deprivation across the country.

As recently as October, a Best Value report by the Accounts Commission (the independent watch dog for local government in Scotland) found that the council has a clear strategic vision driven by effective leadership and is committed to reducing inequalities and tackling poverty.

“While it’s undoubtedly true that North Lanarkshire has its challenges, the council and its partners are making extremely significant progress.

"This progress includes wages being higher than the national average for the first time ever, a thriving economy with record levels of inward investment, one of the largest council-house building programmes in Scotland and the percentage of pupils leaving school and entering higher education and employment is higher than the national average.

Along with our partners, we remain focused on improving life for everybody in North Lanarkshire.”

Deputy First Minister "made clear" Scotland facing challenging budget settlement

The Scottish Government disputed the figures.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said "This is incorrect.

“Differences between Scottish Government data on local government finance are a reflection of the fact that the functions of local authorities here differ widely from other parts of the UK.

"The Deputy First Minister has made clear that Scotland is facing the most challenging budget settlement since devolution as a result of sustained high inflation and a UK Government autumn statement that failed to deliver the investment needed in Scotland's public services.

"The Scottish Government has increased the resources available to local government in 2023-24 by more than £793 million, a real-terms increase of £376 million or 3%, compared to the 2022-23 budget figures.

"Work is also ongoing with Cosla to establish a new fiscal framework for councils through the Verity House Agreement, a landmark agreement that is forging a stronger partnership between the Scottish Government and local councils through the spirit of collaboration and engagement."

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