Agenda Document Pack - Communities Committee - 18/08/2025
North Lanarkshire Council · 18 August 2025
Back to Communities Committee — 18 August 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Clerk Name: Karen Swan Clerk Telephone: 07919 730272 Clerk Email: committee@northlan.gov.uk 7 August 2025 Members of the Communities Committee Chief Executive’s Office Rachel Blair Chief Officer (Legal & Democratic) Civic Centre, Windmillhill Street, Motherwell ML1 1AB www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk Notice is given that a Meeting of the Communities Committee is to be held in the Council Chamber, Civic Centre, Windmillhill Street, Motherwell, ML1 1AB on Monday, 18 August 2025 at 10:00 AM which you are requested to attend. The agenda of business is attached. Rachel Blair Chief Officer (Legal & Democratic) Members : G Woods, J Reddin, C Barclay, A Beveridge, B Burgess, A Bustard, J Cairns, D Crichton, K Duffy, T Fisher, F Fotheringham, W Goldie, K Harmon, J Jones, J Keltie, M McBride, B McCluskey, B McCulloch, P McDade, L Mitchell, L Nolan, N Shevlin, A Smith, J Toner, C Williams. Page 1 of 352
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Agenda 1 Declarations of Interest In Terms of the Ethical Standards In Public Life Etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 2 Community Board Local Development Programme Submit report by Chief Officer (Strategy and Engagement) providing an update on progress with the Community Board Local Development Programme projects. 7 - 58 3 Annual Review of the Community Safety Strategy 2024-25 Submit report by Chief Officer (Strategy and Engagement) advising of the progress made on the strategic priorities and actions in the Annual Review of the Community Safety Strategy 2020-2025 for the period between April 2024 to March 2025. 59 - 102 4 Community Boards and Partnership Communications Strategy Submit report by Chief Officer (Strategy and Engagement) providing an update on key progress linked to supporting the development of the Community Boards model. 103 - 122 5 LOIP Performance Report 1 October 2024 – 31 March 2025 Submit report by Chief Officer (Strategy and Engagement) (1) providing a snapshot of progress linked to key priorities for each of the nine Local Outcome Improvement Plans for the period 1 April 2024 to 30 September 2024; and (2) detailing the implementation of the Management and Monitoring Framework and development of the Local Partnership Teams. 123 - 162 6 Proposed LOIP Review and timeline 2025-2027 Submit report by Chief Officer (Strategy and Engagement) setting out the proposed timeline and approach for reviewing the nine Local Outcome Improvement Plans with refreshed local plans for delivery to be realised from April 2027. 163 - 176 Page 3 of 352
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7 Member Officer Working Group on the Third Sector Recommendations– Progress Update Submit report by Chief Officer (Strategy and Engagement) providing an update on progress with the recommendations of the Member Officer Working Group approved by the Policy and Strategy Committee in December 2024. 177 - 184 8 Access to Free Period Products (Period Dignity Initiative) update Submit report by Chief Officer (Strategy and Engagement) providing an update on the activity relating to the delivery and further development of the Access to Free Period Products/Period Dignity Initiative. 185 - 202 9 Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire (VANL) Annual report for 2024-25 Submit report by Chief Officer (Strategy and Engagement) providing an annual update report from VANL in relation to their work in delivering the Plan for North Lanarkshire. 203 - 256 10 Community Grants – Annual Report 2024-25 Submit report by Chief Officer (Strategy and Engagement) providing an overview of applications received under the Community Grants Scheme for the 2024/25 financial year, along with details of funding awards made to date. 257 - 272 11 Community Asset Transfer and Participation Requests Annual Report for 2024-25 Submit report by Chief Officer (Strategy and Engagement) providing an update on the annual progress of Community Asset Transfer and Participation Requests in North Lanarkshire. 273 - 302 12 Community Ownership and Management of Assets: Application from Rivals Foundation for the Asset Transfer to Netherton Community Centre Report to Follow 13 Miners' Memorial - Motion to Council Submit report by Chief Officer (Community Operations) outlining initial discussions, potential proposals and seeking approval of the recommended way forward. 303 - 308 Page 4 of 352
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14 John Smith Pool Submit report by Chief Officer (Community Operations)seeking approval of the realigned funding from the Active and Creative Communities capital investment programme to support the works at John Smith Pool. 309 - 314 15 Immersive Experience Action Plan Submit report by Chief Officer (Community Operations) providing an update on the four Immersive Experience pods, governance arrangements and the launch of the action plan in seeking delivery of the overall support to communities. 315 - 326 16 Active and Creative Communities and Community Facility Usage and Footfall – Q1 25-26 and Q1 24-25 Submit report by Chief Officer (Community Operations) providing an overview of usage of a range of sports, culture and leisure venues and our community facilities, comparing quarter 1 of 2025-26 and quarter 1 of 2024-25. 327 - 340 17 Strategic Performance Framework - latest performance results for Active and Creative Communities Submit report by Chief Officer (Community Operations) providing an update of the latest results for the suite of performance indicators used by Active & Creative Communities to inform service delivery and underpin operational decisions. 341 - 352 EXCLUSION OF PUBLIC The Sub-Committee is asked to consider passing the following resolution: "That under Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item of business on the grounds that it involves the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 8 of Part 1 of Schedule 7A of the Act". 18 Cumbernauld Theatre Trust Submit report by Chief Officer (Community Operations) providing an update on the current position of Cumbernauld Theatre Trust. Page 5 of 352
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Communities Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref SP/MC Date 18/08/25 Community Board Local Development Programme From Stephen Penman, Chief Officer (Strategy and Engagement) E-mail Penmanste@northlan.gov.uk Costellom@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07725 289559 1. Background 1.1 The Policy and Strategy committee agreed, in March 2019, that all projects from 2019/20 onwards, recommended by Community Matters partnerships (now replaced by Community Boards) should be subject to agreement by the former Youth, Equalities Executive Summary This report provides an update on progress with the Community Board Local Development Programme (LDP) projects previously approved by committee. In addition, the report seeks in-principle approval for new potential projects as proposed by local community groups. Recommendations It is recommended that the Communities Committee: (1) Recognises progress with the current project portfolio and approve projects which have potential for delivery in future financial years depending on availability of funding and community support (Appendix 1). (2) Recognises the capital budget allocated to the LDP for each Community Board area in the new capital programme from 2024/25 onwards. (Appendix 2). (3) Acknowledge the examples of completed project case studies (Appendix 3) (4) Recognises the Programme of play area projects for 2025/26 (Appendix 4). (5) Approves amendments to existing projects and further project proposals and project criteria. (6) Acknowledges current challenges faced in achieving delivery of the Local Development Programme; The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement (20) Improve the involvement of communities in the decisions, and development of services and supports, that affect them Programme of Work All Programmes of Work Item 2 Page 7 of 352
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and Empowerment Committee before proceeding beyond the in-principle/ conceptual stage. Further approvals are now sought through the Communities Committee as required. 1.2 The current capital programme was reviewed and a new capital programme for 2024/25 to 2028/29 was agreed by Council in March 2024. The LDP has secured funding for the new five-year plan totalling £10.369 million. The allocation of funding includes a new capital allocation to support the Community Asset Transfer (CAT) process. A total amount of £2.3 million from the LDP has been allocated to support CAT over the five- year budget period. This funding will be augmented by £670,000 from the Shared Prosperity Fund to provide a £3 million fund to support CAT over the next five years. 1.3 The indicative allocation of LDP funding by Community Board area is set out in the table in Appendix 2 of this report. The level of funding shown for each Community Board area excludes the CAT element of £2.3 million, which will be allocated via the process approved by the Policy and Strategy Committee in June 2024. 1.4 Appendix 2 shows the allocation of LDP by Community Board area over the five years of the capital plan. The allocation for each Board area is a calculation based on population size and deprivation. The population percentages are drawn from the National Records for Scotland 2020 mid-year estimates and the 2020 Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD). 85% is allocated based on population, while 15% of the LDP budget is allocated based on deprivation. The 15% figure is drawn from the proportion of people who were “income deprived” in the 2020 SIMD. 1.5 Appendix 3 of the report contains case studies of a recently completed LDP projects, Gartlea play area in Airdrie, Bellshill Gateway community garden in Bellshill and the Cardowan MUGA in the Northern Corridor. The purpose of the case studies is to provide elected members with greater insight into how LDP projects are developed and delivered, from initial proposals through to the completion of the project. All future LDP reports to Committee will include LDP project case studies. 1.6 One of the key priorities for the LDP is the delivery of upgraded and new play facilities across all nine Community Board areas. Appendix 4 illustrates the play area programme for 2025/26, to be delivered through LDP and with match funding from the Scottish Government’s play area renewal funding. 1.7 The amount allocated to each area reflects a reduction of up to 10% earmarked for delivery and other associated costs in relation to agreed projects. This will include technical support, tendering processes, design and project management and administration. 2. Report Criteria for Local Development Programme 2.1 To be eligible for inclusion in the Community Board Local Development Programme, projects must meet the priorities of the Local Outcome Improvement Plan and substantially subscribe to previously agreed criteria. The following are examples of some of the key criteria: • link to LOIP priorities • be publicly visible and accessible. • come from community groups or individual. • improve community safety. Page 8 of 352
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• benefit a large number of people. • improve the appearance of an area. • maximise the use of alternative sources of funding. • be a capital projects on council owned land. 2.2 All Local Development Programme proposal forms should indicate which, if any, of the Local Outcome Improvement Plan priorities the project supports. Where the project does not align with identified priorities, evidence must be provided to show how the project will support improved local outcomes. Project progress 2.3 Information on current and potential future projects is contained within Appendix 1. The figures in Appendix 1 are indicative potential project costs and no budget has been allocated to specific projects. 2.4 The Community Board Local Development Programme highlights the council’s commitment to community led neighbourhood regeneration. Prioritisation work has been undertaken taking account of the allocated budgets and criteria to schedule project delivery of the current holding over the five-year budget cycle. These priorities may change as projects develop, and clearer costs become available. 2.5 Where feasibility checks have identified that the project is not viable, the recommendation within Appendix 1 is to delete such projects from the list moving forward. Projects seeking approval. 2.6 Table 1 provides a summary of the LDP projects seeking committee approval in this cycle. In total, twenty-six projects across all nine Community Board areas are seeking approval. Table 1. Projects seeking approval from this cycle of Community Boards Community Board Area Project Name Project Description Project Potential Cost Additional Notes Airdrie Affric Ave Car Park Car parking £15,000 - £20,000 Projects team to complete drawing. Airdrie Chapelhall Fencing Christmas Tree Fencing. £2,000 CPO liaising with Street Scene on gate Airdrie Centenary & West End Park Sculpture Garden Cover the cost of installation for wood £5,000 Arbour team have agreed to provide cut wood from fallen trees for the sculptures Page 9 of 352
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Airdrie Lost Villages Heritage Project TBC CPO met with proposers on to progress. Bellshill Holytown Play Area Upgrade Upgrade the Holytown play area due to concerns about access to the play area and bad conditions within the play area. TBC Site visit completed; complete renovation needed. Relocation of play area to be considered. Community consultation to be created for local opinion of relocating the play park. Bellshill Mossend Play area Upgrade Upgrade the play area due to concerns about access to the play area and bad conditions within the play area TBC Site visit to be arranged. Bellshill Shirrel Avenue Parking Parking TBC Projects team completed design specs, consultation to now be completed. Coatbridge Welcome to Coatbridge Installation Stonework welcome to Coatbridge installation end of A725, start of Whifflet Street. No visible indicator exists presently to say that you are entering Coatbridge. £15,000 Proposers requesting an iron feature similar to Carnbroe. Scale of feature to be investigated. Heraldic image to be added to entrance feature. Coatbridge Bargeddie MUGA Development of Bargeddie MUGA £90,000 Local consultation completed. responses all in favour of the Muga Cumbernauld Lime Crescent, Abronhill Parking TBC Consultation complete, results show all in favour of project. Page 10 of 352
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Cumbernauld Allanfauld Road Seafar Play Area Install a new play area at Allanfauld Road, Seafar, Cumbernauld TBC School Consultation complete, design spec and Local consultation to now be completed. Kilsyth Colzuin Play Area Renewal of play area TBC Proposal form submitted. School consultation to be completed. Kilsyth Hillside Park replacement playpark remove old equipment and move the park to a more central point but close to the original sight TBC Local consultation underway. Kilsyth Signage for Kilsyth Sign posts and notice boards creation & installations TBC Notice Boards to be ordered. Kilsyth Muga Old Mill View This is a request to install a Muga next to the existing play park at Old Mill View, Croy TBC Local consultation underway Motherwell Tommy Gemmell Statue LDP funding to provide a plinth and upgrade the immediate surrounding of the statue in Craigneuk £75,000 external funding. LDP funding TBC. Awaiting feedback from Group and from college students on 3D modelling Motherwell Duchess Park Renewal of Equipment Replace old equipment in Duchess Park TBC Consultation out to public Motherwell Picnic benches for Woodilee playpark Build and maintain approx. 3 or 4 picnic benches TBC Proposers to confirm what style of bench is preferred. Northern Corridor Village Park Play Area, Glenboig To redevelop areas of Village Park, play area, Glenboig via Scottish Government Play Park Renewal Fund. 50,000 Northern Corridor Bluebell Park, Stepps Upgrade Replacement of old logs area and development of outdoor class funded by Scottish Government TBC Exact location yet to be confirmed. Page 11 of 352
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Northern Corridor Ramoan play area, Glenboig - new entrance New Entrance £15,000 Further discussion required with Arbour team Northern Corridor Millerston Pathworks and Solar Lights project Provide new paths works and eco- friendly solar eye ground lighting (solar lighting) at pathways next to Dunalistair Park play area. TBC Neighbourhood consultation completed- positive feedback on project proposal. Shotts Eastfield Harthill future play park improvements To improve play provision in the local community: Renew items of equipment to improve play provision Indicative £100,000 Consultation period extended. Shotts Stane Gardens, Additional benches Request for additional benches at Stane Gardens £3,000 Location for placement of benches to be checked Wishaw Cleland Parking Parking TBC Indicative - £20,000 Consultation completed with majority of responses in favour. Wishaw Overtown solar lighting on pathway Built in Solar Lighting on pathway TBC Projects team reviewing costs. LDP programme development and delivery 2.7 Graph 2 below shows the breakdown of LDP projects by development stages for the period up to June 2025. It shows the scale of the LDP programme, in terms of the number of projects that have been approved (potential) and are in progress, a total of, seventy-three and the number that are under development (42) and seeking approval (26). This is a very large number of projects, fully detailed in Appendix 1, and indicates the continuing high level of demand for LDP projects from the Community Board areas of North Lanarkshire. Indeed, the number of projects seeking Committee approval, 26, gives the clearest indication of the community demand for projects. Page 12 of 352
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Graph 1. Number of LDP projects by development stage as of June 2025 2.8 Further detail at a Community Board level is provided in Graph 3. This illustrates the number of projects at each development stage by Community Board area. Graph 3 shows more detailed information on the status of projects for each Community Board area. As with the information included in each of the graphs, this will be updated for each future report. Graph 2. LDP projects by development stage by Community Board area June 2025 3. Measures of success 3.1 Projects delivered within agreed timescales taking into account all relevant factors and budgetary considerations. 3.2 Local communities are involved from the earliest stage in the development of project designs and delivery and are generally satisfied with the outcome. Page 13 of 352
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3.3 People in communities whose voices are seldom heard are engaged in putting forward/influencing projects within their community. 3.4 The governance role of the Community Boards is consolidated in terms of project development, approvals, and monitoring processes. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 Community Board Local Development Programme 2023/24 onwards. 4.2 Appendix 2 Budget Information. 4.3 Appendix 3 Your community asked, we delivered: LDP project case study. 4.4 Appendix 4 Play Area Development List 2025/26. Stephen Penman Chief Officer, (Strategy and Engagement) Page 14 of 352
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Each of the projects in the attached Appendices, if deemed appropriate for delivery and where budget is available is supported through funding available via the Community Board Local Development Programme capital allocation. Consideration will also be given to maximising external and other partner contributions where possible. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Page 15 of 352
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Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Several of the projects will have a positive effect on the local environment, contributing to safer areas to play and addressing issues traffic congestion in specific areas. 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The LDP is discussed widely with community groups and local consultation will be communicated as required. In conjunction with local communities, a communications approach will ensure that projects are promoted positively. 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? There are no significant financial risks which have been identified at this stage in the financial year, however this will continue to be closely monitored. Some projects may not proceed as a result of e.g., community consultation or site investigations and outstanding budgets will be re-allocated to other projects which will be reported to a future Community Board. It should be acknowledged that there are nationwide challenges in relation to supply of materials and there is also an impact on material costs leading to potentially higher contract costs which could impact on delivery of projects. 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ Page 16 of 352
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If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). Information is provided regarding upgraded and new play areas across North Lanarkshire. Youth groups and organisations are involved in community boards and participate in a variety of engagement events related to project development and Local Outcome Improvement Plans If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☒ Page 17 of 352
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Appendix 1 Airdrie Project Name Project Description Progress Budget Notes Holehills Kickabout Area New Play Area Under Development TBC Potential to resurface the MUGA with polymeric surface, CPO currently liaising with Education. Proposal to be developed. Leaend Road Car Parking Under Development TBC Feasibility checks to be undertaken. Calderbank Skate Park Play facility Under Development TBC Site visit to be arranged. Moss Avenue Parking Potential clearing existing lockups and resurfacing. Under Development £15,000 - £20,000 Project to go to roads for approval. Projects team to complete drawing specs. Longriggend welcome sign Village welcome sign Under Development Max £ 5,000 Site visit undertaken. Earl Avenue Caldercruix Car parking Under Development TBC Projects team to complete feasibility checks. Affric Ave Car Park Car parking Seeking approval £15,000 - £20,000 Projects team to complete drawing. Chapelhall Fencing Christmas Tree Seeking approval £2,000 Gate to be ordered, CPO liaising with Street Scene Page 18 of 352
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Lost Villages Heritage project to create a memorial to the “lost villages” near Airdrie Seeking approval TBC Feasibility checks & consultation to be done. Location to be confirmed. Centenary and West End Park sculpture garden Create a sculpture garden in the park- heritage project Seeking approval £5,000 Linking with Friends of the Park group and the parks service to identify location and requirements for the sculpture garden. Airdrie Boulevard of Lights Replace trees that must be removed along with erect a temporary metal structure beside /behind the new trees to increase the lights effect whilst they are established. Potential/ In progress £10,000 Proposal received - The Arbour team and lighting team are taking lead on this project. Ballochney Road Plains Path installation Surfacing pathway Potential/ In progress £20,000 Community engagement complete. Surfacing: Path installation. Feasibility check completed. Consultation to be completed, to go to infrastructure team Local consultation undertaken. Currently waiting on results from consultation. Page 19 of 352
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Airdrie Leisure BMX Pump Track, Funding to support regenerating of the facilities or build a new pump track. Pump Track - Play Potential/ In progress £170,000 Project currently in Procurement. Calderbank Welcome Road Sign Welcome Sign Potential/ In progress £3,000 A site has been identified, north of Brownsburn park. proposal form completed. Projects team completing design spec. Caldercruix Heritage Project Heritage Project Potential/ In progress £42,944 Panels currently being prepared and created. Projects team working with Graphics to conclude the project. Caldercruix Play Area Caldercruix Play Area Upgrade Potential/ In progress £100,000 Project is currently in Procurement. Chapelhall/ Bellside Road Parking Surfacing Potential/ In progress £40,000 Design spec to be completed and be delivered through the Infrastructure Framework. Community Partnership Initiatives Potential/ In progress £10,000 Page 20 of 352
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Community Safety CCTV CCTV installations Potential/ In progress £25,000 CCTV Request submitted Queens Crescent, Chapelhall (Est: £18k) Has been approved. Works completed April, operational May 2025. CCTV agreed for Luing, Petersburn. Fitted late June 25. Craigneuk Play Area, Calderigg place, Play Area Potential/ In progress £92,646 Official opening date to be confirmed. Milton Court Social Place Seating Area Potential/ In progress £8,000 (TBC) Awaiting a response from chair of Tenants & Residents Projects team to complete drawings. Petersburn Main Play Area Renew existent play area and concentrate all play provisions in one play area Potential/ In progress £100,000 Project currently in Procurement Toddlers Play Area, Varnsdorf way Toddlers Play Area Potential/ In progress £50,000 Going to procurement in autumn of 2025 Page 21 of 352
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Caldercruix Wheeled Sport Area Wheeled sports area Potential/ In progress £50,000 Going to procurement in autumn of 2025 West end/ Centenary Park New Interpretation boards Potential/ In progress £15,000 New lecterns have been installed, Projects team to liaise with Graphics team to complete the new information boards. Bellshill Project Name Project Description Progress Budget Notes Shirrel Avenue Parking To re- surface/improve a disused lock-up site to ease amount of parking on Shirrel Avenue. Under Development TBC Proposal received; feasibility being assessed. Holytown Play Area Upgrade Upgrade the Holytown play area due to concerns about access to the play area and bad conditions within the play area. Seeking Approval TBC Site visit completed; complete renovation needed. Relocation of play area to be considered. Community consultation to be created for local opinion of relocating the play park. Mossend Play area Upgrade Upgrade the play area due to concerns about access to the play area and bad conditions within the play area Seeking Approval TBC Site visit to be arranged. Page 22 of 352
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Ella Gardens Mossend Parking Additional parking spaces from house 9-23 - will provide up to 9 parking bays In progress/ Potential £20,000 Design spec completed. will go through the new Infrastructure Framework Juniper Place Parking Viewpark Additional parking spaces In progress/ Potential £15,000 Design spec completed, will go through the new Infrastructure Framework Alder Bank Parking Viewpark Additional parking spaces In progress/ Potential £15,000 Design spec to be completed. will go through the new Infrastructure Framework. McCracken Drive Parking Viewpark Additional parking spaces In progress/ Potential £15,000 Potential for 8 bays. Design spec completed. will go through the new Infrastructure Framework. Page 23 of 352
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Belvidere Crescent Parking Bellshill Additional parking spaces In progress/ Potential £15,000 6 potential spaces. Design spec to be completed will go through the new Infrastructure Framework Clay Crescent Muga & Play Area Renewal The area distinctly lacks sufficient open space public sports facilities. Utilising existing red ash paved football pitch In progress/ Potential £160,000 Bike and bench to be added to design spec, surfacing may to go infrastructure team. Design spec to be re checked. Main Street, Holytown Community Garden Community Garden In progress/ Potential £25,000 Ideas from residents for design and development received. Concrete bases have been fitted, planters and benches to be delivered and installed in April and May. Large planter and sign with manufacturer. Community Safety CCTV Additional CCTV in locality in conjunction with community safety partners In progress/ Potential £25,000 Holytown CCTV -, camera operational at the end of April 2025. Community Partnership initiatives In progress/ Potential £10,000 Funding to support partnership initiatives. Page 24 of 352
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Liberty Road, Parking Bellshill Additional parking spaces In progress/ Potential £30,000 Potential for 8 spaces only as services present near location. Site for parking will be in South of Junction, design spec to be completed will go through the new Infrastructure Framework. Bellshill Gateway- community Garden Bellshill Gateway- community Garden Completed £25,000 Project completed in April 2025. Coatbridge Project Name Project Details Progress Budget Notes Dunbeth Bowling Club entrance pathways resurface entrance pathway Under Development TBC Proposal received: CPO arranged meeting on site with proposers regarding surfacing on pathway towards bowling club. Projects team assessing costs. Kirkwood Tenants & Residents Community Garden Install Community Garden Under Development TBC Proposal received Design spec has been completed, and survey is with the community group Lomond Road Townhead Parking Bays potential creation of parking bays Under Development TBC Projects team completed layout Page 25 of 352
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on grass island to alleviate congestion on access road. plan, consultation to be completed. Local consultation underway Shawhead Underpass Project Renovation of the Shawhead underpass Under Development TBC Site meeting to scope out project. project In the early stages, projects team is looking for contractors regarding works & costs to be confirmed. Shawhead in Bloom Community growing project to enhance public spaces around Shawhead Under Development TBC Community walk- about took place to develop the project. Cenotaph floral displays Large artificial hanging baskets at the cenotaph in West End Park on Bank Street. Under Development TBC Project in early stages of development. Avenue of Lights Trees on both sides of Bank Street from Blairgrove Court to the Cenotaph. Under Development TBC Projects team to complete initial feasibility checks. Welcome to Coatbridge Installation Stonework welcome to Coatbridge installation end of A725, start of Whifflet Street. No visible indicator exists presently to Seeking approval TBC approx. £15,000 Site location moved to the other side of the road. Drawings to be completed by Projects team. Page 26 of 352
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say that you are entering Coatbridge. Bargeddie MUGA Development of Bargeddie MUGA Seeking Approval £90,000 Consultation phase 1 is complete with 135 responses with 99.4% in favour. Further local consultation to be completed. Greenend Play Area Full refurb. Add to wheeled sports provision, extra play equipment Potential/ In progress £100,000 Design spec completed, in Procurement Whifflet Park Additional Swing Bay Environmental Improvement Potential/ In progress £5,000 Included in current procurement Bargeddie Play Area Play Area upgrade Potential/ In progress £100,000 Project in procurement Greenend Wheeled Sports Area Development of Greenend Wheeled Sports Area Potential/ In progress £50,000 Due to go to procurement in September 2025 Community Safety – CCTV Additional CCTV in locality in conjunction with Community Safety Partners. Potential/ In progress £25,000 Investigation of a permanent camera in Shawhead. Carnbroe Heritage panels Install Heritage panels to safely screen mine cap in community garden Potential/ In progress £5,000 Fencing completed, final project inspection to be undertaken. Kelso Quadrant Community space, Create a useable community Potential/ In progress £10,000 On site meeting with locals, positive response on design Page 27 of 352
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space on currently unused waste ground to rear of properties plans. Works pending on additional panel to be attached to the fence. Shining Stars Outdoor Learning Space Project Utilise space at rear of building to create secure learning and performance space for ASN theatre school Potential/ In progress £10,000 Project on hold till further notice due to property issues. Langloan Community Space reclaiming community spaces in Langloan. Goal Posts, roll bars & seating area. Potential/ In progress £5,000 Project due to complete shortly. Kids area and benches completed; planters ordered. Waiting for planters to be delivered to site. Secret Garden (friends of Dunbeth Park Community Garden) Partnership with Friends of Dunbeth Park Potential/ In progress £10,000 Initial phase of the project completed. Community Partnership Initiatives Potential/ In progress £10,000 Page 28 of 352
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Cumbernauld Project Name Project Details Progress Budget Notes Kildrum Welcome Signage Three metal signs to be installed saying “Welcome to Kildrum,” like the “Welcome to Seafar” signs recently installed. Under Development £2,000 Feasibility checks to still be arranged locations and installation to be confirmed. Site visit to be arranged. Lime Crescent, Abronhill Parking Under Development TBC Delays as site location has been changed, site visit to be arranged. Kildrum Entrance Feature Entrance wall feature to be constructed. It is requested that this be able to accommodate the metal house shields which came off the exterior of the former Cumbernauld High School buildings before demolition. Under Development TBC Feasibility checks to still be arranged between signage or entrance feature Potential site found Page 29 of 352
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Cumbernauld New Town Heritage Signage Refurbish and reinstate original Cumbernauld New Town signage, to designs by town artist Brian Miller Under Development TBC Proposal form received. Location to be moved to Park, cost and budget required. projects team looking into feasibility of design Allanfauld Road Seafar Play Area Install a new play area at Allanfauld Road, Seafar, Cumbernauld Under Development TBC Schools’ consultation, on play area design, undertaken. Arria Signage Signage from Craighalbert Road to Arria Sculpture by Andy Scott. Looking at creating 3- 6 signs Under Development £1,500 New application has been submitted final site visit to be completed. Gap Site Hoarding Design of the hoardings to include historical information and images of the Village In progress/Potential £6,000 approx. Proposal form received. Hoardings to be replaced. passed to projects team for feasibility. Currently with Projects team for design spec and site visit. Afton Road, Parking Parking In progress/Potential £15,000 Potential for two additional parking bays by changing orientation. (due to presence of trees) Design completed Ready to go out for tender. 1-2 parking bays to be created Page 30 of 352
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Birch Road, (Abronhill) Parking In progress/Potential £10,000 Consultation sent out - positive responses received Will be delivered by new infrastructure framework Block of 6 and 4 bays to be created Cumbernauld Peace Garden Memory Walk Memory Walk In progress/Potential £10,000 for initial phase Completed initial site visit for connecting path to memorial walk. Meeting with greenspace for location of proposed entrance. Works ongoing. Design spec being completed. May be separated into phase works. Eastfield Play Area Playpark In progress/Potential £100,000 Under procurement Melrose Road, Greenfaulds Parking Improvements - removing a bay and lining In progress/Potential £10,833 Contract awarded. Outstanding technical issues to be resolved. Awaiting confirmation from Roads Projects team followed up with contractors. Page 31 of 352
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Community Partnership Initiatives Funding to support community partnership initiatives In progress/Potential £10,000 CCTV CCTV In progress/Potential £25,000 Stonylee Road CCTV - proposal received Handrails, Kildrum (2 Areas) Pathway Handrails for two areas Completed £10,000 Both handrails installed Spring 25. Kilsyth and Villages Project Name Project Details Progress Budget Notes Kilsyth Old Peoples Welfare Committee – centre renovations Contribution towards improvements works at Old Library (Burngreen) Under Development TBC Organisation seeking third party funding support for essential building and facility improvements. Proposal will require to be updated. Page 32 of 352
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Hillside Park replacement playpark Remove old equipment and move the park to a more central point but close to the original sight Under Development TBC Consultation to be drafted. Connecting Kilsyth Pathway Project Clean Up and Signage pathway projects clean up and signage Under Development TBC consultation to be undertaken Phase 1 - Clearing & Signage: Project proposal has been submitted. Phase 1 identified, and meeting has been organised to identify responsibilities. Signage for Kilsyth Sign posts and notice boards creation & installations Under Development TBC No progress so far, locations are confirmed. Page 33 of 352
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MUGA Old Mill View This is a request to install a Muga next to the existing play park at Old Mill View, Croy Under Development TBC Feasibility completed, consultation to be completed. Colzium Park, play area Renewal of play area Seeking approval TBC Feasibility checks complete. Proposal form has been completed and submitted. Consultation to be undertaken. CCTV In progress/Potential £10000 Barlandfauld CCTV completed: £14k Page 34 of 352
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Rennie Road Play Park, Replace Play Area In progress/Potential £80,000 Currently in procurement. Community Partnership Initiatives Funding to support partnership initiatives In progress/Potential £1500 Bogside Park lighting project Install path lighting along the main stretch from the Main Road to St Patricks Primary School Completed £6,699. Works completed 15th April 2025. Page 35 of 352
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Motherwell Project Name Project Details Status Budget Notes Duchess Park Renewal of Equipment Replace old equipment in Duchess Park Seeking approval TBC Proposal draft received. CPO to support development of proposal, Project team to assess indicative budget. Picnic benches for Woodilee playpark Build and maintain approx. 3 or 4 picnic benches Seeking approval TBC Projects team to check with street scene regarding availability on picnic benches Picnic bench to be ordered. Online survey to be created for local opinion. Tommy Gemmell Statue LDP funding to provide a plinth and upgrade the immediate surrounding of the statue in Craigneuk Seeking Approval £75,000 external funding. LDP funding TBC. Consultation with schools to be arranged. Design of statue being finalised. Site meeting undertaken to discuss design of surroundings and plinth for the statue. Community Partnership Initiatives Funding to support community partnership initiatives Potential/ In progress £10,000 Community Safety CCTV Additional CCTV in locality in conjunction with Community Safety Partners Potential/ In progress £25000 Potential CCTV for issues in Muirhouse: Antisocial Behaviour 9.5K, needs 2 CCTV Muirhouse CCTV. March - Anti social behaviour numbers are lower, likely due to the installation of temporary cameras. Awaiting updated quote from CCTV team. Page 36 of 352
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Fife Drive, Forgewood play park improvement and expansion Replace missing equipment and consider adding some more play equipment to improve the park Potential/ In progress £80,000 Currently in Procurement George St Park, constructing walking path LDP form received from the group regarding constructing a walking Path round the park, with bench, Trim trail, and a bog garden etc Potential/ In progress Indicative £80K to £100K: SG Draft layout completed, second phase of trim trail to be completed. Proposers happy with design. Consultation completed with very substantial support for the project. Construction drawings to be completed. Coursington Crescent Parking Additional parking Potential/ In progress £15,000 Design still to be completed To be delivered through Infrastructure Framework Jerviston Play Area Replacement Play Area replacement Potential/ In progress £100,000 Currently in Procurement. Page 37 of 352
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Outdoor Gym, Glenmore Rd- Lomond Walk, Newarthill Development of an outdoor gym for community use Potential/ In progress £40,000 Consultation completed by CPO currently waiting on proposers to open the consultation. Awaiting feedback from consultation. Newarthill Tree Lighting Project Community Council want to light up five trees next to the welcome to Newarthill entrance feature Completed £15,000 Project completed June 2025. Lighting on pathway at dog park, welfare park, Newarthill Lighting project Completed £5,600 Welfare Park to be completed by the end of March. Project completed in April 25. Page 38 of 352
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Northern Corridor Project Name Project Details Progress Budget Notes Millerston Solar Lights project Provide eco-friendly solar eye ground lighting (solar lighting) at pathways next to Dunalistair play area. Seeking approval TBC Feasibility of project under review. Bluebell Park, Stepps Upgrade Replacement of old logs and development of outdoor class funded by Scottish Government Seeking approval TBC (SG) Issue with water voles, checks with biodiversity officer to commence. Consultation completed. Design spec required. Ramoan play area, Glenboig - new entrance New entrance Seeking approval TBC Possible Scottish Government funding. Village Park Play Area, Glenboig To redevelop areas of Village Park, play area, Glenboig via Scottish Government Play Park Renewal Fund. Seeking approval £50,000 Feasibility checks completed by Projects team. Consultation to be completed. Design spec to be completed. Cardowan Pump Track Develop a pump track facility on ash site next to Cardowan MUGA, Frankfield Road Under Development TBC No further development to date. Moodiesburn Outdoor Gym Establish an outdoor gym facility Potential/ In progress £20,000 Proposal form signed by Moodiesburn Community Action. Location updated: Pivot Community Centre, Glenmanor Drive. Page 39 of 352
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Currently in procurement. Auchinloch Community Council Outdoor gym Establish outdoor gym facility in Auchinloch Potential/ In progress £20,000 Project identified through Auchinloch Community Action Plan. Feasibility checks on potential sites completed. Currently in procurement. Path Improvement works at Strathkelvin Railway Path, Moodiesburn The project would involve improvement works at the path area at Strathkelvin Railway Path, Moodiesburn (next to the Bow Wow Right of Way entrance). Works would involve scraping back shrubs and bushes Potential/ In progress £10,000 Proposal received. Positive on Feasibility checks Establishing full scope of project. Pivot Centre Moodiesburn Noticeboard The project would provide a noticeboard on site near the Pivot Centre, Moodiesburn to enable local community groups to publicise community events and highlight activities and services provided in Potential/ In progress £3,500 Noticeboard ordered, awaiting delivery. Page 40 of 352
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the Moodiesburn area. Moodiesburn Play Area Create play area at top end of Moodiesburn Potential/ In progress £75K Identified by Moodiesburn Community Action Group consultation. Proposed site on ground at St. Michael’s PS, Blackwoods Crescent approved for use. Currently in Procurement. Cardowan Community Meadow Outdoor Gym Establish outdoor gym facility in Cardowan. Potential/ In progress £20,000 Project identified through Cardowan Community Action Plan. Feasibility checks on potential sites completed. Currently in procurement. Moodiesburn Christmas Tree Project Erect permanent Christmas Tree in Moodiesburn. Potential/ In progress £3,000 Project delayed until 2027. CCTV Community Safety Additional CCTV in the locality in conjunction with community safety partners Potential/ In progress £15,000 No CCTV projects at present. Page 41 of 352
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Community Partnership Initiatives Funding to support community partnership initiatives Potential/ In progress £3,000 No partnership Initiatives at present. Lochside Play Area, Gartcosh Refurbish Play Area Completed £98,000 March 2025, Site officially opened. Shotts Project Name Project Description Progress Budget Notes Eastfield Harthill future play park improvements To improve play provision in the local community: Renew items of equipment to improve play provision Under Development TBC Site visit completed. Site requires a full renewal. Proposal to be submitted, Initial consultation event with local children. Shottskirk Road Shotts Car Parking Improvements To improve accessibility and car parking locally Under Development Indicative £20,000 Proposal form submitted. Positive feasibility check. Local consultation to be undertaken. Alexander Peden PS Harthill Community access to play and greenspace opportunities. Project to install fencing and installing gate Under Development TBC Working with the Projects team in Education services to follow up on next steps in terms of agreement of design. Page 42 of 352
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Allanton sports pitch 5 a side goal posts Allanton sports pitch 2 x 5 a side goal posts Under Development TBC Proposal form received. Consultation with local community underway. Stane Gardens, Additional benches Request for additional benches at Stane Gardens Potential/ In progress £3,000 Site visit to be rescheduled Projects team to gain clarification on projects future. Project pending removal depending on local interest. Community Partnership Initiatives Funding to support community partnership initiatives Potential/ In progress £2,000 Ts housing Stane Corner Manse Road defining park bays and directional signage improvement to be undertaken along with a community awareness campaign to promote car park usage Potential/ In progress £10,000 Signage installed New car park sign installed. Directional signage on main road to be installed. Bays to be lined on flagstones. Sourcing location Projects team to go over with supplier for marking bays and confirm location of sign Road sign to Page 43 of 352
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be installed in a suitable location. Community Safety CCTV Additional CCTV in the locality in conjunction with community safety partners Potential/ In progress £25,000 Shotts Leisure Centre Outdoor Gym Outdoor Gym Removed £30,000 Project removed due to lack of community support Wishaw Project Name Project Details Status Budget Notes Wishawhill Pumptrack: Socialtrack Project Environmental & Woodland improvements around Wishawhill Woods including further development of pump track/cycling facilities Under Development Third Party Contribution TBC + Potential of up to £100,000 funding from Sports Scotland Facilities Fund Idea being developed in partnership with Social Track and Green Action Trust. Meeting took place with proposer awaiting amended proposal. Overtown solar lighting on pathway Built in Solar Lighting on pathway Under Development £10,000 LDP Proposal currently being worked on with local organisation. Site visit to be rescheduled. Page 44 of 352
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Cleland Parking Lack of parking at Crossgates Ave, Crosshill Dr & Fraser St Seeking approval TBC Indicative - £20,000 Project idea raised by local community – Site visit completed. Service checks completed. Detailed design to now be created. Local consultation to be undertaken Newmains Community Council MUGA Clarification on project one survey findings is received Potential/ In progress £140,000 Site location confirmed, Projects team to arrange feasibility checks Location confirmed with the community group on the ash pitch. Waverly Drive Play Area Replacement and upgrade of Waverley Drive Play Area Potential/ In progress £100,000 In procurement Cambusnethan Memorial Park Play Area Replacement and upgrade of Play Area Potential/ In progress £100,000 In procurement Cleland Sydney Devine Memorial Memorial Plaque for Sydney Devine in his town of birth. Potential/ In progress £4k to £5k Proposal received. Positive response received in community board. CPO and Projects Team to have a follow up meeting to discuss final design Page 45 of 352
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Coltness Welcome Sign Welcome Sign Potential/ In progress £20,000 Joint site visits complete. Consultation in progress. CPO to liaise with proposers for a final consultation on design. CCTV Additional CCTV in locality in conjunction with community safety partners Potential/ In progress £25,000 As needed. proposal is under development. Community Partnership Initiatives Funding to support community partnership initiatives Potential/ In progress £10,000 Newmains Community Council Village Welcome Creation of welcome sign Potential/ In progress £20000 + additional costs of £8,400 Phase 1 of project is complete now onto phase two. Initial design complete, awaiting feedback from contractors. Branchalwood Estate, Coltness Environmental improvements Potential/ In progress £16,000 Pathway Improvement works to be completed autumn 2024. Meeting occurred regarding the details on the Nature signage. Projects team to discuss number of signages and designs. Nature sign design to be completed. Page 46 of 352
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Appendix 2 LDP allocation by Community Board area 2025/26-2028/29 Year Airdrie Bellshill Coatbridge Cumbernauld Kilsyth Motherwell Northern Corridor Shotts Wishaw 2025/26 £240,537 £177,823 £206,856 £212,200 £50,519 £232,809 £105,025 £65,964 £154,512 2026/27 £269,137 £199,039 £226,740 £237,506 £56,546 £260,494 £127,953 £73,833 £172,947 2027/28 £236,643 £174,944 £199,297 £208,740 £49,700 £229,046 £103,305 £64,266 £152,011 2028/29 £266,973 £197,366 £224,840 £235,494 £56,069 £258,402 £116,545 £73,211 £171,494 Page 47 of 352
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Appendix 3 Your Community Asked, We Delivered Case Study: Gartlea Play Area, Livingstone Place, Airdrie The focus of this case study is the new play area at Livingstone Place, Gartlea, Airdrie. The total budget for the development was £100,000 which included funding from North Lanarkshire Council Local Development Programme and the Scottish Government Play Park Renewal Fund. The case study sets out the background and process for the development and delivery of the project, which was completed in September 2024. Following community consultation, the old play area was replaced with modern and exciting play equipment which offers a wide range of play opportunities for children and young people with a range of abilities and includes a wheelchair accessible roundabout and trampoline. The play area was officially opened in March 2025. Convenor of the Communities Committee, Councillor Woods was joined by pupils for Saint Edwards Primary & Nursery and Tollbrae Primary to celebrate the opening. Pupils are also getting involved in looking after the facility by doing litter picks ensuring there is a play area for children to visit for years to come. Pupils from the local primary schools have also taken part in a competition to Design a Sign for the new play area. The winning design will be made into a sign that will be installed in the play area. New play area opens in Gartlea, Airdrie | North Lanarkshire Council Local Outcome Improvement Plan The development of the new play area directly addresses the priorities of Poverty plus Health & Wellbeing by providing a facility that is free of charge that can be used by local children and young people. The many benefits of outdoor play have been well documented, and children and families can enjoy. Page 48 of 352
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Image 1-3: Official opening of the Play Area, March 2025 Page 49 of 352
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LDP project case study: Bellshill Gateway Community Garden This case study focuses on the development of a greenspace area in Bellshill. The case study sets out the background and process for the development and the delivery of the project, which was completed in March 2025. Background Bellshill Community Council (BCC) contacted the Community Partnership Team for assistance to investigate developing a community garden on a land within the Bellshill Strathclyde Park Gateway. The Community Partnership Officer engaged with Bellshill Community Council and local residents to develop the project proposal with the assistance NLC’s Greenspace Project Team. Project Development Bellshill Community Council worked with the NLC’s Greenspace Projects Team to design the intergenerational space, which includes a range of benches, planters, trees, wildflowers, and solitary bee monoliths. It was constructed with LDP funding with the works carried out via DWA landscape architects and Candid Construction Scotland Ltd. The garden was officially opened on 4th April and offers an attractive area for people to enjoy as well as enhancing biodiversity. Further information can be found in the following articles. Bellshill Gateway Community Garden | North Lanarkshire Council Community garden for all opens in Bellshill | North Lanarkshire Council Page 51 of 352
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Images 1 and 2: Site for Bellshill Gateway Community Garden Images 3 to 6: Development of garden area Page 52 of 352
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Images 7 to 10: Project Completion and Official Opening Page 53 of 352
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LDP project case study: Cardowan MUGA (Multi-Use Games Area) The focus for this latest Northern Corridor case study is the creation of the new Cardowan MUGA (Multi-Use Games Area) on the old ash pitch on Frankfield Road. The case study sets out the background and process for the development and delivery of the project, which was officially opened in March 2025. Background The ash pitch at Frankfield Road was in poor condition, requiring a new facility to enhance local play provision in the Cardowan area. Through partnership working with Cardowan Community Meadow, the possibility for developing a MUGA project arose as something that would be beneficial to all local young people and would complement other activities, such as bike hub sessions currently delivered by Cardowan Community Meadow. With site feasibility checks carried out, the Community Partnership Team then carried out consultations with pupils form local schools to gauge interest. Consultation Consultation sessions with pupils from Our Lady’s HS, Chryston HS, Stepps PS and St. Joseph’s PS confirmed the children’s desire for a new MUGA facility, with young people also identifying the types of activities they would like to include, such as football and basketball. Funding of £130,000 for the project came from the Council’s Local Development Programme. Image 1: Cardowan MUGA Sign Page 54 of 352
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Images 2 Official opening The play area was officially opened on 19 March 2025 by young people from both local primary schools. Parents and members of Cardowan Community Meadow attended, ensuring the children had a fantastic day trying out the new facility together. Designed by Kompan, the MUGA offers different types of play opportunities, with children giving their approval for this already well-used community resource. Page 55 of 352
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Appendix 4 Play Area Development Update 2025/26 Community Board Project Name Project Description Project Potential Cost Additional external or partner funding available Additional Notes Phase 1 Airdrie Caldercruix play area Play area renewal TBC Scottish Government Play Areas renewal funding available to support the project Airdrie Petersburn play area Play area renewal TBC Scottish Government Play Areas renewal funding available to support the project Coatbridge Bargeddie Play area Play area renewal TBC Scottish Government Play Areas renewal funding available to support the project Coatbridge Greenend play area Play area renewal £100,000 TBC Scottish Government Play Areas renewal funding available to support the project Kilsyth and villages Rennie Road play area Play area renewal TBC Scottish Government Play Areas renewal funding available to support the project Motherwell Forgewood play area Play area renewal TBC Scottish Government Play Areas renewal funding available to support the project Motherwell Jerviston Play area Play area renewal TBC Scottish Government Play Areas renewal funding available to support the project Northern Corridor Eastfield play area Play area renewal £100,000 TBC Scottish Government Play Areas renewal funding available Page 56 of 352
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to support the project Northern Corridor Moodiesburn play area Play area renewal TBC Scottish Government Play Areas renewal funding available to support the project Wishaw Cambusnethan play area Play area renewal TBC Scottish Government Play Areas renewal funding available to support the project Wishaw Waverley Park play area Play area renewal TBC Scottish Government Play Areas renewal funding available to support the project Phase 2 Airdrie Caldercruix Wheeled Sports Installation of a wheeled sports facility £50,000 Bellshill Holytown play area Play area renewal TBC Scottish Government Play Areas renewal funding available to support the project Bellshill Mossend play area Play area renewal TBC Scottish Government Play Areas renewal funding available to support the project Bellshill Clay Crescent MUGA and play area Multi-Use Games Area £160,000 Coatbridge Bargeddie MUGA New MUGA facility £90,000 TBC Cumbernauld Allanfauld Road Seafar play area Replacement play area TBC Kilsyth and villages Hillside Park play area Play area renewal TBC Scottish Government Play Areas renewal funding available to support the project Kilsyth and villages Colzium Park play area Play area renewal TBC Scottish Government Play Areas renewal funding available to support the project Page 57 of 352
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Kilsyth and villages MUGA Old Mill View Play area renewal TBC Scottish Government Play Areas renewal funding available to support the project Motherwell Glenmore Road Outdoor Gym New outdoor gym £40,000 Motherwell Duchess Park play area Play area renewal TBC Scottish Government Play Areas renewal funding available to support the project Northern Corridor Village Park play area Play area renewal £50,000 TBC Scottish Government Play Areas renewal funding available to support the project Northern Corridor Bluebell Park, Stepps Play area renewal TBC Scottish Government Play Areas renewal funding available to support the project Page 58 of 352
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Communities Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref SP/CB Date 18/08/25 Annual Review of the Community Safety Strategy 2024/25 From Stephen Penman, Chief Officer (Strategy and Engagement) E-mail penmanste@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07947 997750 Executive Summary Effective community safety partnership arrangements have been in place for some time in North Lanarkshire to make communities safe and feel safer for everyone to prosper. These partnership arrangements adopt a holistic, integrated approach to improving community safety in North Lanarkshire, recognising the interconnectedness of the various aspects of community safety which align with The Plan for North Lanarkshire. The Community Safety Strategy is the overarching strategy on community safety issues and comprises the requirements set out in the Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004, which places a duty on local authorities and the relevant chief constable to publish a strategy setting out how it will tackle antisocial behaviour in its area. The purpose of this report is to advise committee of the progress made on the strategic priorities and actions in the Annual Review of the Community Safety Strategy 2020-2025 for the period between April 2024 to March 2025. This report contains the final annual review of the current Community Safety Strategy. Recommendations It is recommended that the Communities Committee: (1) Acknowledge the progress made to date in relation to the actions in the Community Safety Strategy for the period 2024-2025. (2) Approve the Annual Review of the Community Safety Strategy 2024-2025. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement All ambition statements Programme of Work All Programmes of Work Item 3 Page 59 of 352
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1. Background 1.1 An all-encompassing Community Safety Strategy was developed in Spring 2021. The strategy covers a broad range of community safety activity, building on the existing community partnership arrangements which are in place within North Lanarkshire. The strategy also fulfilled the requirement to publish an Antisocial Behaviour Strategy. This integrated approach is intended to better utilise and target resources and community safety activity through North Lanarkshire Partnership to improve outcomes for individuals and communities in North Lanarkshire. 2. Report 2.1 The vision for community safety set out in the strategy is to: • ‘Make North Lanarkshire a better place to live, work and visit through integrated partnership working to build strong, inclusive, vibrant, engaged communities, where homes, workplaces, and public spaces are safe and feel safe for everyone to prosper’. 2.2 This vision is aligned with the ambition set out in the Plan for North Lanarkshire and requires a partnership approach to deliver the actions and priorities set out in the strategy. 2.3 The annual review of the Community Safety Strategy 2024-2025 has now been prepared on progress in relation to the corresponding actions. Community Safety Strategy Priorities 2.4 The Community Safety Strategy 2020-2025 set out five key strategic priorities which are underpinned by the following five key themes: • Effective Community Involvement, Influence and Ownership. • Strong Partnership Working, Governance and Decision Making. • Tackling Inequalities. • Prevention and Early Intervention; and • Place Based Approach. 2.5 Although a new Community Safety Strategy 2025-2030 has been developed and was launched in March 2025 this report will focus on review of the CS Strategy 2020-2025. 2.6 These themes developed through consultation with stakeholders and the community set out the fundamental aspects of the approach to be taken by community planning partners to improve community safety in North Lanarkshire. The five priority areas for action in the Community Safety Strategy are to: • Effectively tackle antisocial behaviour. • Reduce serious violence and disorder. • Reduce harm from unintentional injury and fire. • Tackle Gender Based Violence and protect people at risk of harm, and • Improve road safety. Page 60 of 352
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Progress on the Community Safety Strategy Actions Performance Indicators 2.7 A range of corresponding actions are set out within the strategy to achieve the five strategic priorities. There are 40 actions agreed which involve North Lanarkshire Council (including Housing, Transportation and Education), Police Scotland, Fire and Rescue Service, North Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership and North Lanarkshire Violence Against Women Partnership. Of these actions, 37 actions are on track (Green), 3 actions have minor delays (Amber) and there are no actions which have significant delays (Red). Some actions previous reported on are no longer the responsibility of partners and can no longer be reported on. 2.8 Performance indicators are presented in the Annual Review of the Community Safety Strategy 2024-2025. The key indicators and changes in the past year as well as some notable trends are summarised as follows: • The number of antisocial behaviour contacts has increased in this reporting period. • There has been an increase in overall crime in the past year. • The number of antisocial contacts due to non-domestic noise has increased since the last reporting period. • The number of detections for drugs has increased in the past year. • Accidental dwelling fires have decreased over the period 2023/24 and 2024/25 whilst casualties in accidental dwelling fire casualties have remained the same as the previous annual report with 52 casualties. • There had been a reduction in the number of emergency admissions due to unintentional injury and in North Lanarkshire which differs from the previous year. • The number of domestic abuse cases reported to Police Scotland have decreased in the reporting period. • Referrals to Violence Against Women Partnership have decreased over this reporting period. • There has been a decrease in the number of young people seriously injured by road accidents in the reporting period. • Dangerous driving convictions have increased by 20 in the past year. • The number of people charged for disqualified driving, driving without insurance, driving without a licence and driving whilst using a mobile phone, have all increased in the past year. • The number of people charged with Driving without a seatbelt has decreased in the past year. 2.9 The Community Safety Strategy 2020-2025 was a five-year plan, and this is the final progress review of the Strategy which ended in March 2025. The new Community Safety Strategy will continue to be reported through the Community Safety Partnership Forum, Communities Committee and existing community planning structures. 3. Measures of success 3.1 The continued delivery of the actions and priorities set out within the Community Safety Strategy. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 Annual Progress Review of the Community Safety Strategy 2024-2025. Page 61 of 352
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Stephen Penman Chief Officer, (Strategy and Engagement) Page 62 of 352
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The equality impact assessment for the Annual Review of the Community Safety Strategy has identified a positive impact associated with all protected characteristics given the broad scope of the strategy and corresponding actions If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality-and-fairer- scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☒ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ Page 63 of 352
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If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). In terms of the new Community Safety Strategy a CRWIA has been carried out. If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☒ No ☐ Page 64 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 1 Appendix 1 Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives Annual Review 2024 -2025 Page 65 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 2 Contents 1. Introduction 3 Strategic Context 3 Local Context 3 Measuring and Reporting on Progress 4 2. Our Strategic Priorities, Actions and Progress 4 Strategic Priority 1: To effectively tackle antisocial behaviour 4 Strategic Priority 2: To reduce serious violence and disorder 11 Strategic Priority 3: To reduce harm from unintentional injury and fire 18 Strategic Priority 4: To tackle Gender Based Violence and protect people at risk of harm 26 Strategic Priority 5: To improve road safety 30 3. Annex – Progress on Community Safety Strategy Indicators 33 Page 66 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 3 Introduction Strategic Context The Scottish Government’s vision for a Safer and Stronger Scotland provides the national context for all community safety activity to help local communities to flourish, becoming stronger, safer places to live, offering improved opportunities and a better quality of life. The National Performance Framework (2018) provides the mechanism for directing and monitoring progress on community safety in Scotland with the Community Safety Strategy specifically contributing to “we live in communities that are inclusive, empowered, resilient and safe”. The Community Safety Strategy also aligns with the Justice in Scotland: Vision and Priorities (2017) and the Scottish Government’s Building Safer Communities (BSC) Partnership Programme. Our Community Safety Strategy also fulfils the requirement under The Antisocial Behaviour etc. (Scotland) Act 2004 which places a duty on local authorities and the relevant chief constable to publish a strategy setting out how it will tackle antisocial behaviour in its area. Given this national context, the Community Safety Strategy now tackles a broader range of community safety issues such as effective safeguarding, Gender-Based violence, community justice, counterterrorism, unintentional harm, home, and fire safety while encompassing early intervention, prevention, and empowerment of communities. Local Context Our vision for community safety is aligned with our overarching ambition which is to: ‘Make North Lanarkshire a better place to live, work and visit through integrated partnership working to build strong, inclusive, vibrant, engaged communities, where homes, workplaces, and public spaces are safe and feel safe for everyone to prosper’. Community safety is pivotal to achieving this vision for North Lanarkshire and contributes to all five high level strategic priorities set out in The Plan. Community safety at a local level within North Lanarkshire is coordinated through the community safety sub-groups with representation from a wide range of partners as well as community involvement. The Community Safety Strategy 2020-2025 has five strategic priorities and corresponding actions. These strategic priorities are: • Priority 1: To effectively tackle antisocial behaviour. Page 67 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 4 • Priority 2: To reduce serious violence and disorder. • Priority 3: To reduce harm from unintentional injury and fire. • Priority 4: To tackle Gender Based Violence and protect people at risk of harm. • Priority 5: To improve road safety. Measuring and Reporting on Progress This is the fourth and final Annual Review of the Community Safety Strategy since the production of Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire A Strategy to Improve Lives 2020-2025. This Annual Review is an update on progress on meeting these priorities and the corresponding actions highlighting successes and challenges. The attached performance indicators highlight changes in performance over the one-year period 2023/24 to 2024/25. The action plan indicates the status of each action using green (on track), amber (minor delays) and red (significant delay). Our Strategic Priorities Priority 1: To effectively tackle antisocial behaviour. Evidence tells us1: • Two-thirds (69.8%) of ASB contacts relate to domestic noise accounting for the majority of callouts, with 16.4% due to criminal activity and 10.6% as a result of harassment. • The top three categories of domestic noise complaints are banging (27.7%), loud music (25.5%) and shouting and swearing (19.3%). • Misuse of drugs (32.2%), threats (16.9%) and violence (13.4%). Vandalism accounts for 11.6% of criminal activity complaints and drug dealing is 11.1%. 1 All evidence based on 2024/2025 data available from Housing Solutions, North Lanarkshire Council Page 68 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 5 • North Lanarkshire Council tenants account for 61.6% of ASB complaints, 14.6% are made from owner occupiers, 4.7% are from private sector tenants and 2.1% are from housing association tenants. • The majority of ASB subjects (those who are the subject of the complaint) are 69.7% of tenants living in council housing. Owner occupiers account for 9.2% of ASB complaints, 5% are people living in homeless temporary accommodation, 3.6% are private sector tenants and 1.5% are housing association tenants. • 10.6% of ASB contacts are from tenants in multi-storey towers. • Motherwell/Bellshill have the greatest ASB contacts in 2024/25 accounting for 35.8% of these, more than one-quarter (26.3%) are in Coatbridge/Kilsyth/Moodiesburn and 22.6% are from Airdrie/Cumbernauld. The biggest increase during 2024/25 is in Coatbridge/ Kilsyth/Moodiesburn (20.7%) with smaller increases in Motherwell/Bellshill and Wishaw/Shotts. • Most ASB contacts were during July 2024. • Out of hours accounts for most ASB contacts (53.6%) and 46.4% are made during the daytime hours. Less contacts have been made during out of hours in 2024/25 compared to the previous year. Progress on our Key Actions Antisocial Behaviour Response Service The review of the Antisocial Response Service is complete. The process for the launch of the new Noise App which will assist with sound monitoring for tenants is being finalised following a trial that was successfully concluded last year. The Noise App is expected to significantly reduce the burden on the use of Sound Monitoring Equipment and will be developed and rolled out before the end of this year with a view to it being available as an initial assessment / triage tool which will reduce the waiting list for Sound Monitoring Equipment. The official Sound Monitoring Equipment will be utilised in cases where the Noise App is either not able to be deployed to the service user, or where further evidence of noise is required in a property. In the past year, Sound Monitoring Equipment has been replaced and upgraded making it more user friendly and keeping up to date with the latest technology. The Community Safety Team manage three rapid deployment CCTV units that are trailer mounted to be used to respond quickly to Page 69 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 6 developing issues and can also be used to assess requirement for permanent CCTV deployments. The purchase of these cameras was supported through the Community Partnership Team and the Local Development Programme (LDP) and the devices operate fully autonomously, with self-supporting power via battery and solar panels. These cameras have benefitted community safety in local communities in a number of ways, through identifying and recording community safety incidents and assisting in the detection of missing people. The cameras transmit video securely via the mobile telephone networks. The trailers have motion sensors to detect any attempted vandalisms that alarm back to the CCTV control room, and they have a secondary camera to protect the trailer unit during deployments. The cameras aim to assist in the detection and prevention of crime, anti-social behaviour, environmental incidents and public health and safety. Incidents of anti-social behaviour have decreased overall by 2.4% during 2024/25 compared to 2023/24. The largest decreases have related to damage, which have decreased by 14.7% and disturbances, which have decreased by 3.9%. There were no incident types that significantly increased during this period. Monthly analysis of hotspot areas/repeat problematic addresses continue to be highlighted in the Tactical Assessment and in several other analytical reports. These reports are carried out for both Police and Partners to support partnership working. Specifically in the last year the analyst Department has developed several new dashboards to help tackle anti-social behaviour including a school’s dashboard not only looking at violence within a school setting but also on school pupils committing violence elsewhere so that particular schools can be prioritised in relation to safer communities’ input and school campus cops. The Department has also developed a range of other dashboards which include a care home dashboard, a stop search, and an outdoor violence dashboard. Anti-social behaviour remains a source of continual focus at a local policing level. Joint visits are conducted by Police and Housing Officers in relation to anti-social behaviour allowing engagement with problematic tenants, prevention of anti-social behaviour, detection of crime and escalation of the housing process where individuals require to be moved. Targeted Police patrols are carried out which are informed by data around recency, frequency and gravity (RFG) of the anti-social behaviour taking place. North Lanarkshire Council data has assisted in the delivery of local action plans in areas identified as problematic which has reduced demand and improved community confidence. Quarterly work is also carried out in relation to three strands: repeat complainers; repeat offenders; and repeat locations. Environmental Changes in Public Spaces Page 70 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 7 NLC Housing continues to ensure that all new-build housing proposals must satisfy the principles of ‘Secure by Design’ achieving certification from Police Scotland and the provision of open space is reviewed as part of the planning application process. In this reporting period, in conjunction with partners, CCTV provision has been enhanced across North Lanarkshire. An additional 13 CCTV cameras have been installed and are operational 24 hours per day, 7 days per week in Salsburgh, Airdrie, Wishaw, Cumbernauld, Holytown and Chapelhall. These CCTV cameras have been funded through the NLC Local Development Programme in response to reports of anti-social behaviour and community safety issues raised through Police, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) and Housing. Trailer-mounted CCTV units have been deployed to several sites to establish requirement for permanent CCTV deployments. Units have been deployed in Carfin, Newarthill, Coatbridge and Motherwell localities with several sites now selected for permanent CCTV resulting from these deployments. Preventative approaches NLC Youth Workers support Town Centre Officers to engage with young people in areas identified where anti-social behaviour is taking place during the evening at weekends. ‘Peer location’ meetings take place regularly to discuss hotspots for focus and information is shared appropriately to ensure a multi-agency approach to tackling youth disorder in Airdrie and Coatbridge areas. The Community Alcohol Partnership (CAP), led by Community Policing continued to work in partnership to deliver initiatives throughout the Local Authority over the reporting period playing a key role in targeting and educating young people around the risks and dangers of alcohol consumption and its corelation with anti-social behaviour and promoting diversionary activities available through partners. Some examples of work that has taken place involved NLC Community Partnership Team working in partnership with the CAP and partners who attend the LOIP Youth Engagement Subgroup in Kilsyth and Villages to plan and organise an extremely successful youth engagement event attended by approximately 100 young people at St Maurices High School. The event was interactive and enabled young people to find out more about the dangers of drugs, alcohol, smoking and vaping and was organised in response to issues that were identified by young people during extensive consultation. Partnership work also took place between the CAP and Airdrie Football club encouraging pupils from secondary schools to design posters about alcohol harm in relation to young people with the pupils who designed the best posters being invited to attend a football training session with the Airdrie first team coach and some of the first team players at Airdrie’s Football Stadium. Page 71 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 8 In the Coatbridge area, Officers from the Coatbridge Community Team worked alongside Scottish Prison Service staff to deliver a bespoke programme to 600 pupils at St Ambrose High School to highlight the dangers of knife crime using case studies to highlight the impact on those involved and deter future offending. This programme also highlighted the dangers of drug use and exploitation of young people. Community Officers and Medics Against Violence (MAV) have also worked in partnership to educate and reduce violent incidents amongst vulnerable young people through visiting children’s houses in Coatbridge to deliver a talk on knife crime and gang related incidents. The children who participated were fully engaged and interacted well with the MAV representatives which resulted in staff and young people becoming more informed about potential risks. Contextual Safeguarding A contextual safeguarding partnership approach has been adopted within North Lanarkshire Council, the aim of which is to respond to harm outside of the home which might be posed to young people from adults, or from other young people. The approach supports disruption from exploitation by targeting the source of harm and the cultures that have been created to promote safer, inclusive communities. It seeks to create opportunities within local communities to foster safer places for children and is based on fundamental human rights. Multiagency partnerships are committed to making North Lanarkshire safer for people of all ages by problem solving to create sustained and meaningful change. The contextual safeguarding approach takes a trauma informed, strengths based and evidence- based approach to seek to understand the dynamics of risk in adolescence and to attempt to build community guardianship. A bespoke online module has been created to support staff to recognise and respond to indicators of exploitation and so far, 800 staff across the council have accessed this. Council workers in various departments including housing, elected members, community learning and development, education, legal, social work, community boards and community safety have been encouraged to undertake the learning to diversify the knowledge across the council and support culture change in recognising exploitation. In addition, a young person’s training has been co-created with young people and youth workers to help promote understanding. Work has been developing in schools, with retailers and with wider partners to understand the dynamics of teenager life and help to promote safety over surveillance. Diversionary Activities Page 72 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 9 Over the reporting period, Diversionary Activities took place with young people across a range of venues across North Lanarkshire On a weekly basis. Friday Night projects were run in three venues (Bellshill and Coatbridge) and Saturday Night projects run within 5 venues (Airdrie, Bellshill, Cumbernauld, Shotts, and Wishaw) until 30th September 2024 when this work ceased to operate. Lanarkshire Preventions in partnership with colleagues in Education delivered targeted interventions sessions which offered an outlet to young people identified by schools or Community Policing Team as potentially being drawn into criminality with interventions ranging from workshops on gang culture to one-to-one sessions. For example, the Community Forum in Cumbernauld worked with the Preventions Department to provide funding for a diversionary group for young males involved in criminality in the area. There are examples of partnership diversionary activities taking place across the Local Authority. Some examples include initiatives developed through community safety/mental health subgroups aimed at preventing disorder across localities such as Thursday night bike sessions run by Social Track at Bellshill/Wishaw pump track supported by NHS Health Improvement, Police and Community Learning and Development (CLD) and a successful youth group run over the Christmas period which providing free activity for young people 11-15 years in a meaningful organised event to divert young people from potential pre- Christmas and early darkness disorder which was supported by Police, Community Alcohol Partnership, Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Airdrie Community Football Club, and North Lanarkshire Council. Serving and Proxy Purchasing of Alcohol North Lanarkshire’s Community Policing Teams and Licensing Department work together to identify the most problematic premises and to promote the initiative and tackle offenders. The Licensing Department review incidents daily and proactively attend premises where issues are detected, to speak to the license holder, and re-iterate their responsibilities under the Licensing Scotland Act 2005, as well as conducting scenario-based training to premises, targeting new and inexperienced staff surrounding the selling of alcohol and issues that can arise. The arrival of the summer months and school holidays can lead to an increase in the number of under 18’s consuming or attempting to consume alcohol and the associated issues. Potential penalties and repercussions of failing to comply with legislation are emphasised to license holders and premises are provided with display campaign materials to display in store and promoted to like and share posts on social media. Page 73 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 10 Identified problematic premises are added to Police sub-divisional daily and weekend action plans where Officers are tasked to attend and submit their findings. Joint Police and NLC, Trading Standards visits take place on a regular basis to those premises that are deemed problematic, and integrity tests are carried out on a regular basis. Bottle marking schemes continue to be facilitated by Lanarkshire Licensing with Community Officers working in partnership with identified off-sales premises. Selected alcohol containers are marked, making it easier to identify where discarded containers have been purchased and action plans are developed to target the associated anti-social behaviour. All reports and intelligence are acted on in relation to problematic pubs, clubs, licensed hotels, and nightclubs. The Challenge 25 approach continues to be promoted. Licensing staff deliver staff training on a regular basis to ensure that premises deliver a safe environment for staff and patrons. Licensing staff target premises, where information and intelligence are received in relation to the misuse of drugs and other types of criminality. Drug wipes are utilised, and any positive findings are thereafter shared with partner police departments. Problematic premises are continually monitored, with intervention plans developed and review reports forwarded to the Licensing Board where necessary. Lanarkshire Licensing lead on ‘Best Bar None’ within the local authority which encourages premises to prioritise responsible management and operation, aiming to create safer, more enjoyable environments. It promotes safety, customer care and responsible alcohol management. All reports and intelligence are acted on in relation to problematic pubs, clubs, licensed hotels, and nightclubs. Licensing officers liaise with premises management to ensure that actions are carried out to deter and detect future conduct and to ensure that premises are complying with the five Licensing Objectives. Effective use of Legislation There is strong Partnership working between Police Scotland and North Lanarkshire Council, working closely to set up joint enforcement teams to tackle persistent offenders in a coordinated effort to maximise opportunities for effective enforcement. To ensure effective use of Legislation, bespoke training courses have been provided to Police Officers on the scope, purpose, and procedures for issuing Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) and Fixed Penalty Notices. Areas for improvement have been identified and associate correct uses for the legislation. Page 74 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 11 Attempts have been made to streamline processes through simplifying paperwork and procedures for issuing Fixed Penalty Notice’s (FPNs) or initiating Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBOs) to encourage more frequent use. Officers have the capability and equipment to issue notices on the spot to offenders. The use of intelligence led policing further allows the offenders details and areas of offending to be reviewed, shared and actioned for future operations and engagement. Priority 2: To reduce serious violence and disorder Evidence tells us: • Overall crime rate in North Lanarkshire has increased by 3.55% from 2023/24 to 2024/25. • Serious assaults have increased by 3.8% from 2023/24 to 2024/25 period. • Robberies have increased by 80 from 119 in 2023/24 to 199 during the 2024-25 period. • The number of vandalism and malicious mischief crimes have decreased by 7.10% over the reporting period. • Housebreaking thefts have increased by 20.6% from 2023/24 to 2024/25 period. • The number of people convicted of dangerous driving has increased by 9.10% from 2023/24 to 2024/25 period. • The number of people charged for disqualified driving has increased by 29.6% during the 2023/24 to 2024/25 period. • There has been an increase in the number of detections for drugs by 6.7% over the 2023/24 and 2024/25 period. • There has been 20.7% decrease in the number of people charged with driving without a seat belt in the past year from 2023/24 to 2024/25 period. • There has been 8.1% increase in the number of people charged with driving whilst using a mobile phone from 2023/24 to 2024/25. Progress on our Key Actions Complainers of Violence Page 75 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 12 Lanarkshire Division has been working under national and local frameworks to improve engagement with complainers (victims) of violence. A key focus is building trust and confidence in policing services, particularly for under-reported forms of violence such as domestic abuse, hate crime, sexual violence and youth violence. Early contact, consistent communication and follow up contact are critical for relationship building, allowing victims to correct or add to initial statements, increasing accuracy of information. Collaboration and support from Women’s Aid, Victim Support Scotland, Lanarkshire Rape Crisis Centre and youth and addiction services, helps complainers to report violence either anonymously or with support, which helps build confidence. Police receive referrals and corroborating information from trusted intermediaries. High quality investigation of repeat or high-risk victims and positive initial response has encouraged full and accurate reporting and improved reporting pathways such as the introduction of online reporting tools and Mobile Apps for certain offences. Community groups are encouraged to use Crimestoppers or Fearless, youth reporting platform. Police Scotland’s “Right to Ask” under Disclosure Scheme for Domestic Abuse Scotland (DSDAS) provides proactive support and flexible reporting options which helps to remove barriers to disclosure. Community Engagement and visibility are key to building trust in Communities. Police participation in local groups, Community Boards, Violence Against Women Partnerships, School Liaison and Youth Engagement Events has helped built familiarity and trust encouraging informal intelligence and early disclosure of incidents within communities disproportionately affected by violence. Use of Interim Vulnerable Persons Database (IVPD) and STORM call handling allows Police to track and flag repeat victims. Victims are proactively contacted or offered support plans, sometimes even where no formal complaint is made. Victim feedback mechanisms improve service delivery. Indoor Violence Residential indoor violence is discussed daily at Police sub-divisional operational meetings. Local Violence Reduction Plans have been implemented and acknowledge the impact that indoor violence has on individuals and the wider community. Use of analysts, predictive modelling and data analysis allows identification of patterns and hotspots associated with repeat violent offenders, allowing resources to be allocated to effectively target repeat individuals. Page 76 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 13 Repeat offenders and high-risk locations are identified using data analysis and intelligence to map patterns of repeated incidents, including, repeat victims and offenders, addresses with multiple calls in relation to incidents, time-of-day and situational patterns. Community Officers and North Lanarkshire Housing meet regularly to identify persistent offenders and conduct joint housing visits and dedicated Officers have been assigned to monitor repeat offenders. Police also utilise Domestic Violence Risk Assessments to evaluate threat levels at specific addresses and ensure appropriate safeguarding measures are in place. Police Officers undertake a series of actions to minimise the risk of offending at identified high-risk homes including, welfare visits, referrals to support services, use of legislative measures such as non-harassment orders, bail conditions, Anti-Social Behaviour Orders (ASBO’s) and restraining orders and work closely with partners to monitor offender behaviour and support and safeguarding for Victims. Officers routinely attend victims’ homes, provide safety planning, referrals to housing partners to consider re-housing, or panic alarms for victims in high-risk settings. Domestic incidents are the subject of risk identification and assessment, allowing action to mitigate any identified risk of harm in respect of any persons involved with appropriate safety plans put in place. Multi-agency information sharing supports intelligence development and pro-active enforcement action against identified perpetrators using relevant and legitimate tactics. This is augmented by Multi-Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC), Multi-Agency Tasking and Coordination (MATAC) and Multi- Agency Public Protection Arrangements (MAPPA) meetings where offenders and victims are discussed, and appropriate preventative, protective measures are agreed and implemented. Local Police Area Commanders along with Community Inspectors apply problem-solving models to identify areas of public concern to reduce recurring violence at certain locations. Community Officers engage with landlords or housing associations to act against problematic tenants and these joint visits regularly involve the issuing or warnings or eviction notices for offenders. The Community Policing Model is reliant on public engagement to achieve success and as such all efforts are made to encourage reporting of repeat disturbances or suspected violence. The use of disruption techniques such as visits, warnings, or community protection notices even when victims won’t engage fully are extremely effective in reducing and minimising offences of violence. Collaboration with partner agencies sharing information, resources, and expertise successfully manage repeat violent offenders, supporting rehabilitation and reintegration programmes. There has also been a significant push to raise awareness of Crimestoppers in areas where underreporting is prevalent as Community collaboration is key to overcoming reporting barriers. Page 77 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 14 Weapons and Serious Violent Crime Crime mapping and gang intelligence is used to identify hotspots, repeat offenders, and networks involved in weapon crime with Officers deployed to engage offenders ensuring public safety. To deter offending, Police conduct high visibility patrols in high-risk areas utilising stop and search powers lawfully and proportionately, focusing on maintaining public trust. The Lanarkshire Preventions Team works in partnership to address the root causes of knife crime in our communities with initiatives such as the Junior Cop Program and Compass Project being piloted in Shotts. A questionnaire has been created to seek young people’s views about knife carrying and to enable Police to identify how best reach young people. The Preventions Team works closely with Community Policing Teams providing support and assistance in pursuing problematic offenders and education on stop and search. The Preventions Team has also continued to deliver No Knives Better Lives workshops in schools, further education establishments, Community Hubs and at Local Authority events. In response to incidents involving young people and adults with weapons, Police ensure visible patrols and proactive stop/search in identified hotspot areas to deter weapon carrying allowing Police to gather intelligence. A whole systems approach is required to address youth offending which involves the identification of at-risk youths and providing tailored interventions to divert them from Criminal Justice System. Early and Effective Intervention (EEI) Coordinators collaborate with Education and Housing to support young people involved in minor offences. Examples of effective early intervention include the use of diversion rather than prosecution where appropriate, particularly for first-time or low-level offenders. Interventions also include warning letters, support from allocated workers, or referrals to agencies such as Barnardo’s, Axis and SACRO. Police in conjunction with social service partners refer young people at risk of carrying weapons to mentoring programs, sports clubs, or employment and training opportunities. Community, Partnerships, and Campus Officers regularly run awareness campaigns and provide inputs at local secondary schools and in communities on the risks and consequences of weapon carrying. Crime Prevention activities such as stalls, divisional campaigns and social media messaging are routinely utilised as part of a preventative approach. Serious and Organised Crime Page 78 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 15 Lanarkshire currently has five mapped organised crime groups of which four are based or are specifically active in the North Lanarkshire area. During the reporting period, a marked increase has been observed towards disruption and detection of those operating at the upper echelons of these groups. Principal members of these groups have been indicted on organised crime charges including supply of class A and B drugs with one principal member receiving a sentence of over 7years in prison. Lanarkshire is not immune from recent well publicised cross-regional Organised Crime Gangs related feuds and robust structures are in place to deter crime associated with violent feuds and nationally agreed rigorous investigative strategies are in place which have seen recent arrests in North Lanarkshire and the remand of violent offenders. Targeted intervention sessions have been delivered by Lanarkshire Preventions in partnership with colleagues in Education. These sessions offer an outlet to specific young people that schools or Community Policing Team have identified as potentially being drawn into criminality. The interventions range from workshops on gang culture to one-to-one sessions. Cumbernauld Community Forum worked with the Preventions Department to provide funding for a diversionary group for young males in the area who involved in criminality. Hate Crime Lanarkshire Preventions and Community Policing Teams continue to deliver inputs and workshops across Educational Establishments, using the resources on the ‘I Am Me’ hub. Police Teams advocate for ‘I Am Me’ and encourage teaching staff to sign up and utilise available resources. There are several resources available on the Education hub from hate crime, gang culture to the PREVENT strategy. Police continue to use social media to encourage Hate Crime reporting and for wide reaching education. Messaging focuses on the effects Hate Crime has on our communities and the lives of local people. Police support national campaigns and work with staff associations to seek out lived experience and make the approach relevant and resonant with staff. Ongoing work is taking place to create pupil led programmes highlighting the effects and consequences of Hate Crime. Engaging with groups at this level increases education and Police interaction and challenges culture around Hate Crime within schools. Increased facilitation of Hate Crime Champion Training boosts Officer awareness and improves reporting of Hate Crimes. Page 79 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 16 Housebreaking The second half of 2024 saw Lanarkshire continue to be afflicted with gold housebreakings whereby Organised Crime Gangs originating from north-west England travel to Scotland with the purpose of targeting specific households for the purposes of stealing gold or cash which is then taken to England to be washed through unscrupulous jewellers. There were 8 such offences identified in North Lanarkshire over the reporting period. Lanarkshire specialist resources are working with other policing areas and in December 2024, through forensics and communications work, the principal of this Organised Crime Gang operating in Scotland was identified alongside two other family members. Enforcement action was undertaken, and these individuals were arrested and have now been reported to the Procurator Fiscal for offences across the West Central Scotland which has resulted in a marked reduction in the crime trend with only one identified in the North Lanarkshire area since these arrests. Vehicle Crime Road Policing colleagues regularly monitor live alerts from the Automatic Number Plate Registration (ANPR) network which has led to numerous significant detections in the last 12 months. Most notably the asset has been used to trace and recover stolen vehicles and anticipate the movements of drink/drug driving targets and disqualified drivers. Lanarkshire Division has two ANPR cars and Road Policing have a further four ANPR equipped cars which are dedicated to the area which provide a mobile response providing ANPR coverage out with the strategic network. Lanarkshire Preventions Team has utilised well-established relationships at industrial estates, truck stops, and private and commercial premises over the past 12 months, running national and local initiatives in relation to preventative measures. Measures include the National Vehicle Intelligence Cloud (NAVIC) Day of Action and business security, and robbery prevention advice provided to NLC businesses, raising awareness surrounding the tactics used by criminals. In addition, Police have supported national campaigns and have distributed counter theft measures to motor homes and caravan owners. A connection had been established with SelectaDNA and products have been provided to the public through the Rural Crime Partnership to prevent thefts of trailers and plant equipment. The Preventions Department is currently in talks with SelectaDNA to develop a DNA marking kit that can be provided to communities to mark tools and toolboxes which as an anti-theft measure. Page 80 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 17 Preventions Officers have continued to offer business security and robbery prevention advice to NLC businesses, raising awareness surrounding the tactics used by criminals. Festive Action Plans incorporated the ‘Darker Nights Initiative’ which involved leaflet drops and awareness stalls in areas which were identified as having been previously targeted. Residents across North Lanarkshire are regularly visited by Prevention Officers who carry out crime prevention surveys and provide home safety advice on property and vehicle security. Social media channels are routinely utilised to raise awareness and encourage the public and businesses to be cautious and to remove high value items from vehicles when unattended. Supply of Drugs use and Drug Use As part of Lanarkshire Division’s commitment to safeguarding our citizens through tackling substance induced harm, intelligence development and proactive policing of those involved in the supply of drugs, remains a priority. Over the reporting period there were 3206 intelligence logs assessed in relation to drug supply in Lanarkshire. This marks an increase of over 22% in the number of drug supply intelligence logs compared to the previous year (2624 logs for 01/04/2023 - 31/03/2024). 296 crimes were recorded, relating to the supply of drugs, an increase of over 14% on the previous year (259 crimes for 01/04/2023 - 31/03/2024) which demonstrates the positive impact of local intelligence development and proactive policing during the reporting period. The Community Policing and Preventions Teams work frequently with the Community Alcohol Partnership and Turning Point Scotland to provide Naloxone to members of the public as part of a public health approach to increase the chances of those experiencing an overdose receiving life-saving aid. Lanarkshire Preventions in partnership with NHS Lanarkshire also provided information at several events regarding the dangers of drug misuse within hospitals. Social media messaging is also a powerful tool to raising awareness of the dangers of drug use which is used by Police on a regular basis. Lanarkshire Preventions Team routinely work with Education, both primary and secondary, and further education facilities in delivering drug awareness information. Prevention Officers have worked with NLC Homeless/Addictions and Restorative Justice to engage at the appropriate level and deliver drug inputs and information stalls. Over the past 12 months, Prevention Officers have provided drug awareness workshops throughout North Lanarkshire, including schools in Cumbernauld, Coatbridge, Airdrie, Bellshill, Motherwell and Wishaw and at sessions delivered during College ‘Freshers’ week covering topics such as drug use, dangers of drugs and alcohol, and drink and drug driving with older students. Along with Preventions, Community Policing and Community Alcohol Partnership provided information at several events regarding the dangers of drug misuse. Social media messaging is used as a preventative method with regards to the dangers of drug misuse Page 81 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 18 and encouraging reporting through organisations such as Crimestoppers. Education and awareness sessions are also carried out with parents and carers to help make them better informed to safeguard children. Priority 3: To reduce harm from unintentional injury and fire. Evidence tells us: • There has been a decrease in accidental dwelling fires down by 4% over the period 2023/4 to 2024/25 with 208 accidental dwelling fire incidents compared to 217. The five-year period of 2020/21-2024/25 average was 236 incidents, so the 2024/5 figures reflect a 11% decrease during this period. • The main source of ignition from accidental dwelling fires remains the same which is cooking food, and the main factor is distraction with alcohol/drug impairment accounting for 15% of accidental dwelling fires • Most accidental dwelling fires were in Motherwell South-East & Ravenscraig, with 32 fires. This is 8.8% of all ADF's for each ward so 29% of all ADFs in North Lan. • Accidental dwelling fire casualties have stayed the same from the previous year at 52 again. • Fire fatalities continue to remain low. North Lanarkshire had a decrease from 3 to 1 in 2024-2025 • Most injuries from accidental fires are minor with most people, 49% precautionary check recommended, 21% receiving first aid at the scene and 23% of people affected who attended hospital had slight injuries • Most fire casualties in North Lanarkshire have been in the 40-49 age group, albeit numbers are very low at 8 in this bracket. • In comparison to the previous year (2023/24), deliberate fires (primary) have reduced (10% reduction) and deliberate fires (secondary) have also been reducing (12% reduction). Most deliberate fires are secondary. • Fires in non-domestic properties have reduced the past year from 2023/24-2024/25 (7% reduction). • The number of malicious calls has decreased by 13% in the past year from 2023/24-2024/25. • SFRS attendances at deaths by unintentional injury in North Lanarkshire have decreased during the period 2023/24-2024/25 from 18 to 15 a decrease of 16%. • Hospital admissions due to falls are most common in North Lanarkshire amongst those aged 75 and over, which accounts for 40.42% of all falls. Page 82 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 19 Progress on our Key Actions: Accidental Dwelling Fires High Risk Home Fire Safety Visits continue to be prioritised and the supply and fit of appropriate smoke/heat detection as required. 2021 Home fire safety visits were conducted during 2024/2025 in North Lanarkshire. High Risk Home Fire Safety Visits continue to be prioritised and the supply and fit of appropriate smoke/heat detection as required. Cooking advice is delivered to residents who require to amend their current cooking styles. The fire services continue to deliver risk recognition training to partner agencies aimed at identifying those most at risk from fire and supporting referrals to the Service. Antisocial Fire Related Behaviour Close partnership working continues to take place between Scottish Fire and Rescue (SFRS), Police Scotland and North Lanarkshire Council with school talks conducted and ongoing throughout the year. Community Intelligence reports support partnership working. Hotspot areas for illegal fly-tipping have been identified involving local environmental teams to arrange uplift encouraging responsible waste disposal. Within the 2024/25-year, 718 engagement activities were carried out, with a focus on fire prevention and related anti-social behaviour. These were carried out both by operational crews and by the Community Action Team. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS) will continue to engage with partners and communities to reduce fire and associated anti-social behaviour. Fire related anti-social behaviour talks have been provided to over 2,500 children across Lanarkshire. There has been a 12% reduction in deliberate secondary fires in comparison to the previous year. Fire Reach Programme for Young People Within North Lanarkshire, Scottish Fire and Rescue (SFRS) conducted 38 Fire Reach courses and in doing so engaged with around 375 young people. SFRS will continue to utilise the Fire Reach programmes to engage with young people across North Page 83 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 20 Lanarkshire. The Fire Reach programme will continue to target schools with a high instance of secondary fires and focusing on care experienced groups and areas of deprivation during the school holidays. Fire Safety Support and Education Within North Lanarkshire, Scottish Fire and Rescue (SFRS) deliver Fire Safety Support and Education (FSSE) on an ongoing basis and during the reporting period,13 Fire Setter interventions were delivered by the Community Action Team. SFRS are currently providing Fire Risk Awareness Training with Housing Officers, Sheltered Housing Wardens/Retirement Officers and various partner agencies. This process involves education on potential household fire hazards utilising SFRS “Hazard House” facility at Cambuslang. SFRS will continue to utilise Home Fire Safety Visits and referral pathways with partners including specialist housing providers, to ensure that engagement, education, and support is provided to householders. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service, Fire Safety Enforcement personnel continue to engage with Tower Services. Enforcement personnel and operational crews utilise operational awareness visits and multi-storey inspection visits, to ensure that active and passive safety measures are implemented and followed within NLC multi-story tower blocks. SFRS will continue to work with partners and the local authority to ensure the safety of multi-storey tower blocks. Emergencies Attended North Lanarkshire fire crews attended 5,752 incidents in 2024/25. These varied greatly in variety including fire, flooding, road traffic collision, hazardous materials, extrications, working from height, forced entry and humanitarian assistance, as well as responding to Automatic Fire Alarms. SFRS will continue to train and respond to find new and innovative ways to keep communities safe. Scottish Fire and Rescue Service has identified a growing trend in relation to entry to premises as a result of falls. Harm Reduction and Drug Related Deaths Page 84 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 21 North Lanarkshire Alcohol and Drug Partnership (NLADP) continues to work with Community Safety partners to review local arrangements and maximise opportunities to identify those who are most at risk of harm from substance use and link them with appropriate supports via the Alcohol and Drug Partnership (ADP) commissioned services. The Alcohol and Drug Partnership Drug Death Prevention Group has a clear programme of work including strategic and operational action plans that were fully reviewed in 2024/2025. Naloxone is widely available across all treatment and care settings in North Lanarkshire. There is a clear non-fatal overdose pathway in place across North Lanarkshire which sees over 80% of people followed up after a non-fatal overdose within 48 hours of a high-risk event. The Crisis Outreach Team received 998 referrals in the reporting period. At each intervention, harm reduction advice is provided with Naloxone, and individuals are supported to engage with treatment which includes access to Medication Assisted Treatment within 48 hours. In total, 436 Naloxone kits were distributed of which 167 were new and 157 re-supplies and 112 Nyxoid supplied. 94 staff and 79 clients and family were trained. A total of 11 Naloxone saves were reported, 40 individuals who experienced a non-fatal overdose were issued with Take Home Naloxone (THN) medication to reverse opioid overdose by the Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS). Risk of Suicide A Suicide Prevention North Lanarkshire Communications Plan was developed for 2023-24 which includes support for Suicide Prevention Week, a Winter campaign including Surviving Christmas and New Year, and a Spring youth campaign. The following Campaigns were delivered over the reporting period: • FeelWellNL project continued and was widened to include further areas across North Lanarkshire in 2024. In response to a 1- week digital engagement in June 2024, 47 people engaged with the service and sought guidance. Digital engagement is now planned across Cumbernauld, Airdrie, Coatbridge, Motherwell beginning 9th Sept 2025. • Surviving Christmas/New Year Winter Booklet was circulated in early December 2024. • There were 78,780 ten second plays on bus shelter digital advertising across 17 North Lanarkshire sites from 9th and 16th Sept with an additional eight static bus shelter sites booked for two weeks in Sept 2025. • Digital advertising was targeted towards the 35+ age group via YouTube and Facebook, and targeted towards 16-25yrs via SnapChat throughout September 2024. Messaging was also included on NLC People channels, internally and on My_Town channels throughout week beginning 9th Sept 2024. Page 85 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 22 • ‘Hello Lamp Post’ and North Lanarkshire’s ‘Let’s Talk’ campaigns used QR codes and strategically placed signage around public spaces to better connect people, places and information and new ‘Let’s Talk’ pins were produced and circulated in March 2025. • Ongoing support is also provided to Motherwell Football Club; Albion Rovers, Waysiders Drumpellier Football & Rugby Club (WDRFC), Coatbridge, Airdrieonians, and Cumbernauld Colts Partnerships. In addition, a range of initiatives have taken place across North Lanarkshire over the reporting period, these included: • S5 & S6 Football & Netball Tournaments in 2024 and 2025 with 402 Children and young people attending the February 2025 event. • 593 people participated in the Cumbernauld 10K Road Event took place on 15th September 2024 • 721 people attended Suicide Prevention Football Tournament took place during Suicide Prevention week 2024 • Approximately 287 people participated in the Nite Lite Run Dark Event took place on 21st March 2025 • Over 574 children and young people attended Suicide Prevention ASN Schools League throughout the reporting period Suicide Awareness in Education Establishments NLC Schools and Senior Management attend 8 weekly Suicide Prevention Partnership Board meetings. NLC works in partnership with agencies such as NHSL Health Improvement, Clinical Psychology, Research Officer, Planning Performance, Police Scotland, Scottish Fire Rescue Service (SFRS) and NLC Corporate Communications in relation to Suicide Prevention. Lifelines procedures are now developed, and training programmes have been completed with Education staff including primary schools. Suicide awareness training continues to be provided to school pupils over the age of 14 years. There was a total of 6,472 referrals to Lifelink North Lanarkshire for the period from March 2020 until 31st March 2025 for Distress Brief Interventions (DBI). On 1st April 2024, Lifelink became the commissioned service and commenced providing the Pan Lanarkshire Service with funding agreed for a 3-year period. North Lanarkshire Council is lead authority with a tri-partite agreement between NLC, South Lanarkshire Council and NHS Lanarkshire. The Children and young people Distress Brief Intervention (DBI) pilot remains ongoing until 2026. Page 86 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 23 NHS Lanarkshire continue to produce and deliver a range of Promotions & Campaigns across North Lanarkshire. The Suicide Prevention North Lanarkshire Communications plan will be reviewed for 2025-2026. ASIST and Safe TALK Over the reporting period, a range of North Lanarkshire Council staff attended training programmes. This included 47 attending Scottish Mental Health First Aid, 32 attending safeTALK;18 attending ASIST training and 5 attending Suicide ALERT which was also provided to Education staff as part of their Lifelines Training. Ask Tell training was delivered to each new intake of Modern Apprentice’s, Foster Carers, and Justice Service users. NHSL Health Improvement team currently run monthly Ask Tell sessions from the Dalziel Building in Motherwell. A wide range of inputs have been developed across North Lanarkshire including Counselling Services in all schools, Road Map to Recovery, Play and Art Therapy availability, Let’s Introduce Anxiety Management (LIAM), Seasons For Growth, Distress Brief Interventions (DBI) pilot with school-aged children (14-16), and Kooth which offers online support for children and young people, (24 hours per day, 7 days per week), self-help resources, community support and 1-1 support. Active Health For this reporting period, 4,922 new referrals were made to the Active Health programme, an increase of 649 on the previous year. Physiotherapists, GPs, NLC Social Workers and Addiction Services provided the top three referral pathways. Specialist Health Classes received 1,498 referrals and almost 50% (728) of these referrals were to Strength and Balance classes. A review of the current format of delivery is being undertaken to ascertain where the opportunity to attend strength & balance can be optimised by those most at risk of a fall. Promotion of the strength and balance classes and the wider Active Health programme continues to both the public and the wider workforce. Page 87 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 24 The Get Walking Lanarkshire programme continues to expand and is well attended across North Lanarkshire with 15 walks taking place in North Lanarkshire and 5,999 participants taking part. Walks are available to all people regardless of the area they live in and many people attend walks in various areas. Community Solutions Improving Lives Initiative and Macmillan’s Improving the Cancer Journey (ICJ) programme of work supports people in North Lanarkshire and is hosted within North Lanarkshire Disability Forum. People with long term conditions and those diagnosed with cancer are being supported by a team of ten Community Connectors who provide practical, community and emotional support. Over the reporting period, 1,620 people from North Lanarkshire have benefited from this service. The Tackling Poverty Team and Community resources are the top referred to services. Home Safety Health Visitors and Family Nurse Partnership raise awareness of the importance of keeping infants and children safe during all eleven Universal Health Visiting Pathway visits. Child safety, including unintentional injuries and home safety are assessed and discussed at every GIRFEC Wellbeing Assessment. Information provided is relevant to age and stage of development and includes: • Safe sleep/Prevention of Sudden Infant Death (SID). • Raising awareness of key parenting issues that impacts safety i.e. the risks exposure to second hand smoke and substance misuse can have on their new-born baby and family. • Advice on home safety in relation to accident prevention, this includes blind safety, use of safety gates and safe storage of batteries, cleaning products and medications. • Where required Health Visitors and Family Nurse Partnership can refer to Scottish Fire and Rescue for safety assessment. • Referrals are also made to Housing to support families when home conditions impact safety of children. • Parents/carers are signposted to the Safety section in the ‘Ready Steady Baby, Toddler book or website/app Lanarkshire’s Tobacco Control Strategy Over this reporting period, smoking prevalence in North Lanarkshire has continued to decrease, the latest figure from 2022 is 17.6% compared to 13.8% overall in Scotland. Overall, smoking prevalence remains higher in areas of high deprivation. Page 88 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 25 From 1st April 2024 to 31 December 2024 there were 1,212 quit attempts across North Lanarkshire (excluding secondary care) of these, 226 self-reported that they had quit at 12 weeks (18.6% quit rate) compared to the 1,166 quit attempts, 240 quits and 20.5% quit rate reported of the same period in the previous year. The 1,212 quit attempts were made up of 1047 from pharmacy and 165 from community. There were 133 quits (12.7%) from pharmacy and 93 quits (56.4%) in the community service. Additionally, there were 71 attempts in a secondary care setting in North Lanarkshire (University Hospital Monklands and University Hospital Wishaw). Of these 45 self-reported quitting at 12 weeks (63.4% quit rate). Approval was granted to redesign and transition the Quit Your Way (QYW) service from a nurse-led model to a health improvement- led service. The proposal to redesign the service is in response to national guidance, service performance, increase staff capacity and to align with the Once for Scotland approach. Implementation of the QYW service redesign commenced on the 13 January 2025 and was completed by the 31 March 2025. As part of this redesign additional staff resource was allocated to the QYW Pharmacy Support team. The team provide support to community pharmacies focusing particularly on data completion and accuracy to improve service outcomes. A new protocol for non-clinical staff who have completed a mentoring programme to provide behavioural support and supply Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) has been approved and is in place. The new Lanarkshire Tobacco & Vaping Programme Plan has been developed and is now approved. The programme plan directly responds to key recommendations outlined in Scottish Government’s Tobacco and Vaping framework: Roadmap to 2034 (November 2023) and the Public Health Scotland’s Review of Smoking Cessation Services in Scotland report (September 2023). Action plans will be developed to support the programme plan and will be implemented across the following priority areas; pregnancy, Secondary Care; Mental Health; Communities within the most deprived 40% Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation (SIMD) areas and Community Pharmacy. A range of Tobacco control actions are currently being developed or delivered across multiple programmes to target families of young children where smoke-free and second-hand smoke messaging is discussed, such as Jenny and the Bear in the Primary 1 Schools programme and Full of Beans. NHS Lanarkshire continues to work in partnership with the University of Stirling on a study ‘testing the feasibility of use of nicotine replacement therapy to create a smoke-free home’ Page 89 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 26 Priority 4: To tackle Gender Based Violence and protect people at risk of harm Evidence tells us • The number of domestic abuse incidents reported to Police Scotland decreased by 2.9% between 2023/24 to 2024/25 period. • Violence Against Women Working Group (VAWG) provides services which include NHS Lanarkshire, Gender Based Violence Services, Women’s Aid, ASSIST, Social Work and Housing. • In the reporting period 358 cases were discussed at North Lanarkshire MARAC. Progress on our Key Actions: Disclosure Scheme for Domestic Abuse Lanarkshire Division and partners continue to effectively utilise the provisions of the Disclosure Scheme for Domestic Abuse Scotland (DSDAS) as a proactive measure to prevent Domestic Homicide, serious violence and coercive and controlling behaviour being perpetrated by serial offenders, safeguarding the most vulnerable members of our community from the risk of domestic abuse. There has been a year-on-year increase in applications has occurred across both ‘Power to Tell’ and ‘Right to Ask’ pathways. During the reporting period, there were 914 DSDAS applications from 266 the Previous year an increase of 32.9%. Of these applications, 532 applications were submitted through ‘Power to Tell’ from 465 the previous year an increase of 14.9% and 382 applications submitted through ‘Right to Ask’ from 233 the previous year an increase of 71.7%. This increase can be attributed to the promotion activity conducted by the Division within the local community, education establishments and online promotion. Lanarkshire Division continues to maintain strong working relationships with partner and third sector organisations including: ASSIST, Women’s Aid and Lanarkshire Rape Crisis Centre (LRCC) to support vulnerable victims of domestic abuse and improve their criminal justice journey’s. Police engage with Violence Against Women and Girls partners at both strategic and operational levels across Lanarkshire as we seek to continuously improve our service delivery in relation to domestic offending and gender- Page 90 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 27 based violence. Highly successful ‘Pamper Day’ was organised in partnership with North Lanarkshire College, Coatbridge and local businesses and supported by Assist, Women’s Aid, Aura, Hemat Gryffe Women’s Aid. A weekly Decision-Making Forum (DMF) is chaired by the Divisional Detective Superintendent (DSU) or in his absence Detective Chief Inspector Public Protection Unit where Police and two partner agencies discuss DSDAS submissions and authorise their subsequent disclosure. The Domestic Abuse Safeguarding Team (DAST) undertake the prompt delivery of these disclosures in line with the legislative requirements to ensure equitable service delivery across Lanarkshire Division. Lanarkshire Division continues to undertake internal and external training and community engagement to improve awareness, discourage offending, and increase reporting from all sections of our community and continue to proactively report positive outcomes across social media platforms to further improve victim confidence to report crimes and highlight punitive measures against offenders. Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act Lanarkshire Division also continues to effectively utilise the Domestic Abuse (Scotland) Act 2018 legislation when reporting offenders to the Crown Office Procurator Fiscal Service (COPFS) work with partners continues to utilising the provisions of the Disclosure Scheme for Domestic Abuse Scotland (DSDAS) as a proactive measure to prevent Domestic Homicide, serious violence and coercive and controlling behaviour being perpetrated by serial offenders, safeguarding the most vulnerable members of our community from risk of domestic abuse. A programme of continuous professional development exists whereby staff across the Division receive additional training and can access information from the Force and Divisional intranet to ensure frontline officers are equipped to respond to and investigate these crimes. Support is also available to frontline Officers from Lanarkshire’s dedicated Domestic Abuse and Rape Investigation Unit (DARIU) with Officers dedicated to both investigation of offenders and safeguarding those impacted. Secondment opportunities to DARIU are regularly utilised to spread knowledge and experience. Safe and Together Page 91 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 28 Safe and Together training continues to be rolled out and implementation across North Lanarkshire Violence Against Women Partnership continues with the Service Co-ordinator, Domestic Abuse overseeing the project since the Safe and Together Co- ordinator left post in August 2024. Funding has recently been confirmed through the Scottish Government for 2025/26 and the recruitment and selection process for a new Safe and Together Co-ordinator is being progressed. Over the reporting period, 67 workers from across North Lanarkshire participated across five Safe and Together 4-day core training courses. Participants included 49 Social Workers and 3 Senior Social Workers and 65 people took part in the 1-day overview course. The North Lanarkshire Improvement Service has supported the North Lanarkshire Violence Against Women Strategic Group to measure the impact of the implementation of the Safe and Together model. The learning report, that used findings from a case file audit, 1:1 interviews with Social Workers, a Children’s Reporter and multi-agency focus groups, identified that through the Safe and Together model, practitioners, • feel more confident engaging with perpetrators, recognising patterns of behaviour and the links to child wellbeing, the survivors’ safety and wellbeing • highlighted the usefulness of Safe & Together tools and resources in working with families and strengthening individual and multi-agency assessment through providing a shared language and framework. • shared examples of increased positive engagement through using the Safe & Together model in their work • were supported to have more meaningful engagement with perpetrator by challenging and challenge practice not aligned with domestic-abuse informed systems and services • Identified that the support from the implementation lead was key to supporting social workers, and others, to embed the training into practice. MARAC The Multi Agency Risk Assessment Conference (MARAC) has been in place in North Lanarkshire since 2005 and is now well- resourced through contributions from North Lanarkshire Council and North Lanarkshire Health and Social Care Partnership. This has Page 92 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 29 resulted in a MARAC team based in Women's Aid South Lanarkshire and East Renfrewshire who support the running of MARAC meeting as well as carrying out a two-year evaluation and a programme of training available to all MARAC key services. A pan Lanarkshire MARAC Steering group chaired by Police Scotland is now in place with a sub-group established to consider quality assurance. The North Lanarkshire MARAC annual report dated 1st April 2024 to 31st March 2025 identified that: • 500 referrals were received by the North Lanarkshire MARAC • 87% of all referrals into MARAC were allocated to a MARAC meeting • 358 cases were discussed at North Lanarkshire MARAC • 26% were repeat referrals • Of the cases discussed 96% for victims were female and 3% were male • The age of victims ranged from 16 to 84 years old, whilst for perpetrators it ranged from 16 to 89 years old. • 724 children were associated with referrals progressing to MARAC Violence Against Women Strategy Lanarkshire Division continues to maintain strong working relationships with partner and third sector organisations including: ASSIST, Women’s Aid and Lanarkshire Rape Crisis Centre (LRCC) to support vulnerable victims of domestic abuse and improve their criminal justice journey’s. Police engaged with Violence against Women and Girls partners at both strategic and operational levels across Lanarkshire to continuously improve service delivery in relation to domestic offending and gender-based violence. A highly successful ‘Pamper Day’ was organised in partnership with New College Lanarkshire, Coatbridge and local businesses supported by Assist, Women’s Aid, Aura and Hemat Gryffe Women’s Aid. Lanarkshire Division continues to undertake internal and external training and community engagement to improve awareness, discourage offending and increase reporting from all sections of our community. The Division also continues to proactively report positive outcomes across social media platforms and highlight punitive measures against offenders to further improve victim confidence to report crimes. Page 93 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 30 Priority 5: To improve road safety Evidence tells us: • The number of people seriously injured in road accidents has reduced by 21% in the reporting period. • There has been a 31% reduction in people slightly injured in North Lanarkshire in the reporting period. • The number of children (under 16 years) killed has remained the same in 2023-2024 at zero. However there has been a reduction of 4 children seriously injured in this reporting period. • There has been an increase in the number of people charged for disqualified driving during the reporting period. • The number of people charged with driving licence offences has increased between 2023/24 and 2024/25. • There was an increase in the number of people charged with driving without insurance during the period 2023/24 and 2024/25. • This reporting period has seen a 20.7% decrease in the number of people charged with driving without a seat belt. • The number of people charged with driving whilst using a mobile phone has increased by 8.10% between 2023/24 and 2024/25. Progress on our Key Actions: Innovative Methods to Reduce Speed NLC have progressed a range of innovative road safety improvement schemes. These range from new/refurbished signal-controlled crossing points/junctions, new mini roundabouts, vehicle activated signs, reduced speed limits, part time reduced speed limits, enhances traffic signs and road markings, improved street lighting, high friction road surfaces, traffic/pedestrian islands, widened footways, traffic calming etc. Over the reporting period 250 road safety requests were received. The Council continues to invest in accident investigation and prevention commensurate with the road safety budgets available. However it should be noted the accident statistics for North Lanarkshire include the Trunk Road network which the Council has no influence or remit over. Accidents statistics can also fluctuate due to factors out with the Council's control such as inappropriate driving behaviours and driving through impairment. Page 94 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 31 Local Development Programme (LDP) Funding through the LDP programme has supported a range of projects across North Lanarkshire that have contributed to a more positive road safety environment such as environmental improvements and additional car parking. In the reporting period from April 2024 to March 2025, a total of 15 small scale parking projects were completed across North Lanarkshire to improve road safety issues identified by local people. In addition to this, 6 pathway projects and 5 solar lighting projects identified by local communities have been completed contributing to community safety. Active Travel Strategy The delivery of North Lanarkshire’s Active Travel Strategy 2021- 2030 is continuing to progress. The strategy is aimed at improving walking, wheeling, and cycling connectivity and provision at our town centres, hubs, and communities. North Lanarkshire Council (NLC) has been working on the delivery of the routes identified within the Active Travel Strategy, this has involved the design and construction of routes across North Lanarkshire. It has been ensured that careful consideration has been given to community safety which has been considered during all processes, this includes identifying project risks and potential solutions as well as undertaking Road Safety Audit, Impact Assessments, Risk Assessments and Equality Impact Assessments. Going forward NLC will be engaging with communities during the development of the active travel routes with safety being a key theme that will be explored to identify any potential issues and opportunities that can be incorporated into the design. Annex – Summary of Progress on Community Safety Strategy Indicators. Community Safety Strategy Indicators Page 95 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 32 Indicators Frequency 2023/24 2024/25 Change 2023/24 to 2024/25 Lead Source Number of antisocial contacts Annual 9342 10065 North Lanarkshire Council Number of antisocial contacts resolved Annual 9254 9833 North Lanarkshire Council Number of antisocial contacts due to domestic noise Annual 6360 7023 North Lanarkshire Council Number of antisocial contacts due to criminal activity Annual 1424 1646 North Lanarkshire Council Number of antisocial contacts due estate issues Annual 168 133 North Lanarkshire Council Number of antisocial contacts due to harassment Annual 1111 1063 North Lanarkshire Council Number of antisocial contacts due to non- domestic noise Annual 69 51 North Lanarkshire Council g Page 96 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 33 Indicators Frequency 2023/24 2024/25 Change 2023/24 to 2024/25 Lead Source Number of overall crimes recorded Annual 30504 31043 Police Scotland Number of serious assaults Annual 212 228 Police Scotland Number of murders Annual 1 3 Police Scotland Number of robberies Annual 120 199 Police Scotland Number of hate crimes Annual 256 Data not available Comparison Data not available Police Scotland Number of vandalism and malicious mischief crimes Annual 2495 2318 Police Scotland Number of housebreaking thefts Annual 621 323 Police Scotland Number of detections for drugs, Annual 1957 2065 Police Scotland Page 97 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 34 Indicators Frequency 2023/24 2024/25 Change 2023/24 to 2024/25 Lead Source Number of accidental dwelling fires Annual 217 208 Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Number of fire fatalities Annual 3 1 Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Number of fire casualties Annual 62 66 Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Number of deliberate primary fires Annual 170 152 Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Number of deliberate secondary fires Annual 1276 1122 Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Number of fires in non- domestic buildings Annual 85 79 Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Number of malicious calls Annual 65 56 Scottish Fire and Rescue Service Number of emergency hospital admissions due to unintentional injury (total) Annual 111 94 NHS Lanarkshire Number of emergency hospital admissions due to unintentional injury (under age 15 years) Annual 17 21 NHS Lanarkshire Number of emergency hospital admissions due Annual 58 61 NHS Lanarkshire Page 98 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 35 to unintentional injury (aged 65 and over) Number of emergency hospital admissions aged 65 and over due to falls Annual 1354 1416 NHS Lanarkshire Number of suicides Annual 7 6 Scottish Fire and Rescue Service in relation to incidents attended Page 99 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 36 Indicators Frequency 2023/24 2024/25 Change 2023/24 to 2024/25 Lead Source Number of domestic abuse incidents reported to Police Scotland Annual 4336 4209 Police Scotland Number of referrals to VAWG specialist services Annual 4398 Data not currently available Violence Against Women Working Group Page 100 of 352
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Improving Community Safety in North Lanarkshire – A Strategy to Improve Lives 37 Indicators Frequency 2023/24 2024/25 Change 2023/24 to 2024/25 Lead Source Number of people seriously injured Annual 112 89 Scottish Government, Transportation Number of people slightly injured Annual 249 173 Scottish Government, Transportation Number of children killed* Annual 0 0 Scottish Government, Transportation Number of children seriously injured* Annual 19 15 Scottish Government, Transportation Number of people convicted of dangerous driving Annual 221 240 Police Scotland Number of people charged for disqualified driving Annual 81 105 Police Scotland Number of people charged of driving licence offences Annual 356 456 Police Scotland Number of people charged of driving without insurance Annual 1048 1114 Police Scotland Number of people charged of driving without a seat belt Annual 104 84 Police Scotland Number of people charged of driving whilst using a mobile phone Annual 122 133 Police Scotland s Page 101 of 352
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Communities Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref SP/MC Date 18/08/25 Community Boards and Partnership Communications Strategy From Stephen Penman, Chief Officer (Strategy and Engagement) E-mail penmanste@northlan.gov.uk costellom@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07725 289559 Executive Summary This report provides an update on key progress linked to supporting the development of the Community Boards model including updates on Cycle 2, 2025 Community Board meetings that took place throughout May/June 2025. • Progress with the delivery of the nine Local Outcome Improvement Plans (LOIPs) and the implementation of an associated Monitoring and Management Framework and Partnership delivery approach • Progress with the Community Board Development Programme • Work to commence development of a Partnership Communications Strategy • Continued development of a Partnership Communications Strategy • The planning, delivery and feedback from the Community Board Conference As previously agreed by committee, reports on the work of the nine Community Boards are provided to the committee relating to each committee cycle. Progress is also reported to the North Lanarkshire Community Planning Partnership Strategic Leadership Board to reflect the statutory nature of the Boards in Community Planning terms in providing local governance for the Local Outcome Improvement Plans. This report covers Cycle 2, 2025 Community Board meetings. The process and focus of reporting on the work of the Community Boards will continue to be reviewed and elements included within the Local Outcome Improvement Plan monitoring and management framework. Recommendations It is recommended that the Communities Committee: (1) Recognises work to continue to develop and improve the integrated approach to supporting the local Community Board model. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Enhance participation, capacity, and empowerment across our communities Ambition statement (20) Improve the involvement of communities in the decisions, and development of services and supports, that affect them Item 4 Page 103 of 352
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1. Background 1.1 Community Matters - A Framework for Working with Communities set out the Community Planning Partnership’s commitment to engaging with communities underpinned by a set of principles and approaches designed to deliver on key priorities associated with working with communities which included the creation of Community Boards. The framework was approved by the Policy & Strategy Committee at its meeting on 19 March 2020. 1.2 The Community Boards are integral to supporting community participation and providing a single coordinated approach to governance for local communities, reflecting statutory and regulatory requirements. The Boards continue to develop in a manner consistent with influencing and delivering the Plan for North Lanarkshire outcomes at local level. This is being driven through the Local Outcome Improvement Plans (LOIPs) for each of the nine areas, ensuring a partnership focus on supporting service design, delivery and community action reflecting both the ambitions within The Plan for North Lanarkshire and the priorities and circumstances of individual areas. The LOIPs are published on the North Lanarkshire Council website and were circulated to all Community Boards. 1.3 The monitoring and management framework for the delivery of the LOIPs is in place and operational along with supporting partnership delivery approach through the establishment of Local Partnership Teams. This is being used to inform reporting to Committee, the North Lanarkshire Partnership (NLP) Strategic Leadership Board and individual Community Boards. A separate LOIP update is provided to the Communities Committee and the NLP Strategic Leadership Board on a 6 monthly basis providing a snapshot of highlights and future priorities for each of the board areas and a detailed progress report is submitted to each of the 9 Community Boards annually. 1.4 Cycle 2, 2025 Board meetings have now taken place, and an example of an agenda is included in Appendix 1. Table 1 – Cycle 2, 2025 Community Board Meetings 2. Report Community Boards – Cycle 2, 2025 Representation at Community Board Meetings Programme of Work All Programmes of Work Area Meeting Date & Time Location Shotts 20/025/2025 at 6:30pm Salsburgh Community Centre Northern Corridor 21/05/2025 at 7:00pm Chryston Parish Church Coatbridge 22/05/2025 at 6:30pm Riverbank Community Hub Cumbernauld 27/05/2025 at 6:30pm Cumbernauld New Town Hall Kilsyth & Villages 28/05/2025 at 6:30pm St. Patrick’s Primary School Wishaw 29/05/2025 at 6:30pm Netherton Community Centre Airdrie 04/06/2025 at 6:30pm @home Centre Bellshill 05/06/2025 at 6:30pm Michael Sherry Community Centre Motherwell 10/06/2025 at 6:30pm Dalziel and Motherwell Fire Station Page 104 of 352
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2.1 At this cycle of Community Board meetings, attendance reflected a good mixture of partners, elected members, community groups and local people at all Board meetings. Approximately 244 people attended this cycle which was an increase of 19 since the previous cycle of meetings. There were 76 community organisations represented, with 98 community representatives and 19 individual local people in attendance at meetings. 2.2 A broader range of community representation is generally in evidence at Community Board meetings with 10 new organisations attending this cycle of Community Boards. 2.3 The categories of participants in Cycle 2, 2025 Community Boards are as set out in Table 2 below: Table 2 - Participants (Cycle 2, 2025) Participants at Community Boards (Cycle 2, 2025) Community Councils Tenants and Residents Associations Historical/Cultural Groups Community Forums MSYP/Youth Fora Police Scotland Scottish Fire & Rescue NHS Lanarkshire Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire NL Disability Forum Elected Members Council Officers Local people/residents Community Organisations African Collaborative Lanarkshire Deaf Services/ Lanarkshire Deaf Hub Participation in meetings 2.4 Work is continuing by all Community Planning Partners to encourage wider representation at Community Board meetings. Meeting information is circulated across social media channels including NLC website and My_Town pages four weeks in advance of each meeting with additional promotion scheduled 1 week in advance and on the day of the Board Meeting. Posters are also circulated to approximately 1300 Community Board members and local groups and organisations for wider local circulation to Community Councils and Tenants and Residents Associations and wider networks to raise awareness about Community Board meetings. All Community Planning Partners, Elected Members, and Board members have responsibility for encouraging wider participation at Board meetings and for using information from wider engagement activity through LOIP subgroups and community networks to represent the views of the wider community as appropriate. 2.5 There was an overall increase in people attending Community Boards in this cycle, although there was a slight reduction in the number of Community groups represented in comparison to the previous cycle in February/March 2025. 14 Community Council’s and Tenants and Residents Associations attended this cycle of Board meetings. Page 105 of 352
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Agenda items 2.6 During this cycle, eight out of nine Community Boards had agenda items put forward by community groups and organisations in advance of Board meetings. Examples of Agenda items put forward included, Gartcosh Crime Campus, Parking Issues and Pivot Centre refurbishment in the Northern Corridor; Community Board Conference, Flood Prevention, Traffic Management, Dumbreck and Garrell Marsh and Covey in Kilsyth and Villages; Town Centre Development and Your Heritage in Focus in Cumbernauld; Update from SPT re bus route withdrawals in Coatbridge, Traffic regulations, GP service concerns and Town Centre parking in Bellshill, Community Safety and Anti- social Behaviour at Hartwood Hospital and cleaning of Motorway Services access bridge at Shotts; Antisocial behaviour and Active Travel at Pather Farm at Wishaw and Community Centre use and availability and Covey Befriending in Motherwell. 2.7 In addition to the agenda items above, local community groups provided updates at some Boards including Central Scotland Adventures and Cumbernauld Community Jam in Cumbernauld, Kirklands, Bogside and Barrie Place Tenants and Residents at Kilsyth and Villages Board, Moodiesburn Community Action Group at Northern Corridor Board, Coatbridge Indoor Bowling Club at Coatbridge Board, young people from @home centre at Airdrie Board; Overtown and Waterloo Community Council at Wishaw Board; the Well Foundation at Bellshill Board and Covey Befriending and African Collaborative in Motherwell. An example copy of an agenda can be found in Appendix 1. 2.8 Council Officers were also asked to attend or provide updates to Board meetings in response to agenda items and issues raised by community representatives. Council and Community Planning Partnership Partners will continue to be invited to attend in relation to specific agenda items raised. External organisations are also invited to attend Board meetings in response to agenda items raised by communities as required. In this cycle, the Project Development Manager responsible for the Town Centre Development was asked to attend the Cumbernauld Community Board; NLC Parking Manager was asked to attend the Northern Corridor Board in response to parking issues at Gartcosh and the City Deal Manager provided an update on the East Airdrie Link Road at Cumbernauld and Airdrie Boards. In addition, the Heritage Officer provided an update on the project and funding opportunities. Opportunities to provide updates and share views. 2.9 As previously reported, all nine Community Boards endorsed Local Outcome Improvement Plans (LOIPs) which have been published and can be accessed via this link. Community Board agendas are now organised around LOIP priorities and updates from communities and partner agencies are linked to priorities where possible to ensure clear focus on progress towards achieving actions to address the key priorities that were identified by local communities. Local people can also raise ad hoc issues or share local information through the Community Matters section of the agenda. 2.10 Positive progress continues to be made with subgroups meeting to progress agreed actions to address local priorities where this is the most appropriate mechanism. Work is ongoing and meetings are taking place and scheduled with local community groups and organisations to further develop subgroups. 2.11 Following on from the Community Board Self Evaluation Workshops that were carried out throughout November/December 2024, Community Board Chairs participated in a working group to develop the Community Board Conference. Page 106 of 352
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2.12 A series of planning meetings took place between the Community Partnership Team and Community Board Chairs to plan and organise the conference including venue, programme, workshops, marketplace, keynote speaker and roles and responsibilities on the day. Meetings were also organised by the Community Partnership Team with Community Planning partners to discuss Conference plans and roles and responsibilities. 2.13 At all Board meetings in Cycle 1, 2025, Board Chairs provided information about the Community Board Conference, including date and venue and asked Community Groups and organisations to put forward expressions of interest in attending the conference. A range of organisations put forward expressions of interest at the meeting or shortly afterwards and were added to the invite list of attendees. 2.14 The Conference took place in Cairnlea Church, Airdrie on Saturday 17th May 2025 between 9:30am and 3:00pm. The conference was well attended by Community Groups and organisations representing every Community Board area across North Lanarkshire. A total of 63 people attended the event which included 2 interpreters who supported members of the deaf community to participate in the Conference throughout the day. The Conference Programme can be found in Appendix 2. 2.15 The purpose of the Conference was to celebrate success, share good practice and discuss key issues and matters of importance in relation to Community Boards and Local Outcome Improvement Plans. The format of the day included a key-note speech, video of success, workshops and marketplace with information provided by a range of organisations. 2.16 The Video of Success was designed to showcase successes achieved through partnership working with Community Boards and was filmed by NLC Corporate Communications. The video showcased one example of a successful partnership project from each of the 9 Community Board areas identified by Community Board Chairs and local communities. Local people and some Board Chairs were filmed providing an outline of each project, links to the LOIP priorities and the impact that these projects have had on their local Community. The video can be accessed using the following link. https://vimeo.com/1083867121?share=copy. 2.17 All participants had the opportunity to attend 4 workshops throughout the day facilitated by Community Board Chairs and supported by Community Planning Partners including Community Partnership Team, SFRS, Police Scotland, VANL and NHS Lanarkshire. Some examples of good practice were provided from across North Lanarkshire to help with discussion. The following topics were discussed within workshops: • Funding available to support LOIP priorities • Engaging local Communities • Working in partnership with NLP partners to address LOIP priorities • Supporting safety in our communities. 2.18 The Marketplace provided information from a range of organisations around the following topics providing additional information to support local outcome Improvement plans: • Mental Health and Wellbeing • Contextual Safeguarding and Community Safety • Climate and Environment Page 107 of 352
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• Community Hubs • Tackling Poverty • Driving Digital Locally • Local Development Programme, Period Dignity and Grant funding. 2.19 A Mentimeter questionnaire was used to gather feedback from participants on the day. Paper copies of the evaluation were available for people who may not have been able to use the online questionnaire or who may have had to leave the Conference earlier in the day. Feedback from the questionnaire can be found in Appendix 3. 2.20 All feedback from the conference is being collated and will be considered on a Board basis to identify and agree further actions. A full Conference report is being written which will be shared with Community Boards and a further Community Board Conference will be considered in conjunction with the LOIP review. Special Board Meetings 2.21 A Special Board Meeting was requested to further discuss local GP concerns in Coatbridge and separate meetings were requested regarding local bus route withdrawals in Coatbridge and in relation to a joined-up approach to tackle youth disorder concerns in Wishaw. Community Board Local Development Programme (LDP) Projects 2.22 As previously reported, community organisations requested a positional statement regarding outstanding Local Development Programme projects. The LDP report, continues to be split by Community Board area, and detailing the status of projects, was circulated in advance of cycle 1, 2025 Board Meetings. The project proposal form identified in previous reports to committee, continues to be utilised to record LDP project ideas and suggestions put forward from local communities. LDP continues to be a set item on the agenda at all Community Board meetings and is subject to a separate report to this committee. Involving Communities 2.23 This cycle of meetings saw continued involvement of seldom heard voices in Community Board meetings. The Community Partnership team will continue as a priority to proactively work with local community groups and people with lived experience to support this objective. 2.24 Members of Lanarkshire Deaf club, Deaf Services Lanarkshire, NL Disability Forum, Hope for Autism, Cumbernauld Action for Care of the Elderly and African Collaborative attended Community Board meetings this cycle. 2.25 Work is ongoing with youth groups to encourage them to provide a presentation/ update to Community Boards in Community Board areas. At this cycle of meetings, 7 young people attended three Community Board Meetings for example, MSYP and Youth Voice member attended Cumbernauld Board to provide an update on their role and involvement in youth engagement activity, an MSYP attended Kilsyth and Villages Board and 4 young people attended Airdrie Community Board Meeting to provide an update on the work they are involved in to support the Local Outcome Improvement Plan. Further information will be provided in due course. 2.26 A range of engagement and consultation opportunities have taken place with young people between February/March and April/May Board Meetings demonstrating a strong Page 108 of 352
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commitment to involving young people in shaping their community and addressing issues that matter to them. Further information on activity that has taken place is included in Appendix 4. Our Lives – An exploration of the lived experiences of North Lanarkshire’s 2.27 Black, Asian, and other Minority Ethnic People. 2.28 Community Planning Partner organisations continue to progress the work associated with the recommendations set out in the Our Lives Research. 2.29 A presentation was provided to the April meeting of the Strategic Leadership Board detailing the significant progress that has been since June 2024 in the areas of: Digital / IT Skills and Support; Employment Skills and Training; Language Support and Skills; Cultural Awareness and Celebration; and Safety and Security. 2.30 The next steps for this work approved by the Strategic Leadership Board are to: • Continue to support the establishment and sustainability of the Cultural Committee for North Lanarkshire • Utilise the opportunities provided through the ESOL Chat cafes, the Cultural Committee and the New Scots Integration Network to continue to build effective partnerships and • Plan, develop and host, in partnership with our Black and Minority Ethnic communities a conference to marks two years since the research was published. This is being planned to take place in October 2025. Moving Forward 2.31 Community Board Chairs. 2.32 At this cycle, all 9 Community Board meetings were chaired by Community representatives. Community Board Development Programme 2.33 The Talent and Organisational Development team is currently collaborating with colleagues from the Community Partnership team to plan, design, and implement a new Community Board Induction area within the hub. The key topics for this area have been identified with a view to involving Community Board Chairs in the creation of introductory video resources. 2.34 Since the previous update, the hub has been accessed by 77 of the 136 identified audience members, with the most recent recorded activity taking place on 15 May 2025. The Role of Chief Officers as Community Coordinators 2.35 As previously reported, Community Coordinators are in place and attending their designated Community Board Meetings. Community Coordinator updates continue to be included as a standing item on all Community Board agendas as well as participation in discussion relating to a range of local matters. Community Coordinators meet with key senior partners between Board cycles to discuss common matters, any leadership action required, and to collectively consider input to future meetings. Page 109 of 352
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Future Board Meetings 2.36 The next cycle of Community Board meetings will be held in August/September 2025. Following consultation with community group representatives and elected members who attend Community Boards, it was identified that most Boards preferred a mix of online and face-to-face meetings moving forward and during this cycle, nine Board meetings took place face-to-face in Community Facilities and one online via Teams. 2.37 Cycle 3, 2025 meeting dates are set out in Table 3 below. Table 3 – Community Board Meeting Dates (Cycle 3, 2025) Community Board Day Date Shotts Tuesday 19/08/2025 Northern Corridor Wednesday 20/08/2025 Coatbridge Thursday 21/08/2025 Cumbernauld Tuesday 26/08/2025 Kilsyth & Villages Wednesday 27/08/2025 Wishaw Thursday 28/08/2025 Airdrie Wednesday 03/09/2025 Bellshill Thursday 04/09/2025 Motherwell Tuesday 09/09/2025 Local Outcome Improvement Plans – Partnership Delivery, Monitoring, and Management Framework 2.38 As previously reported, the online LOIP monitoring, and evaluation framework is in place. This management tool is being used by community planning partners to ensure that progress towards addressing key priorities that were agreed with local communities is monitored, recorded, and reported. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Delivery of LOIP outcomes and increased levels of engagement with local communities and partners, resulting in generally positive impacts on communities across a variety of priorities and key issues identified through effective locality planning and the implementation of the Community Boards, particularly in areas where further consultation has been required. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 Example of Cycle 2, 2025 Community Board Agenda. 4.2 Appendix 2 Community Board Conference Programme 4.3 Appendix 3 Community Board Conference Evaluation Feedback 4.4 Appendix 4 Case Studies – Youth Engagement Stephen Penman Chief Officer (Strategy and Engagement) Page 110 of 352
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ Page 111 of 352
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If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Youth groups and organisations are involved in community boards providing presentations and other inputs, they also contribute to development of Local Outcome Improvement Plans 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 112 of 352
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Appendix 1 Community Board Agenda (Cycle 2, 2025) AGENDA (example) 1. Welcome and Introduction: • Community Partnership Team to record the minutes of Board meetings. 2. Apologies 3. Minute of previous meeting and matters arising 4. Local priorities Local Outcome Improvement Plan (LOIP) updates: • Local priorities for each Community Board Area • Local partner updates from Police Scotland and Scottish Fire & Rescue Service, NHSL, VANL related to LOIP priorities. 5. Community Matters 6. Local engagement/investment • Local engagement/consultation • Funding opportunities 7. Standing agenda items • Community Coordinator update • Local Development Programme (LDP) update 8. AOCB 9. Date and time of next meeting. Page 113 of 352
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Appendix 2 Community Board Conference Venue: Cairnlea Church Saturday 17th May 2025, 9:30am-3:00pm Programme 09.30am – 09:45am Arrival, registration, networking (light refreshments) 09.45am - 09:50am Introductions/welcome and purpose of the conference (Chair, Cumbernauld) 09.50am - 10.05am Keynote Speaker (Chief Officer, Strategy and Engagement, NLC) 10:05am - 10:15am Successes video 10.15am - 10.20am Thanks to keynote speaker/Split into workshops (Chair, Cumbernauld Board) 10.20am -11:00am Workshop 1 (participants follow allocated workshops) Workshops 1. Funding available to support LOIP priorities 2. Engaging local Communities (equalities, older people, deaf Community, people from minority ethnic backgrounds) 3. Working in partnership with NLP partners to address LOIP priorities 4. Supporting safety in our communities (Community Safety, CS strategy, prevent, hate crime etc) 11:00am-11.10am Comfort break 11:10am- 11:50am Workshops 2 (participants follow allocated workshop) 11:50pm-12:10pm Marketplace • Mental Health and Wellbeing (NHS Lanarkshire) Page 114 of 352
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• Contextual Safeguarding/Community Safety (Bellshill Board Member, Police Scotland, SFRS) • Climate and Environment (VANL) • Community Hubs (NLC) • Tackling Poverty (Debt Advisor and Welfare Rights • Driving Digital Locally (NLC) • Local Development Programme, Period Dignity and Grant Funding (Community Partnership Team, NLC) 12:10pm -12.50pm Lunch 12:50pm – 1.00pm Welcome back, recap morning and plan for afternoon (Chair, Northern Corridor Board) 1.00pm-1.40pm Workshop 3 (Participants follow allocated workshop) 1.40pm – 1:50pm Comfort Break 1.50pm-2.30pm Workshop 4 (Participants follow allocated workshop) 2.30pm-2:55pm Evaluation (Mentimeter) 2.55pm- 3:00pm Recap of the day and Vote of Thanks (Chair, Northern Corridor Board) Page 115 of 352
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Appendix 3 Community Board Conference - Evaluation responses An online Mentimeter questionnaire and paper copies of the evaluation were used at the Conference to gather feedback from participants. Participants also had the opportunity to provide written responses to the questionnaire. A total of 39 participants provided responses and the following is a summary of responses provided: Question 1 - What were your thoughts on the conference? A total of 39 people responded to evaluations, 26 participants completed the Mentimeter questionnaire, and 13 others completed paper evaluations. Participants who completed the paper version of the questionnaire did not respond to the questions in the box below but provided written responses instead. Excellent Good Useful Not Useful 18 4 4 0 In addition, participants provided the following responses to question 1: • ‘The conference was very educational, and I thoroughly enjoyed it. The things I learned today will be put into action within my community’. • ‘Raised awareness of the boards and what they do within the community. Gave a place for an open discussion to revise issues and awareness of action being taken to help improve partnership in North Lanarkshire’. • ‘Talking and networking was good’. • ‘The conference was more intriguing than expected. There were a lot of conversations that gave me great insight into what could be taken to my own groups. People were generally very inclusive and would be pleasant with each other’ • ‘Thoroughly enjoyed today’s conference – opening examples of good practice were great to inspire others. Many good ideas to cascade our good practice and reach those where it’s more difficult (use paperwork information, leaflets and booklets to ensure not everything is online. However, to reach young people the council has to start thinking of making TikTok videos).’ • ‘Helpful, Informative and Thought Provoking’ • ‘Well organised, excellent venue, useful information especially the grants information’ • ‘Appeared to be very well planned and executed. Also, good that is started early and finished mid-afternoon. Topics were good and well catered. More community groups in attendance would be good. Some personnel from another organisation hogging discussions around IT (not NLC) taking away the focus of the workshops. This happened in 3 out of 4 workshops I was in’. • ‘Well organised and great venue’ • ‘Good conference, nice for community groups to get together. It could be easier to move those running the workshops around the hall rather than to move others around. People should have a group 1 table, and each group stays there’. Page 116 of 352
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Question 2 - Do you think the conference helped to celebrate success? 39 participants responded to this question. The following is a summary of responses provided: Yes No Not sure 33 3 3 In addition, one participant provided the following comment to question 2: ‘Would like to find out how projects are done and more faster moving ideas’ Question 3 - Do you think the conference helped share good practice? 37 participants responded to this question. The following is a summary of responses provided: Yes No Not sure 29 2 6 In addition, one participant provided the following comment to question 3: ‘Would like more examples’ Question 4 - Did you find the workshops useful? If so, which ones? 77 responses were provided in response to this question. This figure is higher participants were asked to respond in relation to more than one workshop. The following is a summary of responses provided: Workshops Responses Funding available to support LOIP priorities 21 Engaging local communities 24 Working in partnership with NLP partners to address LOIP priorities 18 Supporting safety in our communities 14 In addition, participants provided the following comments to question 4: • ‘Good information shared.’ • ‘Workshop 4 (Community Safety) was very beneficial and engaging. Workshop 2 (Engaging local communities) helped me devise ways to better engage young people into their communities.’ • ‘The funding workshop was good for finding out what funding was available for which kind of group. Question 5 - Tell us what you will take away from today. • ‘Great opportunity to speak to other Community Boards’ Page 117 of 352
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• ‘Creativity and cooperation are the key to success’ • ‘A confidence that what we discussed will be taken forward’ • ‘Stronger relationships with partners, goof information finding, creating new potential partnerships and collaborations’ • ‘Inspiring to hear so many good examples of great work’ • ‘Good networking opportunity and hope to have more people visiting the hubs to learn more about how they support communities’ • ‘More needs to be done to support the role of CVS as true, equal partners’ • ‘Meeting other people’ • ‘Thanks for organising, enjoyed the day’ • ‘Groups should collaborate in order to allow for changes in the community to happen. Action should be prioritised over simply discussing. Funding is easier to get when you work alongside organisations.’ • ‘Partnership networking, community ownership and focus to drive action’ • ‘Excellent opportunity to network, see the different viewpoints and perspectives and discuss new ideas to help the community.’ • ‘Some ideas of possible things to try in local area. Some contacts to follow up.’ • ‘Good networking and further opportunity for development. Good event all round.’ • ‘What’s working in other areas. Things to work on/add into our areas and where to access more information.’ • ‘Would like to see more encouragement from community members at Boards in terms of helping to look at areas that need work in small subgroups where everyone is involved and not just agencies like NLC.’ • ‘Communication is the key to enable increased collaboration and community engagement and empowerment.’ • ‘Great ideas and work going on in North Lanarkshire that should be communicated throughout’ • ‘Good day with a chance to engage with others.’ • ‘Celebrate success more and ensure as a Board we communicate in multiple ways and mediums with everyone.’ • ‘More youth involvement.’ • ‘Good work already happening across Community Board areas. Good to hear about initiatives and be inspired.’ • ‘Good networking and opportunity to meet other partners’ • ‘Communication needs to improve.’ • ‘All Community Board members are striving to make change in their communities. Community must be treated as equal partners. Our voice is important.’ • ‘Things need to be accessible.’ • ‘That our communities are the same but different.’ • ‘Soup was magic.’ (x2) • ‘Focussing on reducing barriers to community engagement. Increase collaboration between community groups to host organisations.’ • ‘Some ideas to try in local area and some contacts to follow up.’ • ‘Pursue some areas discussed that have not taken place in our community.’ • ‘Putting names to faces, good way to network, more aware of funding opportunities and thank you for today, well delivered.’ Page 118 of 352
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• ‘Better community engagement methods.’ • ‘More community involvement in local Board. More community reps in look at tasks allocated during local Boards.’ • ‘Generally, positivity that the NL area has so many organisations working and volunteering for their communities and continue to do so through challenging circumstances.’ • ‘Great connections and information.’ • ‘Celebrate success more and ensure we make the best possible use of all communications with everyone.’ • ‘Insight on what is required locally.’ • ‘Local network knowledge and awareness of local issues.’ • ‘New groups to work with in the future.’ • ‘Communication remains problematic (i.e. sharing and disseminating information). Lots of good practice and video at the start was useful.’ • ‘Nice to hear some old ideas which were very much celebrated than being thought/considered now.’ • ‘Communicating info in all its forms must be done (Use empty shop windows in many of the places in North Lanarkshire to celebrate practice and tell others what’s going on in the local areas).’ • ‘Good partnership relationships and lots of good work being done in areas. Good support for NLC.’ • ‘More understanding of grants.’ • ‘Community safety was interesting and useful.’ • ‘Meet up with some groups that will be useful to our group.’ • ‘Good networking.’ • ‘Today really inspired me and better engage in my community and organise events to help people. I will come away from this much educated and actually excited about our community work and the community boards.’ • ‘To engage with more updates of the Boards and follow and connect within my own area of Airdrie and help support more people in the community by using a holistic approach to share and help those in this.’ • ‘Working alongside other groups is a great way to get things done. It’s better for funding and helps when trying to change things in the community.’ • ‘New connections.’ • ‘Communication about Community Boards to general public needs to be better and more intriguing however I do think it’s improving.’ Page 119 of 352
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Appendix 4 Case Studies - Youth engagement and consultation The following activity has taken place between February/March and April/June Board Meetings demonstrating a strong commitment to involving young people in shaping their community and addressing issues that matter to them. Cumbernauld Youth engagement is a priority action for the Cumbernauld Community Board. Young people in Cumbernauld have been engaged and consulted in local decision-making processes and in community activities including: • Youth involvement at Community Board Meetings Young people continue to attend and actively participate ensuring youth representation at Cumbernauld Community Board Meetings • Youth Engagement The Community Partnership Team engaged with 93 young people from Carbrain, Kildrum and Abronhill in three separate sessions across 10 engagement sessions who attend Greenfaulds High School, Our Lady’s High School and with Cumbernauld Academy in May 2025 to find out young people’s views on issues that are important to them including community safety issues. Young people provided some excellent feedback, sharing their experience of living in Cumbernauld and highlighting their concerns around Community Safety. The feedback provided from young people is being pulled together into a report that will be shared with partners and LOIP subgroup which will inform key actions moving forward. Northern Corridor Youth engagement is a priority action for the Northern Corridor Community Board. Young people in Northern Corridor have been engaged and consulted in local decision-making processes in the following ways: • Northern Corridor Youth Consultation As part of an ongoing youth consultation carried out by the Community Partnership Team with young people in secondary schools across the Northern Corridor, consultation was carried out in March/April 2025 with pupils from St. Maurice’s and Our Lady’s High Schools and with young people who attend youth groups at Glenboig Development Trust. The consultation is part of the Board’s Children & Young People LOIP priority. A total of 152 young people have taken part in consultation to date with final sessions planned after the summer. A consultation report will be prepared following completion of all consultation. • Budgeting project, Chryston High School Following the previous successful Participatory Budgeting (PB) project that was carried out with S1 Students in Chryston High School, the Community Partnership Team held a similar initiative with S3 Students, funded via the UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF). A budget Page 120 of 352
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of £10,000 was allocated with 207 responses received from pupils who voted for projects within the themes of Mental health awareness and support, Healthy lifestyles, choices and eating, Bullying etc. Pupils voted for the successful projects which also addressed issues identified during youth engagement consultation with young people across the Northern Corridor by the Community Partnership Team as part of the LOIP Children and Young People Priority. Kilsyth and Villages Youth engagement is a priority action for the Kilsyth and Villages Community Board. Young people in Kilsyth and Villages have been engaged and consulted in local decision-making processes in the following ways: • Youth involvement at Community Board Meetings The local MSYP continues to attend ensuring youth representation at Kilsyth and Villages Community Board Meetings • Youth Engagement Event A successful partnership youth engagement event took place at St Maurice’s High School on Friday 14th March 2025 aimed at young people who attend Future Friday’s activities within the school. A range of partners worked together to plan the event including NLC Community Partnership Team, Police Scotland, Community Alcohol Partnership (CAP), Scottish Fire and Rescue Service (SFRS), Community Learning and Development and Head Teacher from St Maurice’s High School with each partner contributing in different ways to the development of the event. Practical interactive activities helped promote health and wellbeing around issues such as drugs, alcohol, healthy eating, vaping and enabled young people to find out more about youth volunteering opportunities. The event provided an opportunity for partners to respond to issues raised by young people during extensive consultation carried out across the Kilsyth and Villages Board area and helped build positive relationships between young people, Police and Scottish Fire and Rescue Service and other partners. Approximately one hundred young people participated in the event and engaged well with partners and participated in the range of activities provided. Young people provided feedback about their involvement in the event. Feedback from young people was extremely positive. Below are some examples from young people about learning gained: ‘…the real dangers of vaping can have on your body;’ ‘…about youth voice opportunities in my local area;’ ‘…dangers of alcohol and why not to drink too much;’ ‘…where to find free period products.’ Page 121 of 352
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Shotts Following on from discussion at Shotts Community Board meeting, a variety of workshops were facilitated by the Community Partnership Team and the Chair of the Community Board. The first workshops began with a mapping exercise, to enable young people to identify what part of Shotts they lived in and to identify issues relevant to their community. The workshops also focussed on identifying strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats for young people being more involved in the Community Board process and to gather ideas for promoting the Boards to younger people. Young people looked at the Shotts Local Improvement Outcomes and discussed how important they were to young people, inequalities they were aware of, why it’s important to consult with young people, what organisations they were aware of in relation to LOIPs and any ideas young people had to improve these outcomes. The second workshop focused on design ideas young people had in relation to publicity. Young people were shown examples of Pop-Up boards and posters and were asked to draw out their ideas. Approx. 50 young people from Calderhead Pupil Council, Shotts CLD Youth Forum and young people from Fortissat Ward who attend St Aidan’s High school participated in workshops and worked with the Community Partnership Team on these ideas. This work is continuing with young people. It is hoped that design ideas can be brought together to create a design that incorporates young people's ideas. Airdrie Young people in Airdrie were consulted in the following ways: • Consultation with 9 young people was carried out by Airdrie Action Partnership (AAP) a collection of third sector organisations and officers from NLC, VANL and NHSL Health Improvement in @home centre to review and renew the tasks/actions in the Local Outcome Improvement Plan (LOIP). Young people provided suggestions for projects and activities which were grouped into general actions. An online survey was then issued to members of the Board and AAP to priorities tasks and actions. • 4 Young people attended Airdrie Community Board meeting in June 2025 to provide feedback about the work they have been involved in supporting the work of Airdrie Action Partnership and the LOIP subgroup. Young people gained Saltire awards for volunteering, gained new skills, met new people and increased confidence and look forward to continuing to support the work of the LOIP. • 480 Pupils from St Edwards Primary and Tollbrae Primary participated in a Design a sign competition organised by the Community Partnership Team to design the sign for the new play area at Gartleahill which was officially opened in March 2025. Pupils were asked to produce a design for the sign and come up with a name for the new play area. Two winners were picked one from each school, one for the name and the other for the design. The new sign will be installed in the play area during the summer holidays. The competition was a great way to promote the new play area development to local young people and encourage use. Page 122 of 352
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Communities Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref SP/LP Date 18/08/25 LOIP Performance Report 1 October 2024 – 31 March 2025 From Stephen Penman, Chief Officer, (Strategy and Engagement) E-mail penmanste@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07947997750 Executive Summary This report provides a snapshot of progress linked to key priorities for each of the nine Local Outcome Improvement Plans for the period 1st April 2024 – 30th September 2024. The report also provides an overview of progress with implementation of the Management and Monitoring Framework and work to develop the role of the Local Partnership Teams. Committee is requested to acknowledge progress with LOIP priorities and implementation of the supporting partnership delivery approaches. Recommendations It is recommended that the Communities Committee: (1) Acknowledges progress to date with delivery of key LOIP priorities and the individual Outcome Reports attached as Appendix 1. (2) Endorses ongoing work to continue to develop, strengthen and embed the supporting partnership delivery approaches. (3) Acknowledges the agreement to move to an annual progress report to allow a more detailed annual report and development of more engaging reporting and information sharing throughout the year through use of social media and video reels. (4) Endorses significant ongoing work in relation to the development of the online LOIP highlight pages to showcase the work being undertaken by the NLP Partnership attached as Appendix 2. (5) Acknowledges the work being undertaken with the Community Board Chairs in relation to the community board conference, and community board portal/induction Articulate Storyline Toolkit. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Enhance participation, capacity, and empowerment across our communities Ambition statement (19) Improve engagement with communities and develop their capacity to help themselves Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 5 Page 123 of 352
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1. Background 1.1 The Local Outcome Improvement Plan (LOIP) Management and Monitoring Framework is a tool to ensure effective management, oversight and reporting of progress on LOIP priorities by community planning partners at a local level through the Local Partnership Teams. 1.2 Local Partnership Teams meet six-weekly with the purpose of ensuring oversight for delivery of LOIP priorities with priority focused subgroups meeting as locally agreed and required to ensure targeted partnership action. Local Partnership Teams use the Management and Monitoring Framework to continue to refine the approach to reporting on progress to Communities Committee. 1.3 Summary updates on LOIP progress for each Community Board area for the period October 2024 – 31st March 2025 are attached as Appendix 1 for consideration by the Communities Committee. 2. Report 2.1 The LOIP Management and Monitoring Framework was implemented for partners to highlight and report where community planning in North Lanarkshire is making a difference and helping to empower communities to help themselves. The Framework is a tool to assist the Local Partnership Teams in planning and managing their workloads around key priorities and reporting progress and outcomes to a range of audiences including this Communities Committee, the NLP Strategic Leadership Board Community Boards, and individual agency leadership teams as appropriate. 2.2 The Framework should also allow Local Partnership Teams to see at a glance where a workstream is on track or potentially at risk of slipping and/or where there are significant challenges that merit consideration from strategic leaders. 2.3 The LOIP Management and Monitoring Frameworks underpin quarterly updates to individual Community Boards, six monthly reporting to this Committee and statutory annual public performance reporting as per the reporting schedule in the ‘Framework for Demonstrating Improved Outcomes for Communities.’ The Framework should streamline reporting, ensure consistency and allow partners to focus on critical issues or significant developments. The North Lanarkshire Partnership Strategic Leadership Board agreed to move to a yearly progress report with updates on specific priorities and areas throughout the year as required. This allows for more detailed annual report and discussion and to develop more engaging ways of sharing information on progress with the LOIP’s. 2.4 The LOIP six monthly update reports are attached as Appendix 1. These provide a summary of key highlights across the priorities identified in each LOIP. Planned future actions for the period 1st April 2025 to 31st September 2025. Local Partnership Teams (LPT’s) 2.5 Local Partnership Teams share a collective responsibility for ensuring action at a local level to drive forward the LOIP priorities and ensure that progress is regularly updated through the Management and Monitoring Framework. 2.6 Local Partnership Teams made up of senior partnership officers continue to meet 6- weekly and with a few exceptions, priorities for each area have a clear delivery Page 124 of 352
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mechanism in place through creation of operational subgroups or pre-existing partnership groups or processes. 2.7 Work continues to be undertaken with partners to ensure accountability and ownership for delivery of actions, participation in Local Partnership Teams and use of the framework to inform monitoring. Examples include: • Meetings continue with LPT members to review the Management and Monitoring Framework to streamline and improve the reporting process for priority leads. • Accountability meetings have been introduced with the senior officers to ensure that quality of information fed into the M&M framework and reports reflect progress with local action. Senior managers are also responsible for finalising the information that is appended to SLB, Communities Committee and Community Board reports. • The four LPTs have development plans in place to ensure a focus on continuous improvement actions for the operation of each individual LPT. • Online LOIP highlight pages have been created to showcase the work undertaken across all 9 localities to deliver the LOIP priorities, links are attached as Appendix 2. Work continues to ensure that all partners continue to submit examples and case studies to ensure that the page is kept up to date and can be used to share progress in a range of ways for reporting and on social media. 2.8 This work builds on previous work with LPT’s since their inception and introduction of the monitoring and management framework including online and in person development sessions for LPTs collectively, within their own geographical areas and around specific themes and work continues to focus on. • Maintaining resource to ensure consistency of approach where there are organisational changes and higher levels of staff turnover. • Continuing to address any potential disconnect between strategic approaches and how local priorities are driven and led. While it is right that local organisations should play a significant role in delivery of priorities at a local level this needs to be driven and supported by the most appropriate partner or service leads to ensure local approaches support strategic priorities and vice versa. This should be considered as part of the LOIP review from 2025/27 • Ensuring reporting is focused on progress with action linked to LOIP priorities and not generic single service/agency updates that focus on ‘business as usual’ activity. • Continuing to improve the quality of information provided to inform useful reporting • Continuing to strive to increase levels of community engagement, participation and ownership for action in delivery mechanisms to ensure a local focus and involvement of the community and voluntary sector a key delivery partners. Community Board Chairs and Improvement Activity 2.9 The nine Community Board Chairs continue to meet quarterly with the Assistant Community Partnership Managers from the Community Partnership Team. The Chairs wish to continue to meet to consider matters relevant to all boards, share good practice and continue to explore any challenges collectively. The chairs assisted/assisting with the following: • Community Board Conference – The Community Board conference took place on the 17th of May 2025, and a separate report will be shared in due course. • Development of a Community Board Induction process. Early work has been delivered led by Community Board Chairs to identify induction topics and the next Page 125 of 352
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step will be to film engaging content for the current Community Board Portal 2.10 A report was produced for each of the boards to agree their own improvement actions at their November/December 2025 meetings, they will also continue to be involved in the implementation of these actions throughout 2025/26. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Performance Framework in place. 3.2 Number of LOIP priorities that can be evidenced as improving. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 North Lanarkshire Local Outcome Improvement Plans 4.2 Appendix 1 – update on progress with delivery of Local Outcome Improvement Plans for the period 1st October 2024 – 31st March 2025. 4.3 Appendix 2 – update on progress in relation to the online LOIP highlight pages showcasing the work being undertaken ay the NLP partnership. Stephen Penman Chief Officer, (Strategy and Engagement) Page 126 of 352
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The Local Outcome Improvement Plans serve to meet the council and community planning partnerships duties under part 2 of the Community Empowerment Act (Community Planning) specifically relating to Locality Planning. The approach has evolved over several years and Legal and Democratic Services have been engaged in this process 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 127 of 352
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5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 128 of 352
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Appendix 1 AIRDRIE LOCAL OUTCOME IMPROVEMENT PLAN 6 MONTHLY OUTCOMES REPORT PERIOD COVERED: 1st October 2024 – 31 March 2025 PROGRESS AND HIGHLIGHTS: Digital Inclusion – Priority Lead, Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire • A digital needs survey was undertaken with members of the public who attended the Airdrie Winter Warmer event on 14th of February. This was a very successful example of intergenerational partnership work with young people carrying out the survey. • Diamonds in the community are running their successful RE:BOOT Tech recycle scheme and are currently looking for unwanted laptops and digital devices to refurbish and pass on to community members who face digital exclusion. • A representative from VANL attends Driving Digital Locally meetings and shares digital information both from locality workers and to locality workers regarding digital across NL Poverty – Priority Lead, Airdrie Action Partnership supported by NLC Community Partnership Team • The Airdrie Action Partnership planned and delivered a successful 2024 Christmas appeal. This year’s campaign received substantial support, enabling the partnership to make a big difference for vulnerable families across Airdrie and nearby villages facing financial challenges this winter. The Christmas Appeal achieved: 310 families supported in total. 692 children and teenagers received gifts and clothing. 139 individuals enjoyed a Christmas meal. 222 gift cards distributed to those in need. 57 referrals made to the council’s Tackling Poverty team for income maximisation. • Airdrieonians Football Club and in particular Airdrie Community Trust have similar aims and objectives to Airdrie Action Partnership (AAP), and were keen to offer support through funding, plus sharing the details of the AAP Christmas Appeal on their social media channels. The Club also offered to help launch the 2024 Christmas Appeal with assistance of the players and coaching staff in early November which included members and partners from AAP. The club further assisted the AAP Christmas Appeal through advertising at the 2 home games in December allowing supporters to donate toys to the Appeal, which was extremely well received. This partnership is supported by: Whinhall Action Group, Whinhall Allotments, Chapelhall Community Development Group, XACT (Airdrie and Coatbridge 41 club) Bear Necessities, Airdrie Community School Uniform Bank, Airdrie Citizens Advice Bureau, Airdrie Foodbank, Routes to Work, Cairnlea Church, Airdrie Salvation Army, VANL, NHS Lanarkshire (Health Improvement) and North Lanarkshire Council, Airdrieonians Football Club, Airdrie Community Trust, Albert Bartlett, Holmasters Group, Airdrie Allsorts, Beechbank Toddlers and Muddyboots, Latch on Lanarkshire and Caledonia Academy and martial Arts and Fitness. • The Digital Literacies Project also addresses the poverty priority as staff from Citizen Advice will be available to provide advice on how to complete online applications for financial supports including crisis grants, benefits and providing information on fuel poverty and other supports available. • A new outdoor gym has opened at Moffat View, Plains in August 2024 at a cost of £37,000 funded by an external grant secured by Plains Community Futures of £13,000 and an allocation of £24,000 for the council’s Local LOIP PRIORITIES • Digital Inclusion • Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing • Poverty Page 129 of 352
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Development Programme. Cost barrier to accessing gym facilities has been removed as the facility is free to use. The development also addresses the Health & Wellbeing Priority by providing a range of exercise and fitness opportunities suitable for use by anyone over the age of 14 in the local. • New play area developments were completed in Gartleahill (£100,000) and Craigneuk (£100,000) both funded by the Councils Local Development Programme. These new developments provide exciting play opportunities where local children and families can engage in the well documented benefits of outdoor play free of charge. • Lanarkshire CAT have been trained in identifying and discussing poverty with householders when they are conducting HFSVs. Referrals can now be made to the relevant partner, or the householder can be signposted to the relevant partner utilising the new HSFV procedure. • SFRS Lanarkshire conduct Fire Reach courses to provide a unique opportunity for young people to attend a five-day course, where they can gain valuable skills and newfound confidence. By participating and completing the course, they also receive an employability award. Throughout the week, the participants develop their skills and grow in confidence, which can have a positive impact on their future endeavours. Fire Reach courses contribute to the personal and professional development of these young people, helping them acquire skills that will benefit them. Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing – Priority Lead, NHS Health Improvement Team • Funding sourced through Airdrie Action Partnership for Chapelhall Community Development Group to provide key health and wellbeing services for the area. Services include a walking group, gentle exercises, Arts & crafts, Recovery Cafe, Fibro and Dementia support as well as a Youth group. The numbers using the services have exceeded 240. • CLD continue to deliver Living Life to the Full (LLTTF) across the 3 Airdrie High Schools. This course helps young people build resilience, improve mental health and develop coping skills for managing lifes challenges. 8 LLTTF groups have been delivered April 24-March 25 with 45 young people completing the programme. • Funding was sourced by Airdrie Action Partnership and Health for a two-part intergenerational project. The @home youth team worked with our local Adult learners forum to put on a movie night. They watched a film together and discuss entertainment across the generations resulting in them producing a short film. The second part was a Winter Warmer event which provided afternoon tea, entertainment and key service information for local residents. This was highly successful with 18 stall holders and over 60 residents. This was a highly successful event and resulted in 17 young people achieving SCQF Level 4 assist with an event as well as Saltire hours. An informative video was created on the event which was then shown at the community board. PLANNED ACTIONS/DEVELOPMENTS FOR: 1 April 2025 – 31 September 2025 Digital Inclusion – Priority Lead, Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire • Review the findings from the digital needs survey undertaken in February • Develop a Digital Inclusion action plan based on the findings of the digital needs survey • Continue to engage and work with the partners and youth groups who successfully came together to carry out the digital needs survey Poverty – Priority Lead, Airdrie Action Partnership supported by NLC Community Partnership Team • Review and agree new poverty related tasks for 2025/26 • Put in place a programme of action to undertake and deliver these tasks Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing – Priority Lead, NHS Health Improvement Team • Consultation to be held with local community to prioritise actions for coming year. Two in person interactive sessions will be held and a Microsoft form created for those who prefer not to or cannot attend in person. These results will be analysed and actions agreed accordingly. • Airdrie specific training sessions to be offered for Ask Tell Training and Stigma free Lanarkshire. Page 130 of 352
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BELLSHILL LOCAL OUTCOME IMPROVEMENT PLAN 6 MONTHLY OUTCOMES REPORT PERIOD COVERED: 1st October 2024 – 31 March 2025 PROGRESS AND HIGHLIGHTS: Poverty and Food Insecurity – Priority Lead, NHS Health Improvement Team • Tackling Poverty & Food Insecurity: The subgroup worked with Orbiston Neighbourhood Centre’s community fridge with the view of increasing membership and awareness of the community fridge. Information packs containing tackling poverty & community fridge information were made in partnership with Orbiston Neighbourhood Centre, VIP, Police Scotland Youth Volunteers and NHS Health Improvement Team. 500 packs were posted through doors in the Bellshill board area. • The subgroup Linked local food support providers with the tackling poverty team to align more support with the food referral gateway and cash first approaches. Volunteers and staff from; Communities Together at YMCA, Salvation Army and Mosshill Credit Union have undertaken wider training. This has increased their knowledge and confidence to talk to those accessing food support about money, know how to make a referral for more holistic support. • ‘A Bellshill Christmas’ £5000 of funding secure in a partnership between YMCA, Salvation Army & Mosshill Credit Union delivering the following results. o 826 children received a Christmas gift o 172 individuals received a full Christmas dinner with instructions / recipes o 110 Christmas food parcels providing for 168 adults and 188 Children Community Resilience and Participation – Priority Lead, NLC Community Partnership Team • Local groups were supported to access Recover NL funds of £5500. These funds benefitted communities in Viewpark, Bellshill and Holytown, allowing groups to progress community projects to enhance the local areas. For example, in Viewpark area, funds were used to improve the local environment and conservation area in the Glen. In Bellshill, an allotment group enhanced the health and wellbeing experience at their site for local groups to utilise. In Holytown, local greenspaces such as the War Memorial Gardens will be improved for the community to enjoy. • Two further resilience groups in Bellshill board area were identified to work in partnership with NLC to assist the local community in the event of extreme weather conditions or a national grid outage. This is being achieved by providing access to resilience packs the community can access in the event a local emergency. These groups are Burnhead Parish Church in Viewpark and Holytown Environmental Group. • Community engagement events were held across the board area in February and March. Funded by NLC and supported by CPT and local community groups. A total of 9 events took place – 4 in Viewpark, 2 in Bellshill and 4 in Holytown. The Community Partnership Team, 3 local groups and 16 partners were able to engage with more than 100 local people; enabling them to be more resilient and were also provided with advice (community safety, LOIP PRIORITIES • Poverty and Food Insecurity • Community Resilience and Participation • Community Safety • Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing • Digital Inclusion Page 131 of 352
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carers), support (period dignity, benefits), information (local disability services, tenant participation) and an opportunity to contribute to local projects (environmental group). • Local groups were engaged and supported to develop and progress local projects via LDP funding worth approx. £160k. For example, installation of fixed CCTV, creation of a community garden, upgrade local playpark and environmental improvements which made access to greenspace safer. Community Safety – Priority Lead, Police Scotland • SAFEGAURDING OUR CITIZENS: Free Bike coaching sessions arranged by NHS and Police through the mental health and Community safety group at Bellshill Pump track offering coaching and night sessions on a Thursday evening. • SAFEGAURDING OUR CITIZENS: Continued work with local community regarding Community Alcohol partnership (CAP) with education and test purchases being provided in the area, CAP has assisted in diversionary activities over the period. This work been recognised nationally as the Bellshill and Viewpark CAP have been awarded with CAP of the year for Scotland. • PROTECTING OUR COMMUNITES: Work ongoing with Police, NLC, CLD to work with youths in local area in identify ways to deter from anti-social behaviour. Group using the Pump track events and future bike marking days with assistance from SFRS to build that confidence and help protect the community. • This ongoing action that being covered by SFRS and Police community teams delivering inputs in schools when required. In each of the firework/bonfire engagement activities in the Bellshill locality schools, an aspect of deliberate fire raising is covered. • Safeguarding our citizens with positive work with local BAME communities over this period and continued inputs and regularly meetings to ensure that reporting and offering safety advice in the area. • Protecting our communities with work ongoing with Police, NLC identifying hot spot areas of antisocial behaviour and linking with CCTV to address and detect and deter crime. • ASB Talks have been delivered to all high schools within the local area with SFRS and P.S. • SFRS conducted road safety talks to all schools including driving safely with P.S. • SFRS continue to conduct targeted home fire safety visits to those most at risk Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing – Priority Lead, NHS Health Improvement Team • Delivery of 3 locality specific Ask Tell Save A Life, Mental Health & Suicide Awareness Workshops to 45 participants including police Scotland officers, Community & Voluntary Sector Organisations, Elected members and Health & Social Care Staff. Feedback from the sessions included. "Very Informative”, “This workshop is greatly beneficial to many areas of life” , “I now feel more confident and knowledgeable in addressing / dealing with potential suicide issues” • Mental Health & Addictions Event held on 25th February. Brought together teams from Adult Mental health, Older Adult mental Health & Addiction Services (Addiction Recovery Teams & Community and Voluntary Sector Services). Tis created shared learning & understanding of each services roles and responsibilities with an opportunity to start to foster longer terms working arrangements Page 132 of 352
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Feedback from this session included. “Better understanding of the roles of others in different teams”, All very positive information, good reminder about different services and I learned new info” • Carers are a priority group in terms of Mental health in the Bellshill Locality – Subgroup lead has encouraged applications to Carer Breather fund and 2 local organisations have been supported and are successful in securing 3- year funding for ASN children and Carers of Adults with poor Mental Health. Significant investment from this fund in the locality of over £100K over 3 years. • Patient Support Groups developed in partnership with VIP and Older Adult Community Mental health Teams. Secured £5000 of locality activity funding for a gardening activity group which has regular attendees. Supported by NHSL Older Adult Community Mental Health Team patients can seek support from staff whilst taking part in their community with VIP at the garden with Bellshill Station. Digital Inclusion – Priority Lead, VANL • Basic Digital Skills Course - One of the highlights during this period was the delivery of the Holytown basic digital skills course which was a 6-week course delivered between February and April 2025. The funding for this course was from the Community Empowerment Fund which Bellshill and Mossend YMCA applied for. This was delivered by several partners. The course included topics such as: digital skills, emailing, apps, online safety, photos & videos, messenger, whats app, access online services, internet searches, downloading files. • Digital Training - VANL has introduced a new training programme developed from feedback from the community. This commenced in Jan 2025 and will run up till June 2025. During this period cyber resilience training and digital accounting courses were delivered. The training calendar for the next period will be discussed and shared in due course. • Digital Volunteer Recruitment - There is a new digital NL volunteering platform where several Bellshill organisations are listed and are promoting local volunteering opportunities. Training and support for this platform is offered as organisations manage the information. This allows organisations to use digital as a way to promote volunteering opportunities and for volunteers to apply for roles. This is being promoted widely including with JCP staff where people are looking for volunteering as part of an employability journey. This system also includes a feature to produce reports detailing volunteering numbers and hours which can be used by organisations for funding applications. Page 133 of 352
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PLANNED ACTIONS/DEVELOPMENTS FOR: 1 April 2025 – 31 September 2025 Poverty and Food Insecurity – Priority Lead, NHS Health Improvement Team • Intensive Support to Food Providers to explore systems that can support the sharing of referrals to avoid duplicate supports to the same people and an approach more aligned with tackling poverty strategy. Community Resilience and Participation – Priority Lead, NLC Community Partnership Team • Engage with and support local groups to develop and propose local projects and access LDP funding • Discuss and organise local activities with subgroup to further engage local communities to build their resilience • Identify resource(s) to pilot a Participatory Budgeting approach to increase community empowerment and participation. Community Safety – Priority Lead, Police Scotland • SAFEGAURDING OUR CITIZENS: Due to the increase work with the BAME community it’s been identified that some individuals are still missing out and plans are in place moving forward to identify and ensure wider group are covered. • ENHANCING OUR SERVICE: Group are keen to identify ways to increase public confidence and discussions ongoing on how to do this and what is needed. • PROTECTING OUR COMMUNITES: Ongoing partnership youth talks in local schools over coming period to educate on Fireworks, Fire antisocial behaviour in the lead to the end of the year. Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing – Priority Lead, NHS Health Improvement Team • If successful, the group would like to explore ongoing funding for suicide prevention and Scottish mental health first aid training. Digital Inclusion – Priority Lead, VANL • Community Solutions funding is aligned with local outcome improvement plans. The lead for this subgroup will meet with funded organisations based in Bellshill to carry out a governance review and capture any digital activity and any digital gaps. Activity will be recorded on ALISS for all to see including support workers and individuals. Any organisations seeking potential funding for digital activities can be supported by VANL. Plans include ensuring that organisations are invited to join the mailing list both to share and receive information including funding opportunities and local activities. VANL are excited to promote the Hochtief Connecting Communities initiative in the year ahead which may include funding opportunities for digital projects. Page 134 of 352
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COATBRIDGE LOCAL OUTCOME IMPROVEMENT PLAN 6 MONTHLY OUTCOMES REPORT PERIOD COVERED: 1st October 2024 – 31 March 2025 PROGRESS AND HIGHLIGHTS: Digital Inclusion – Priority Lead, Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire • Despite delays in development of this sub-group due to the loss of a valued and key group memeber, the group was able to reconvene with 15 people attending in February 2025. A successful first Sub-group meeting took place in February 2025 with members getting to know each other, and discussions on local assets and gaps in provision. This group is committed to working collaboratively and look forward to creating a priority-based plan for digital inclusion Poverty – Priority Lead, Health and Social Care Consortium supported by NLC Community Partnership Team • “Step into Spring” cost of living events were held on 18th February in Bargeddie, and the 18th of March at the Manorview Hub in Coatbridge. The advice and support session for local people brought together over a dozen organisations to provide support. Organisations attending the event included CAB, Carers Together, VANL, Lanarkshire Links, Deaf Services Lanarkshire, VANL, the Wise Group and the Moira Anderson Foundation. • Local service provision to support people in poverty- Impact: o Kirkshaws Neighbourhood House continues to support local families through the community fridge project, period dignity and access to skills learning & indirect supports to alleviate poverty: (Nov 24 – Feb 25 figures) o Community Fridge – 120 users x 12 weeks o Cooking classes including healthy eating on a budget - 180 participants • Cliftonville & Coatdyke Community Group (Nov 24 – Feb 25 figures): o Supported 40 local families with children at Santas event food & drinks for 90 children provided. o 170 local community members took part in festive crafting activities o free Christmas pantomime & gift provided for 50 families o Opened our Santas grotto to local organisations providing a Santa & elf. o Reeltime Music Project 2nd block (January - ongoing) 15 young people aged 12-18 attending weekly, hot meal provided at each session o Manorview Hub (Nov 24 – Feb 25 figures) o 86 attended Hub Adult sessions o 412 children aged 7-14years attended Hub Children sessions o (over 75 per week at present) o 100 Selection Boxes donated for the Coatbridge Santa Dash o 60 Steak Pie dinners gifted through Social Work in Coatbridge for new year o 19 Children attended Hub Christmas Movie night o 32 tickets given to families to the Irn Bru Carnival o Our new class schedule launches first week in March with sessions for vulnerable people living in poverty from adults, parents with baby, parents with toddlers and teenagers amongst the new additions. • Parent Action for Safe Play (Nov 24 – Feb 25 figures): o Healthy Eating Cooking classes – 38 children participated o Food Programme – 612 meals/snacks provided for 5–12-year-olds o Community Garden/Growing project – 10 adult participants o Healthy cooking on a Budget workshop – 12 adult participants o The Coatbridge Community Food Bank continues to provide adult food parcels, children’s food parcels and pet food parcels and with other local orgs continues to refer to other support services, including CAB, Financial Inclusion Team, etc. LOIP PRIORITIES • Digital Inclusion • Poverty • Mental Health Page 135 of 352
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o St Augustine's Outreach continues to support individuals and families through the Food pantry, clothing bank, furniture bank and Hot Kitchen offering a hot meal service one evening per week. Utility support to approx. 5 per week. Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing – Priority Lead, NHS Health Improvement Team • Health Improvement (HI) Team worked with other priority leads to bring together the Mental Health, Poverty and Digital Inclusion Local Outcome Improvement Plans (LOIPs) to form a more cohesive and focused subgroup. An effective recruitment drive has led to a further 21 members joining to advance the work of all three intersectional priorities. A successful first meeting recently took place with 13 members (community, voluntary sector and statutory partners) in attendance to learn about the actions identified within each of our 3 priorities and all demonstrated a passion and commitment to work together to improve the lives of the people of Coatbridge. This place-based work will remain a key priority into 2025/26. PLANNED ACTIONS/DEVELOPMENTS FOR: 1 April 2025 – 31 September 2025 Digital Inclusion – Priority Lead, Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire • After a successful first meeting of 15 members of the sub group in February 2025, where members got to know each other and discussed the digital needs and assets in the area, the next priority is to create an action plan to establish what the sub-group can achieve to help address gaps in provision and to help break down barriers, creating a list of actions that the group can collaborate on. Poverty – Priority Lead, Health and Social Care Consortium supported by NLC Community Partnership Team • Working with the other priority leads and sub-group partners to develop, prioritise and undertake new tasks which address the poverty priority in the Coatbridge community board area. Mental Health and Emotional Wellbeing – Priority Lead, NHS Health Improvement Team • Continue to work together with the other priority leads to guide our subgroup, supporting them to progress the actions identified within the mental health and wellbeing action plan. • Continue to recruit new members and facilitate regular subgroup meetings • Plans for all staff involved to explore work/actions with the group using KETSO Toolkit. • HI Team shared the details of the projects across Coatbridge that had been funded by the community mental health & wellbeing/children & young people community mental health & wellbeing ’25 funds and offered to deliver ‘Ask, Tell: Mental Health, Compassionate Conversations & Suicide Prevention Training’ to the subgroup during Mental Health Awareness Week (12th 18th May). • HI team working with the subgroup to plan an event during Mental Health Awareness Week (week commencing 12th May 2025). Possibly doing some joint work with Airdrie locality and incorporating Green Health key messages. Page 136 of 352
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CUMBERNAULD LOCAL OUTCOME IMPROVEMENT PLAN 6 MONTHLY OUTCOMES REPORT PERIOD COVERED: 1st October 2024 – 31 March 2025 PROGRESS AND HIGHLIGHTS: Public and Community Transport – Priority Lead, Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire • Members expressed interest in finding a map of the current walking paths and bike paths in Cumbernauld which can support the subgroups work to identify areas to focus on. Enquires have been made and are still ongoing. • Members have been working on creating a first draft of a transport survey. • Members are keen to explore possibilities around bike sharing schemes. Greenspace Maintenance and Environmental Quality - Priority Lead, Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire • The subgroup managed to acquire the greenspace map. This is a detailed map of all the land that the council currently maintain or own. The subgroup members appreciate getting access to this map as it is a critical component in equipping the group with information on available greenspace. The subgroup are now able to review this map to identify relevant and available greenspaces and local organisations close to the green spaces to find potential development partnerships • Early discussions have taken place regarding a possible Dementia Garden being developed in partnership with the Health Improvement Team. Volunteers are being sought to manage this with VANL providing support in volunteer recruitment. • Subgroup members had a very positive meeting with NLC maintenance team. The maintenance team agreed to support the work of the subgroup where appropriate. Youth Engagement and Consultation – Priority Lead, Community Learning & Development supported by Community Partnership Team • MSYP and youth Forum continue to be involved in youth engagement and consultation priority and attend Cumbernauld Board Meetings. • Consultation is being carried out with 39 young people from priority areas in Cumbernauld to find out their views about living there, the issues that are important to them including community safety to inform the development of the Community Safety Strategy 2025-2030. Consultation took place with 28 young people who attend Greenfaulds High School on 20th November 2024 and 11 young people and MSYP at the Link Centre on 13th November 2024. • Consultation also took place with 27 young people across three groups from priority areas in Cumbernauld to find out their views about living there, the issues that are important to them including Community Safety issues. Following completion of all consultation, the feedback received will be analysed and reported back to the subgroup and Community Board. • Successful Campsies, GAP and UK Shared Prosperity grant funding awarded to youth organisations across Cumbernauld including St. Lucy’s Youth Group, YMCA and Mugstock. A total of £18,525 awarded in grants to support work with young people. • Launch of Community Alcohol Partnership and engagement with young people around alcohol related issues • Police engaging with schools around no knife's better lives, online safety/cyberbullying and image sharing. Police using targeted interventions to address young people involved in gangs and social image sharing and anti-social behaviour. LOIP PRIORITIES • Public and Community Transport • Greenspace Maintenance and Environmental Quality • Youth Engagement and Consultation • Digital Inclusion • Targeted Action within Identified Communities across the Board Area • Food and Financial Insecurity • Communication and Engagement Page 137 of 352
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• Two 5-day Fire Skills Courses were delivered at Coatbridge Fire Station on 20th January 2025 with St Maurice’s High School in attendance. • Extremely successful partnership youth engagement event carried out with young people who attend St Maurice’s High School on14th March 2025 with over 100 young people in attendance. Although this was organised by the Kilsyth and Villages Youth engagement subgroup, young people also attended who live in the Cumbernauld Board area. Digital Inclusion – Embedded in all priority subgroups • A representative from Cumbernauld Board continues to attend the NL Driving Digital Locally Subgroup. • Digital Inclusion continues to be discussed as a key agenda item at priority subgroup meetings. Food and Financial Insecurity – Priority Lead, Cornerstone House supported by NLC Community Partnership Team • Three Cost of living partnership engagement events were organised and took place in Cornerstone House, Kildrum and Abronhill throughout May 2024 with approximately 160 people in attendance. • An extremely successful cost of living event was planned and organised by partners took place at the Antonine Shopping Centre on 11th October 2024 to coincide with Challenge Poverty Week. 38 partner organisations attended and provided information and support to local people impacted by food and financial insecurity. Over 500 local people attended the event. • North Health and Social Care Consortium local action fund supported 6 organisations across Cumbernauld to develop warm hubs to support people impacted by fuel poverty over the winter period 2024/2025. • 8 Local community organisations were supported by funding through Community Empowerment micro grants to provide services for local people impacted by food and financial insecurity. A total of £8,000 was awarded to local organisations. • A successful cost of living engagement event was organised and took place at St Lucy’s Primary School in Abronhill on 27th March 2025. The event targeted approx. 300 parents and carers of children who attend the school. • A range of successful funding applications to a total of £11,682 to support targeted action towards Abronhill Priority area to organisations such as Abronhill Parish Church and Cumbernauld Poverty Action. • Period dignity products continue to be distributed across Cumbernauld through Cost-of-living events, through anchor organisations such as Cornerstone House and through a range of pickup points. Products were also distributed at pop-up stalls at Tryst and Central Health Centre in Feb 2025. Communication and Engagement – Embedded in all priority subgroups • Communication and engagement continue to be key priorities with Youth Engagement consultation carried out with young people in Greenfaulds and Our Lady’s High Schools to identify issues and find out the views of young people about where they live including Community Safety to inform the development of the Community Safety Strategy • Communication and Engagement continue to be key priorities with successful Food and Financial Insecurity cost-of- living engagement events carried out across Cumbernauld Board area St Lucy’s in Abronhill and Antonine Centre in Cumbernauld. Page 138 of 352
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PLANNED ACTIONS/DEVELOPMENTS FOR: 1 April 2025 – 31 September 2025 Public and Community Transport – Priority Lead, Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire • The subgroup will explore possibilities to get a bike programme up and running in Cumbernauld with the Community Councils. To continue discussions at future meetings. • Subgroup members plan on connecting with the SPT group looking at franchise models for bike ownership and borrowing, to look at scope for working in partnership • The subgroup will investigate sourcing a map of current walking and bike paths in Cumbernauld to see which areas can be prioritised for improvements Greenspace Maintenance and Environmental Quality - Priority Lead, Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire • Identify suitable green spaces from the recently acquired map, that have suitable community groups in proximity to explore potential for green developments and partnerships • Once suitable spaces and partnerships have been identified, work with partners and NLC to identify priorities and suitable funding sources. Youth Engagement and Consultation – Priority Lead, Community Learning & Development supported by Community Partnership Team • Consult with young people at Cumbernauld Academy in May 2025. • Following completion of youth engagement consultation, analyse findings to enable subgroup to look at proposed actions to address issues identified through consultation. • Consult with young people from Ravenswood and St Mary’s Primary schools around the development of a playpark in Seafar funded through Local Development Programme. Digital Inclusion – Embedded in all priority subgroups • Continue to embed Digital Inclusion into all priority subgroup agenda’s • Continue to ensure that Cumbernauld Community Board is represented at NL Driving Digital Locally subgroup • Continue to ensure that any digital issues that are raised are fed back to the Board representative who attends NL Driving Digital Locally subgroup. Targeted Action within Identified Communities across the Board Area – Priority Lead, NHS Health Improvement Team • Mental Health Awareness across targeted area • Carbrain Community Hub action plan Food and Financial Insecurity – Priority Lead, Cornerstone House supported by NLC Community Partnership Team • Cornerstone will continue to lead on this priority supported by the Community Partnership Team. • This Food and Financial Insecurity subgroup will continue to address this priority through key actions identified by local people. • The Food and Financial Insecurity subgroup will continue to target cost of living events to priority communities identified including Carbrain, Kildrum and Abronhill • This subgroup will continue to work in partnership to share and disseminate relevant information across networks, social media, Community matters and through organised events. Communication and Engagement – Embedded in all priority subgroups • Continue to embed Communication and Engagement in all priority subgroups • Ensure that all priority subgroups report on embedded priorities within M&M framework and reports Page 139 of 352
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KILSYTH LOCAL OUTCOME IMPROVEMENT PLAN 6 MONTHLY OUTCOMES REPORT PERIOD COVERED: 1st October 2024 – 31 March 2025 PROGRESS AND HIGHLIGHTS: Digital Inclusion – Embedded in all priority subgroups • Two members of the Kilsyth and Villages Board Continue to attend the NL Driving Digital Locally Subgroup. • Digital Inclusion continues to be discussed at Youth Engagement and Food and financial Insecurity Subgroups. Food and Financial Insecurity – Priority Lead, NLC Community Partnership Team • Excellent range of partners working together to support Food and Financial Insecurity agenda across the • Community Board area including CPT, CLD, Tackling Poverty Team, Carers Together, Barnardo’s, Cumbernauld and Kilsyth Care, Carers together, Cornerstone, NHSL other local voluntary organisations. • The subgroup has continued to organise and plan extremely successful Cost of Living Events on a rotational basis across Kilsyth and Villages Board area with 5 events targeting parents and carers of children who attend primary schools over this reporting period. • Cost-of-Living Event was organised and took place at St Patrick’s Primary School during parents evening at the end of March 2024 engaging with 170 parents and carers of children who attend the school. • A Cost-of-living event was organised and took place at Chapelgreen Primary school on 6th November 2024. This enabled partners to engage with 35 parents and carers of children who attend the school in the Village of Queenzieburn. A Cost-of-Living Event was also organised and took place during parents evening at Banton Primary school on 14th November 2024 engaging with 32 parents and carers of children who attend the school in the Village of Banton. Evaluation feedback from 54 participants from the two events showed that 53 felt the event was great/good. Feedback from partners was also positive one stated that ‘This was a great opportunity to meet families and identify their needs’. • A Cost-of-Living event was organised and took place in Kilsyth Primary on 27th March 2025 with approximately 33 people in attendance. This event took place during the school day and not during a parents evening. • A Cost-of-Living event was planned and organised at Balmalloch Primary school at end of March 2025 with approximately 110 families in attendance. 9 organisations attended the event. • Warm Hubs across Kilsyth and Villages was funded through North Health and Social Care Consortium and NLC funding to support local people over the winter period e.g. Croy Community Hub, Friends of Kilsyth, Kilsyth Old People’s Welfare and St. Patrick’s Wednesday Group. Health and Wellbeing – Priority Lead, NHS Health Improvement Team • Active Travel – paths improvement project delivered by Kilsyth Community Council • Dumbreck Marsh and Garell Burn Nature Reserve Project – Subgroup members are involved in developing and delivering the project together with NLC Project officer and other community members. Creative sessions have been organised for Senior Citizens from the Kilsyth area at Colzium House on the 25th of Feb and the 4th of March. • Health Improvement delivered Health Promotion resources to Croy Hub to be distributed across all Warm Welcomes Hubs in Kilsyth area funded by HSCP. LOIP PRIORITIES • Digital Inclusion • Food and Financial Insecurity • Health and Wellbeing • Improving The Environment with a focus on Kilsyth Town Centre • Youth Engagement • Public and Community Transport • Targeted Action within Identified Communities across the Board Area Page 140 of 352
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Improving the Environment with a focus on Kilsyth Town Centre – Priority Lead, Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire • Subgroup members met with representatives from NLC Tourism team in February 2025 to discuss NL Tourism strategy. It was agreed that the subgroup would work with the Tourism team to provide information for the Visit Lanarkshire website. This will form the basis of a pilot scheme which could expand in the future. • Funding was awarded to progress various area clean ups and tidying such as pest infestation and purchase of a jet washer for cleaning. • Members who are also involved with Friends of Colzium House, have met with the Community Council and the Estate manager to discuss priorities for upgrading of the house and the cafe. Public and Community Transport – Priority Lead, Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire • One of the focuses of the group is the proper use of electric bikes /Scooters. This work is being progressed via the Connecting Kilsyth project. • Subgroup members are looking to arranging a meeting to discuss controls for bike and scooter licencing. • Applications for match funding have been started to secure a total of £40K to fund a coordinated system of signage and information boards between Dumbreck Marsh and Colzium Lennox estate. Targeted Action within Identified Communities across the Board – Priority Lead, Kilsyth Community Council supported by NLC Community Partnership Team • Potential LDP playpark project for older young people at Rennie Road identified by Rennie and Northfield TARA. Consultation was carried out with local people and with young people who attend Kilsyth Academy and Balmalloch Primary school to identify their views about the development. The project is now progressing through the tender process. • Continued contact has taken place with Kirklands, Bogside and Barrie Place TARA around the need for an upgrade to Bogside Playpark. Consultation took place with local people and young people from St. Patrick’s and Kilsyth Primary School to identify their views about the development and to participate in a design a sign competition. The official opening took place on 4th March 2025 and feedback from the local community has been extremely positive • Kirklands, Bogside and Barrie Place TARA also identified the need for a Solar lighting at Bogside Park. A proposal for solar lighting was submitted for LDP funding and the project was completed on 26th March 2025. Feedback from the local community has been extremely positive about the difference this has made to feeling of safety within the local community. • 5 Targeted Cost of living events organised and delivered within 5 primary schools targeting parents and carers of children who attend the schools. Youth Engagement Consultation – Priority Lead, NLC Community Partnership Team • This priority continues to be supported by the Community Partnership Team and a range of partners including Police, SFRS, CLD, Community Alcohol Partnership and local Community organisations such as Cornerstone, Croy Community Hub. • Following previous consultation with young people across Kilsyth and Villages, a range of partners worked together to organise an extremely successful Interactive Youth Engagement Event delivered at Kilsyth Academy on 31st May 2024 targeting young people who attend Future Friday. Approximately 80 young people attended, and partners engaged with a range of young people who attend the school. A review meeting took place on 27th June 2024, and a report was submitted to the Kilsyth and Villages Community Board Meeting. Feedback from young people and partners was extremely positive. • Following the previous successful Youth Engagement Event and consultation with young people across Kilsyth and Villages, a range of partners worked together to organise a second Interactive Youth Engagement Event that took place and at St Maurice’s High School on 14th March 2025. The purpose of the event was to address issues that were identified by young people during consultation and covered topics such as Consultation and Engagement, Food and Financial Insecurity, Health and Wellbeing, Community Involvement and Community Safety. The event was aimed at young people from Kilsyth and Villages who attend the school but was also open to young people who attend the school from other catchment areas. Approximately 100 young people and 38 partners attended the event. Feedback from young people and partners was very positive. • Police delivered inputs at Kilsyth Academy covering issues such as drugs, no knives better lives, online safety/cyberbullying, image sharing and New Driver Scheme. Police also engaging in schools including bringing nurture groups into local communities for example Golden Gloves. Page 141 of 352
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• Review of Youth Fora has resulted in merging of Youth Action Cumbernauld (YAC) and Youth Action Kilsyth (YAC) to form Youth Action Cumbernauld and Kilsyth (YACK). MSYP attended Community Board in Feb 2025 and members of Youth Forum to attend future Board meetings. PLANNED ACTIONS/DEVELOPMENTS FOR: 1 April 2025 – 31 September 2025 Digital Inclusion – Embedded in all priority subgroups • Continue to embed Digital Inclusion into all priority subgroup agenda’s • Continue to ensure that Kilsyth and Villages Community Board is represented at NL Driving Digital Locally subgroup • Continue to ensure that any digital issues that are raised are fed back to the Board representatives who attend NL Driving Digital Locally subgroup. Food and Financial Insecurity – Priority Lead, NLC Community Partnership Team • As agreed, continue to roll out Cost-of-living events across Kilsyth and Villages providing information and supports to help local people deal with the impact of the cost-of-living crisis. • Arrange Cost of Living Event during Challenge Poverty week in October 2025 • Continue to share and circulate Food and Financial Insecurity between partners and with local people. • Continue to report progress from the subgroup to Kilsyth and Villages Community Board. Health and Wellbeing – Priority Lead, NHS Health Improvement Team • Falls Prevention sessions for Senior Citizens groups in the area will be delivered by Health Improvement Team • Green Health promotion – Dumbreck March Project Improving the Environment with a focus on Kilsyth Town Centre – Priority Lead, Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire • None Highlighted Public and Community Transport – Priority Lead, Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire • None Highlighted Targeted Action within Identified Communities across the Board – Priority Lead, Kilsyth Community Council supported by NLC Community Partnership Team • Kilsyth Community Council and local community organisations such as TARA’s will continue to identify local issues and projects that will benefit local communities and linked to LOIP priorities • Support development of proposal for connecting Kilsyth pathway clean up and signage to enable local people to actively travel between Colzium Estate and Dumbreck Marsh in Kilsyth Youth Engagement Consultation – Priority Lead, NLC Community Partnership Team • The Youth Engagement Subgroup will continue to work with young people to address the key actions identified within this priority and through consultation with young people. • The subgroup will continue to work with local secondary schools across the Board area to promote young people’s involvement in their local community. • The subgroup will continue to identify further partnership engagement opportunities with young people across Kilsyth and Villages area. Page 142 of 352
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MOTHERWELL LOCAL OUTCOME IMPROVEMENT PLAN 6 MONTHLY OUTCOMES REPORT PERIOD COVERED: 1st October 2024 – 31 March 2025 PROGRESS AND HIGHLIGHTS: Digital Inclusion – Priority Lead, VANL • Digital Training - VANL has introduced a new training programme developed from feedback from the community. This commenced in Jan 2025 and will run up till June 2025. During this period cyber resilience training and digital accounting courses were delivered. The training calendar for the next period will be discussed and shared in due course. • Digital Volunteer Recruitment - There is a new digital NL volunteering platform where several Motherwell organisations are listed and are promoting local volunteering opportunities. Training and support for this platform is offered as organisations manage the information. This allows organisations to use digital to promote volunteering opportunities and for volunteers to apply for roles. This is being promoted widely including with JCP staff where people are looking for volunteering as part of an employability journey. This system also includes a feature to produce reports detailing volunteering numbers and hours which can be used by organisations for funding applications. Community Engagement – Priority Lead, NLC Community Partnership Team • Hosted a Community Engagement session with the Motherwell Community Engagement subgroup to better understand the role of the members and the wider impact of Community Engagement in the Motherwell area. 10 individuals participated in the session, most of which were local community representatives. New tasks to be worked on throughout 25/26 agreed and will be reported on going forward. • Engagement work with communities to encourage people bring forward Ideas to improve their community, through the Local Development Plans (LDP). Highlights include - consultation has been carried out with over 180 people to get involved in the location, design and features of the proposed Jerviston Play Park and pathway lighting in Newarthill being completed, Official opening of Roman Road Play Park with local school attending both projects totalling £150,000. Permanent CCTV in Muirhouse is currently under development and also currently consulting around George Street Park improvements. • A range of training courses were provided to members of the local LOIP subgroups to support approaches to building the capacity of local organisations and volunteers and to support the development of the LOIP priorities. Health issues in the Community course organised for 12 participants within the Motherwell and Bellshill localities to better understand community engagement through a health lens. 24 spaces for Emergency First Aid and 48 spaces offered for Naloxone training. • Successful funding support was provided to a range of groups throughout the Motherwell area with 7 Groups offered support to access micro grants through Community Empowerment Funding totalling £8k. 2 groups supported to access £1570 Cost of Living funding; 3 groups were supported to access Recover NL Funding of £2420.39. Health and Wellness HUB hosting £5k LPT funding to facilitate training programme through UKSPF. LOIP PRIORITIES • Digital Inclusion • Community Engagement • Community Safety • Mental Health and Wellbeing • Tackling Poverty and Inequalities • Environment • Transforming Motherwell Page 143 of 352
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Community Safety – Priority Lead, Police Scotland • SAFEGAURDING OUR CITIZENS- Areas continued to be identified regarding No Cold Calling Zones NCCZ, in Motherwell to help increase awareness and safety to vulnerable residents. Trust housing is in process of changing some shelter complex locations and group looking at ways to help the elderly community in these areas. • SAFEGAURDING OUR CITIZENS: Opportunities identified to carry out some test purchase operations in the local area concentrating on area’s utilised by local youths. This has proven to be a productive approach gathering intelligence in the area, whilst providing updates via social media to ensure safety local youths. • PROTECTING OUR COMMUNITIES: Continued look at group structure and utilised other sectors. Turning point outreach has helped in and around Motherwell, with help from CCTV, Police, local community to identified risk areas with those affected by drug addiction. Proactive patrols have been carried out as well education and train sessions offered. This relationship will continue develop in the next period. • PROTECTING OUR COMMUNITIES: Various operations and works carried out over the period, including joint anti- social visits, community safety inputs and close monitoring from CCTV. There has been perceived decrease in youth disorder and positive feedback from town centre staff and residents with increase in occupancy rate to 97% in Motherwell town centre and feeling of safer environment. • SAFEGAURDING OUR CITIZENS: Group have Engage with local community groups via a network of meetings and board meetings to identify key issues with the group now working with local Lanarkshire Death community to increase contact and support. • SFRS have engaged with the local shops and advised on some safety measures to help reduce deliberate Fire setting in the area. Shops were advised to store flammable materials within their shop at closing time to reduce the risk of further incidents. Local high schools were contacted and anti-social behaviour presentations were carried out. Mental Health and Wellbeing – Priority Lead, NHS Health Improvement Team • Promotion of ALISS with both Adult LPG and Children Services LPG to ensure Social Work and other relevant partners are aware of the system and can utilise this to support Motherwell Community. ALISS continues to be updated and more services accessible on it. • Winter wellbeing roadshow took place in Jan/Feb. Again, the focus was on financial and emotional wellbeing information, we understand January can be a difficult month following Christmas. Organisation involved in this roadshow were SAMH, CAB, TPT and The Health and Wellness Hub. The groups visited were Neighbourhood Networks, Alzheimers Scotland and The Economic Forum for Family Empowerment Scotland. • Staying Well in Winter booklet was shared with attendees with information on how to take care of your wellbeing and access to services over Christmas. The Health and Wellness Hub provided free hand massages and exercises to boost mental health and wellbeing. We engaged with around 95people • SAMH provided a session in relation to mental health and wellbeing and support available. Again, The Health and Wellness Hub provided free hand massages and exercises to boost mental health and wellbeing. We engaged with around 50 people. • Following the launch of the Wellbeing Academy at New College Lanarkshire, staff and students at the college were offered the opportunity to attend an Understanding Stigma and Discrimination Workshop. Workshop took place in January in the Motherwell Campus with 14 attendees. Tackling Poverty and Inequalities – Priority Lead, NHS Health Improvement Team • Community Fun Day at Jerviston Community Centre to take place on Tuesday 18th February. There were approx. 150 attendees. Attendees received lunch, pizza and food provided by BestWay. Free soup packs and period products were also available. There were multiple partners in attendance to provide activities, support and information- CAB, NHS Health Improvement Team, NLC Community Partnership Team, Tackling Poverty Team, Routes to Work, The Health and Wellness Hub, SAMH, CLD, VANL, New College Lanarkshire, One Parent Families Scotland, Families Here and Now Service, Police Scotland, Social Track Activities on offer included- Street Aid Ambulance, Police Car, Face Painting/Balloon artist, Animal Man, Social Track bike activities, Chair-based exercise taster sessions, Hand massages, Haircuts. • Members of the subgroup are continuing to use Home Energy Scotland Portal to make referrals. Within Q3 - 26 referrals were made with 21 successfully engaging with the service. Page 144 of 352
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• We continue to monitor, update and evaluate our referral pathways spreadsheet. Remains a live document to ensure Motherwell community are supported as best as possible. Quarter 3 has seen 34 referrals being made for both mental health and tackling poverty. Environment – Priority Lead, VANL • The subgroup had discussed transport and those involved were not aware of any transport issues. However, it was decided to carry out a survey with the wider Motherwell locality. Questions were agreed and shared. Once the survey was complete the findings were shared with the community board and the representatives who are carrying out the larger wider NLC transport survey. These results will be considered but the larger more detailed survey will contain more information which can be used for planning any activity. Once available these findings will be shared with subgroup members and any potential actions/activities will be planned. A VANL member of staff with an employability focus attended the drop session in Motherwell library to discuss transport as an issue for those seeking employment. VANL also shared the details of these drop-in sessions with the NL CVS Employability Network and with the NL Local Employability Partnership so that employability providers could contribute. Transforming Motherwell – NLC Growth Team • Refurbishment of the Former Motherwell Business Centre/Old Town Hall for residential flats started with the soft strip out of the building began in November 2024, the main contract started in January 2025, works are progressing as per the agreed programme. • Delivery of an Active Travel Route between Motherwell town centre and the Motherwell civic centre. The main contract started in January 2025, works are progressing as per the agreed programme PLANNED ACTIONS/DEVELOPMENTS FOR: 1 April 2025 – 31 September 2025 Digital Inclusion – Priority Lead, VANL • Community Solutions funding is aligned with local outcome improvement plans. The lead for this subgroup will meet with funded organisations based in Motherwell to carry out a governance review and capture any digital activity and any digital gaps. Activity will be recorded on ALISS for all to see including support workers and individuals. Any organisations seeking potential funding for digital activities can be supported by VANL. Plans include ensuring that organisations are invited to join the mailing list both to share and receive information including funding opportunities and local activities. VANL are excited to promote the Hochtief Connecting Communities initiative in the year ahead which may include funding opportunities for digital projects. Community Engagement – Priority Lead, NLC Community Partnership Team • Utilising the 11 new Health Issues in the Community trainers to deliver courses across the Motherwell area. • Increase the opportunity for local residents have to be involved in decision making processes such as Community Boards, LOIP subgroups, Participatory Budgeting and engagement with consultations. • Using the newly identified tasks from the session with the Community Engagement subgroup we will create an action plan to progress these collectively throughout the year. • Continue to work with equalities groups and the hardest to reach members of the Motherwell Community to reduce barriers to participation and actively encourage engagement. Community Safety – Priority Lead, Police Scotland • SAFEGAURDING OUR CITIZENS- Work being discussed to formalise areas for No Cold Calling Zones NCCZ in Motherwell to increase awareness and safety to vulnerable residents. • SAFEGAURDING OUR CITIZENS: Partnership work ongoing regarding increase reports of antisocial behaviour in Motherwell, ward 18. Joint visits, housing checks and CCTV input encouraged to identify the issues in the area. • PPROTECTING OUR COMMUNTIES: Work to look at how as a group we can affect the rise in acquisitive type crimes - Thefts by Shoplifting, Housebreakings, Common thefts. Mental Health and Wellbeing – Priority Lead, NHS Health Improvement Team Page 145 of 352
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• Continue to grow membership of the subgroup by inviting Local and Pan Lanarkshire organisations to attend. Organisations who have received Mental Health and Wellbeing funding for projects in Motherwell will continue to receive invites to attend the subgroup and contribute to the meetings. Many organisations have already attended but hope to engage with more. Increased membership will increase knowledge of Mental Health support and issues arising as well as strengthen collaboration and partnership working. • Subgroup will continue to use, evaluate and update the referral resource. Subgroup will use this resource to support with an increase in outreach work taking place in the community. • Continue to invite guest speakers along to the subgroup meetings to promote local services/ initiatives and to strengthen the knowledge of the subgroup and therefore strengthen the knowledge of the Motherwell Community about the supports available to them. Tackling Poverty and Inequalities – Priority Lead, NHS Health Improvement Team • Continue to grow membership of the subgroup by inviting Local and Pan Lanarkshire organisations to attend. Increased membership will increase knowledge of tackling poverty and inequalities support available and issues arising as well as strengthen collaboration and partnership working. • Continue to invite guest speakers along to the subgroup meetings to promote local services/ initiatives and to strengthen the knowledge of the subgroup and therefore strengthen the knowledge of the Motherwell Community about the supports available to them. • The Health Improvement Team will continue to deliver the Worrying about Money training to community groups/organisations and NHS Clinical Teams. NHS Health Improvement have been delivering on average one session every month from May 23-March 24, this will continue throughout 2025/26. Aim is asking about financial wellbeing should become routine enquiry for everyone. Environment – Priority Lead, VANL • Due to a small number of organisations being involved with the subgroup and the challenge of subgroup members attendance at meetings, it was decided to take a different approach and continue to engage with the current membership by email. This would allow organisations to contribute without attending meetings. Organisations will receive a pro forma questionnaire to capture any environmental activity. This would inform future activity and support provided to organisations. There will be continued efforts to raise awareness of the subgroup and to increase membership. Members will continue to receive support including receiving information of potential funding opportunities. • Once the transport survey results are known this will also inform future activity and may generate some new interest in a subgroup meeting. The subgroup activity will continue to be promoted at events and within governance reviews carried out as part of the Community Solutions funding. Transforming Motherwell – NLC Growth Team • Continued refurbishment of the Former Motherwell Business Centre/Old Town Hall for residential flats. • Continued delivery of an Active Travel Route between the town centre and the civic centre. Page 146 of 352
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NORTHERN CORRIDOR LOCAL OUTCOME IMPROVEMENT PLAN 6 MONTHLY OUTCOMES REPORT PERIOD COVERED: 1st October 2024 – 31 March 2025 PROGRESS AND HIGHLIGHTS: Health Inequalities – Priority Lead, NHS Health Improvement Team • The flyer has been developed for Chryston Clinic with self-referral services links included. • In response to community enquiry regarding suicide prevention training provision Health Improvement have been offering online training ASK TELL. The training dates are shared with the community on regular basis. • Regular updates regarding Mental Health services and clinic development have been provided my North Locality Service Manager • Presentation regarding GP services has been delivered to CB Children and Young People – Priority Lead, NLC Community Partnership Team • Youth engagement consultation with Secondary age young people across the Northern Corridor in schools and Community Organisations. Consultation took place with young people in Chryston High School, Str Maurice’s and Our Lady’s High School • CPT successfully accessed £10k UK SPF to carry out a Participatory Budgeting project targeted at S3 students at Chryston High School in March 2025 to address Mental Health Issues identified by young people with 207 young people participating in voting. Three themes were identified with Mental Health received the highest number of votes. • Young people were involved in consultation and design of play facilities including Lochside Playpark, Cardowan Muga, Kelvin Drive wheeled sports area and Dunalistair Playpark and design a sign competition to name the play facilities with designs submitted by young people. • Successful GAP and UKSP funding of a total of £35k with £20k awarded to support Moodiesburn Scouts group for residential experience and feasibility study and £15k to Auchinloch Community Council and Auchinloch Community Play Project To develop youth provision in the area. Social Integration and Inclusion – Priority Lead, Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire • Due to difficulties in communication, there does seem to be a possible lack of interest in this particular sub-group. Despite this, VANL are very aware of some excellent grassroots action that is already being led by local community groups, including Cloudberry communities, Friends of Gartcosh, Moodiesburn action group etc. These groups are encouraged and supported where necessary to apply for funding from the Community Solutions funding including Mental health and wellbeing fund as well as the Local Area Funding. • The local consortium host Cornerstone have given several presentations and talks to support organisations to promote their activities on ALLIS. Community Transport – Priority Lead, Glenboig Community Development Trust supported by NLC Community Partnership Team • The subgroup is attended by local community organisations, Elected members, SPT and First Bus representatives and new members attending. LOIP PRIORITIES • Health Inequalities • Children and Young People • Social Integration and Inclusion • Community Transport • Moodiesburn West • Building Local Relationships, Trust and Communication Page 147 of 352
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• Problematic bus services identified 245, 132 and 310 services identified by local people. Positive feedback has been received from the local community in relation to improvements due to change in contracts with two new contractors now providing services on these routes. • Northern Corridor Volunteers developed CO Wheels electric car project to support local people to access services. • Glenboig Development Trust continue to operate Community Transport project funded through North Consortium to support older people in Gartcosh and Mount Ellen and 3 local Community Groups including Rural Group to access services. • School transport issues alleviated with First Bus changing the of timing to 38C bus in the morning to support young people to attend school on time. Moodiesburn West – Priority Lead, Moodiesburn Community Action supported by NLC Community Partnership Team • MCA attend and actively contribute and represent the Moodiesburn Community at Community Board Meetings and Board development. • MCA is carrying out ongoing consultation with local people to find out the needs of the local community including at Community Information events held jointly with the Community Partnership Team. This includes events that at Glenmanor Primary in January 2025 with 220 families in attendance and St Michael’s Primary at the end of March 2025 with over 200 families in attendance which were organised around the planned parent’s events within both schools. • Through consultation, the group have identified the need for facilities across the Moodiesburn area including new play area near St Michael’s Primary, Wheeled sports area at Kelvin Drive, Outdoor Gym at the Pivot Centre and new notice Board to be installed at the Pivot Centre. • Successful GAP and UKSP funding of a total of £25k with £20k awarded to support 2nd Clyde (Moodiesburn) Scouts group and £5K to Moodiesburn Community Action awarded £5k to support local action • MCA now host a community resilience pack through Community Partnership Team containing equipment and resources that can be used to support the local community during severe weather or a national grid failure. Prior to this there was no resilience pack in the Moodiesburn area. • MCA wish to develop a Place Plan for the Moodiesburn area and have met with Coalfields regeneration with a view to progressing this. Building Local Relationships, Trust and Communication – Priority Lead, Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire • To support better communication across the Northern Corridor, a physical notice board has been secured for the car park of the Pivot centre, with installation planned. • Plans were made for VANL and Cornerstone to give additional help to the subgroup in updating the ALISS website with Northern Corridor activities and organisations. Cornerstone would then give training to groups to enable them to keep the information up to date • Local groups now have the facility to have their events publicised on the ‘My Northern Corridor’ website. • The Subgroups feedback indicates that the trust aspect of the subgroup has significantly over the past few years, with the notable attendance and participation of Andrew McPherson both at Community Board meetings and this sub- group Page 148 of 352
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PLANNED ACTIONS/DEVELOPMENTS FOR: 1 April 2025 – 31 September 2025 Health Inequalities – Priority Lead, NHS Health Improvement Team • NHL Health Improvement will no longer support this priority. North Locality Service Manager will take the responsibility moving forward. Children and Young People – Priority Lead, NLC Community Partnership Team • Continue to carry out consultation with young people across Northen Corridor including Glenboig and other Northern Corridor areas as part of ongoing consultation with young people. This consultation is scheduled to be complete Sept 2025. • Following consultation, report will be produced, shared with the Community Board and providers of youth activity across the Northern Corridor with and key actions identified. Social Integration and Inclusion – Priority Lead, Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire • VANL as an organisation are looking into new methods of engagement with local community groups and looking to develop new tools to support integration and inclusion • VANL will reach out and visit grassroots organisations in the area to map both assets and gaps in inclusive and integrated activities that could form the basis for actions in this subgroup • Once groups have been reached out to, and a map of assets and gaps has been created, a plan of priority actions can be suggested, a public meeting can be held to get input and hopefully interest from people who are able to attend meetings to work on the priorities. It is vital that any priorities build on and can work alongside the grassroots actions and groups that are already running in the area. Community Transport – Priority Lead, Glenboig Community Development Trust supported by NLC Community Partnership Team • Continue to identify local issues and raise these with local transport providers. • Continue to look at local solutions to resolve transport issues across the Northern Corridor including Glenboig Development and Co Wheels electric car project. Moodiesburn West – Priority Lead, Moodiesburn Community Action supported by NLC Community Partnership Team • Continue consultation with the local community to identify local issues and potential project developments for example LDP projects planned for 2025-2026 and reopening of Pivot Centre in approx. 2026. Building Local Relationships, Trust and Communication – Priority Lead, Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire • Devise a protocol to ensure that all NC wide community activities can be posted on to the ‘My Northern Corridor’ Facebook page. • Coordinate the above tasks to ensure that people who are not online or on Facebook have access to the same information through the new physical notice board at the Pivot Centre. • Subgroup of the wider group to be set up with a focus on working to ensure that all Northern Corridor groups are put onto ALLIS when associated permissions are established. • This subgroup will also support training around ALLIS to ensure that groups are able to update the database in future whenever any changes occur, or new services and activities start. Page 149 of 352
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SHOTTS LOCAL OUTCOME IMPROVEMENT PLAN 6 MONTHLY OUTCOMES REPORT PERIOD COVERED: 1st October 2024 – 31 March 2025 PROGRESS AND HIGHLIGHTS: Digital Inclusion – Priority Lead, VANL • A focus for the subgroup has been to identify digital training for volunteers. • Digital Training - VANL has introduced a new training programme developed from feedback from the community. This commenced in Jan 2025 and will run up till June 2025. During this period cyber resilience training and digital accounting courses were delivered. The training calendar for the next period will be discussed and shared in due course. • Digital Volunteer Recruitment - There is a new digital NL volunteering platform. Discussions have taken place with GBT to promote their volunteering vacancies. These will be available in the next reporting period. Training and support for this platform is offered as organisations manage the information. This allows organisations to use digital to promote volunteering opportunities and for potential volunteers to apply for roles. This is being promoted widely including with JCP staff where people are looking for volunteering as part of an employability journey. This system also includes a feature to produce reports detailing volunteering numbers and hours which can be used by organisations for funding applications. • North Lanarkshire Council is in the process of rolling out a public Wi-Fi service across the region. This will allow the community to have greater access to services, information and the opportunity to take part in consultations etc. This is also a positive change for anyone where finances impact their digital connectivity. This service will be available in various locations, including: Schools, Libraries, Leisure centres, Community centres and hubs, town centres, retirement housing complexes and public-facing council buildings. The implementation of this service was scheduled to be complete by December 2024. This was discussed at the DDL group and information shared with the wider community board. Community Engagement – Priority Lead, NLC Community Partnership Team • During Quarter 3 and Quarter 4, the Community Engagement Subgroup progressed two community engagement projects. Spotlight Shotts has played a leading role in the planning stages of the Stane Community Safety Project with strong foundations laid through evidence gathering, data analysis, and stakeholder discussions. • In parallel, a new initiative was scoped to promote youth involvement in local governance structures, including increasing youth participation in Community Board meetings and Local Outcome Improvement Plan (LOIP) subgroups. Both actions align directly with North Lanarkshire’s aspiration to build inclusive, community-led decision-making. • The early design and development of these projects demonstrate our commitment to respond to local issues raised through community board discussions. Work was data-led and focused on empowering marginalised groups, notably children and young people, to influence civic processes. • Another key success during this period was the strengthening of our partnership working. The subgroup benefited from strong collaboration between the Community Partnership Team, Spotlight Shotts, Harthill, Eastfield and Greenrigg (HEG) Community Fund, local schools, and other stakeholders. The subgroup’s continued focus on inclusive, collaborative working will be central to sustaining long-term community impact. • Digital Inclusion • Community Engagement • Community Safety • Mental Health and Wellbeing • Tackling Poverty and Inequalities • Environment • Transport • Town and Community Hubs and Town Vision Page 150 of 352
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• The collective efforts of the subgroup members have enabled us to turn our objectives into practical outcomes for the communities within Fortissat ward. Throughout the period we have been focused on demonstrating community empowerment in action by delivering a good range of engagement events and projects. Every activity has been utilised to further understand the needs and aspirations of our communities. Community Safety – Priority Lead, Police Scotland Protect & Educate Young Persons: • PS Campus Officer & SFRS delivered Fire Safety continue to deliver inputs across all education establishments, High Schools and Primary Schools accompanying a wide range of seasonal topics including Fire Safety, Online Safety & Cyber Bullying. LPT funding secured. Violence Reduction ASB Workshops to be delivered at Calderhead High School by Graeme Armstrong. • Off Road Bike initiative - Analytical Review conducted due to increase in complaints regarding off road bikes. Action Plan regenerated for future focus days of Action. Liaised with Community Engagement Subgroup for additional CCTV in hotspot areas & Local Elected members consulted with. Protect Vulnerable Persons: • Lanarkshire Preventions raising awareness of Bogus Worker activity through social media outlets providing advice and support to families including awareness campaigns at Sheltered Housing complexes. Engage with Communities & Partners to Improve Service Delivery: • Multi-agency Partnership HUB meeting Piloted between 14/11/2024 – 13/02/2025 with a 3-month review completed by partners. Partners in NLC Housing, ASIT, Police Scotland & SFRS have met weekly over the course of the pilot period to discuss areas of concern, providing early and effective interventions adapting a multi-agency joint approach. Upon review of the pilot, partners have agreed to continue with the weekly meeting going forward to build on relationships, prioritise locations and areas in the locality which require action to support communities and improve quality of life. Mental Health and Wellbeing – Priority Lead, NHS Health Improvement Team • The subgroup membership continues to grow with representation from both community and voluntary sector and statutory services which strengthens collaboration and increase partnership working in relation to mental health and wellbeing. • Mental Health and Wellbeing continues to be threaded through various structures including LPG and consortia. The local consortia have funded several local projects to support Mental Health and Wellbeing. LPG priorities align with LOIP's H&SC staff continue to build capacity by providing outreach services increasing awareness of service to support MH&WB in the area. The Enabling Approach is now well established in the Wishaw locality and continues to focus on delivering person-centred care and innovative solutions, it helps individuals regain independence and live well within their own communities. Mental Health and Wellbeing Subgroup and LPG provides opportunities for H&SC staff and CVS staff to work together to support the enabling approach, through the wide range of services available in the community by linking people to services to reduce isolation loneliness and improve both mental and physical health. • Spotlight Shotts were successful in receiving funding from the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival. In response to the festival’s theme In/Visible, presented Discovering Hartwood a multi-layered arts event which celebrated and shared stories of the hidden history of Hartwood Hospital in Shotts. Over 100 local people attended the event and enjoyed storytelling performances, live music, drama workshops and an exhibition as well as access to mental health and wellbeing resources. Subgroup members Getting Better Together Shotts held a " Rhythm to Release" session for young people in Shotts during Scottish Mental Health Art Festival. Rhythm to Release used African Drums and other instruments to focus on sound and movement to process and regulate emotions, to support mental health. 12 young people attended the 4-hour session they reported enjoying being allowed to make a noise and express themselves and having fun trying new instruments some of which they had never seen before. GBT staff said it was nice to see young people smile and relax during session. • Locality H&SC Service Directory has been developed to support local people and staff to better access the right support and to ensure a holistic approach is taken to their health and wellbeing Tackling Poverty and Inequalities – No Priority Lead, Currently Under Review • In partnership with the locality Health Visiting Team and Routes to Work, Employability has been introduced as a Routine Enquiry to the Universal Health Visiting Pathway to address child poverty. The referral pathway ensures all Shotts families engaged with Health Visiting Team now receive a routine enquiry of employability with an appropriate referral to the Scottish Government Working for Families Programme. Link: Supporting Families in Page 151 of 352
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North Lanarkshire | Working for Families. 30 Families have been referred to the Working for Families Programme to date. Pathway extended to all North Lanarkshire Health Visiting teams • Public Health Scotland highlighted prioritising Financial Wellbeing as a Routine Enquiry as a way the NHS could maximise their contribution to tackle child poverty, which has been successfully embedded into the Health Visitor pathway locally for a number of years now. Routine Enquiry Financial Wellbeing training has now been delivered to the District Nursing Team - 73% of staff have attended training. • Bowel Cancer Awareness Sessions delivered in partnership with Culture Junction, 9 creative engagement workshop programmes, were delivered to 88 people. Focusing on bowel cancer screening, Wishaw and Shotts were identified as priority areas for this work, due to the low uptake of bowel screening in these localities. Participants and staff commented on the creative arts approach being an enjoyable and fun way to discuss a serious topic. The artwork gave participants the opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings if they wanted to, in a creative, informal way • Cancer screening and inequalities presentations delivered to Wishaw community members via Community Boards. • Cancer Screening Brief Conversations were introduced to Treatment Rooms in the Wishaw Locality. The aim is to raise awareness of cancer screening for patients when attending appointments. To support this work, the Treatment Room staff received Cancer Screening and Inequalities Training, Prompt sheets with key messages on Signs and symptoms and sources of support. 361 cancer screening conversation have taken place by end of March 2025. Environment – Priority Lead, VANL • The subgroup agreed to look at larger projects which resulted in work around a heritage project proposal. This would include the areas of greenspace sites and transport. The proposal included three different projects including a bike clear-out project, the clean communities Initiative and the healthy walks project. • It was agreed that members of both Wishaw and Shotts subgroups would work together. Discussions took place regarding the best approach to take this forward. It was agreed that the proposal would be submitted to the National Lottery for feedback before any additional work was undertaken. This was to ensure the proposal aligned with the fund and if it did not then guidance could be provided to make any adjustments. Partners acknowledged that further development of the proposal would require significant time and effort. It was agreed that there would be three primary partners: SocialTrack, Newmains Community Trust (NCT) and Getting Better Together with the option to expand collaboration as needed. Cairney Cycles expressed their interest in collaboration as a contractor to the NCT activities. Each of the three partners would be responsible solely for their respective parts of the project with clear roles and responsibilities established from the beginning. • The VANL lead contacted the National Lottery and submitted the proposal for initial review and feedback/recommendations. The feedback received was that this proposal did not meet the funders requirements. The subgroup decided to pursue other funding opportunities which is ongoing and will continue into the next period. • This is a well-established subgroup with a large distribution list. Marketing material including a poster has been designed to promote the subgroup with an aim to both raise awareness and increase the membership further. • Members will continue to receive regular news and updates going forward as well as discussing and sharing their own updates. This information will be shared with the community board and wider community matters list. Transport – Priority Lead, VANL • This subgroup overlaps with some aspects of the environmental subgroup. • The subgroup had discussed transport. There is a wider NLC transport survey. Once available these findings will be shared with subgroup members and any potential actions/activities will be planned. The results of this survey will be used for planning future activity. • Transport has been an issue for Shotts residents requiring to travel from Shotts to other areas of North Lanarkshire and beyond. • A VANL member of staff with an employability focus attended a drop-in session to discuss transport as an issue for those seeking employment. VANL also shared the details of these drop-in sessions with the NL CVS Employability Network and with the NL Local Employability Partnership so that employability providers could contribute and represent those with transport issues relating to employment. This also has an impact on the wider poverty agenda. Page 152 of 352
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• Transport and active travel are two main issues in Shotts resulting in ongoing work with local schools. GBT has worked a local school on a bike project. There are also opportunities to volunteer in the bike store and learn how to fix bikes. • There are plans to engage with schools in the Spring of 2025 in relation with bike projects. The heritage project that was a focus during the last year will hopefully go ahead but this is subject to funding. Any updates will be shared if funding is secured. PLANNED ACTIONS/DEVELOPMENTS FOR: 1 April 2025 – 31 September 2025 Digital Inclusion – Priority Lead, VANL • Subgroup members will continue to raise any connectivity issues with WIFI as well as continuing to map any current/new provision. This will be ongoing, and any updates/issues will be shared with relevant departments. • Certain areas suffer from poor network connectivity; however, the current ongoing 5G network upgrade may improve this. Areas experiencing poor connectivity will be shared. It is hoped the new 5G developments will assist especially for these areas. This will continue to be discussed. These issues will be shared with the DDL group and wider community board. • BT continues to offer meetings to support the local community willing to change their phones from analogue to digital. Any developments will continue to be discussed and shared with the wider community board. • Digital provision will be discussed. There was a plan to engage digital champion volunteers within the library however due to staffing changes within the library this has not been possible. This will be picked up again once circumstances allow. • New and existing organisation will be advised of the free cyber resilience training being offered by VANL. This will assist with the longer-term security of these organisations. • Database updates remain a priority. Organisations will be asked to update their activity to both the NL Digital Map and ALISS (A local information system for Scotland). • Promotion and membership of the subgroup will continue into the next reporting period. Community Engagement – Priority Lead, NLC Community Partnership Team • To improve youth participation and engagement, a structured youth participation pathway will be co- designed and piloted, aiming to embed young people as active contributors across LOIP activity. Additional developmental support will be provided to increase confidence, build advocacy skills, and improve accessibility of participation channels. These forward steps are essential in meeting the full ambition of the subgroup’s community engagement goals, ensuring equity, sustainability, and community influence in local decision-making. • Work will continue with Getting Better Together and other partners to finalise and publish a local engagement calendar and integrate this with other available tools and platforms to widen community access. Community Safety – Priority Lead, Police Scotland • None Identified. Mental Health and Wellbeing – Priority Lead, NHS Health Improvement Team • Wellness in Wishaw event on Wednesday, 09 April, a gathering dedicated to showcasing local health, wellbeing, and social care services available in our community. People from Wishaw and Shotts are welcome to join the exciting and informative day at the Houldsworth Centre, Wishaw, from 11.30am-2.30pm. The free- to-attend event will have something for everyone with people being able to learn more about local health services, find support groups, or simply enjoy a day out with family and friends. The day will feature teams from NHS Lanarkshire, Social work, University Health & Social Care North Lanarkshire, Alzheimer’s Scotland, Lanarkshire Carers, Mental health support teams, Addiction Support services, Veterans Support, community development projects, and many more. https://www.nhslanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk/news-wellness-in-wishaw/ • Members of LOIP subgroups trained as Health Issue in the Community (HIIC) trainers, to provide projects across the area to support people of all ages better understand what affects their health and the health of their community. The projects will support participants gain a broad understanding of the social model of Page 153 of 352
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health, health inequalities, power & participation and community development approaches in health and how they can use it to make change happen in their community. Tackling Poverty and Inequalities – No Priority Lead, Currently Under Review • None Identified. Environment – Priority Lead, VANL • In Q1 there were several issues raised and discussed. These have continued to be a focus for the full year. This included greenspace sites, public transport access, transport infrastructure and affordability. Some of this will fall into the NL wide transport survey which the results will be discussed and reviewed by this subgroup. • Transport issues in Shotts area i.e. a lack of appropriate public transport access can be a barrier to visiting areas. • The subgroup agreed to look at larger projects which resulted in work around a heritage project proposal. It was agreed that members of both Wishaw and Shotts subgroups would work together. This would involve three primary partners which are SocialTrack, Newmains Community Trust and Getting Better Together Shotts. The initial funder identified was not an option so new funding opportunities will be pursued in the period going forward. Initial research has identified Archaeology Scotland (AS) as a potential funder. The three organisations noted above will contact AS directly. • It is hoped the work started by Hartwood Development Group at the beginning of the year around a dog park which is currently on hold will continue. • This is a well-established subgroup with a large distribution list. Marketing material including a poster has been designed to promote the subgroup with an aim to increase the membership further. • Transport issues are being reported and discussed at subgroup meetings. Attendees share details and information regarding local issues. These issues will be shared with the wider Community Board. A number of these issues were identified in Q1 some of which are larger longer-term issues for partners to address. • Scottish SEPA flood maps were used during the meeting to identify the local flooded areas which has an impact on the local community. ScotRail Customer Relations is involved in resolving some of the issues. Updates will be shared when available. Transport – Priority Lead, VANL • See above comments for Environment as these two priorities overlap. • Hartwood Development Group worked on an intergenerational project with Calderhead Secondary School and St. Aidan's High School. Getting Better Together worked on bike projects, and active travel. This work is ongoing and likely to come back during springtime 2025. Page 154 of 352
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WISHAW LOCAL OUTCOME IMPROVEMENT PLAN 6 MONTHLY OUTCOMES REPORT PERIOD COVERED: 1st October 2024 – 31 March 2025 PROGRESS AND HIGHLIGHTS: Digital Inclusion – Priority Lead, VANL • Mapping of current digital provision continued and expanding to include specific areas and circumstances, e.g. buses, train station issues with the gsm signal and the network upgrade. This work will continue to cover 5G networks when available. Organisations are asked and encouraged to add their details to ALISS (A local information system for Scotland and the NL Digital Map facilitated by Comms World. • During the mapping/gapping exercise it was noted that the Netherton areas as well as the train station has issues with the gsm signal. There are ongoing 5G network upgrades, it is hoped this may bring improvement. This is a longer-term piece of work and will continue into the next period. An update will be shared once this is known. • Discussions took place with NLC colleagues to ascertain the roll out of public WIFI. This was scheduled to complete by December 2024. This provision will be reported on going forward. • North Lanarkshire Council is in the process of rolling out public Wi-Fi across North Lanarkshire. This service will be available in various locations including schools, libraries, leisure centres, community centres and hubs and town centres to name a few. In addition to this WIFI is available in other areas including some businesses and public transport hubs (e.g., ScotRail stations). This rollout will assist those with poor or no connectivity. • The subgroup reviewed and mapped digital training for volunteers. • VANL has introduced a training calendar which now includes several digital focused topics including Cyber resilience in the third sector, digital accountancy and digital budgeting. These topics have been introduced based on feedback and to assist with a more digital resilient community and voluntary sector. • VANL launched the new NL Volunteering platform (formerly known as Kinetic). This has and is being promoted widely throughout North Lanarkshire and the Wishaw locality. Some Wishaw organisations are listed on the site with their volunteering opportunities. This is a new way of digitising volunteering recruitment. This has been promoted widely with partners who can support people they are working with to apply for volunteering opportunities. These partners include JCP, several employability providers and local CVS organisations. Volunteering is very often utilised for several reasons i.e. to assist with mental health & isolation and for gaining skills, and experience for employability which can assist with poverty. • Local organisations engaged with this platform include Go Kids Performing Arts, Lanarkshire Cancer Care Trust, Fool On, Made 4 Uin ML2 and Newmains Community Trust. These organisations provide valuable services within the Wishaw area. See some information below. One example is where volunteers assist local people to access transport to take them for cancer treatment. The second example involves volunteers who are gaining skills within a café environment which may assist with employability, the café is also a place where local people can come together which may impact on isolation. The income generated from the café provides other activities for the community to enjoy and benefit from. LOIP PRIORITIES • Digital Inclusion • Community Engagement • Community Safety • Mental Health and Wellbeing • Tackling Poverty and Inequalities • Environment Page 155 of 352
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Community Engagement – Priority Lead, NLC Community Partnership Team • Over the past six months, the Wishaw Community Engagement Subgroup has made significant progress in delivering inclusive, place-based engagement activities across the locality. In October 2024, the subgroup led a targeted consultation around the future of two key local play areas, Cambusnethan Memorial Park and Waverley Drive. Ensuring that the voices of local families and residents were actively sought and reflected in shaping local improvements. This approach reaffirmed the subgroup’s commitment to responding to community need through direct participation and transparent dialogue. • Further engagement took place through a walk-about event in partnership with the Branchalwood Estate Community Group. This participatory session allowed residents to reflect on improvements made to the local nature walk and share views on the priorities for phase two of the project. In addition, a Friends of Beltane Park session brought local residents together to explore the potential for forming a constituted group focused on enhancing and caring for the park, reinforcing the subgroup’s support for community-led action and local stewardship. • Building on this momentum, in Quarter 4 the subgroup designed and initiated a new engagement plan focused on the Tinto and Greenhead areas of Wishaw. The work began with a mapping exercise to identify local groups, organisations, and stakeholders. This formed the basis for developing a tailored community survey to better understand local interests, aspirations, and barriers to involvement. The subgroup’s evidence-based approach ensures engagement is both responsive and inclusive, positioning the area for greater community cohesion and active citizenship. • A series of engagement events were delivered in partnership with Newmains Community Trust and Newmains & District Community Council to support the development of the Newmains & District Community Action Plan, including awareness-raising during Challenge Poverty Week in October 2024, and a final check-in event in February 2025 to provide the wider community with a further opportunity to comment on the identified priorities and actions before the plan is finalised and launched later in the year. • Tinto and Greenhead communities were identified through SIMD data analysis and previous consultation as priority engagement areas. Targeted outreach and bespoke engagement activities were initiated in Quarter 3. Involving Central Wishaw Community Council and the Community Partnership Team. Several suggestions have been identified for potential developments under the Local Development Programme. Community Safety – Priority Lead, Police Scotland Protect & Educate Young Persons: • PS Campus Officer & SFRS delivered Fire Safety continue to deliver inputs across all education establishments, High Schools and Primary Schools accompanying a wide range of seasonal topics including Fire Safety, Online Safety & Page 156 of 352
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Cyber Bullying. LPT funding secured. Violence Reduction ASB Workshops to be delivered at Clyde Valley, St Aidens & Coltness High School by Graeme Armstrong. • Off Road Bike initiative - Analytical Review conducted due to increase in complaints regarding off road bikes. Action Plan regenerated for future focus days of Action. Liaised with Community Engagement Subgroup for additional CCTV in hotspot areas & Local Elected members consulted with. Protect Vulnerable Persons: • Police Scotland met with E&D Consultant at Wishaw Hospital to improve relationships and review Missing Patients Protocols. • Lanarkshire Preventions raising awareness of Bogus Worker activity through social media outlets providing advice and support to families including awareness campaigns at Sheltered Housing complexes. • Veterans Group – Community Officer’s offering advice to the V1P Veterans First point Lanarkshire. The group meet at Centre Point 70 Smith Avenue, Wishaw on the last Thursday of the month. Engage with Communities & Partners to Improve Service Delivery: • PS Community Officers attending Community Council Meetings to provide updates to community members and respond to concerns. • Multi-agency Partnership HUB meeting Piloted between 14/11/2024 – 13/02/2025 with a 3-month review completed by partners. Partners in NLC Housing, ASIT, Police Scotland & SFRS have met weekly over the course of the pilot period to discuss areas of concern, providing early and effective interventions adapting a multi-agency joint approach. Upon review of the pilot, partners have agreed to continue with the weekly meeting going forward to build on relationships, prioritise locations and areas in the locality which require action to support communities and improve quality of life. • In Q4, the Lanarkshire CAT continues to engage and educate on the reduction of ASB and the related secondary fires within schools and the wider community. • SFRS Lanarkshire conduct Fire Reach courses to provide a unique opportunity for young people to attend a five-day course, where they can gain valuable skills and newfound confidence. By participating and completing the course, they also receive an employability award. Throughout the week, the participants develop their skills and grow in confidence, which can have a positive impact on their future endeavours. Fire Reach courses contribute to the personal and professional development of these young people, helping them acquire skills that will benefit them in various aspects of their lives. Mental Health and Wellbeing – Priority Lead, NHS Health Improvement Team • Subgroup membership continues to grow with representation from both community and voluntary sector and statutory services which strengthens collaboration and increase partnership working in relation to mental health and wellbeing. • World Mental Health Day 10th October 2024 – at the King George V Community Garden at University Hospital Wishaw. The event supported the Local Outcome Improvement Plan priorities for Mental Health & Wellbeing and Community Safety. It was wonderful to see the sense of partnership and community with 12 statutory and CVS organisation coming together to support the event. 100 people attended, including volunteers, patients, staff, local people, and pupils from St Thomas’s and Berryhill primary schools. Attendees participated in a diverse range of activities, including cycling, arts and crafts, gardening, smoothie bike and drumming session. There was also a chance to have a cuppa and a chat, with mental health service with refreshments kindly donated by Tesco and Morrison’s. Activities were designed to demonstrate accessible ways to promote mental wellbeing that can be easily incorporated into daily life and work routines. • Mental Health and Wellbeing continues to be threaded through various structures including LPG and consortia. The local consortia have funded several local projects to support Mental Health and Wellbeing. LPG priorities align with LOIP's H&SC staff continue to build capacity by providing outreach services increasing awareness of service to support MH&WB in the area. The Enabling Approach is now well established in the Wishaw locality and continues to focus on delivering person-centred care and innovative solutions, it helps individuals regain independence and live well within their own communities. Mental Health and Wellbeing Subgroup and LPG provides opportunities for H&SC staff and CVS staff to work together to support the enabling approach, through the wide range of services available in the community by linking people to services to reduce isolation loneliness and improve both mental and physical health. • Locality H&SC Service Directory has been developed to support local people and staff to better access the right support and to ensure a holistic approach is taken to their health and wellbeing. Page 157 of 352
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Tackling Poverty and Inequalities – No Priority Lead, Currently Under Review • In partnership with the locality Health Visiting Team and Routes to Work, Employability has been introduced as a Routine Enquiry to the Universal Health Visiting Pathway to address child poverty. The referral pathway ensures all Shotts families engaged with Health Visiting Team now receive a routine enquiry of employability with an appropriate referral to the Scottish Government Working for Families Programme. Link: Supporting Families in North Lanarkshire | Working for Families. 30 Families have been referred to the Working for Families Programme to date. Pathway extended to all North Lanarkshire Health Visiting teams • Public Health Scotland highlighted prioritising Financial Wellbeing as a Routine Enquiry as a way the NHS could maximise their contribution to tackle child poverty; which has been successfully embedded into the Health Visitor pathway locally for several years now. Routine Enquiry Financial Wellbeing training has now been delivered to the District Nursing Team - 73% of staff have attended training. • Bowel Cancer Awareness Sessions delivered in partnership with Culture Junction, 9 creative engagement workshop programmes, were delivered to 88 people. Focusing on bowel cancer screening, Wishaw and Shotts were identified as priority areas for this work, due to the low uptake of bowel screening in this locality. Participants and staff commented on the creative arts approach being an enjoyable and fun way to discuss a serious topic. The artwork gave participants the opportunity to share their thoughts and feelings if they wanted to, in a creative, informal way • Cancer screening and inequalities presentations delivered to Wishaw community members via Community Boards. • Cancer Screening Brief Conversations were introduced to Treatment Rooms in the Wishaw Locality. The aim is to raise awareness of cancer screening for patients when attending appointments. To support this work the Treatment Room staff received Cancer Screening and Inequalities Training, Prompt sheets with key messages on Signs and symptoms and sources of support. 361 cancer screening conversation have taken place by end of March 2025 Environment – Priority Lead, VANL • The subgroup agreed to look at larger projects which resulted in work around a heritage project proposal. This would include the areas of greenspace sites and transport. The proposal included three different projects including a bike clear-out project, the clean communities Initiative and the healthy walks project. • It was agreed that members of both Wishaw and Shotts subgroups would work together. Discussions took place regarding the best approach to take this forward. It was agreed that the proposal would be submitted to the National Lottery for feedback before any additional work was undertaken. This was to ensure the proposal aligned with the fund and if it did not then guidance could be provided to make any adjustments. Partners acknowledged that further development of the proposal would require significant time and effort. It was agreed that there would be three primary partners: SocialTrack, Newmains Community Trust (NCT) and Getting Better Together with the option to expand collaboration as needed. Cairney Cycles expressed their interest in collaboration as a contractor to the NCT activities. Each of the three partners would be responsible solely for their respective parts of the project with clear roles and responsibilities established from the beginning. • The VANL lead contacted the National Lottery and submitted the proposal for initial review and feedback/recommendations. The feedback received was that this proposal did not meet the funders requirements. The subgroup decided to pursue other funding opportunities which is ongoing and will continue into the next period. • This is a well-established subgroup with a large distribution list. Marketing material including a poster has been designed to promote the subgroup with an aim to both raise awareness and increase the membership further. • Members will continue to receive regular news and updates going forward as well as discussing and sharing their own updates. This information will be shared with the community board and wider community matters list. • Organisations within the subgroup will receive funding updates and information based on those funders with an environmental remit. This will include details of Getting Better Together who are the host organisation for Community Solutions funding for the Wishaw and Shotts areas. This funding aligns with local outcome improvement plans. • Young people in Wishaw from the areas of Wishawhill, Pather and Craigneuk attended Social Track activities including visiting the pumptrack, bike awareness and environmental awareness (bushcraft). Young people from Newmains attended bike projects at NCT in Newmains delivered by Cairney Cycles. Page 158 of 352
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• VANL attends the hub meetings of Newmains & St Brigid’s Hub. There are plans to link the subgroup with the hub potentially in the year ahead. PLANNED ACTIONS/DEVELOPMENTS FOR: 1 April 2025 – 31 September 2025 Digital Inclusion – Priority Lead, VANL • Mapping and gapping will continue to check on any issues/improvements with the ongoing 5G network upgrades. Updates will be shared going forward. • The subgroup will continue to discuss WIFI provision and accessibility and connectivity going forward. • The subgroup are keen to assess network speed, websites and services have been identified to monitor this. This speed largely depends on the network operator and the location. This mapping will be shared with DDL group. • The North Lanarkshire Council roll out of public Wi-Fi in Wishaw will be reviewed and any issues will be shared with the DDL group and wider community board. • Mapping of digital provision will continue, and organisations will be encouraged to add their details to both ALISS (a local information system for Scotland) and the NL Digital Map facilitated by Comms World. • Promotion of the subgroup will continue on an ongoing basis both to share the work it does and to engage with potential new members. Community Engagement – Priority Lead, NLC Community Partnership Team • Between April and September 2025, the subgroup will finalise and roll out a programme of training and information sessions designed to upskill residents and CVS organisations in democratic participation and active citizenship. This will include refining the draft programme, confirming session content, securing delivery partners, and launching a promotional campaign to encourage participation. Training will focus on areas such as understanding local democracy, participatory budgeting, community asset transfer, governance, and community engagement skills. • Piloting of sessions will take place over summer 2025, allowing time for feedback and refinement ahead of a wider rollout. Sessions will be delivered through a mix of workshops, seminars, and support surgeries, with a focus on accessibility and inclusion. An evaluation framework will be embedded from the outset to measure impact, capture learning, and inform ongoing development of the programme. • The public launch of the Newmains Community Action Plan is scheduled for April 2025. Newmains Community Trust has been confirmed as the anchor organisation for the plan and following the launch they will recruit interested residents and CVS organisation to become more involved in the implementation of the actions. A small amount of funding has been secured to allow projects and activities be delivered. Community Safety – Priority Lead, Police Scotland • None Identified Mental Health and Wellbeing – Priority Lead, NHS Health Improvement Team • Wellness in Wishaw event on Wednesday, 09 April, a gathering dedicated to showcasing local health, wellbeing, and social care services available in our community. People from Wishaw and Shotts are welcome to join the exciting and informative day at the Houldsworth Centre, Wishaw, from 11.30am-2.30pm. The free- to-attend event will have something for everyone with people being able to learn more about local health services, find support groups, or simply enjoy a day out with family and friends. The day will feature teams from NHS Lanarkshire, Social work, University Health & Social Care North Lanarkshire, Alzheimer’s Scotland, Lanarkshire Carers, Mental health support teams, Addiction Support services, Veterans Support, community development projects, and many more. https://www.nhslanarkshire.scot.nhs.uk/news-wellness-in-wishaw/ • Members of LOIP subgroups trained as Health Issue in the Community (HIIC) trainers, to provide projects across the area to support people of all ages better understand what affects their health and the health of their community. The projects will support participants gain a broad understanding of the social model of health, health inequalities, power & participation and community development approaches in health and how they can use it to make change happen in their community. Tackling Poverty and Inequalities – No Priority Lead, Currently Under Review Page 159 of 352
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• None Identified Environment – Priority Lead, VANL • There have been discussions and a survey carried out around transport issues within the Wishaw area. • Some issues shared include the cost of public transport with buses being more expensive than trains. Train services need improvement. Ongoing roadworks. Safety concerns for vulnerable individuals attempting to travel independently. A wider transport survey is taking place and the results of this will be shared and discussed within the subgroup. This may inform future subgroup activity. • Subgroup members and the VANL lead will share opportunities to get involved in other groups and meetings. Any updates will be shared with subgroup members and the wider community board. Members are encouraged to watch or read the papers from relevant NLC committee meetings where environmental topics are covered. • There are plans to link the subgroup with Newmains & St Brigid’s Hub. VANL will continue to attend Hub meetings and promote the work of the subgroup until that link happens. • Whilst this subgroup is environment the results of the larger transport survey may show some activity around active travel which could be addressed by this subgroup for the Wishaw area Page 160 of 352
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Appendix 2 Local Outcome Improvement Plans – Online Highlights Pages Please click on each individual area to see LOIP highlights. Page 161 of 352
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Communities Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref SP/LP Date 18/08/25 Proposed LOIP Review and timeline 2025-2027 From Stephen Penman, Chief Officer (Strategy and Engagement) E-mail penmanste@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07947 997750 1. Background 1.1 The current Local Outcome Improvement Plans (LOIPs) are due for review and relaunch from 2027. The LOIPs set out an approach to working with and empowering local communities, enabling them to contribute to, influence and shape locally identified priorities that contribute to achieving the vision set out in the Plan for North Lanarkshire through grassroots, community led action 1.2 Throughout 2020/21 extensive community and stakeholder engagement took place across the nine Community Board areas, as well as dialogue with key services and partners to determine local priorities for each of the individual Community Board areas. Community Board ‘short life’ working groups analysed the information from engagement alongside data, intelligence and local knowledge to produce a Local Outcome Improvement Plan for each Community Board area. The LOIPs were Executive Summary This report sets out the proposed timeline and approach for reviewing the nine Local Outcome Improvement Plans with refreshed local plans for delivery to be realised from April 2027. The proposed approach is outlined in Appendix 2 for delivery with key partnership officers. Recommendations It is recommended that the Communities Committee: (1) Acknowledges the significant work carried out to date across key council services and partner agencies. (2) Approves the outline and timeline of the upcoming review of the Local Outcome developments plans. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Enhance participation, capacity, and empowerment across our communities Ambition statement (19) Improve engagement with communities and develop their capacity to help themselves Programme of Work Resilient People Item 6 Page 163 of 352
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published in Autumn 2021. The current LOIPs outline the key priorities for each Community Board area based on the needs of our local communities 2. Report Current delivery approach 2.1 Each LOIP priority has an assigned lead (Priority Lead) to ensure partners prioritise delivery and progress with the local community and voluntary sector agencies. In many cases a subgroup has been established to focus on addressing the priority. Where subgroups are required, they should be made up of local community and voluntary sector groups and public sector agencies and work should be allocated as appropriate. Each of the subgroups or delivery mechanisms, via the Priority Lead, updates actions and progress into a shared Management and Monitoring Framework. The priority lead is responsible reporting on progress on behalf of any subgroup or mechanism established to deliver a priority locally, however all involved in the delivery approach have responsibility for taking forward actions and tasks and contributing to reporting on progress 2.2 This process helps make sure that public sector agencies work in partnership with local communities and the voluntary sector to improve the areas and the lives of those who live there. Working in partnership should ensure a focus on the North Lanarkshire ambition to be the place to Live, Learn, Work, Invest and Visit. 2.3 More information on the current LOIPs’ priorities are in the table found in Appendix 1 for each of the nine localities and on North Lanarkshire Council website via this link. 2.4 In line with the expectations set out in the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, the current LOIPs will expire in 2027. This takes account of the guidance for locality planning from Scottish Government and the requirement to have 10-year locality plans published from 2017. At that point the North Lanarkshire approach was focused on smaller neighborhood level plans targeting areas most affected by deprivation or disadvantage. 2.5 The current approach was developed throughout 2020/21 in support of the Plan for North Lanarkshire and the North Lanarkshire Partnership, Strategic Leadership Board (NLP-SLB) Programme of Work priorities. The plans were published from 2021 following community and stakeholder engagement throughout 2020/21. Nationally Community Planning Partnerships have undertaken varying levels of review throughout the life of their locality plans. Taking into consideration the change in approach in 2020/21, it made sense to let the North Lanarkshire LOIPs run until 2027 to allow the approach to mature and develop and to allow some measurement of progress. 2.6 The community and stakeholder engagement and development approach to develop the current LOIPs was as thorough as it could be given that it was undertaken during significant Covid restrictions. It is acknowledged that the circumstances at the time did not necessarily allow for robust or wide ranging participation and therefore ‘buy in’ to the approach as there could have been without restrictions in place. There is also the potential that the circumstances and experiences of communities at that time influenced feedback and therefore the priorities agreed at that time. 2.7 Community and stakeholder engagement needs to be robust to ensure the outcome of the review and local plans are embedded in Community Wealth Building approaches and The Plan for North Lanarkshire (TPFNL). The review needs to work towards key Page 164 of 352
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stakeholders taking ownership for delivery of the priorities agreed with communities as a key and supplementary mechanism to support delivery of their strategic priorities and those set out in TPFNL. 2.8 Stakeholders involved from review to delivery should include: • Communities • CVS organisations • Community Planning Partners and their services and teams • local businesses 2.9 The review should take into consideration: • Current available data both to target engagement and to help define priorities • Feedback on priorities from key stakeholders using a range of mechanisms and tools • The engagement and priority need of equalities groups and those less likely to engage • The current delivery mechanisms and reporting tools • Existing feedback from recent engagement activity • Partner strategic priorities • Alignment with the ambitions and priorities set out in TPFNL. Phases and timeline 2.10 Initial work has focused on mapping out the stakeholder engagement and consultation process with the development of a comprehensive approach and timeline. This includes a review of the current priorities identified by local communities in the original consultation in 2020-21, along with highlighting key timescales/dates to undertake the new consultation process scheduled for 2026, with the aim of launching the new Local Outcome Improvement Plans in 2027. 2.11 The main driver will be community engagement and empowerment approaches to identify important issues and priorities facing local communities. This approach will help support those who live here, contribute to and benefit from, the ambitious vision for North Lanarkshire. The aim is to achieve an effective model of co-production across all key areas of activity that is underpinned by the principles and pillars of Community Wealth Building. 2.12 The proposed timeline is broken into 3 phases: • Phase 1 – Planning, preparation and establishing governance. This phase will focus on ensuring stakeholder buy in and establishing delivery and governance mechanisms for the review • Phase 2 – Community mapping, engagement and participation. This phase will focus on gathering information from extensive community engagement and participation as well as available data and intelligence. • Phase 3 - Data analysis, drafting and launch. This phase will focus on analysing and refining data gathered and working with key stakeholders and communities finalise and launch the new LOIPs and delivery approaches. Partnership role, governance and monitoring 2.13 The North Lanarkshire Partnership Strategic Leadership Board will have oversight and Page 165 of 352
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governance responsibility for the review with regular updates on progress to the Communities Committee and Community Boards. Community Boards should play a local governance role for regular reporting on progress and endorsement of any local approaches and emerging actions. Individual partnership agencies will have responsibility for reporting on progress to their own leadership and governance mechanisms. 2.14 Practically the review will be driven by the North Lanarkshire Partnership Reporting Officers Group with partner action directed to locality and thematic officers as appropriate to ensure the review focuses on engaging with the right people at the right time and that partners at all levels support the review process and final priorities for delivery. The role of partners should include: • Facilitating engagement • Analysing intelligence and data • Working with the community to make sense of feedback and data to determine priorities • Agreeing delivery mechanisms • Being accountable for review, development and delivery both to their own organisation and to the partnership through reports and updates • Continuing to review any agreed actions and to take corrective action where a priority requires it • Considering resource implications for delivery of priorities as they develop 2.15 Built into the review will be an opportunity to consider the partnership supporting delivery mechanisms and monitoring process to ensure they are fit for purpose in ensuring partnership governance and accountability for delivery. It is anticipated that where a local priority reflects a strategic priority, the agency or service with lead responsibility for the strategy will work with the community to agree how they will support the local approach. However, there is also an opportunity to develop much more targeted approaches with a focus on place and/or communities of need or identity to target local partnership resource to testing new approaches that impact on particular local needs. Community Wealth Building approach 2.16 A significant opportunity exists to consider the review and development of the LOIPs through a Community Wealth Building lens across the partnership. There is real potential to consider the role of all sectors including businesses, local communities, the CVS and public sector in supporting approaches that improve the lives of local people and are targeted to delivery in a way that responds to local needs and circumstances. This is an opportunity for the public sector agencies to review how LOIPs can be used as a tool to supplement strategic priorities through grassroots, targeted activity and testing of approaches with those most likely to experience inequalities and areas where the universal approaches are having less of an impact. 3. Measures of Success 3.1 Delivery of stakeholder and community engagement activity as set out in this report. 3.2 Launch of reviewed LOIP’s and local priorities by April 202. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 Table of LOIP priorities Page 166 of 352
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4.2 Appendix 2 Outline of review phases Stephen Penman Chief Officer (Strategy and Engagement) Page 167 of 352
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The Local Outcome Improvement Plans serve to meet the council and community planning partnerships duties under part 2 of the Community Empowerment Act (Community Planning) specifically relating to Locality Planning. The approach has evolved over several years and Legal and Democratic Services have been engaged in this process. 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 168 of 352
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5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 169 of 352
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Appendix 1 Airdrie Coatbridge Bellshill Wishaw Motherwell Cumbernauld Kilsyth Northern Corridor Poverty Poverty Poverty & Food Insecurity Tackling Poverty & Inequalities Tackling Poverty & Inequalities Food & Financial Insecurity Food & Financial Insecurity Children & Young People Mental Health & Emotional Wellbeing Mental Health Mental Health & Emotional Wellbeing Mental Health & Wellbeing Mental Health & Wellbeing Youth Engagement & Consultation Health & Wellbeing Health Inequalities Digital Inclusion Digital Inclusion Digital Inclusion Digital Inclusion Digital Inclusion Digital Inclusion Digital Inclusion Community Transport Community Safety Community Safety Community Safety Greenspace Maintenance & Environmental Quality Improving the environment with a focus on Kilsyth town centre Social Integration & Inclusion Community Resilience and Participation Community Engagement Community Engagement Communication & Engagement Youth Engagement Building local relationships trust & communication Environment Environment Public & Community Transport Public & Community Transport Moodiesburn West Transforming Motherwell Targeted action within identified communities across the Board area Targeted action within identified communities across the Board area Page 170 of 352
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Appendix 2 Draft outline of review phases Phase 1 - Planning, preparation and establishing governance Phase 1 Will consist of identifying key stakeholders and officers from a range of levels from across Community Planning Partner (CPP) agencies. These stakeholders should include officers at a wide range of levels from across CPP agencies. Full stakeholder engagement is critical to the review of the current Local Outcome Improvement Plans and development of future. For this process to succeed it is vital to ensure ‘buy in’, inform and maintain inclusive working relationships and collaboration with all stakeholders involved in the current LOIP delivery. Involving stakeholders with diverse experiences, knowledge will be integral throughout the development process. Stakeholders will include (but not be limited to): • North Lanarkshire Council. (Various departments) • NHS Scotland. • Police Scotland. • Scottish Fire and Rescue. • Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire. • Community Board Chairs. (Representation) • CVS Community Anchor organisations and Equalities Groups Working Groups Partnership Stakeholder Working Group: After initial individual stakeholder meetings, a stakeholder working group will be established with key agency staff from each of the CPP to drive and take forward a collective plan ensuring that current focus remains on one clear approach for continued delivery of the current LOIPs while planning for the review process. This should ensure commitment from CPP organisations for working collectively to drive the review review and consultation and using the findings to inform the refreshed approach. This should include: - • Services and CPP agencies to review their current locality delivery approaches to check effectiveness against supporting the delivery of the LOIPs and Community Boards within each area. • Continue to ensure any current locality partnership delivery models are aligned to support the LOIP approach. • Mechanisms to ensure that lead officers/contacts are held accountable for delivery of actions at a locality level. Working Groups – Internal: The Community Partnership Team (CPT) (and other key services as required) will be establish a working group to drive this process forward within the council. The local knowledge and partnership relationships the Community Partnership Officers (CPO) possess will be vital to shaping the consultation process within each individual community. Throughout the review process the local Community Partnership Officer’s will lead for their areas, with key partners - on collaboratively working with communities, building strong connections with community groups, acting as a trusted point of contact throughout the duration of the review process. They will help to facilitate and support community consultation events and working closely with key partners to ensure the LOIPs consultation helps deliver real benefits for local communities and involved the right people at the right time. It is assumed that other partner agencies will ensure internal governance and updates on the process within their own organisational structures. Internal Management Meetings: Regular progress meetings will be introduced with CPT Management and wider NLC management teams. This is to ensure progress updates and timelines are being adhered to throughout the duration of the review process. Also providing progress reports and updates to and from partners and key stakeholders throughout the duration of the process. It is assumed that other partner agencies will ensure internal governance and updates on the process within their own organisational structures. Page 171 of 352
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Reporting Performance and progress will be reported as follows: - • Progress updates to each cycle of the 9 Community Boards. • 6 monthly progress reports to the NLP Strategic Leadership Board. • 6 monthly progress reports to the NLC Communities Committee. • Other reports and updates as required to committee and CMT • Updates to individual Community Planning Partnership agency as per internal governance and organisational arrangements These reports will highlight progress on work that will have taken place within the phased approach set out highlighting any issues/challenges faced within the implementation process. The NLP Strategic Leadership Board reports will be presented with any challenges, opportunities or recommendations for further consideration that cannot be addressed or agreed at a locality level. The governance and reporting processes established at stage 1 will continue throughout all 3 phases of the review Phase 2 - Community mapping, engagement and participation Phase 2 will consist of the following: Pre-Consultation stage In 2026, work will be undertaken by key stakeholders in relation to the creation of consultation tools and approaches. These basic questions and approaches will be used throughout the engagement campaign to ensure consistency in types of information collated to aid analysis at a later stage. However, delivery approaches and tools will be tailored to specific target groups. Identified venues in each of the nine localities will be used for the consultations, localised workshops and drop-in sessions. These events will be used to further discuss the cumulative work so far and to inform the local priorities Working Groups Working groups established at phase 1 (stakeholders, internal, management) will continue to meet throughout phase 2 to continue to progress the collective plan, ensuring that focus remains on one clear approach for continued delivery of the current LOIPs while committing to the review process. These meetings should ensure • Council services and CPP agencies to remain involved throughout the review, supporting the delivery of the LOIP review within each community boards area. • Ensure any current locality partnership delivery models are aligned to support the LOIP approach. • Lead officers/contacts are accountable for delivery of review actions and development of any emerging actions at a locality level. Marketing The online and face to face premarketing campaign is projected to commence in spring 2026 until the official LOIP consultation launch date in summer of 2026 and beyond to launch of the new LOIPs in 2027. This will include pamphlets, posters and digital content tailored to different age groups and cultural backgrounds, utilising social media, websites and local newspapers to reach the widest possible audience. Wider Community Engagement Following on from the stakeholder engagement, it will be important to engage with the wider community around our ambitions to create and develop new LOIPs for each of the community board areas. Local knowledge and views on each community’s needs and aspirations will be vital in developing the LOIPs’ to reflect the circumstances for each of the 9 areas. Workshops with the wider community will be introduced including service users, local representatives and activists, equalities groups and community and voluntary sector agencies as below: • Elected members Page 172 of 352
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• Council and partner service users • All community boards • Community councils • Tenant & Resident Groups • Youth Forums • Schools and education establishments • Parent Councils • Local individuals within communities • Local Businesses • Equalities Groups • Residents This approach will be undertaken using a Community Wealth Building approach to ensure any agreed actions and priorities reflect the need to ensure that local people are at the heart of and can benefit from agreed collective actions. Targeted Engagement Efforts will be made to ensure the approach to engagement is inclusive and barrier free at all stages and activities. However, acknowledging that some groups may find it more challenging than others to engage or be less likely to engage in wider activity, targeted engagement activity will be arranged to ensure seldom heard voices are listened to. This engagement will play a critical role in fostering collaboration, addressing collective challenges and creating sustainable outcomes. This includes a wide range of categories of people and communities, for example: • Rural communities • Children and young people • Care Experienced Children and Young People • People from ethnic minority backgrounds • New Scots • LGBTQI Community • People with disabilities / additional support needs • Carers • BSL Users • People with visual impairments This approach will heavily rely on the cooperation, skills and experience of services and agencies who already have a relationship with service users identifying as having these characteristics Example Methods of Engagement “Please note” this is not the full list and only some examples: • Face to face stakeholder workshops (one for each of the community board areas) will take place as well as sessions targeted to equalities groups. The workshops will be designed and delivered to further discuss the current priorities and develop the draft LOIPs considering local knowledge and experience and to identify any gaps in data and intelligence. • Community board development sessions (one for each of the community board areas) will also be arranged. This will give the local community the chance to be involved in the process, tapping into local knowledge and experiences. • Community drop-in sessions (one for each of the community board areas) will also be arranged. These will give the wider community the chance to be involved in the process, showcasing the current priorities for its locality, showcasing some of the work that has been carried out within the local community since the introduction of the LOIPs in 2021, as well as gathering information on current local priorities. • Focus groups with Elected Members, education establishments consultations, neighbourhood level groupings, equalities Groups and service users Page 173 of 352
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• Online activity social media posts and engagement and online surveys, online engagement sessions as required, use of I-pads to support online engagement • Other stakeholder feedback/comments, letterbox communication and surveys if deemed appropriate to meet a gap Data Analysis and Consultation Response Once the consultation and review are complete work will start to analyse the intelligence collated from engagement and other available data to create a profile for each area to assist with discussion to finalise draft plans. Key stakeholders will be issued with draft plans and invited to provide feedback on the initial priorities which have been identified. Marketing/Communication/Graphics Initial work will be undertaken by NLC Graphics Team in relation to the production of the new Local Outcome Improvement Plans documentation, branding and marketing materials and messages. This will support the publishing of the findings of the consultation and engagement. These documents will be due for release online and in paper format for the projected LOIP in 2027. Phase 3 -Data and intelligence analysis, drafting and launch Phase 3 will consist of the following: Data Analysis and Consultation Response Collation As in Phase 2 work will continue refine, shape and create the new priorities identified for each of the 9 localities following all stakeholders receiving draft versions early and invited to provide feedback on the initial priorities which have been identified by in early 2027. Meetings with key stakeholders and officers from a range of levels from across Community Planning Partner agencies will continue to discuss the updated priorities identified through the consultation process. Key Stakeholders will agree to lead on individual priorities across the 9 localities and produce key actions and tasks associated with the priorities identified for their respective agency by spring 2027. It is anticipated that where a local priority reflects a strategic priority that the agency or service with lead responsibility for the strategy will work with the community to agree how they will support the local approach. Where this is the case it is likely that the local focus will be on promoting the universal approach around access to services and referral pathways to the wider community through the reach of CVS organisations but that the LOIP approach provides an opportunity to explore where more targeted and localised approaches can be ‘tested’ where take up of the universal offer is low or is having limited impact. Once feedback from Key Stakeholders has been reviewed and agreed, the draft LOIPs will be presented to each of the 9 community boards for endorsement of their own area priorities. This will coincide with endorsement from NLC, Communities Committee and the NLP Strategic Leadership Board. Each partner agency will also take the agreed LOIP priorities to their own governance structures for endorsement. Once the LOIPs are established, it will be the priority leads/ lead agencies responsibility to report on progress on behalf of any subgroup or mechanism established to deliver a priority locally. However, all partners involved in the delivery approach will have responsibility for taking forward actions and tasks and contributing to reporting on progress moving forward. Marketing/Communication/Graphics Work will continue to be undertaken by NLC Communications Team in relation to the production of the new Local Outcome Improvement Plans documentation, which will be created to publish the findings of the consultation. These documents will be due for release online and in paper format for the projected LOIP launch date in 2027. Page 174 of 352
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A marketing campaign is projected to commence in 2027, highlighting the official launch of the updated Local Outcome Improvement Plans. This communication and marketing campaign will include pamphlets, posters and digital content tailored to different age groups and cultural backgrounds utilising social media, websites and local newspapers to reach the widest possible audience. Page 175 of 352
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Communities Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref SP/LP Date 18/08/25 Member Officer Working Group on the Third Sector Recommendations– Progress Update From: Stephen Penman, Chief Officer (Strategy and Engagement) E-mail penmanste@northlan.gov.uk pollockle@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07947 997750 1. Background 1.1 As part of the review of the Grant Awards Programme approved by Council in February, a short-life Member Officer Working Group on the Third Sector was established to examine the relationship and dependencies between the council, the third sector and communities and to consider how the longer-term sustainability of the third sector could be supported. 1.2 The Member Officer Working Group met throughout 2024 and presented a set of recommendations to the Policy and Strategy Committee for approval in December 2024. The group membership was made up of Councillors Officers Cllr A Khan – Chair Cllr H Brannan-McVey Cllr M McPake Cllr G Woods Cllr D Johnston Cllr M Hughes Cllr A Smith Cllr L Nolan • Chief Officer (Housing Solutions) • Chief Officer (Strategic Communication and Engagement) Chief Social Work Officer • Chief Officer (Planning, Performance and Quality Assurance) • Community Partnership Managers • Senior Manager, Quality Assurance Executive Summary This report provides committee with an update on progress with the recommendations of the Member Officer Working Group approved by the Policy and Strategy Committee in December 2024. Report available here. Recommendations It is recommended that the Communities Committee: (1) Acknowledges the progress with the implementation of the recommendations (2) Endorses the approaches to date and the next steps and implementation priorities. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement (20) Improve the involvement of communities in the decisions, and development of services and supports, that affect them Item 7 Page 177 of 352
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Cllr G Lennon Cllr A Beveridge • Enterprise Manager 1.3 Stakeholder representatives provided presentations and evidence to the MOWG including • council and Health and Social Care Partnership officers • external experts • third sector groups (individually and collectively) • Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire (VANL), the third sector interface • examples of good practice from other local authority areas 1.4 The MOWG identified 5 recommendations which were approved by Policy and Strategy Committee in December 2024. 2. Report 2.1 The approved recommendations are: Recommendation 1 2.2 Council and partnership officers to work together to identify ways in which funding opportunities, including external funding beyond that available from the partner agencies, can be communicated to third sector groups earlier, and provide updated advice on securing additional and future funding. In line with commitment made through the review of the Grant Awards Programme, the council and partners should work to develop a ‘tell us once’ blueprint approach, capturing the default details of applicants with a view to reducing the complexity and burden of repeatedly providing this information. 2.3 Public sector partners should also examine the potential to develop a consortium approach to assist third sector groups, or combinations of them, in procuring expertise for specific programmes. The council will work with VANL to create a bank of information, resources and seminars aimed at assisting third sector groups in bidding for contracts with the public sector, aligned with the principles of Buy Social Scotland. Recommendation 2 2.4 That the council and VANL lead a time-limited mapping exercise across the community planning partnership to capture the ways in which third sector services interface with statutory services and the council’s Programme of Work so that duplication can be identified and opportunities to facilitate the growth and sustainability of the sector can be exploited. Recommendation 3 2.5 That the Community Partnership Team lead a review of council policies with a view to identifying further opportunities for participatory funding of the third sector. As part of a refreshed Framework for Working with Communities, the Community Partnership Team should also work with the sector on the creation of a Community Empowerment Toolkit for use across the council aimed at identifying opportunities for third sector groups to be involved in the development of policy and strategy aligned to The Plan for North Lanarkshire. 2.6 The toolkit and the mapping outcomes from recommendation 2 should be launched at a Third Sector Conference organised by the council but with input from the sector. Page 178 of 352
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Recommendation 4 2.7 Strategic Communication and Engagement [now Strategy and Engagement] should work across the service (Corporate Communications, Community Partnership and Leadership and Operating Model, which has responsibility for the council’s development of community and town hubs) to update the Framework for Working with Communities. This update should include a branded, major ongoing campaign to work with third sector organisations to highlight their services and initiatives, and celebrate their successes and should contribute to growing the sector. The branding assets should be subject to testing with focus groups made up of sector representatives. 2.8 This campaign, which will be jargon free and focused on tangible outcomes, will be continuous and will utilise the results from the mapping exercise described above, as well as existing work with the third sector. It will necessarily involve input from third sector organisations themselves as well as community planning partners. Recommendation 5 2.9 That the council ensures that actions arising from the Community Boards’ self- assessment work is embedded in the other recommendations outlined above. 2.10 Since approval for the 5 recommendations in December 2024 council officers have worked across key services and teams, partnership mechanisms and CVS networks to continue to develop and progress with actions in support of the recommendations supporting actions. Progress and highlights to date 2.11 Mapping, engagement and partnership and CVS ‘buy in’: • The recommendations were discussed and endorsed by the NLP Strategic Leadership Board in December 2024 with agreement that partners will support implementation • The CVSPG has agreed to provide oversight for engaging the CVS and taking on any actions associated with this with VANL and council officers providing support. This is now discussed as a regular part of the group’s agenda, and they plan to undertake a development session to discuss the recommendations in more detail to identify any further supporting actions that they can undertake. • The recommendations were discussed with representatives attending the VANL Locality Network events in April 2025. Feedback and any identified actions are being collated for analysis. • A partnership session is planned to revisit the CommUnity Agreement and ensure it is embedded in council and partnership delivery, that it reflects the current position and direction of travel and can be monitored to ensure adherence • Internal work has commenced to review the Framework for Working with Communities and to identify key areas that require to be updated and discussed further. Sessions will be scheduled through Elected Members and Community Boards to further review, and it is expected that this will be further enhanced by the commencement of and outcome of the Review of LOIP’s to ensure that the framework, along with the CommUnity Agreement is embedded in the LOIP approach • Work has started to map TPFNL, LOIP priorities and the Community Wealth Building Pillars and to identify gaps and opportunities for the focus of local action to strengthen the role of the CVS. Page 179 of 352
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2.12 Funding and resourcing the sector: • The ‘tell us once’ registration system for council grants has now been rolled out • Work has commenced on the digitisation of the grants process through procurement of a new system that will support online applications, streamline assessment and improved reporting to assist with targeting of capacity building supports • Community Board representatives have now received initial training to enable them to be involved in the scoring of funding applications • Work is ongoing through the Grants Team and Community Solutions to identify opportunities to better align funding streams and support for organisations to increase capacity and direct to appropriate funders to increase chances of success and reduce the risk of duplication therefore making best use of resource. To date staff for both teams have attended joint training and information sessions and now regularly share information. • Learning and feedback from previous years UKSPF Community Empowerment Challenge Fund processes has provided invaluable learning. This has informed the creation of a series of funds for 2025/26 that are more targeted to the needs of the CVS and provide opportunity to test approaches around micro funds, collaboration with Community solutions and equalities groups. 2.13 Promotion and information sharing: • Targeted work with the Communications Team to increase the presence of community led work on social media and key networks • Testing use more innovative methods of engaging audiences in locally led work such as use of Tik Tok, Reels and engaging videos • Creation of local pages on the council website with clear information on how local people can get involved, links, videos and reels outlining how people can get involved in LOIP priorities and assistance to take forward local ideas and actions (ie funding information, LDP, Community Asset Transfer, Capacity Building support, etc) • Exploring options for improving the partnership performance framework for the LOIP’s to support more engaging and dynamic reporting • Work to build more comprehensive area data profiles that ‘tell the story’ of an area and assist with engagement to inform local priority setting and action. The first iteration of these focusing on data will be available by the end of the year but the aim is to ensure work will continue to layer up intelligence from community engagement to build a clearer picture to aid local discussion 2.14 Community Board improvement Work and capacity building: • Community Board chairs group organised and facilitated the successful Community Board conference in May 2025. Details on this are the subject of a separate report on this agenda • The chairs are working with officers to create a Community Board Induction Pack and process and are now trained to participate in the Grants scoring process where appropriate • Improvement actions from the Self Assessment work are now being taken forward by the chairs group and individual community boards where appropriate with support from officers as required • Equalities actions have been developed – or example, creation of standard equalities questions in all areas of CVS support business and community boards to establish baselines and direct action, planned awareness raising work with Community Boards around protected characteristics and use of data from grants to identify capacity building needs for equalities groups and Page 180 of 352
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2.15 Future implementation priorities: • Implementation of the online grants system • Research into existing toolkits to identify the focus for development of useful toolkits both to support action to strengthen the role of CVS organisations and to equip council and partners staff to undertake effective and meaningful engagement and coproduction with CVS • Explore the possibility of a ‘Funding Summit’ bringing together key funders to provide targeted advice and support tailored to the needs of individual organisations and to take on board feedback around barriers to inform capacity building support • Bring together key officers to consider and agree further action to build capacity, provide CVS support and create toolkits around procurement and tendering. • Undertake further mapping as outlined in the recommendations including around the interfaces between the CVS and the council, council policies and opportunities around participatory Budgeting approaches • Ensure the LOIP Review process is codesigned with partners and CVS to ensure buy in and creation of local priorities and mechanisms that support a true partnership between the statutory partners, local CVS and communities • Continue work to refine the actions and identify opportunities to embed the spirit of the MOWG recommendations into delivery priorities to ensure that work with the CVS is identified, codesigned and delivered with the sector. 3. Measure of success 3.1 Successful implementation of the MOWG recommendations will lead to better understanding of the sector by the council, its partners and the public and will lead to increased opportunities for the sector to grow and prosper, enabling it to continue to provide vital supports to the communities of North Lanarkshire. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 No supporting documents. Stephen Penman Chief Officer, (Strategy and Engagement) Page 181 of 352
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Fairer Scotland duty will be considered on an ongoing basis as part of the development and implementation of the North Lanarkshire approach to the provision of free period products. Integrated Equality Impact / Fairer Scotland assessments will be undertaken for key action areas as required. If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact. 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 182 of 352
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If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? A communication approach is outlined in this report. 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☐ No ☒ Page 183 of 352
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If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 184 of 352
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Access to Free Period Products (Period Dignity Initiative) update North Lanarkshire Council Report Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref SP/LP Date 18/08/25 From: Stephen Penman, Chief Officer, (Strategy and Engagement) E-mail penmanste@northlan.gov.uk pollockle@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07947 997750 Executive Summary This report provides an update on the activity relating to the delivery and further development of the Access to Free Period Products / Period Dignity initiative. Members will be aware that since August 2018 all local authorities in Scotland were provided with funding to introduce access to free period products in schools. From January 2019 the Scottish Government provided additional funding to all local authorities to increase the number and range of places where period products are available free of charge to those who need them, with a focus on publicly accessible buildings. The purpose of the funding for schools remains to support equality, dignity and rights for those who menstruate and to ensure that lack of access to products does not impact on an individual’s ability to fully participate in education, at all levels. The main intent of the wider roll out for community provision remains tackling poverty but also wider need and to address the overarching gender equality and dignity issues that affect all of those who menstruate regardless of income. Currently, spending is split between school and community provision. This approach has been designed to reflect the needs of communities across the council area. The Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act 2021 received Royal Assent on 12th January 2021, became legislation on the 15th of August 2022 and came fully into force in January 2023. Recommendations It is recommended that the Communities Committee: (1) Acknowledge the significant work carried out to date across key council services and partner agencies. (2) Endorses the outline of the planned developments for the one-year period, this being dependent on continued Scottish Government funding for the year 25/26. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement (20) Improve the involvement of communities in the decisions, and development of services and supports, that affect them Communities Committee Item 8 Page 185 of 352
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Programme of Work Resilient People 1. Background 1.1 From August 2018, all local authorities in Scotland were allocated funding to provide access to free sanitary products in schools. The Scottish Government made a new commitment in the 2018 funding year to expand this provision beyond schools. In November 2018 COSLA Leaders agreed to this proposal and developed ‘Guiding Principles’ in partnership with Scottish Government. Since then, North Lanarkshire Council has been allocated a share of funding annually to further develop the initiative. 1.2 The focus for this initiative is creating access to free period products, and by doing so tackling the impact of poverty or low income, which can often mean people are unable to afford the essential products needed while menstruating. By ensuring access to free products, many local people have some relief from the high costs of purchasing period products and will be less self-conscious about not being able to afford them and the stigma attached to this. 1.3 Annual funding from the Scottish Government has enabled the council to continue to develop the network of public building access points, to work with local community partners to target support across priority communities and to develop a campaign to raise awareness of the offer available and encourage a more open dialogue around periods and period products. 1.4 The council has undertaken a community consultation to find out residents’ views on the current offer, improvement ideas, and early experiences of the initiative. The findings from the consultation, along with feedback from other stakeholders, will be used to lead the ‘Statement of Intent’, which will confirm the council’s commitment to supporting the new law and the continued wider access to products. 2. Report 2.1 The main objective for this initiative is to create pick up points where residents can access a range of free period products and in doing so support all who menstruate in North Lanarkshire no matter their economic situation. Consistent with the Plan for North Lanarkshire, the North Lanarkshire model has been developed with Community Planning partners to ensure wide reach and accessibility from public buildings and facilities, as well as distribution by local anchor organisations. 2.2 The approach reflects the principles of: • Protecting people’s dignity, avoiding anxiety, embarrassment and stigma. • Making a range of products visible in places that people use. • Reflecting community views and needs. • An efficient and effective approach that demonstrates value for money. • Individuals being able to get sufficient products to meet their needs. • Gender equality ensuring anyone who menstruates can access products including transgender men/nonbinary individuals, and that language is gender inclusive. • Awareness raising and education to both promote the ‘offer’ and attempt to change cultural norms. 2.3 North Lanarkshire Council Funding Allocation (2024-25) Financial Year Amount of Funding 2024-25 £346,000 Page 186 of 352
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Key highlights from 2024/25 2.4 The number of period products distributed from 1st of April 2024 to the 31st of March 2025 via schools, public buildings or community anchor organisations is as follows: • Single-use period products (includes all single use sanitary products e.g., towels, tampons, liners): 1,213,171, an increase from the previous year’s 876,919. • Number of period products distributed through public buildings or community anchor organisations: 862,889, an increase from the previous year’s 731,008. • Number of period products distributed through schools: 350,282, an increase from the previous year’s 145,327. 2.5 In January 2024 the education element of the period dignity project was transferred to the Community Partnership Team. A project officer was recruited on a temporary basis to carry out a short-term targeted piece of engagement work with schools to gain a better understanding of the education side of the project along with raising awareness of local community venues to students and families. 2.6 This engagement included meetings between school cluster leads, head teachers and targeted focus groups with students within three different high schools. 2.7 Key outcomes from this engagement include: • A 141% increase in distributed products as highlighted above. • Increased engagement in orders from 95 in 2023/24 to 182 orders in 2024/25. • Agreement that high schools would promote staying open during holiday periods for students to freely access products. • Targeted marketing materials to be produced for schools. Community Projects 2.8 The council continues working in partnership with anchor organisations to ensure effective targeting of support to priority communities within their area and to support individuals who are unable to attend local access points due to personal circumstances including. • Mobility and health. • Inability to afford the cost of public transport. • Distance from home to the nearest access point for example living further than 20- minute return journey, which will be more likely for those living in rural communities. 2.9 The current anchor organisations are listed below: 1. Getting Better Together - Shotts 2. Newmains Community Trust - Wishaw 3. Glenboig Development Trust – Northern Corridor 4. Cornerstone House – Cumbernauld 5. Kirkshaws Neighbourhood Trust - Coatbridge 6. Diamonds in the Community - Airdrie 7. Health and Wellness Hub - Motherwell 8. VIP Arts & Sports Academy - Bellshill 2.10 Further details on anchor organisations are available in Appendix 1. Communication and awareness raising: 2.11 Awareness raising continues through dedicated marketing materials aimed at promoting the initiative to community residents and all educational establishments. This involves the use of North Lanarkshire Councils online and social media networks, along Page 187 of 352
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with other marketing activity including: • Posters and leaflets in all public buildings and facilities • Promotions at local events • Highlighting of the QR code on all promotional materials (physical and digital) for period product pick-up locations, highlighting all accessible venues across North Lanarkshire. 2.12 An online campaign ran from October 24 until March 25, featuring a suite of adverts (including an animation) distributed through multiple channels. This included plasma screens in leisure centres, cultural venues, schools and community centres as well as digital platforms such as Snapchat, Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Google – achieving 4.6 million impressions and 20,000 clicks. NLC interactive map 2.13 The NLC interactive map continues to be updated monthly to ensure all information on community pick-up sites continues to be accurate. For the period of 24/25 the interactive map was viewed 32,094 times by 19,297 users with the top 5 most popular pick-up site locations being: 1. Muirhead Clinic 2. Motherwell Civic Centre 3. Maranatha Centre 4. Airdrie Community Health Centre 5. Buchanan Centre Partnership Working 2.14 Partnership working continues to be an important factor throughout this initiative, liaising with community facilities, library services, Active and Creative Communities, Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire, NHS Lanarkshire, and local community delivery partners this coordinated approach has been established to the development and delivery of the initiative and ordering processes. 2.15 Partnership meetings and professional dialogue continues to assist in helping to monitor and review activity, identifying and considering options to improve and develop the service whilst providing updates on any of the project delivery that individual agencies may be leading on. Education School Cluster Consultations 2.16 From October 24 to January 25 – Several consultations took place with school headteachers through the school locality cluster meetings. A total of 31 schools took part in these consultation meetings across North Lanarkshire. 2.17 These consultations were undertaken to understand challenges schools face surrounding pupils accessing free period product within North Lanarkshire schools, judge effectiveness of the campaign, along with discussion around how schools can implement this legislation within their establishments. 2.18 Focus groups with pupils from three high schools also took place, this was to listen to students about their experiences in relation to access to free products, help create more awareness in relation to product availability and community venues for pick-up. The finding from these consultations will help the shape future planning of the initiative ensuring that provision of accessing free period products better meets the needs of both pupils and staff. Page 188 of 352
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2.19 More information is available in Appendix 2 of this report and on request. Community Events 2.20 During the period 2024-25 a total of 38 community events were supported with period products across North Lanarkshire, 26 of those events being standalone one-off events being delivered in partnership with local community organisations, schools and our partners within the North Lanarkshire Partnership (NLP) some of these events included: • Cost of living events. • NHS National smile month. • School parent’s evenings. • Police Scotland Lanarkshire Fun Day. • North Lanarkshire Mosque Bellshill, Ladies Coffee Morning. 2.21 In February 2025 the Community Partnership Team introduced a North Lanarkshire Period Dignity week. This campaign was organised to run alongside over annual event weeks highlighted throughout the year like mental health week, tackling poverty, health and wellbeing. More detailed information on period dignity week is available in Appendix 3. 2.22 These events are supported to provide local communities with access to free products and provide information as to where in their local community to access products and services. Statement of Exercise of Functions 2.23 As part of The Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act 2021 local authorities are required to produce and communicate a Statement on the Exercise of Functions to summarise the arrangements in place to meet the legal duties, which includes carrying out one or more public consultations. 2.24 The information gained from the public consultation work carried out in March to July 2022 has been used to create the North Lanarkshire Council Statement of Exercise of Functions. The statement is contained within Appendix 4 and sets out North Lanarkshire Council’s commitment to free product provision details current and future provision in education establishments and the wider community. Developments being planned for 2025/26 period 2.25 Using intelligence from consultation work as well as other feedback from schools, partners and stakeholders, several key developments are currently underway. 2.26 This work will assist with a further targeted expansion and the implementation of improvements aimed to improve the processes, services delivery and the overall experience of the residents of North Lanarkshire. 2.27 Recruitment for a project assistant with a focus on promoting and providing access for young people within education establishments and within the wider community. The focus for this role will be looking at different options for increasing uptake within this demographic and piloting various projects to remove barriers for different groups to see what works best with an emphasis on school/pupil involvement to design the approach. 2.28 Development of a student care package, that will be given to female students during the school year to access period products as well as informational pamphlets/leaflets on where to access in the local community outside school hours. Page 189 of 352
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2.29 Plans to ensure some schools stay open over summer to allow students access to products. 2.30 Look to develop a High School peer-led youth project to deliver period dignity workshops and information sessions within cluster schools. 2.31 Continue the review of existing access points to reduce clustering of sites. This is to ensure no duplication or grouping of access points in location of nearby public buildings. 2.32 Continue to undertake a full monitoring and evaluation of the current anchor organisation partnership to see if the current model is currently working in the locations identified and that value for money is being achieved. 2.33 Continue to hold Period Dignity Week annually to promote and highlight the access to free period products project across communities in North Lanarkshire. Target will be February 2026. 2.34 Continue to review the set-up of access points to ensure products can be easily accessed preferably by self-selection or other formats that are viewed as less embarrassing for residents. This will be further improved upon with plans to make access uniform across all NLC sites and information sessions for all pick-up sites. 2.35 Undertake a further community consultation online questionnaire to capture the views of the public with a particular focus on views from those currently using sanitary products, our who may collect sanitary products on behalf of others. 2.36 Continue to improve the accessibility of products for residents over the weekend, public holidays, and extended school holiday period when schools and public buildings may be closed. 2.37 Continue to develop a community resilience/contingency plan to deal with any event of future civil incident of national emergency. Further information 2.38 Additional information, including the information pages on the NLC website, the NLC interactive mapping tool and the My Period App can be accessed using the links below: • North Lanarkshire interactive map 2.39 North Lanarkshire Council website – Free Period Products 2.40 Scottish Government ‘Pick up my period’ app enables someone to put in a town, city or post code and find out where to access products: • https://apps.apple.com/gb/app/pickupmyperiod/id1500403938 • https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.myperiodapp 3. Measure of success 3.1 Number of products distributed. 3.2 Number of community organisations partnerships. 3.3 Increased in orders from educational establishments. Page 190 of 352
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3.4 Number of distribution points across North Lanarkshire. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 Community anchor organisations supporting the initiative. 4.2 Appendix 2 Education School Cluster Consultation. 4.3 Appendix 3 Period Dignity Week. 4.4 Appendix 4 Statement of Exercise of Function. 4.5 Appendix 5 Flash report Stephen Penman Chief Officer, (Strategy and Engagement) Page 191 of 352
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Fairer Scotland duty will be considered on an ongoing basis as part of the development and implementation of the North Lanarkshire approach to the provision of free period products. An integrated equality impact / Fairer Scotland assessment has been completed during the initial planning of the delivery approach. This will be further informed by our ongoing monitoring, reviews and public consultations and community engagement activity. If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☒ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The period dignity / access to free period products is expected to cost the council circa £346,000 to operate. This is for both existing operations and new developments. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact. 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Page 192 of 352
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Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Wider use of environmentally friendly products and delivery products is encouraged. This includes looking at testing approaches to increasing access to environmentally friendly products and piloting low carbon delivery mechanisms with local voluntary organisations. 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? A communication campaign is outlined in this report. 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ Page 193 of 352
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If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 194 of 352
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Appendix 1 Details of Community Anchor Organisations Supporting the Initiative Over the last year we continue to work closely with our 8 community anchor organisation partners. These organisations get support in the form of £2000 funding to help us deliver against the main objectives for the period dignity initiative, this funding is to help organisations support/run community events and deliver products to people who can’t access any of the local pick-up sites across the authority for health reasons. Each of the 8 organisations are also committed to taking a sustainable approach to the project delivery, with most of the organisations having an environmental focus with products being delivered by local volunteers using bicycles and e-bikes to reduce the carbon footprint of the project. Each anchor also promotes the use of sustainable environmentally friendly products for each community such as reusable period pants and period cups. To help support the initiative each organisation has also been provided with a new information pop-up stand with QR codes that provides links to all the NLC interactive pick-up points within the location app. For the period 24-25, a total of 162,097 products were distributed to community members by our anchor organisations contributing to improved menstrual health equity and awareness, ensuring sustained improvement in achieving the goals of the Period Dignity Initiative across North Lanarkshire. Figure 1: Sample display of free single-use and reusable period products from one of our partner Anchor Organisation’s Diamonds in the Community. Page 195 of 352
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Appendix 2 Period Dignity Education Consultation Since the education side of the initiative was undertaken by the Community Partnership Team in January 2024, it was highlighted when reviewing the ordering figures from previous years that a targeted work would need to be undertaken with schools to review how schools delivered this initiative and how students accessed these products daily. Through extensive engagement with Cluster Improvement & Integration Leads (CIILs), school leadership, and students, consultations took place around the projects aims to address accessibility issues, raise awareness, and tackle cultural sensitivities around menstrual health. This was undertaken in the following format: Development of Discussion Guides To facilitate structured consultations, discussion guides were developed to gather feedback, identify challenges, and explore opportunities for further improvement. This ensured consistency and focus during discussions with school leadership and students. Facilitating Leadership Consultations Meetings were held with education and family manager and curriculum manager who facilitated the meeting with CIL leads to plan and support leadership consultations. Consultation with CIL Leads This meeting was held to evaluate the integration of the Period Dignity Initiative into schools. The primary concerns raised included inconsistent school engagement, a lack of accountability in stock management, and limited student awareness of the initiative. Some Key findings from the consultations are included below: School Leadership • Recognition of the need for consistent communication about product availability. • Need for proper management of distribution logistics and maintenance of regular stock levels. • Emphasis on embedding period dignity messaging within wider health and wellbeing education. • Requests for more resources and guidance to support staff awareness and student engagement. • Support for whole-school approaches to normalising conversations about menstruation. Students • Greater awareness of product availability, though access varied between schools. • Persistent stigma around periods, with peer-led discussions seen as effective in reducing it. • Mixed preferences for feedback methods, with QR codes and online forms gaining popularity. • Barriers related to privacy and confidence when picking up products. • Suggestions for clearer signage and discreet access points within schools. More information on this report can be accessed on request. Page 196 of 352
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Appendix 3 Period Dignity Week February 2025 North Lanarkshire’s first Period Dignity week took place between 17 – 21 February 2025, this event was organised and promoted by the Community Partnership Team. The aim of the week was to promote access to free period products in North Lanarkshire available in over 100 sites in our local community including community centres, sports and leisure centres, libraries along with NHS Health Centres, community and voluntary organisations. Throughout the week 12 pop-up stalls across 12 different venues in North Lanarkshire across 9 localities to provide a wide range of free period products, raise awareness of the initiative and promote pick-up points. In the lead up to this event there was a promotional push through our NLC social media channels and within partner networks such as Anchor Organisations, Schools and NHS partners. The week was a success with an average of 90 people attending each venue to discuss and access free period products as well as highlighting each venue as one of our established pick-up sites. In doing so there were over 1,000 bags of products given out to the public for the week along with a donation from our single-use product supplier adding more products for the public to access. The event was highlighted as a success internally and externally with the event acting as a good stigma breaking session as well as it allowed for the discussion to take place on a wide-open scale surrounding period health, as well as functioning as a valuable source for consultation and feedback on the service as well. This event enabled more information to be shared with the public and emphasise that the initiative is there to be used, that it is ongoing, and the services are there for everyone. There is no pre-requisite necessary to access these products. Page 197 of 352
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Pop-Stalls Set-Up Across Locations for the Period Dignity Week Page 198 of 352
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1. Introduction North Lanarkshire Council Period Products (Free Provision) Scotland Act 2021 Statement on Exercise of Functions Appendix 4 The Period Products (Free Provision) (Scotland) Act 2021 was passed by the Scottish Parliament on 24th November 2020 and gained royal assent on 12th January 2021. The Act requires local authorities as a responsible body to provide period products free of charge to anyone who needs them, by making products reasonably easy to obtain. Additionally, as a responsible body – this should be done mindful of respecting dignity and by offering a reasonable choice of types of period products. Local Authorities are required to produce a Statement on Exercise of Functions to summarise the arrangements that will be put in place to meet the duty, which includes carrying out one or more public consultations. This statement has been produced in accordance with our statutory duties and outlines North Lanarkshire Council’s commitment to free product provision and details current and future provision within education establishments and the wider community. 2. Our commitment North Lanarkshire Council is committed to providing free period products for those who need them. Our approach involves children and young people having access to products within their school setting and for residents and visitors through a network of local access points within public buildings and community facilities within North Lanarkshire. Individuals unable to attend a local access point can contact the council so that alternative arrangements can made, which may include postal deliver or deliver by our local community partner organisations. Funding has been made available by the Scottish government to enable this. In providing this free service, it is our aim to ensure that: • A range of period products, including single use items and re-usable environmentally friendly products are available to those who need them via all secondary schools and a network of local access points. • Our local access network is kept under review and developed further where appropriate. It is our commitment to do this in conjunction with community planning partners and third sector organisations, mindful of geographically gaps in provision and also of the 20-minute neighbourhood model. • Barriers to access are minimised and removed and that people can access products with dignity and without stigma. • Consideration is given to additional support for those who may require it. • Product demand is regularly monitored so that public buildings and community facilities do not run out of stock. • Residents and visitors are aware of our free provision. This will involve a range of advertising and promotional campaigns. Information will also be available on the council website; through social media platforms and through other communications such as posters and informational flyers. • Regular feedback is sought from service users so that improvements can be identified. • Public consultations and community engagement is carried out to inform our provision. Page 199 of 352
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3. Public Consultation The North Lanarkshire public consultation took the form of an online questionnaire. This was launched in March 2022 and ran until the end of July 2022. The survey was designed to capture the views of the general public with a particular focus on views from those currently using sanitary products; those who will use sanitary products in the future and those who may collect sanitary products on behalf of others. The consultation covered the following broad themes: • General awareness of the availability of free period products and advertising campaigns • Types of products currently used and views on accessing environmentally friendly products • Locations of access points used and suggestions for new sites • Availability of products and views on service received at access points The survey was completed by 288 people and the findings from the consultation will be used to inform the provision within North Lanarkshire. Full details of the findings are contained within the 2022 update report which can be accessed on our website. 4. Community Based Provision North Lanarkshire Council has developed a large network of community access points. The access points are in all 9 towns and many local communities within public buildings, and community facilities. To date we have over 100 local access points throughout North Lanarkshire which we will continue to monitor, review, grow and update accordingly. The access points have been established in public buildings and community facilities. North Lanarkshire Council have also partnered with eight local community anchor organisations who will provide local services within a cluster of priority communities. This also includes a fast free local delivery service for those who cannot attend our centres and access to environmentally friendly period products. Local food banks and organisations providing emergency food aid are also part of our network and on request can provide products to vulnerable individuals and families. Additionally, residents can contact the council directly by email to request products. In doing so the quickest method of delivery will be selected. Products available within our community access points include single use pads (with and without wings, regular, super and long) and tampons (regular and super) the various sizes/ absorbencies provided allow us to accommodate individual needs and preferences. The type of products available will be regularly reviewed to meet the needs and wants of the community. Environmentally friendly products are available on request. Products are available for collection by anyone who needs them, or by anyone collecting on behalf of another person. Products will normally be available within toilet facilities of a building, unless otherwise stated. Those who wish to access products can do so without having to ask a member of staff and in a way that respects their dignity. A person may access as many products as required. Page 200 of 352
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Information on stocked venues can be accessed via the PickUpMyPeriod App and North Lanarkshire Council Directory website. This allows users to enter a postcode or location to see where free period products are available in their area. 5. Provision within Education North Lanarkshire Council provide free products in all secondary school establishments and on request will be made available to primary schools. Products will be available in a way which respects the dignity of the pupil and can be accessed without having to ask a teacher. Products will be available during term time in at least one part of the school, normally the toilet facilities or from the school reception. Some schools may have products available in multiple locations. North Lanarkshire Council will provide ongoing support to its education establishments to ensure every pupil who requires products is able to obtain them easily. 6. Communication Information on our free period product initiative is available on the North Lanarkshire Council website. Details are provided on how, where and when people can obtain free products via our own easy to use app and the official Period Products Locator app. Enquiries can also be submitted at any time and will be dealt with by our Community Partnership Team. It is our intention to regularly promote and raise awareness of the free access to period products. This will involve advertising and marketing campaigns using digital and traditional methods. Information posters are also posted on notice and information boards in all our public buildings and community facilities. 7. Future Provision and Improvements North Lanarkshire Council recognises the importance of securing period dignity for all and will commit to using intelligence from our consultation work as well as other feedback from partners and stakeholders, to continue to develop our approach to providing free period products within North Lanarkshire. From our recent consultation and engagement work a number of key developments are currently underway. Completion of which will assist with a further targeted expansion and the implementation of improvements aimed to improve processes, service deliver and the overall offer for residents and visitors. Further details are provided within the 2022 update report which can be accessed on our website. 8. Further information Additional information can be found on the NLC website free period products (northlanarkshire.gov.uk) The NLC interactive mapping tool can be accessed using the following link: Directory records | North Lanarkshire Council Scottish Government ‘Pick up my period’ app enables individuals to put in a town, city or post code and find out where to access products. PickupMyPeriod on the App Store (apple.com) PickupMyPeriod - Apps on Google Play Index - MyPeriod (myperiodlive.azurewebsites.net Page 201 of 352
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Period Dignity Campaign 24/25 Highlights • • • • • • • • • Consultations were to understand challenges facing schools and • Three schools used as a focus group to receive feedback from students • • • • Ill health, disabilities. • • Community Anchor Partners Getting Better Together – Shotts Glenboig Development Trust – Northern Corridor Appendix 5 Page 202 of 352
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Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire (VANL) Annual report for 2024/25 North Lanarkshire Council Report Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref SP/LP/DW Date 18/08/25 From Stephen Penman, Chief Officer (Strategy and Engagement) E-mail penmanste@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07947 997750 Executive Summary Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire (VANL) receives funding from North Lanarkshire Council under a Service Level Agreement (SLA) approved by the council in 2024 to provide support in delivering the Plan for North Lanarkshire with a focus on: • Capacity building of the community and voluntary sector to help strengthen their contribution to community wellbeing • Community empowerment and engagement • Volunteering The three-year SLA is attached at appendix 2. The appended annual report provides a summary of VANL’s contribution to delivering the Plan for North Lanarkshire, through its role in supporting the above key areas of focus. Through engagement with VANL, work has been undertaken to review, refocus and update the SLA to ensure that it is fit for purpose and reflects progress and development of local delivery approaches. Recommendations It is recommended that the Communities Committee: (1) Endorses the content of the annual update report contained at appendix 1 in line with the requirements of the SLA between VANL and North Lanarkshire Council for 2024- 27. (2) Acknowledges the significant role of VANL in supporting the contribution of the Community and Voluntary Sector (CVS) in key elements of The Plan for North Lanarkshire. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Enhance participation, capacity, and empowerment across our communities Ambition statement (20) Improve the involvement of communities in the decisions, and development of services and supports, that affect them Programme of Work Resilient People Communities Committee Item 9 Page 203 of 352
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1. Background Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire (VANL) 1.1 Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire (VANL) is one of 32 Third Sector Interfaces (TSIs) in Scotland aligned to each of the 32 Scottish local authorities to support the role and contribution of the Community and Voluntary Sector (CVS) in delivery of both national and local priorities. The remit of VANL is to: • Support capacity-building of the community and voluntary sector (CVS – also known as the “third sector”) to help improve effectiveness and sustainability including advice, training, and management of funding awards on behalf of funders. For example, VANL hosts and manages the Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire’s (HSCNL) Community Solutions Programme. • Support community empowerment by facilitating CVS and public engagement in community planning and other, linked partnerships - to help improve social, economic and environmental wellbeing and equality. • Encourage and support collaboration between the CVS and the public sector, working together for the benefit of people and communities within North Lanarkshire. • Support volunteering across North Lanarkshire. 1.2 VANL is a registered charity and is governed by a board of trustees who primarily live and/or work in North Lanarkshire. VANL is independently audited each year and submits its Trustees Annual Report with audited accounts to the OSCR (Office of the Scottish Charity Regulator). VANL is a Fair Work employer, accredited as a Living Wage, Disability Confident and Carer Positive employer and promotes these standards to the North Lanarkshire CVS. 1.3 VANL’s work in supporting delivery of the Plan for North Lanarkshire is supported by core grant funding from the Scottish Government, a three-year service level agreement with North Lanarkshire Council and Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire. VANL’s current SLA with the council ends in March 2027. 2. Report 2.1 The SLA between VANL and North Lanarkshire Council is supported by an annual funding allocation of £172,379. 2.2 The current SLA outlines how VANL will support delivery of key priorities within The Plan for North Lanarkshire and the Framework for Working with Communities with a specific focus on supporting the role of the CVS in local community planning through Community Boards, their LOIPs and local community engagement and participation mechanisms. 2.3 The SLA recognises the role of VANL in supporting and coordinating activity that enhances the involvement and capacity of the community and voluntary sector in the Plan for North Lanarkshire (TPFNL) and provides a focus on the role of VANL in working with partners for the delivery of local priorities and participation opportunities through the Local Outcome Improvement Plans and associated partnership mechanisms: • The role of VANL in supporting the CVS and public engagement in community Page 204 of 352
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planning at local level and delivery of Local Outcome Improvement Plans • Developing the role and capacity of Community Boards and their membership through delivery of relevant training, awareness raising and development and implementation of accountability processes and frameworks. • Playing a key role in the Local Partnership Teams (LPTs) as a key mechanism for driving delivery of local priorities and taking a lead or support role in the development and delivery of appropriate and agreed local priorities through the LOIPs (specifically around engagement and participation, digital inclusion, climate and environment) • Work with the Council to support engagement with local communities around key local or NL wide priorities and opportunities and ensure mechanisms that enable the CVS to participate effectively • Facilitate delivery of the North Lanarkshire Volunteering Strategy which contributes to the resource ambition of the Plan for North Lanarkshire 2.4 The SLA also reflects the wider role of VANL as a strategic partner with a key role in: • Providing capacity building support, including funding support, assessing impact and facilitating to the CVS in partnership with NL, working with NLC colleagues and others • Strategic community planning including supporting implementation of the Community Agreement in liaison with NLP partner organisations and CVS • Supporting wider CVS contributions to delivery of the Plan for NL ambitions by facilitating CVS capacity building and links • Active membership of the SLB Board and supporting wider CVS representation through the CVS Partnership Group. 2.5 VANL works closely with the Community Partnership Team and other council services and partner agencies to deliver key areas of work associated with the SLA. Progress reporting and monitoring of the SLA includes: • A progress report being submitted to the Council on a 6-monthly basis • Quarterly meetings with the Community Partnership Manager • Regular liaison meetings 2.6 The appended report provides a comprehensive overview of how VANL supports delivery of the Plan for North Lanarkshire against all priorities and the majority of ambitions. The information provided in this report summarises VANL’s activities to support CVS capacity building, community empowerment as well as engagement and volunteering during 2024-25. The level of support is significant and substantial. 2.7 This information is complemented by more detailed reports which are or will soon be available online. • VANL’s Trustees’ Annual Report for 2024-25 with audited accounts • Community Solutions Programme Annual Reports for 2024-25 • Community Solutions Impact and Learning Reports for each fund Page 205 of 352
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3. Measures of success 3.1 VANL records and reports on its activity in supporting delivery of all Plan for North Lanarkshire Ambitions (except for sub ambitions 1.3 and 1.4.) 3.2 VANL captures stakeholder feedback, via a survey, on an annual basis. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 Plan for North Lanarkshire. Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire VANL) 2024-25. 4.2 Appendix 2 Service Level Agreement – NLC/VANL Stephen Penman Chief Officer (Strategy and Engagement) Page 206 of 352
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Page 207 of 352
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Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The report references the North Lanarkshire Partnership’s Action on Climate Together collaboration and linked Green Wellbeing Project and the role of VANL in supporting both. 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? This report sets out how North Lanarkshire Council is assisting VANL through the SLA to provide vital support to the CVS so organisations are more able to support community wellbeing and equality in line with the ambitions of the Plan for North Lanarkshire. 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). VANL supports the North Lanarkshire CVS to contribute to delivery of the Plan for North Lanarkshire and linked Children’s Services Plan by providing services and support to children, young people and families to improve their wellbeing and equality in line with their human rights. VANL is working with the CVS to increase awareness and compliance with the Rights of the Child. If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☒ Page 208 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 1 1. Introduction and Overview VANL supports delivery of the plan for North Lanarkshire as follows. 1.1 By providing vital capacity-building support to the Community and Voluntary Sector (CVS) to help them to sustain and improve their public-facing services that contribute to delivery of the Plan for North Lanarkshire, including guidance and advice on set up; governance; strategy; income generation; HR; finance; ICT; communications; performance management and evaluation. 1.2 Hosting and managing Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire’s (HSCNL) Community Solutions Programme, including management of over £3 million in funding awards annually, of which 50% supports community-based mental health and wellbeing initiatives – a major priority for Local Outcome Improvement Plans (LOIPs). 1.3 Working closely with council, NHS, police and fire colleagues to support CVS organisations’ and residents’ engagement in community planning at locality and NL-wide levels – supported by “community wealth building” and wellbeing and equalities perspectives and goals. This includes the following: • delivery and monitoring of LOIPs • convening Community Boards • wider community engagement through Community Board topical sub-groups and other activities • development and implementation of the CommUnity Agreement • climate and green action, through Action on Climate Together North Lanarkshire and Green Wellbeing Project • participation and representation on NLP’s Strategic Leadership Board • engagement with linked partnerships, strategies and initiatives including Children’s Services Partnership; HSCNL; Local Employability Partnership; Tackling North Lanarkshire Poverty Strategy; NL Social Enterprise Strategy Group, Framework and Action Plan; Lanarkshire Mental Health Strategy; Lanarkshire Green Health Partnership Page 209 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 2 1.4 Supporting development and delivery of volunteering in North Lanarkshire by: • convening and supporting the North Lanarkshire Volunteering Partnership • facilitating development of the North Lanarkshire Volunteering Strategy (2023-26) and then working with partners to support delivery • promoting volunteering to increase awareness and encourage more volunteers and volunteer roles • supporting volunteers to find suitable roles • providing guidance and support to volunteer-involving organisations including assistance with volunteer-friendly accreditation. 1.5 VANL receives funding to support the above work from several sources. • North Lanarkshire Council • Scottish Government Third Sector Unit • Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire 1.6 Section 2 below provides reports in more detail on VANL’s contribution to the supporting delivery of the Plan for North Lanarkshire and the nine linked Local Outcome Improvement Plans, primarily by supporting the CVS. Delivery of this work is supported by VANL’s funding from all three sources in a complementary way providing synergy and added value to each funder. This funding has remained largely the same for the last thirteen years. Page 210 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 3 2. Plan for North Lanarkshire and Contribution by the Community and Voluntary Sector and Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire Plan for NL Priority 1: Improve economic opportunities and outcomes NL Community and Voluntary Sector (CVS) Contribution to Ambition 1.1 VANL General and Ongoing Contributions to PNL Ambition 1.1. VANL Specific and Contributions To PNL Ambitions: 1.1; 1.2 and 1.5 2024/2025 Ambition 1.1 Ensure a housing mix that supports social inclusion and economic growth • Social housing provision (Housing Assoc. and Co- ops) • Tenant and Resident empowerment • Housing support (housing with social care) • Housing and money advice (CABs/NL Advice and Information Network) VANL has an indirect role in supporting housing issues through our general support for the CVS and community planning. See below NB PNL Ambitions 1.3 Maximise the use of our marketable land and assets through improved development in business and industrial infrastructure and 1.4 Market and promote North Lanarkshire as the place to live, learn, work, invest, and visit are not included in this table as the CVS sector and VANL do not make significant contributions to these issues. Page 211 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 4 Plan for NL Ambitions 1.2 and 1.5 NL Community CVS Contribution to Ambitions 1.2 and 1.5 VANL General and Ongoing Contributions to PNL Ambition 1.2 and 1.5 VANL Contributions To PNL Ambitions 1.1; 1.2 and 1.5: 2024/2025 1.2 Refocus our town centres and communities to be multi-functional connected places which maximise social, economic, and environmental opportunities and 1.5 Grow and improve the sustainability and diversity of North Lanarkshire’s economy The NL CVS supports delivery of ambitions in many ways. • Providing a wide range of community services including social housing; community transport; money advice; employability support; environmental improvements. • Running community centres and facilities. • Employing local people and supporting wide ranging volunteering opportunities. • Participating in our nine Community Boards and linked subgroups and supporting wider community engagement. • VANL staff support the CVS to contribute to “place-based” planning to improve residents wellbeing across social, economic and environmental issues. through participation in community planning at locality level and also through the Community Solutions Programme as outlined in various sections of this report. • VANL staff support the CVS contribution to employability by convening a NL CVS Employability Network, which supports CVS organisations to share information, provide peer support, develop joint initiatives and influence local and national policy. There are nearly 80 network members, with 30 regular participants. A member of VANL’s staff also represents this network and CVS on NL’s Local Employability Partnership (LEP). • Over this period VANL staff convened and supported 5 x NL CVS Employability Networks. These events included updates from NL Employability Partnership and Fair Start Scotland. A peer support network for CVS employability organisations was also set up and convened. VANL staff liaised with the NL Local Employability Partnership (LEP) to represent CVS views and needs and access to funding. (Also see resources section) • VANL staff participated in quarterly meetings of the NL Social Enterprise Strategy Group convened by the council’s Enterprise Team and promoted Inspirent’s consultation support to the NL Social Enterprise Network. VANL supported promotion of Inspirent SE support in North Lanarkshire and consulted on the strategic direction of social Page 212 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 5 enterprise support in North Lanarkshire. • VANL staff provides one to one capacity building support to NL not for profit organisations – covering areas such as: start up, legal structures, income generation, HR, and comms. A total of 1222 one to one support interactions were recorded by VANL staff. Page 213 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 6 Plan for NL Ambitions 1.2 and 1.5 cont. NL Community CVS Contribution to Ambitions 1.2 and 1.5 cont. VANL General and Ongoing Contributions to PNL Ambition 1.2 and 1.5 cont. VANL Contributions To PNL Ambitions 1.1; 1.2 and 1.5: 2024/2025 cont. See above . See above • VANL staff support development of Social Enterprise in NL through the NL cross-sector Social Enterprise Strategy Group convened by NLC’s Enterprise Team; support for CVS organisations wishing to develop trading activities; and support for the NL Social Enterprise Network. • VANL staff provide capacity-building support to the CVS so they are more able to sustain their contribution to local communities and the local economy including: o supporting income generation (see Section 5 on resources) o providing information guidance, on a wide range of organisational issues such as governance, finance, HR. • See Section 5 on Resources for details of VANL’s income generation support to the NL CVS • See Section 4 on Community Engagement etc on VANL’s capacity building support for the CVS. Page 214 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 7 Plan for NL Priority 2: Support all children and young people to realise their full potential. NL Community CVS Contribution to Ambition 2 VANL General and Ongoing Contributions to PNL Ambition 2 VANL Contributions To PNL Ambition 2: 2024/2025 Ambitions 2.1 Raise attainment and skills for learning, life, and work to enhance opportunities and choices. 2.2 Enhance collaborative working to maximise support and ensure all our children and young people are included, supported, and safe. 2.3 Engage children and families in early learning and childcare programmes and making positive transitions to school. 2.4 Invest in early interventions, positive transitions, and preventative approaches to improve outcomes for children and young people. Provision of support to children, young people and families through activities and services such as: • befriending and mentoring • play groups • food support, including emergency food; cooking skills; nutritional advice • mental health support • money advice and affordable credit • parenting and family support • physical activity/sports • social housing and housing support • children’s clubs and youth groups VANL staff support the CVS on their work to support children, young people and families in a variety of ways. • Providing information and guidance as part of VANL’s CVS capacity building support (see other sections), • Providing income generation support to the CVS (also see Section 5 on Resources). • Convening the NL CVS Children, Young People and Families (CYPF) Network to support information sharing; learning; and partnership working. • Supporting consideration and action on CYPF issues at locality level through Community Planning Localities and Community Solutions Locality Consortia. • For CVS capacity building support see sections 4 and 5. • VANL’s staff worked with school clusters and other council staff to manage delivery of Phase 5 of the CYP Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund. 89 projects over 23 school clusters have been awarded over £409k this year. VANL also supports funded projects to evaluate and report on their reach and impact. A consultation event was also held to identify what stakeholders would like to see from the fund in the future. • 53 CVS organisations supporting CYPF also secured small grants through the Community Solutions Local Activity Funds. • VANL staff convened 4 x NL CVS CYPF Network meetings and communicated with members on a regular basis to share key information, provide access to training and support their contributions to partnership working. Page 215 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 8 Plan for NL Ambition 2.5 NL Community CVS Contribution to Ambition 2.5. VANL General and Ongoing Contributions to PNL Ambition 2.5 VANL Contributions to PNL Ambition 2.5: 2024/2025 2.5 Engage with children, young people, parents, carers, and families to help all children and young people reach their full potential. • Contribution to partnership working for children, young people and families through Children Services Partnership Task Groups and locality work, including working with and through NLC’s Education and Families Dept, including school clusters. This includes supporting development, delivery and evaluation of: o enrichment activities for second year pupils o community-based support for CYP mental health • Representing the CVS on the cross-sector Improving Children’s Services Officers Group and Children’s Services Partnership Board (through VANL CEO). • VANL’s Senior CYPF Development Officer participated in a number of other key groups including: o GIRFEC Delivery Group o Mental Health & Resilience Task Group o Integrated Child Services Group o Alcohol & Drug Partnership, Family sub group Page 216 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 9 Plan for NL Priority 3: Improve the health and wellbeing of our communities NL Community CVS Contribution to Ambition 3.1 VANL General and Ongoing Contributions to PNL Ambition 3.1 VANL Contributions to PNL Ambition 3.1: 2024/2025 Ambition 3.1 Increase economic opportunities for adults by understanding, identifying, and addressing the causes of poverty and deprivation and barriers to financial inclusion. 3.1 Tackling Poverty • Employment, often at or above real living wage • Employability support • Money advice, including benefits advice, debt advice, budgeting etc. • Affordable Credit through Credit Unions. • Contribution to delivery of NLC’s Tackling Poverty strategy. 3.1 Tackling Poverty • VANL’s Community Development Manager and Senior CYPF Development Officer are members of NLC’s Tackling Poverty Officers Group who, along with representatives from several other CVS organisations, contribute to partnership planning on tackling poverty issues from CVS perspective. • VANL’s development staff support the NL CVS in the 9 community planning localities to contribute to action to tackle poverty, working with Community, Boards and statutory partners. 3.1 Tackling Poverty • VANL staff participated in NLC’s Tackling Poverty Officer Group meetings. • VANL continued to support CVS organisations on employability issues (see Section 1.2). • VANL staff promoted NLC’s Working for Families Programme to create employment opportunities in the third sector. There was a good uptake on this. • VANL staff reviewed and commented on two key reports: o Tackling Poverty Annual Report 2023/24 o Local Child Poverty Action Report 2023/24 • VANL contributed to the new North Lanarkshire “Tackling Poverty Strategy” (launched April 2024) from perspective of CVS contribution and also published a briefing paper on its website on the CVS and its contribution to tackling poverty. Page 217 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 10 Plan for NL Ambitions 3.2, 3.3.and 3.4 NL Community CVS Contribution to Ambitions 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4 VANL General and Ongoing Contributions to PNL Ambitions 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4 VANL Contributions To PNL Ambitions 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4: 5 2024/2025 3.2 Ensure our residents are able to achieve, maintain, and recover their independence through appropriate supports at home and in their communities. 3.3 Improve preventative approaches including self- management and giving people information and choice over supports and services 3.4 Public protection 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4 CVS support and services • advocacy • befriending and mentoring • carer support (direct and indirect) • community transport and active travel initiatives • food and nutrition support • lunch clubs • promotion of mental well-being and recovery support for people with mental health problems and addictions • public protection - training and effective practice. • physical activity • provision of information, advice and self-management support. • provision of community care services • support for children, young people and families • support for disabled people • support for older people • support for people with dementia 3.2., 3.3 and 3.4 Community Solutions Programme VANL hosts and manages the NL Community Solutions (CS) Programme on behalf of funders - including University of Health and Social Care North Lanarkshire (UHSCNL), Scottish Govt and North Lanarkshire Council (NLC) managing over £3 million a year in funding to the CVS. (Also see Section 5 on resources.) 3.2., 3.3 and 3.4 Community Solutions Programme • During this 6-month period VANL staff supported the management of awards to CVS organisations: o Local Activity Fund – 56 projects - £150 983 o Thematic Funding – 15 projects - £448 800 o Carer Breather Funding – 11 projects - £135 750 • VANL staff supported funded projects to evaluate and report on the reach and impact of this funding – support was given to help organisations prepare case studies, answer evaluation questions and share learning. • VANL staff supported development and delivery of the Community Solutions “Improving Lives Initiative” supporting an investment of over £1.5 million over two years to strengthen community-based support to improve health and wellbeing, including appointment of ten Community Connectors from 2023. Page 218 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 11 Plan for NL Ambitions 3.2., 3.3. and 3.4 cont. NL Community CVS Contribution to Ambitions 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4 cont. VANL General and Ongoing Contributions to PNL Ambitions 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4 cont. VANL Contributions to PNL Ambitions 3.2, 3.3 and 3.4: 2024/2025 cont. See above See above See above • VANL staff continued to support CVS organisations to share information, work together and influence CVS and public sector health and social care services planning by convening the following NL-wide CVS networks: o Befriending Network o Children, Young People and Families Network o Mental Health and Wellbeing Network • VANL’s senior staff (CEO and Senior Manager Community Solutions) continued to represent the NL CVS on key UHSCNL planning groups to support planning and delivery of social care with a focus on CVS role and learning from the Community Solutions Programme. This included: o Integrated Joint Board (IJB) (VANL CEO) o Strategic Leadership Team (Senior Manager CS) o Mental Health Strategy Board (VANL CEO) Page 219 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 12 Plan for NL Ambitions 3.2., 3.3., 3.4 and 3.5 cont. NL Community CVS Contribution to Ambitions 3.2, 3.3, 3.4 and 3.5 cont. VANL General and Ongoing Contributions to PNL Ambitions 3.2, 3.3 3.4 and 3.5 cont. VANL Contributions to PNL Ambitions 3.2, 3.3. 3.4 and 3.5: 2023/2024cont. See above and 3.5 Encourage the health and wellbeing of people through a range of social, cultural, and leisure activities. • See above Community arts activities • Community gala days and festivals • Community sports • Community support groups (see above) • Green health initiatives (see section 4.) • Heritage projects See above 3.5 VANL supports CVS organisations providing social, cultural and leisure activities through our general CVS support services including provision of information; capacity building; funding awards. See other sections in this document for examples. • VANL staff continued to support links between UHSCNL and its Community Solutions Programme and Community Planning through support for and participation in the six Community Solutions locality consortia and nine Community Planning localities. • See other sections in this document. Page 220 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 13 Plan for NL Priority 4: Enhance Participation, Capacity and Empowerment Across our Communities NL Community CVS Contribution to PNL Ambition 4.1 and 4.2 VANL General and Ongoing Contributions to PNL Ambitions 4.1 and 4.2 VANL Contributions To PNL Ambition 4.1 and 4.2: 2024/2025 4.1 Transform our natural environment to support wellbeing and inward investment and enhance it for current and future generation. 4.2 Ensure we keep our environment clean, safe, and attractive. • Allotments and community growing. • Community clean-ups. • Green health initiatives. • Nature conservation, including promotion and protection of green space. • Participation in locality Environment sub-groups linked to Community Boards. 4.1 and 4.2 Action on Climate Together NL and Green Wellbeing Project • VANL’s staff support green, environmental and climate awareness and action through our facilitation of NLP’s Action on Climate Together NL initiative and linked Community Climate and Green Wellbeing Project. • Funding for CVS organisations through the Community Solutions Programme also supports a range of green related activities such as community gardening; conservation and walking groups. 4.1 and 4.2 Action on Climate Together NL and Climate and Green Wellbeing Project VANL staff continued to support ACT Now NL as follows. • Convening meetings of the cross- sector ACT Now NL Co-ordinating Group to support cross-sector liaison. • Supporting Community Board Environment Sub-groups in 3 localities. • Participating in the Lanarkshire Green Health Partnership initiative, convened by NHS Lanarkshire. • Managing further development of the North Lanarkshire Community Climate and Green Wellbeing Project in April 2024 including: o Preparation of Six Community Climate and Green Wellbeing Guides. Page 221 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 14 o Preparation and launch of the North Lanarkshire Community and Voluntary Sector Climate and Green Wellbeing Pledge (5 organisations have signed the pledge thus far) o Launch of Community Action Climate Network in September (16 attendees) Plan for NL Ambitions 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5 cont. NL Community CVS Contribution to PNL Ambitions 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5 cont. VANL General and Ongoing Contributions to PNL Ambitions 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5 cont. VANL Contributions To PNL Ambitions 4.3, 4.4 and 4.5 cont. 2024/2025 4.3 Ensure our digital transformation is responsive to all people’s needs and enables access to the services they need. Advocacy and direct support for digital inclusion, including provision of digital skills training and access to equipment and broadband. VANL staff supports digital inclusion in NL through participation in the Driving Digital NL Working Group involving members of all Community Boards. However, VANL does not currently have sufficient resources to contribute to this agenda significantly. • Planning the development and promotion of new digital volunteering opportunities • Supporting digital inclusion sub groups and priorities within LOIPs through sub groups. • Delivery of two Cyber Resilience training courses for CVS groups and organisations. 4.4 Improve engagement with communities and develop their capacity to help themselves • Active engagement with service users and local residents through service delivery, VANL staff support community engagement and capacity building as follows. • VANL staff provided a wide range of key information to the NL CVS including: Page 222 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 15 4.5 .Improve the involvement of communities in the decisions, and development of services and supports, that affect them. consultation and community events. • Support for active citizenship and community engagement through Community Councils and Community Boards. • Supporting residents with physical and mental health problems on issues around self-directed support and recovery for people. • Providing information and guidance to CVS organisations. • Supporting CVS organisations to share information; learn; work together; and contribute to Partnership working by: o convening the CVS Partnership Group and thematic CVS Networks o a new peer support forum was formed for organisations funded through the North Lanarkshire Local Employability Partnership. This is predominantly CVS but also some private organisations. This forum is arranged by VANL. o organising events for the CVS including their annual conference and locality meetings o 24 e-alerts on issues such as funding, training, events and consultations o 3 x Community Solutions e- bulletins o 2 x Mental Health and Wellbeing e-bulletins o 1 x Children, Young People and Families Bulletins o 1 x Community Wealth Building Bulletin • It was decided that VANL would compress the above bulletin topics into one VANL newsletter. From November 5 x newsletters have been developed and circulated to VANL’s mailing list. • VANL staff regularly post information and guidance on our social media channels (Facebook and Linked In). Posts include information on training, funding, social enterprise, events and relevant consultations. This is largely coordinated by VANL’s Communication staff in liaison with other colleagues, support organisations, stakeholders and the CVS. Page 223 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 16 Plan for NL Ambition 4.4 and 4.5 cont. NL Community CVS Contribution to PNL Ambition 4.4 and 4.5 cont. VANL General and Ongoing Contributions to PNL Ambitions 4.4 and 4.5 cont. VANL Contributions to PNL Ambitions 4.4 and 4.5: cont. 2024/2025 See above See above • Providing capacity building support to CVS organisations to help them become more effective and sustainable and so better able to support local people. • Supporting CVS and resident engagement in community planning through NLP including Community Boards; Strategic Leadership Board and development of a CommUnity Agreement • Hosting and managing HSCNL’s Community Solutions Programme which includes provision of funding and support for six local CVS organisations and cross-sector consortia to support local engagement and contributions and management of six Local Activity Funds (LAF) providing small grants to community groups. (See section 3 above.) • VANL staff organised 4 x Community and Voluntary Sector Partnership (CVSPG) meetings at which the following issues were discussed: fair funding; community planning; community agreement; review of NLC grants; BAME equality work in North Lanarkshire. • VANL staff provided capacity building guidance and support to NL CVS organisations and recorded the number of interactions for each type of support provided as follows: o Income Generation – 249 o Governance – 55 o Start Up – 29 o Climate / Green – 41 interactions o Human Resources – 17 o Communications – 155 o Signposting – 245 o Preparation of accounts (Xero digital accountancy) – 30 o Payroll - 4 o Independent Examination – 10 o Volunteering – 167 Page 224 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 17 • Supporting CVS participation in NL Children’s Services Partnership (see Section 2 above.) o Evaluation – 78 o Legal Structures – 38 o Organisational Reviews – 98 o Safeguarding – 6 Plan for NL Ambitions 4.4 and 4.5 cont. NL Community CVS Contribution to PNL Ambition 4.4 and 4.5 cont. VANL General and Ongoing Contributions to PNL Ambitions 4.4 and 4.5 cont. VANL Contributions to PNL Ambitions 4.4 and 4.5: cont. 2024/2025 See above See above See above • VANL staff continued to work closely with statutory partners and CVS organisations to support CVS participation in community planning as a partner organisation of NLP. • VANL staff actively promoted A Local Information System for Scotland (ALISS) to all CVS organisations in North Lanarkshire to support provision of more accurate information on the services they provide to the public and the workforce in both the CVS and public sector. Plan for NL Ambition 4.4 and 4.5 cont. NL Community CVS Contribution to PNL Ambition 4.4 and 4.5 cont. VANL General and Ongoing Contributions to PNL Ambitions 4.4 and 4.5 cont. VANL Contributions To PNL Ambitions 4.4 and 4: cont. 2023/2024 Page 225 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 18 See above See above See above Contributing to further development of work on Community Wealth Building including: ▪ Ongoing participation in the NLP CWB Partnership Group ▪ Ongoing participation in the CWB Writers Group when required ▪ Worked alongside partners to create a partnership approach to Community Wealth Building within the public, business and community and voluntary sectors in North Lanarkshire. ▪ Continue to map CVS contribution to CWB in North Lanarkshire ▪ Prepare and publish a Community Wealth Building Bulletin. CWB information will now be shared within the main VANL Bulletin. ▪ Ongoing promotion and sharing of Community Wealth Building information to the wider Page 226 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 19 CVS and targeted audiences as required. ▪ Worked with partners to develop a draft Partnership Community Wealth Building (CWB) Collective Statement. This was presented at the SLB meeting in December 2024. ▪ To agree the specific Community Wealth Building actions and development opportunities identified within the CWB Partnership Collective Statement. ▪ The Community Wealth Building Partnership Collective Statement and planned approach in principle was shared with the North Lanarkshire Partnership’s Strategic Leadership Board on 6 December 2024 for approval. ▪ In February 2025 the CWB partnership working group undertook a development session to identify areas of Page 227 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 20 business and opportunities where a partnership approach would create ‘added value’ and additionality to individual agency actions. ▪ Community Wealth Building Bill was announced in March 2025 ▪ The CWB partnership group’s work to date will assist in meeting the legislative requirements when they come into force and work has already commenced to develop an implementation plan and associated actions. ▪ NLC - Community Ownership and Management of Assets. There has been an updated and broadened policy on Community Ownership and Management of Assets (replacing the previous Community Asset Transfer policy). VANL has supported organisations with several areas including governance and Page 228 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 21 signposting for more specialised support. Moving forward VANL will continue to work with NLC colleagues and others to support the CVS. VANL will work with the 2 new NLC CAT members of staff. ▪ Continue to promote the NL CommUnity Agreement and encourage all community stakeholders to uphold its purpose and principles. This fits more under community development ▪ Discussions took place to secure funding to recruit a Social Enterprise Lead funded through the UKSPF till the end of March 2026. ▪ There will be the opportunity to embed a Community Wealth Building approach across the partnership during the review of LOIP’s. This work has commenced by NLC and will continue till the relaunch of the LOIPs in 2027. VANL will be Page 229 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 22 involved in this work. Updates will be shared within the CWB partnership group. Plan for NL Ambitions 4.4 and 4.5 cont. NL Community CVS Contribution to PNL Ambition 4.4 and 4.5 cont. VANL General and Ongoing Contributions to PNL Ambitions 4.4 and 4.5 cont. VANL Contributions to PNL Ambitions 4.4 and 4.5: cont. 2023/2024 o Supporting organisation of quarterly Community Board meetings in each of the nine localities; supporting CVS engagement and participating in meetings. o Supporting organisation of and/or participating in topical sub-groups in each of the nine localities and facilitating CVS involvement. o Supporting representation of the CVS through participation in and reporting to quarterly NLP Strategic Leadership Board meetings. With VANL leading on reporting for Act Now NL; CommUnity Agreement and Volunteering Strategy. Plan for NL Priority 5: NL CVS Contribution to VANL General and Ongoing VANL Specific and Plan for NL Priority 5: NL CVS Contribution to VANL General and Ongoing VANL Specific and Improve North Ambitions 5.1 and 5.2 Contributions to PNL Ambitions Contributions Lanarkshire’s 5.1 and 5.2 to PNL Ambitions 5:1 and 5.2: Resource Base 2023/2024 Page 230 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 23 Lanarkshire’s 5.1 and 5.2 to PNL Ambitions 5:1 and 5.2: Resource Base 2023/2024 Page 231 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 24 Ambitions 5.1 Continue to identify and access opportunities to leverage additional resources to support our ambitions. 5.2 Facilitate a North Lanarkshire wide approach to asset rationalisation. • Many NL CVS organisations secure income from one or more sources, including public donation; grants; and trading. • NL CVS bring in significant additional funding linked or matched to funding secured from NLC, NHS Lanarkshire and HSCNL. • NL CVS can apply for transfer of assets from NLC, although only a few transfers have been completed to date. • VANL staff provide NL CVS with ongoing and significant funding advice and support, including sharing information; briefing meetings and convening the NL CVS Income Generation Forum. • VANL manages c£3.5 million in funding awards to the CVS each year on behalf of other funders including UHSCNL; NLC; NHS Lanarkshire; and Scottish Government through the Community Solutions programme. • VANL staff prepared and issued 12 x funding bulletins with Council and HSCNL colleagues and also issued 11 x funding e-alerts. • VANL organised 3 x meetings of the NL CVS Income Generation Forum to support discussion of a range of issues. Creative Scotland representatives delivered a presentation on their funds and National Lottery Community Fund updated participants about their new funding streams. • VANL managed the allocation of over £2.452 million in funding to 166 projects and services by Sept 2024 through the Community Solutions programme. Examples include: • VANL Facilitated an information session for the launch of NOLB and Working For Families Funding for the 2025/2026 period. VANL was represented on the scoring panel for this funding. • VANL shared details on behalf of NLC and SDS for an information session for UKSPF funding for pre Page 232 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 25 stage 1 employability support. The closing date is in May 2025 for delivery during the 2025/2026 period. Page 233 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 26 Plan for NL Ambitions 5.1 and 5.2 NL CVS Contribution to Ambitions 5.1 ad 5.2 cont. VANL General and Ongoing Contributions to PNL Ambitions 5.1 and 5.2 cont. VANL Specific and Contributions to PNL Ambitions 5.1 and 5.2: cont. 2024/2025 See above See above • VANL hosts and promotes the North Lanarkshire Community Lottery in partnership with national provider Gatherwell, having managed its development and launch in June 2022. CVS organisations receive Organisations receive 50p from every £1 ticket they sell via their own lottery page. To date: • VANL staff participate in assessment of funding applications from CVS organisations to other funds. • VANL staff provide individual CVS organisations with direct guidance on funding applications. • VANL staff assist the NL CVS on asset transfer as required. o Over £150k awarded to 56 CVS projects via the Local Activity Fund. o Working with “school clusters” in North Lanarkshire; colleagues in North Lanarkshire Council; and NL CVS organisations to deliver over £409K in funding to CVS groups to support Children and Young People’s mental health and wellbeing Page 234 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 27 Plan for NL Ambitions 5.1 and 5.2 NL CVS Contribution to Ambitions 5.1. and 5.2 cont. VANL General and Ongoing Contributions to PNL Ambitions 5.1 and 5.2 cont. VANL Specific and Contributions to PNL Ambitions 5.1 and 5.2: cont. 2023/2024 See above See above • VANL supports the CVS to make a stronger case for “Fair Funding” to local and national funders (along with the other 31 TSIs and SCVO.). • VANL endeavours to develop links with NL private sector to facilitate an increase in the support (cash and in-kind) they provide to NL CVS but currently has insufficient capacity to do this to any great extent. • By March 2025, the North Lanarkshire Community Lottery has achieved the following: o 97 CVS organisations have their own lottery page o 140 936 tickets have been sold to 1201 weekly players o a total of £38,812 is expected to be raised this year. • VANL staff supported the assessment of funding applications by NL CVS for the following external funding schemes: o NLC Grant Award Scheme o NLC Campsies Funding o The Environmental Key Fund o NL Growth Pot Fund o No One Left Behind Funding o Working for Families Funding o UKSPF Challenge Fund for Employability • Through funding advice and guidance, VANL staff helped CVS organisations secure external funding to a value of £118 050 during the 12 month period. • VANL staff support and advocate for fair funding through the TSI network, Income Page 235 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 28 Generation Forum and through ongoing promotion of NL’s fair funding charter. Plan for NL Ambitions 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 NL CVS Contribution to Ambitions 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 cont. VANL General and Ongoing Contributions to PNL Ambition 5.1, 5.2 and 5.3 cont. VANL Specific and Contributions to PNL Ambition 5.1 5.2 and 5.3: cont. 2024/2025 See above See above See above • VANL continued to promote CVS access to community benefit funding/support through: o promotion of the NHS Scotland portal o development of the Glasgow City Region Community Benefits Portal, with a view to ensuring North Lanarkshire presence in liaison with NLC colleagues. o Promotion of Hochtief information events with further promotion going forward. 5.3 Build a workforce for the future capable of delivering on our priorities and shared ambition including with communities and partners. • NL CVS have an extensive paid and voluntary workforce that enables delivery of wide-ranging support and services to NL citizens and communities. • Unpaid carers in NL are the largest part of the care “workforce” and Volunteering VANL plays the lead role in NL for supporting development of the volunteer workforce by: • convening and chairing the NL cross-sector Volunteering Partnership Group involving all four main statutory organisations and with representation from wider CVS Volunteering • VANL facilitated and chaired 5 x North Lanarkshire Volunteering Partnership meetings. The main focus has been the revised 3 year volunteering strategy. • VANL recruited a fixed term volunteer development officer to strengthen volunteering by and for children, young people and families. Page 236 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 29 several CVS organisations provide support to carers. Plan for NL Ambition 5.3 cont. NL CVS Contribution to Ambition 5.3 cont. VANL General and Ongoing Contributions to PNL Ambition 5.3 cont. VANL Specific and Contributions to PNL Ambition 5.3: 2022-2023 cont. See above See above Volunteering cont. • supporting partner collaboration on delivery of the volunteering strategy, assisted by a shared Delivery Plan • promoting volunteering to the public and employers to increase the number of volunteers Volunteering cont. • VANL launched a new Volunteer Database for North Lanarkshire in May using specialist volunteer management software “Kinetic”. 80 organisations have registered and 75 volunteering opportunities have been promoted through the platform. 175 volunteers have also registered. • VANL staff handled 355 individual enquiries relating to volunteering. • encouraging CVS and statutory organisations to increase their volunteering roles • VANL staff supported 303 x new volunteer registrations with 160 suitable matches made to volunteering opportunities. • helping with recruitment and matching of volunteers • VANL facilitated 1604 Saltire Award Certificates as follows: • administration of the Saltire volunteering Awards for young people o Team Challenge: 543 o 10 hours: 343 o 25 hours: 293 o 50 hours: 279 Page 237 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 30 • supporting growth of volunteering for and by children, young and families o 100 hours: 98 o 200 hours: 31 o 500 hours: 16 o Summit Award: 1 Plan for NL Ambition 5.3 cont. NL CVS Contribution to Ambition 5.3 cont. VANL General and Ongoing Contributions to PNL Ambition 5.3 cont. VANL Specific and Contributions to PNL Ambition 5.3: 2024/2025 cont. See above See above Volunteering cont. • supporting growth of green health volunteering opportunities • support for volunteer- involving organisations. Training VANL also supports learning for the NL CVS paid and voluntary workforce. VANL’s approach to training support for the NL CVS, includes provision of training by VANL staff directly on areas of expertise and joint working with partners to plan and deliver training; increasing online learning opportunities; and supporting peer learning through events and networking. Training • VANL commenced planning of VANL’s new training calendar due to go live early 2025. • VANL staff organised and delivered the following training directly or through others: o Child Protection Training – 4 sessions with 60 participant o Community Mental Health and Wellbeing Fund (phase 4) info session – 52 participants o Children and young people mental health fund – learning and improvement session – 11 of the funds leads participated. o Care Opinion introductory session – 6 participants o Successful Funding Applications – 21 participants o Charity Trustees training – 3 sessions with 21 participants Page 238 of 352
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Plan for North Lanarkshire: Contribution by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2024-25 - Appendix 1 31 o Volunteering training – 2 sessions with 7 participants o Demonstrating Impact – 1 session with 5 participant o Organisational Legal Structures – 1 session with 9 participants o Management Committee Roles – 2 sessions with 28 participants • Training was also provided to locality hosts and consortium members with the aim to support effective delivery and assessment of the Local Activity Fund. There were 60 participants involved across 3 training sessions. [document ends] Page 239 of 352
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05/03/24 Service Level Agreement between North Lanarkshire Council and Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire Appendix 2 Page 240 of 352
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Contents • Purpose and Duration of Agreement • Service Specification • Core Funding • Conditions of Funding Appendix One: Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire Page 241 of 352
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1. Purpose and Duration of Agreement This Service Level Agreement (SLA) between North Lanarkshire Council (NLC) sets out the services to be provided by Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire (VANL) which is the Third Sector Interface (TSI) for North Lanarkshire. Performance against the service specification will be reviewed annually in February with regular submission of progress reports and liaison meetings with the Councils nominated Monitoring Officer Subject to satisfactory performance and the availability of resource, VANL will receive funding to deliver its obligations under this agreement until March 2027 after which a new three-year agreement will be considered. 2. Service Specification VANL will work with the Council to deliver actions to support and engage the community and voluntary sector (CVS) role in assisting with delivery of the Plan for North Lanarkshire and the Framework for Working with Communities. VANL will achieve this through collaborative working with CVS organisations, NLC and other NLP partners to support delivery of key local community and partnership priorities. This funding will specifically be used to support and build capacity in the CVS around local community planning as follows. 2.2 Locality Community Planning Support – support CVS and public engagement in community planning at local level and delivery of Local Outcome Improvement Plans as follows. 2.2.1 Community Boards • Working with NLP partners to develop the role and capacity of community Boards and their membership through delivery of relevant training, awareness raising and development and implementation of accountability processes and frameworks. • Playing a key role in the operation of community board meetings including minute taking (As part of a rota with other partners), helping to set the agenda, providing updates at meetings relating to LOIP priorities and other matters of importance to local people. • Ensuring appropriate VANL representation at Community Board meetings to support required input. • Positively promoting and supporting participation from CVS in Community Boards and subgroups. Page 242 of 352
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2.2.2 Local Partnership Teams and delivery of LOIP priorities • Ensuring appropriate representation at LPT meetings • Playing a key role in the development of the LPT’s as a key mechanism for driving delivery of local priorities • Playing a lead or support role in the development and delivery of appropriate and agreed local priorities (as appropriate and agreed but specifically around engagement and participation opportunities digital inclusion, climate and environment) • Updating the LOIP Management and Monitoring Framework and taking responsibility for reporting as required on priorities VANL leads on as appropriate at Community Board meetings and on progress within agreed reporting templates and timescales to Community Boards, NLP SLB and Council Committees • Making connections and links between wider CVS activities at a strategic level and LOIP priorities to minimise duplication and facilitate a more coordinated partnership approach. 2.3 Wider Community engagement and consultation activity • Work with the Council to support and organise and where appropriate facilitate engagement with local communities around key local or NL wide priorities and opportunities. • Work with NLC to ensure mechanisms that enable the CVS to participate effectively in other council priorities and initiatives, such as PB, Grant opportunities, community resilience. 2.4 Volunteering Support – facilitate delivery of the North Lanarkshire Volunteering Strategy which contributes to the resource ambition of the Plan for North Lanarkshire - working with NLC, other NLP partners, CVS and other volunteer-involving organisations. This will include the following • Work with NLC, other NLC partners and CVS to promote volunteering in North Lanarkshire and support individuals to access in volunteer roles. • Work with the Council to develop the contribution of volunteers around delivery of the Plan for North Lanarkshire • Support the ongoing development of NLC’s the Brighter Futures programme and associated volunteering pathway. • Work with the council to ensure volunteering opportunities support the ambition to prepare young people and the wider community for the future through a series of interconnected programmes. • Support CVS organisations to involve volunteers effectively. Page 243 of 352
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2.5 Wider role of VANL It is also expected that an element of the funding, alongside other funding sources will contribute to the wider role of VANL including: • Assessing CVS needs, priorities and challenges. • Helping the CVS to assess their contribution and impact more effectively. • Facilitating CVS voice and influence through other linked partnerships, in addition to NLP • Supporting wider understanding and appreciation of the role and contribution of the CVS. • Supporting implementation of the Community Agreement in liaison with NLP partner organisations and CVS. • Supporting wider CVS contributions to delivery of the Plan for NL ambitions by facilitating CVS capacity building – including income generation support. • Facilitating stronger links and synergy between community planning and the Health and Social Care NL Community Solutions Programme hosted by VANL. • Active membership of the SLB Board and supporting wider CVS representation through the CVS Partnership Group. 3. NLC Core Funding for VANL Annual funding for VANL from this SLA will be £172,379.25. Subject to satisfactory performance and availability of resources, the above funding for VANL will continue until March 2027. Should unforeseen circumstances dictate any proposal by NLC to reduce the level of funding available during the term of this agreement, at least 90 days’ notice will be provided to VANL. This core funding may be supplemented by additional project funding agreed on a case-by-case basis from NLC. Any such case will require approval from the Communities Committee. 4. Liaison and Monitoring The Council will identify a designated Monitoring Officer to manage and maintain the relationship and working arrangements with VANL. VANL will be expected engage regularly with the monitoring officer as required and to highlight any challenges in meeting the requirements of this funding agreement at the earliest possible time. Specific monitoring requirements related to this agreement will include Page 244 of 352
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• Quarterly progress meetings between senior officers of VANL and the Councils Monitoring Officer • Submission of a monitoring report on a six-monthly basis. This will include a six-month interim progress reports in autumn each year, focussing on activities and a 12-month Impact and Learning report in summer each year, which will include activity and outcome data. • Annual review of performance under the terms of the SLA to be considered by the Council’s Communities Committee • Submission of annual accounts • Sharing of approved minutes from VANL Board meetings • Monitoring Officer to be invited to attend VANL AGM. 5. Conditions General Conditions The Council’s liability shall be to make payment of the funding to the organisation. All other liabilities or claims are the responsibility of the organisation. The Council is responsible for ensuring that any funding provided is correctly used and so payment of any monies will be made by the Council in terms of the conditions listed within this document. The Council will inform the funded organisation of any changes in funding regulations that may have a bearing on any financial support offered or any of the funded activities. Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire undertakes and agrees to adhere to the conditions within this document and further conditions as provided for by the council. The funding provided may only be used for the purpose (or purposes) specified within this document and any unused grant should be returned to the Council. Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire shall notify the council immediately of any material change to the organisation or to the activities and/or services provided including any change to the office bearers and any changes of address of existing office bearers. Page 245 of 352
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Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire has a responsibility to report any suspicions of impropriety, fraud and irregularity to the council as soon as they come to light. Organisations should not wait for the outcome of investigations before reporting such matters. Any suspicions should be made known to the council. Failure to do so may be considered a breach of the conditions of funding. In entering this agreement, it is understood that anyone convicted of fraud should not stand as an office bearer for the organisation. The council should be notified immediately if this is not the case or if this changes at some point during the funding period. Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire undertakes to inform the council if at any time the intention is to dissolve the organisation or if it has not held a management meeting for six months. In the case of dissolution, the organisation must ensure that the procedures laid down within its constitution are complied with and that the council are informed in advance of any meetings held to action or discuss dissolution of the organisation. The organisation undertakes to return to the council any unspent grant monies and/or movable items purchased through grant monies. The funding from the council to the organisation is dependent upon successful progress towards achieving the agreed outcomes and performance measures. Any unused grant should be returned to the Council. The project must be free of any political bias and must not involve political campaigning. The construction, validity, performance and all other matters arising out of and in connection with these conditions of funding shall be governed by the Laws of Scotland. 6. Compliance with Statutory Requirements The provision of funding from the council is conditional on compliance with any current legislation governing the conduct of the organisation in receipt of funding including: - • The Companies Act 2006 (for incorporated bodies); • The Charities and Trustee Investment (Scotland) Act 2005 and The Charities Accounts (Scotland) Regulations 2006 (for registered charities); • The General Data Protection Regulation 2018 (for anyone holding personal data), and • Protecting vulnerable Groups (Scotland) Act 2007 (for anyone working with children or vulnerable adults). Page 246 of 352
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o The Equality Act 2010: Public Sector Equality Duty - although the onus of this Act is on public bodies, the Council requires that the organisations it funds should also pay due regard to the General Duty it outlines by noting the need to: - • Eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation and other prohibited conduct; • Advance equality of opportunity between people who share a relevant protected characteristic and those who do not, and • Foster good relations between people who share a protected characteristic and those who do not. 7. Operational Procedures 7.1 Conflict of interest - in making decisions which involve public money (which council funding is) it is imperative that all decisions are made in the public interest (and are seen to be made in the public interest) and not in the interests of any individual. All members of the organisation’s management group should declare any relevant personal interests that they have before any discussion takes place on a subject. Having done so they should take no part in the discussions and should have no influence on the decisions made, and this should be recorded in the minutes of the meeting. Individuals should be regarded as having an interest (financial or otherwise) in an activity or in the provision of an activity if: - • Any spouse, partner or close relative has an interest in it; • Any company of which he or she is a director, substantial shareholder or employee has an interest in it, or • Any organisation of which he or she is a management committee member, trustee, employee, voluntary worker or elected representative has an interest in it. • Complaints - the funded organisation shall provide and maintain a complaints procedure acceptable to the council and a copy of this shall be available to people using the activity. In accordance with its own complaints procedure the organisation will maintain a complaint register which will be made available to council officers on request. Employee Procedures - funded organisations and groups are required to recruit, employ and manage staff in a manner which is in line with their own equal opportunities policy and does not support any activity which is discriminatory. Governance - in entering into this agreement the council expects the funded organisation to comply with relevant and current proper management procedures for voluntary organisations. Page 247 of 352
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Insurance cover – Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire undertakes to properly insure all items and activities undertaken by this organisation. It further undertakes to indemnify the council from all costs and liability arising from its activities and from all claims at the instance of third parties which would not have arisen had this agreement not been entered into. Purchasing principles - all purchases, equipment and/or services paid for through council funding must remain under the ownership of the funded organisation and backed up with receipts. The organisation may be asked to submit these receipts as proof of expenditure and so should retain these for at least 2 years along with all financial records relating to the council funding and its subsequent expenditure. These financial records and any equipment purchased should be made available for inspection by Council Officers if requested. Procurement should be through open competition unless there are exceptional and convincing reasons to the contrary. Goods and services should be selected on the basis of value for money. A minimum of 3 tenders/quotations are required and sealed bid procedures should be used for all purchases in excess of £10,000 and for any lower value, but potentially contentious purchases. Ownership of Assets Unless otherwise agreed with the council, all land, buildings and moveable property with a value of £50,000 or more purchased with the aid of a council grant shall be owned by the council and shall not be disposed of during the funding period of the activity without consent of the council. In some cases, for example if the activity terminates prematurely, approval of the council to dispose of the assets will be required, and income from the disposal may need to be returned to North Lanarkshire Council. Where the ownership of such assets is not to rest with the council, then the approval of the council is required before they are purchased. Where land, buildings and moveable assets purchased with the aid of a council grant is worth less than £50,000, it is for the council to decide who should own the asset. If the ownership is to rest with someone other than the council, then it is the funded organisations responsibility to take steps to ensure that full value for money is achieved in the management of the assets in question and in realising the full value of all surplus assets. Page 248 of 352
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Termination of Agreement The council may terminate or suspend the grant funding if any of the following events occur: 1. The discovery of financial irregularities within the organisation 2. The discovery that the applicant organisation or its representatives have made material misrepresentations in the funding process 3. Failure to comply with council monitoring and evaluation processes 4. Use of grant funding for non-approved purposes 5. Insolvency of the applicant organisation 6. Material breach of these conditions. Page 249 of 352
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Signatories to the Service Level Agreement Signed on behalf of Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire … Maddy Halliday, CEO 5th March 2024 Signed on behalf of North Lanarkshire Council Communities Team ……………………………………….. … Date Page 250 of 352
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Appendix One: Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 1. Introduction VANL is the recognised support organisation for the Community and Voluntary sector in North Lanarkshire [also known as a “Third Sector Interface” (TSI)] with formal recognition by the Scottish Government. VANL is: • The recognised support organisation for the NL CVS as a whole VANL provides essential capacity building and other support to community and voluntary organisations across North Lanarkshire. There are an estimated 1,100 diverse community and voluntary organisations in NL ranging from small community groups supported only by volunteers; registered charities of differing sizes, many with staff and volunteers; social enterprises including housing associations and co-operatives. • The lead volunteering support organisation in NL Thousands of local people of all ages volunteer across NL each year, providing support to local people and communities. VANL promotes volunteering to help increase the numbers of volunteers in NL; supports volunteer-involving organisations; and supports matching of volunteers to volunteer roles. VANL also convenes the NL Volunteering Partnership to support cross-sector collaboration to strengthen volunteering, including employer-supported volunteering. • A community planning partner on behalf of the NL CVS VANL supports CVS engagement in all aspects of community planning, including Community Boards, Strategic Leadership Board. VANL also supports CVS contribution to the Plan for North Lanarkshire. VANL’s charitable objectives, vision, mission, values, strategic objectives and outcomes – which are set out below and are the basis of our Strategic Plan for 2021-24 - support delivery of the Plan for North Lanarkshire’s ambitions. Page 251 of 352
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2. Charitable objectives • Advance citizenship and community development, including rural and urban regeneration, the promotion of civic responsibility and the voluntary sector and the effectiveness of charitable/voluntary/community organisations. • Strive to promote benefits for the residents of North Lanarkshire; in particular, the advancement of education, the furtherance of health and the relief of poverty, sickness and distress by the promotion of voluntary service and developing volunteering within the local area. 3. Vision and Mission 3.1 VANL’s vision is a thriving and effective community and voluntary sector in North Lanarkshire which supports local people’s quality of life and well-being. 3.2 VANL’s Mission is to: improve the quality of life and wellbeing of North Lanarkshire’s citizens by fostering dynamic, inclusive communities through promotion and support for volunteering and the development of the voluntary and community sector. 4. Values VANL is a values-based organisation. Our approach to and delivery of our work is underpinned by our commitment to the following values. 4.1 Sustainable Quality of Life and Well-being VANL promotes and supports sustainable quality of life and well-being of North Lanarkshire’s people and communities, across environmental, economic and social issues. Page 252 of 352
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4.2 Equality and Human Rights VANL promotes and advances equality and human rights for the people of North Lanarkshire. 4.3 Empowerment VANL supports local people, communities and voluntary organisations to have voice and influence over the issues that matter to them, including the economy, jobs and income; housing; health and care services; transport; and the built and natural environment. 4.4 Collaboration and Partnership VANL is committed to working effectively with other organisations and individuals from all sectors to achieve shared goals which benefit the people and communities of North Lanarkshire. 4.5 Respect and Care for Others VANL shows and fosters respect and consideration for the people and communities of North Lanarkshire; the community and voluntary sector; our statutory and business partners; and all those that work for and with VANL. 4.6 Commitment to Excellence VANL is committed to enabling a culture of learning, improvement and innovation within VANL, the community and voluntary sector and the partnerships of which we are part - seeking to deliver high standards of work and achieve positive outcomes. VANL’s commitment to these values is demonstrated in various ways through the work we do as set out our “Working Together for A Better North Lanarkshire” website and also our: • Investors in People, Living Wage, Living Hours and Equally Safe at Work accreditations • commitment to being a Carers’ Positive and Disability Confident employer Page 253 of 352
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4. Strategic Objectives and Outcomes 4.1 Funding and Resources for the North Lanarkshire Community and Voluntary Sector Strategic Objective: VANL will work with the community and voluntary sector to clarify, communicate and fulfil their resource requirements to enable them to respond to local need more effectively. Specifically, VANL will: 1. support North Lanarkshire community and voluntary sector organisations to diversify their income sources, including grant funding from sources outside North Lanarkshire; public fundraising; corporate sponsorship; and trading 2. promote citizens’ involvement in their community through volunteering 3. promote employer-supported volunteering 4. work with North Lanarkshire community and voluntary sector and statutory sector to develop improved support for the community and voluntary sector paid and volunteer workforce 5. work with North Lanarkshire Council, other statutory partners and the community and voluntary sector to review local grant funding, procurement and access to community resources to identify and progress improvements. 4.2 Guidance and Training for the North Lanarkshire Community and Voluntary Sector Strategic Objective: VANL will provide and facilitate provision of guidance, support and training to NL’s community and voluntary sector so they are more able to respond to local needs effectively and evidence their contribution and impact. Page 254 of 352
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4.3 Effective Communication and Collaboration Strategic Objective: VANL will support effective communication and collaboration with and between local citizens and the community and voluntary sector and the statutory and private sectors. Achievement of this objective will be facilitated through: • information sharing and consultation – online and through events • community and voluntary sector networks and fora, including Community Boards • cross-sector partnerships • “co-production” (design, planning and delivery) of specific activities, interventions, programmes and projects, involving citizens, community and voluntary, statutory and private sector organisations. 4.4 Effective Engagement and Influence of the North Lanarkshire Community and Voluntary Sector Strategic Objectives: • VANL will support effective engagement and positive influence of the North Lanarkshire’s community and voluntary sector over the North Lanarkshire Partnership’s “Plan for North Lanarkshire” and the linked strategies and policies which support delivery of the Plan’s five high-level ambitions: - Improve economic opportunities and outcomes. - Support all children and young people to realise their full potential. - Improve the health and wellbeing of our communities. - Improve the ability, participation, and empowerment of our communities. - Improve North Lanarkshire’s resource base. • VANL will support North Lanarkshire’s community and voluntary sector to evaluate and report on how they contribute to achievement of the five ambitions of the Plan for North Lanarkshire. (Please see supporting document presented separately in Appendix Three.) Page 255 of 352
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5. Performance and Impact VANL is committed to being an effective organisation, delivering work of high quality which seeks to achieve desired outcomes. This commitment is facilitated through sound leadership, financial and people management, monitoring and evaluation, learning and continuous improvement arrangements. VANL is an accredited Investors in People organisation, achieving gold level recognition VANL’s approach to being an effective organisation is informed by guidance in two performance frameworks for non-profit organisations: • the UK Charity Excellence Framework • and the Scottish Lasting Difference Framework VANL staff capture and review relevant performance data including relevant activity data (inputs and outputs) and outcome data (customer satisfaction.) VANL will provide North Lanarkshire Council with six-month interim progress reports in autumn/winter each year, focussing on activities and an annual report in summer each year, which will include activity and outcome data based on customer satisfaction data. VANL will also communicate its progress and achievements more widely. Page 256 of 352
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Communities Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref SP/LP/GS Date 18/08/25 Community Grants – Annual Report 2024/25 From Stephen Penman, Chief Officer, (Strategy and Engagement) E-mail Penman Ste@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07947 997750 1. Background 1.1 The overall budget for the Community Grants Scheme for 2024/2025 was £100,177 and this provided for an allocation of £1,301 for consideration per elected member. 1.2 The scheme aims to promote projects or activities for community benefit and the following applies: • The scheme is open to democratically run voluntary organisations or community groups operating within North Lanarkshire. • Applicant organisations must be governed by people who are elected or appointed by the members of the organisation and the organisation and membership must be open to appropriate sections of the community. Executive Summary The Community Grants Scheme provides small-scale funding to community and voluntary organisations across North Lanarkshire, supporting local projects and activities that deliver clear community benefit. Grants can be used flexibly to cover a range of costs, including equipment, events, training, publicity, start-up expenses and administration. This report presents the Communities Committee with an overview of applications received under the Community Grants Scheme for the 2024/25 financial year, along with details of funding awards made to date. Recommendations It is recommended that the Communities Committee: (1) Acknowledges the details of the awards made through the 2024/25 Community Grants Scheme listed in Appendices 1 to 10 of this report. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve the health and wellbeing of our communities Ambition statement (19) Improve engagement with communities and develop their capacity to help themselves Programme of Work Resilient People Item 10 Page 257 of 352
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• Religious organisations may apply if the focus of the project is open to all sections of the community, and it doesn’t involve the promotion of a particular faith or religious viewpoint. • Parent Councils may apply for activities run by them out with school hours but not for materials for school curricular work. • Individuals, profit distributing organisations, private clubs, political parties, and Trade Unions are not eligible to apply. 2. Report Community Grants 2024/25 2.1 The Chief Officer for Strategy and Engagement has delegated authority to pay Community Grant recommendations once the application process is complete and, each year, a report is presented to committee detailing all of the awards made through this scheme within the financial year. 2.2 Appendices 1- 10 provide detail of awards made on an area-by-area basis for the 2024/25 period plus an additional appendix for multi-area requests. Community Grants – Criteria 2.3 Community Grants can be used for various purposes including for example equipment, events, training, publicity, start-up costs and administration. Grants may not be used to fund costs already incurred or repairs / improvements to premises not owned by or leased to the organisation applying. 2.4 The maximum groups can apply for is £1,000. They can apply up to three times in any one financial year for different activities (or for the same activity if six months have passed since the last application) but the total funded to any one organisation in any one year must not exceed the £1,000 limit. 2.5 If an organisation is awarded a grant they will be expected to comply with the following conditions of grant: • return any unused grant to the Council • use grant monies only for the purposes applied for • complete a grant expenditure report and provide evidence of expenditure when requested. 2.6 Community groups and voluntary organisations can apply at any time throughout the year. Applications are processed four times over the year. A schedule which details closing dates and dates in which applications will be considered is published on the Council’s website at Community grants | North Lanarkshire Council. 3. Measures of success 3.1 The funds distributed to community and voluntary sector organisations will help build community cohesion and enable organisations to deliver outcome focused and needs led projects and activities. Many of which positively contribute to the developing the health and wellbeing of communities. 3.2 Outcomes achieved by the grant funded organisations are monitored and assessed to ensure they meet those set out in their applications. Page 258 of 352
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4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 Airdrie Area Awards 2024/25 4.2 Appendix 2 Bellshill Area Awards 2024/25 4.3 Appendix 3 Coatbridge Area Awards 2024/25 4.4 Appendix 4 Cumbernauld Area Awards 2024/25 4.5 Appendix 5 Kilsyth Area Awards 2024/25 4.6 Appendix 6 Motherwell Area Awards 2024/25 4.7 Appendix 7 North Area Awards 2024/25 4.8 Appendix 8 Shotts Area Awards 2024/25 4.9 Appendix 9 Wishaw Area Awards 2024/25 4.10 Appendix 10 Multi-Area Awards 2024/25 4.11 Link to Community Grants criteria Stephen Penman Chief Officer, (Strategy and Engagement) Page 259 of 352
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The awards detailed in the appendices total £93,817 and were paid from the 2024/25 budget of £100,177 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Page 260 of 352
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Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Many of the organisations funded via the Community Grants scheme deliver programmes/services that impact positively on the environment of North Lanarkshire communities 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 261 of 352
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Appendix 1 Airdrie Area 2024/25 Name of Organisation Amount Requested Total Awarded 1st New Monkland Boys Brigade £525.00 £280.00 5th Airdrie Girls Brigade £1,000.00 £139.00 5th Airdrie Guides £600.00 £189.00 Airdrie Central Bowling Club £1,000.00 £200.00 Airdrie Community Club £250.00 £250.00 Airdrie High Church Biscuit Club £400.00 £50.00 Cairnlea Parish Church Senior Citizens Club £800.00 £339.00 Calderbank Church of Scotland Women’s Guild £600.00 £350.00 Calderbank Tiny Tots Mother and Toddler Group £1,000.00 £150.00 Caldercruix Ladies Educational Group £500.00 £200.00 Chapelhall Community Development Group £1,000.00 £450.00 Chapelhall Primary Parents Group £1,000.00 £400.00 Chapelhall Women’s Group £450.00 £450.00 Clarkston Bowling Club £1,000.00 £250.00 Clarkston Parish Church £2,000.00 £430.00 Clarkston Primary School PTA £900.00 £280.00 Coatdyke Congregational Church £1,000.00 £350.00 Craigneuk & Old Petersburn Tenants & Residents Assoc. £1,000.00 £801.00 Enable - Airdrie Branch £1,300.00 £300.00 Glengowan Primary School Parent Council £1,000.00 £300.00 Jackson Church Summer Club £1,000.00 £450.00 Jackson Youth Club £500.00 £200.00 John Smith Club £987.00 £287.00 Kelly Academy of Irish Dance £1,000.00 £322.00 Monklands Light Opera £1,000.00 £200.00 Plains Amateur Football Club £2,000.00 £850.00 Plains Primary School Parent Council £1,000.00 £1,000.00 Plains Senior Citizens £1,000.00 £780.00 St Edward's Parish SVDP £1,000.00 £409.00 St Edward's Primary School Parent Council £806.00 £798.00 Page 262 of 352
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Appendix 2 Bellshill Area 2024/25 Name of Organisation Amount Requested Total Awarded 1st A Tannochside Guides £200.00 £200.00 Bellshill & Mossend Chess Club £1,384.00 £784.00 Bellshill Sharks ASC £1,000.00 £726.50 Bellshill South Senior Citizens Club £1,000.00 £1,000.00 Burnhead Bowling Club £1,700.00 £650.00 Grow Uddingston £800.00 £100.00 Hattonrigg Senior Citizens Club £600.00 £600.00 Holytown Environmental Group £1,250.00 £500.00 Living Waters Church £1,230.00 £400.00 New Stevenson Loyal Social Club £1,000.00 £100.00 Orbiston Bowling Club £1,000.00 £270.00 Sacred Heart St Gerards SVDP £500.00 £500.00 Spindlehowe Residents Association £1,000.00 £1,000.00 St Gerards Youth Club £1,000.00 £700.00 Utheo Ltd £970.00 £892.50 Viewpark Conservation Group £900.00 £250.00 Viewpark Family Centre Association £1,300.00 £1,000.00 YMCA Bellshill & Mossend £1,000.00 £1,000.00 Page 263 of 352
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Appendix 3 Coatbridge Area 2024/25 Name of Organisation Amount Requested Total Awarded 4th Coatbridge Company, The Girls' Brigade £1,080.00 £957.00 Albion Rovers Community Trust £1,000.00 £250.00 Bannan Fitness Club £1,000.00 £501.00 Bargeddie Primary School Parent Council £1,000.00 £390.00 Bargeddie Pensioners Wednesday Club £1,000.00 £575.00 Bargeddie Toddlers £1,400.00 £701.00 Burnbank Football Club £1,000.00 £400.00 Carnbroe Community Action for Residents £1,000.00 £500.00 Drumpellier Cricket Club £1,000.00 £600.00 Dunbeth Bowling Club £1,000.00 £50.00 Dundyvan Gardens Tenants & Residents Association £1,000.00 £400.00 Elutheria Ltd (T/A The Safety Zone) £1,850.00 £300.00 James Dempsey Retirement Housing Tenants & Residents £600.00 £100.00 Kirkshaws Neighbourhood Centre £500.00 £350.00 Kirkshaws Sheltered Housing £1,000.00 £400.00 Kirkwood 2023 Tenants & Residents Association £155.00 £126.00 Langloan Tenants and Residents Association £545.00 £475.00 St Bartholomew's Line Dancing Club £2,200.00 £751.00 St Kevin's Parent Council £900.00 £900.00 Wellspring Poverty Relief Group £1,000.00 £100.00 West End Bowling Club £1,000.00 £368.00 Whifflet Community Centre Senior Citizens Club £500.00 £450.00 Whifflet Ladies Group £1,150.00 £100.00 Whifflet Tenants and Residents Association £635.00 £630.00 Page 264 of 352
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Appendix 4 Cumbernauld Area 2024/25 Name of Organisation Amount Requested Total Awarded 20th Cumbernauld Guides £350.00 £175.00 Abronhill Parish Church Guild of Friendship £880.00 £325.00 Abronhill Regeneration Forum £1,000.00 £600.00 Balloch, Eastfield FC £1,655.00 £1,000.00 Carbrain & Hillcrest Community Council £1,000.00 £440.00 Condorrat Church Guild £950.00 £400.00 Cumberbauld & Kilsyth Citizens Advice Bureau £400.00 £400.00 Cumbernauld & Kilsyth Care £1,000.00 £876.00 Cumbernauld Action on Care of the Elderly (CACE) £1,000.00 £466.00 Cumbernauld Community Piping Group £1,000.00 £415.00 Cumbernauld Historical Society £570.00 £420.00 Cumbernauld Primary Parent Council £1,000.00 £450.00 Cumbernauld Probus Club £120.00 £120.00 Cumbernauld Resilience £1,360.00 £1,000.00 Cumbernauld Walk N Roll £1,000.00 £380.00 Dullatur Village Playgroup £1,000.00 £166.00 Dullatur Village Toddlers £1,000.00 £276.00 Kildrum Community Council £1,000.00 £395.00 Sacred Heart Youth Zone £640.00 £640.00 St Andrew's Primary School Parent Council £500.00 £492.00 St Maurice's Organic Allotments Association £420.00 £420.00 The Wynd Lunch and Social Club £1,000.00 £355.00 Page 265 of 352
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Appendix 5 Kilsyth Area 2024/25 Name of Organisation Amount Requested Total Awarded 1st Kilsyth Brownies £1,000.00 £225.00 2nd Kilsyth Girls Brigade £638.00 £195.00 Banton & Kelvinhead Bowling Club £1,250.00 £475.00 Banton & Kelvinhead Community Council £992.00 £200.00 Banton Community Hall £616.00 £226.00 Banton Healthy Lifestyle Group £1,000.00 £50.00 Croy Silver Band £1,000.00 £1,000.00 Cycling Without Age £800.00 £370.00 Holy Cross Ladies Guild £1,000.00 £175.00 Kilsyth Civic Week £1,000.00 £650.00 Kilsyth Heritage Group £580.00 £350.00 Kilsyth Thistle Pipe Band £1,000.00 £754.00 Page 266 of 352
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Appendix 6 Motherwell Area 2024/25 Name of Organisation Amount Requested Total Awarded 6th Motherwell Scout Group £1,725.00 £1,000.00 19th Motherwell BB £1,000.00 £625.00 19th Motherwell Girl Guides £500.00 £140.00 19th Motherwell Ranger Unit £500.00 £140.00 Craigneuk (Wishaw) Tenants & Residents Association £1,800.00 £637.00 Craigneuk Lifelong Learning Association £800.00 £800.00 Dalziel St Andrews Parish Church £750.00 £750.00 Firpark & Clydeview Parent Council £1,000.00 £1,000.00 Health & Wellbeing Community Group £1,000.00 £425.00 Muirhouse Primary School Parent Council £1,000.00 £525.00 Reach Out £500.00 £500.00 Society of St Vincent De Paul St Bernadettes Conference £1,300.00 £300.00 St Brendans Senior Citizens Club Muirhouse £800.00 £800.00 St Marys Parish Church Guild £900.00 £900.00 The Boys Brigade (13th Motherwell Company Junior Section) £1,000.00 £425.00 The Friendship Group for Over 50's £1,150.00 £565.00 The Good Deed £1,000.00 £615.00 Page 267 of 352
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Appendix 7 Northern Corridor Area 2024/25 Name of Organisation Amount Requested Total Awarded Auchengeich Gardens and Huntley Path Tenants and Residents £1,000.00 £400.00 Auchengeich Ladies Line Dancing Class £940.00 £600.00 Auchinloch Community Park Project £1,000.00 £683.00 Friends of Les Marches Twinning Association £650.00 £650.00 Gartcosh Parent and Toddler Playgroup £1,000.00 £1,000.00 St Barbara's Summer Club £1,000.00 £500.00 Wednesday Lunch Club £800.00 £400.00 Page 268 of 352
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Appendix 8 Shotts Area 2024/25 Name of Organisation Amount Requested Total Awarded Harthill, Eastfield and Greenrigg Children's Gala Day Committee £1,004.00 £500.00 1st Shotts Girls Brigade £1,190.00 £655.00 Allanton & Hartwood Senior Citizens £900.00 £350.00 Dykehead Parent Council £880.00 £425.00 Mornay Way and Nithsdale Street Tenants & Residents Association £1,050.00 £355.00 Salsburgh Chess Club £500.00 £262.00 Shotts Calderhead Erskine Parish Church £950.00 £380.00 Shotts Gala Day Committee £1,400.00 £655.00 St Patricks Nursery Parents Association £1,000.00 £405.00 St Patricks Parents Association £1,200.00 £380.00 St Patricks Women’s Group £800.00 £500.00 Page 269 of 352
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Appendix 9 Wishaw Area 2024/25 Name of Organisation Amount Requested Total Awarded CADALBA £1,000.00 £250.00 Cleland Community Council £1,000.00 £950.00 Clydevalley High School Parent Council £1,000.00 £350.00 Coltness Community Council £1,000.00 £1,000.00 Coltness Senior Citizens Tuesday Club £1,000.00 £370.50 Go Kids Performoing Arts £1,000.00 £265.00 Houldsworth Court Tenants Association £600.00 £165.00 Made 4U in ML2 £1,000.00 £670.50 New Coltness Senior Citizens Friday Club £1,000.00 £370.50 Newmains & District Galaday £1,000.00 £1,000.00 Newmains Community Trust £1,000.00 £720.50 Orchard Primary and Nursery Parent Council £2,025.00 £510.00 Pathways Church £1,000.00 £200.00 St Aidans Activity Club £619.00 £200.00 St Brigids Senior Citizens Club £1,000.00 £50.00 St Ignatius Parent Teachers and Friends Association £1,600.00 £466.00 The Hub Line Dancers £7,012.00 £50.00 Wishaw MS Support Group £3,000.00 £170.00 Page 270 of 352
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Appendix 10 More Than One Area Boundary 2024/25 Name of Organisation Amount Requested Total Awarded 15th Motherwell Boys Brigade £1,000.00 £75.00 2nd Coatbridge Scout Group £1,000.00 £139.00 5th Airdrie Scouts £1,000.00 £1,000.00 9th Airdrie Scouts £1,000.00 £89.00 Airdrie & Coatbridge Photographic Club £1,000.00 £200.00 Airdrie Arts Guild Drama Group £1,000.00 £1,000.00 Allanton Jolly Beggars Burns Club £1,000.00 £390.00 Bear Necessities £1,000.00 £295.00 Bellshill St Andrews United Free Church of Scotland £1,600.00 £1,000.00 Cliftonville & Coatdyke Community Group £1,695.00 £1,000.00 Coatdyke Congregational Church Womens Group £500.00 £350.00 COVEY (Community Volunteers Enabling You) £1,000.00 £1,000.00 Dalziel St Andrews Parish Church Guild £550.00 £550.00 Friends of St Barts Golf Society £1,000.00 £50.00 Monklands & District Retired Miners Moodiesburn Branch £950.00 £950.00 Monklands Division Girls Brigade £600.00 £70.00 Monklands Womens Aid £1,000.00 £570.00 More Than Fibro £580.00 £580.00 Motherwell Explorer Scouts £1,250.00 £971.00 Motherwell Photographic Society £1,000.00 £442.00 North Lanarkshire Muslim Women Alliance (NLMWA) £1,000.00 £420.00 Open Water Rescue £1,000.00 £1,000.00 Palacerigg Golf Club £1,000.00 £1,000.00 Ramblers Association Scotland - Monklands Group £650.00 £184.00 Scottish Ethnic Minority Sports Association £1,000.00 £1,000.00 Shining Stars ASN Theatre School £1,000.00 £584.00 Shire Radio £1,000.00 £295.00 Shotts EU Congregational Church £1,000.00 £1,000.00 St Andrews Hospice £1,000.00 £1,000.00 SWELS £1,860.00 £986.00 Trinity Tuesday Club £500.00 £500.00 Women Activeworks Society £1,000.00 £740.00 Page 271 of 352
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Communities Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref SP/LP/GS Date 18/08/25 Community Asset Transfer and Participation Requests: Annual Report for 2024/25 From Stephen Penman, Chief Officer, (Strategy and Engagement) E-mail PenmanS@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07814 916564 Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to provide the Communities Committee with the annual progress report regarding Community Asset Transfer (CAT) and Participation Requests (PR) in North Lanarkshire. These important areas of business are recognised as a vital mechanism for community engagement and improvement within public services. Our work has helped us foster collaboration, empower communities and to enable community and voluntary sector organisation to deliver important outcomes for residents and communities. The report has been prepared in line with the legislative requirements set out in Parts 3 and 5 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 requiring relevant authorities to publish an annual report setting out the number of requests received and the outcome of these. Recommendations It is recommended that the Communities Committee: (1) Recognise the progress made in implementing the North Lanarkshire Community Asset Transfer (CAT) and Participation Request approach and the level of support being provided to groups and organisations engaged in the process. (2) Acknowledge the number of Community Asset Transfer requests agreed or refused, whether they resulted in transfer of ownership, lease or conferral of other rights, number of appeals, and number of decisions made by the Council that have been reviewed and the level of capacity building support being provided to groups and organisations engaged in the process; and (3) Be aware of the advance data regarding anticipated CAT applications for 2025/26 period as outlined in Appendix 2 – Section H. (4) Approve the official annual return (2024/25) for submission to the Scottish Government. (5) Authorise that this report and the annual government return is made publicly available to meet requirements under Section 95 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 to produce and publish an annual report on Asset Transfer Request activity. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Item 11 Page 273 of 352
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1. Background 1.1 The Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 was enacted in July 2015; this legislation requires Local Authorities to collaborate with communities and the voluntary sector to deliver effective services that address local needs. Community Asset Transfer (CAT) is governed by Part 5 of the Act, while Participation Requests (PR) fall under Part 3. Together, these powers support communities to take a more active role in the ownership, management and use of local assets and services. 1.2 Within North Lanarkshire Council, the Corporate Community Assets Working Group (CCAWG) oversees the development and implementation of processes relating to community ownership and management of assets. This officer group sets priorities, provides strategic guidance and ensures consistency of practice across council services. Membership of the group is detailed in Appendix 1. 1.3 During 2024/25, the working group has delivered significant improvements and actions aligned with the Community Ownership and Management of Council Owned Assets Policy, which was approved in June 2024. These actions have strengthened the Council’s commitment to supporting community bodies and maximising community benefit from local assets. Key areas of focus included: • Empowering community bodies to secure ownership or leases of land and buildings, giving them a stronger voice and a stake in local decision-making. • Improving community participation and planning through clearer processes, early engagement, and better information sharing. • Reviewing and updating the Council’s CAT and PR policies to align with The Plan for North Lanarkshire (TPFNL) and national best practice. 1.4 To support this, the working group has overseen a range of practical improvements, Highlights include: • Updating the Council’s public information, website and application materials to ensure that community groups have access to clear, relevant and consistent guidance. • Introducing a ‘lighter touch’ application and assessment process for lease agreements and short-term management arrangements, ensuring proportionality and reducing administrative burden for smaller or lower-risk requests. The lighter touch focuses on the applicant organisations preparing a community proposal rather than a full business plan, and simpler scoring and assessment process for use by officers. • Finalising new guidance for the Capital Community Asset Fund, which supports capital improvements to buildings where ownership or lease requests are successful. • Developing updated process flowcharts and agreed internal procedures so that all service enquiries from community organisations are captured, logged and progressed through a single, coordinated point of contact. • Establishing a refreshed approach to asset lists, ensuring that surplus assets suitable for community ownership are clearly identified and discussed at an early stage with community partners. • Recruiting two dedicated Community Partnership Officers to increase capacity within communities, support groups through the application process, and deliver awareness-raising and training sessions for community organisations, council staff and elected members. Ambition statement (19) Improve engagement with communities and develop their capacity to help themselves Programme of Work Resilient People Page 274 of 352
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• Introducing improved arrangements for monitoring, risk assessment and reporting, including regular progress updates to the Leadership Group and Communities Committee, alongside the statutory annual report to the Scottish Government. 1.5 While the report’s primary focus is on the statutory CAT and PR processes, the Council recognises that alternative mechanisms, such as negotiated leases and management agreements, may often provide the best route for community use. The recent policy updates and strengthened governance structures will ensure that these opportunities continue to grow and deliver lasting benefits for communities across North Lanarkshire. 2. Report Community Asset Transfer update 2.1 Between the 1 April 2024 and the 31 March 2025 there has been a total of 42 new enquires relating to CAT. Combined with 37 ongoing enquiries from the previous year; has meant officers involved in the CAT process have been engaging and supporting 79 organisations and groups, each at different stages of the CAT process. 2.2 Table 1 below summarises the enquiries/submissions received within the reporting period. Table 1 Community Asset Transfer enquiries/submissions up to 1 April 2024 - 31 March 2025 Classification Number Ongoing enquiries from previous years 37 Number of new enquires received within reporting period (telephone / email or web enquiries) 42 Total number of ongoing / new enquiries 79 2.3 The focus for all enquiries is to secure the best outcome for all parties. It is important to note, that some enquiries will be withdrawn, some will lead to formal CAT applications being submitted and some enquiries will be resolved through other means such as, commercial leases, alternative management agreements etc. A detailed breakdown of the CAT activity is provided in Appendix 2 of this report. 2.4 Table 2 below, provides key statistics for the reporting period: Table 2 Community Asset Transfer enquiries/submissions 1 April 2024 - 31 March 2025 Enquiries leading to formal CAT applications being submitted 2 Further breakdowns Number of successful CAT applications determined 1 (Fir Park Corner Football Club) Number of unsuccessful CAT applications determined 1 (Cumbernauld Cottage Trust) Unsuccessful CAT applications that went to authority appeal or ministerial review 01 (Cumbernauld Cottage Trust) Number of CAT applications yet to be determined 0 Enquiries resulting in other ownership or management options 6 Page 275 of 352
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CAT - Key Highlights for 2024/25 2.5 Key highlights from the last reporting period include: • Continued year-on-year increase in the number of Community Asset Transfer enquiries, reflecting strong community interest and awareness of the opportunities available. • Successful implementation and embedding of the one-point-of-contact system, ensuring all CAT and related requests are logged and managed consistently through a single channel. • Greater officer time invested in early-stage support, with clear guidance provided upfront to organisations about the CAT process, eligibility criteria and available funding or technical advice. • Ongoing strong demand from sports clubs and associations, particularly in relation to sports pitches, community centres indicating the importance of local assets for sports participation and community wellbeing. • Increased referrals to Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire for tailored advice on governance and funding advice • Sustained collaboration with the Community Ownership Support Service (COSS), operated by Development Trust Association Scotland, to draw on national best practice and advisory resources. • Continued roll-out of the CAT Support Fund, supported through UK Shared Prosperity Fund, enabling organisations to undertake essential preparatory work such as business planning, valuations, surveys and feasibility studies. • Preparation for the launch of a new NLC-led capacity building programme, coordinated by two newly recruited Community Partnership Officers, which will deliver dedicated training, awareness-raising sessions and tailored support for groups interested in asset transfer or other community ownership models. • Enhanced focus on benchmarking and continuous improvement of the Council’s CAT assessment and scoring framework, including reviewing criteria to ensure transparency, fairness and alignment with national guidance. • The updated policy reinforces the Council’s commitment to maximising community benefit from its assets, ensuring fairness, consistency and transparency in how requests are assessed, and safeguarding assets where appropriate. The policy confirms that each request is assessed against robust criteria covering organisational capacity, community benefit, alignment with TPFNL, financial sustainability, and risk. Where appropriate, discounted leases and other flexible options may be agreed to enable community groups to deliver tangible local outcomes. • Strengthened cross-service coordination and early-stage discussions to explore all feasible options with groups, helping to manage expectations and ensure sustainable outcomes for communities and the Council alike. • The most recent batch of CAT applications where processed, assessed and scored and presented to committee in record time. Cutting the normal allocated 6-month timeline by 50%. It is our hope to continue at this pace. Supported by two additional temporary Community Partnership Officer posts and through the continued process improvements being designed and implemented by the (CCAWG). This in turn will strengthen our ability to manage community assets effectively, deliver sustainable local improvements and contribute meaningfully to the Council’s wider community empowerment objectives. Participation Requests (2024/25) 2.6 Participation Requests are a formal way for community bodies to help shape and improve public services that matter to them. This right is provided under Part 3 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015, which aims to give communities more influence over how local services are planned and delivered. Page 276 of 352
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2.7 A Participation Request can be made by any community body, voluntary group, or organisation to open discussions with the Council about how a particular service could be improved. Requests can range from straightforward discussions on local issues to more detailed negotiations, where community bodies might help design, deliver, or take on responsibility for aspects of a service or improvement project within their community. 2.8 The Council, as a public service authority, has a legal duty to consider every Participation Request received. It must agree to the request unless there is a clear and reasonable justification to refuse. If agreed, the community body is invited to join an Outcome Improvement Process, which sets out exactly how they will be involved and what improvements are expected. 2.9 If the request is granted, the community body will be invited to participate in an outcome improvement process. This formal process will determine the finer details of any involvement or improvement work. The purpose of an Outcome Improvement Process is to deliver real benefits; either by improving how services are run or by securing better results for communities and local people. This can include joint working, shared delivery, or agreed community-led actions which add local insight and capacity. 2.10 Participation Requests continue to be an important tool for building stronger partnerships between the Council and the community and voluntary sector (CVS). While the overall number of Participation Request enquiries in North Lanarkshire has decreased this year, the nature of the requests has evolved. Recent enquiries are more advanced and often involve more complex discussions; and involving partnership working between council services and local CVS organisations. This trend matches the national picture where the total number of formal Participation Requests remains modest, but requests increasingly focus on co-designing services and tackling more strategic local issues. 2.11 Nationally, from April 2017 to March 2024, 96 Participation Requests were submitted to local authorities across Scotland. North Lanarkshire’s local figures reflect this steady but low national usage. In terms of total number of live Participation Requests we are higher than the national average. 2.12 Table 3 below summarises the enquiries/discussion and submissions received between 1st April 2024 and 31st March 2025. Table 3 Participation Request enquiries/discussions and submissions up to 31 March 2025 Classification Number Ongoing enquiries from previous periods 2 Number of new participation request enquiries 2024/25 2 Total number of ongoing PR enquiries / discussions 4 Total number of live PR case operating within NLC 2 Capacity Building Support for CAT & PR requests 2.13 While the number of community organisations submitting formal Community Asset Transfer (CAT) and Participation Request (PR) applications remains relatively modest at this stage, the Council continues to provide comprehensive pre-application support to the majority of groups who express an early interest or submit an initial enquiry. 2.14 This early-stage support is essential to ensure that community organisations fully understand the statutory processes set out within the Community Empowerment Page 277 of 352
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(Scotland) Act 2015. It also helps them to access accurate and timely information, tailored guidance and practical advice at the earliest opportunity. 2.15 In many cases, organisations benefit from ongoing, more intensive capacity-building support delivered by the Community Partnership Team. This support goes beyond simple signposting and frequently includes bespoke advice on organisational planning, financial management, governance arrangements, volunteer and staffing requirements, policies and procedures, marketing and communications, project planning, community engagement and consultation approaches, and the collation of supporting evidence required to strengthen formal applications. 2.16 The Council recognises that this tailored support can be resource-intensive, placing significant demands on staff time and expertise. However, this investment is necessary and proportionate to ensure that responsibilities for property, land and local service improvements are not transferred to organisations that may lack the long-term capacity or resilience to deliver and sustain community benefits. This approach directly supports the Council’s commitment to responsible community empowerment and robust local governance and is delivered by the two new Community Partnership Officers. 2.17 As projected in the previous annual report, requests for pre-application support have increased in line with the overall rise in initial enquiries received. This reflects both an increase in community interest and the proactive promotion of CAT and PR opportunities by officers and Elected Members. Officers have facilitated additional community conversations, awareness-raising sessions and one-to-one briefings to encourage informed local participation. 2.18 During the current reporting period, overall enquiries relating to Community Asset Transfers have increased by approximately 145%, with enquiries relating to Participation Requests decreasing by 60% compared to the previous period. These figures demonstrate the continued and growing appetite among local communities to play an active role in the ownership, management and improvement of assets and services. Promotions and Awareness Raising 2.19 The Council remains committed to strengthening the visibility and understanding of both Community Asset Transfers (CAT) and Participation Requests (PR) within North Lanarkshire. Building on the actions highlighted in the previous annual report, officers will continue to develop, test and embed a range of practical measures over the next three years. 2.20 These measures will include refreshed communications materials, tailored community information sessions and roadshows, highlight success stories and the provision of technical advice surgeries along with the continued integration of CAT and PR awareness within wider community engagement and partnership activity. Officers will also review opportunities to work more closely with local anchor organisations, Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire (VANL), and other key intermediaries such as Community Ownership Support Service, and the Scottish Land Fund. 2.21 By enhancing the way information is shared, providing clearer guidance and support, and promoting local examples of success, the Council aims to enable more individuals and community bodies to participate meaningfully in decision-making processes and take an active role in shaping local services and assets. Future Priorities 2.22 In the year ahead, further improvement actions outlined in the CCAWG implementation plan will be implemented. This will include: - Page 278 of 352
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• Review and refresh of the CAT application form • Review and update the assessment and scoring process • Introduce a suite of documents to be used by the CCAWG members as part of the assessment process 2.23 Widening the reach of CAT opportunities to ensure that seldom-heard groups are fully aware of the rights offered by the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015. 2.24 Investigate the availability of external funding to use for the continuation of the Community Asset Transfer support fund (once the UK Shared Prosperity Fund ends) 2.25 Utilising Community Empowerment NL funding (from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund) to deliver three events by end of March 2026 which focuses on showcasing Community Empowerment in Action and Empowerment in practice through Community Asset Transfer. Annual data return for the Scottish Government 2.26 All relevant authorities concerned with asset transfer under schedule 3 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 are required to submit an annual return to the Scottish Government. The Scottish Government provides a template to use for this purpose. 2.27 Appendix 4 contains the completed template for North Lanarkshire Council and contains key data for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. The information provided in the template will help inform policy and practice at a local and national level. The data will be collated and shared by the Scottish Government’s Community Empowerment Team. 2.28 This annual report and the return for the Scottish Government contained within it, will be made publicly available to meet our requirements for reporting updates and progress to the general public. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Performance measures in respect of Community Asset Transfer and Participation Requests have now been included in the Plan for North Lanarkshire – Strategic Performance Framework. The performance measures cover the following: • number of successful Participation and CAT requests • number of community groups engaged in Participation and CAT requests. • support provided to community groups and organisations as a result of initial CAT or PR enquiries; and • positive outcomes or referrals as a result of initial CAT or PR enquiries 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 Corporate Community Assets Working Group membership. 4.2 Appendix 2 Community Asset Transfer Activity Log for 2024/25. 4.3 Appendix 3 Participation Request Activity Log for 2024/25. 4.4 Appendix 4 Participation Requests Reporting Template 2024/25 for Public Service Authority. 4.5 Link to NLC – CAT & PR website pages Page 279 of 352
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Stephen Penman Chief Officer, (Strategy and Engagement) Page 280 of 352
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Successful CAT requests may impact on the Council’s income in terms of revenue income and capital receipt. The implications of this could be both negative and positive and will be considered alongside risk and community benefit to contribute to determining the outcome of a CAT request. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The Community Asset Transfer and Participation requests process has been implemented and reviewed, in accordance with the Council’s statutory duties as outlined in the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 and the Asset Transfer under the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 Guidance for Relevant Authorities. 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Page 281 of 352
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Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☒ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Several of the projects will have a positive effect on the local environment as the result of improvements to community amenities. Some of the CAT proposals will involve facility upgrades which will include consideration of environmentally friendly heating sources and other options. Two participation requests focus on environmental improvement and another supporting the active travel agenda 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The Participation Request and CAT process supports the Council’s framework for engagement with local communities and is supportive of building the capacity of local communities and of the community empowerment agenda. Details of promotions and communications for CAT and PR have also been outlined within the report. 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? Reputational risk to the council if CATs and PRs do not have a positive outcome for the applicants. Ongoing consideration of risk as part of the corporate risk management approach linked to the implementation of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☐ No ☒ Page 282 of 352
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If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 283 of 352
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Appendix 1 Corporate Community Ownership and Management Working Group The following services are members of the working group: Community Partnership Team Active & Creative Communities Financial Solutions (Corporate Finance) Legal Services Roads and Land Maintenance (Environmental) Growth/Planning & Regeneration Risk and Insurance Asset & Procurement Solutions (Forward Planning and Specification Team) Business and Digital (Business Solutions) Asset & Procurement Solutions (Estates) Asset & Procurement Solutions (Operational Property) Asset & Procurement Solutions (Community Facilities) Business Development & Support Greenspace Planning NL Properties Page 284 of 352
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Appendix 2 Community Asset Transfer Activity Log for 2024/25 a) Ongoing enquiries (37): Organisation/group Asset Enquiry 1. Villa Park Football Club Calder Park football pitches (Motherwell) Lease or ownership 2. Lanarkshire Deaf Hub Former Daisy Park Community Centre Lease or ownership 3. Lanarkshire Muslim Welfare Society Holytown Community Centre Lease or ownership 4. North Lanarkshire Muslim Women and Family Alliance Janet Hamilton Centre & Coatbridge Outdoor Sports Centre and land Ownership 5. Airdrie & Coatbridge Harriers Coatbridge Outdoor Centre site and facilities, Coatbridge Ownership 6. African Collaborative Jerviston Community Centre, Motherwell Ownership 7. Shotts Bon Accord Academy Clubs Football Pitches, Kirk Road, Shotts Lease or ownership 8. Airdrie & Coatbridge (AC) Rovers football club Pitches in Thrashbush & Golfhill areas, Airdrie Lease or ownership 9. Rivals Foundation Netherton Community Centre, Wishaw Ownership 10. VIP Pass Fallside School / Birkenshaw Sports Barn / Fallside Community Centre and Holytown Community Centre Ownership 11. Holytown Colts Football Club Keir Hardie sports Centre and Windsor sports fields and pavilion (Holytown) Lease or ownership 12. Strathkelvin Community Woodlands Association Former sports pitch, Moodiesburn Ownership 13. Cumbernauld Cottage Trust Former Cumbernauld Theatre building and car park Ownership 14. 9th Airdrie Scouts Group Rochsoles Community Centre Lease or ownership 15. Bannan Fitness Shawhead Community Centre Lease 16. Shining Stars ASN Theatre School Former Whifflet Community Centre / Shawhead Centre, Coatbridge Ownership 17. Viewpark Conservation Group Banyan Sports Pitch (Lancaster Field), Viewpark Ownership 18. Kanokwai Judo Club Janet Hamilton Centre, Coatbridge Lease 19. Pawsitive Lives Land search Lease or ownership Page 285 of 352
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20. Plains Food Bank and Community Group Plains Community Centre Ownership 21. Coatbridge Football Club Coatbridge Outdoor sports Centre or Grass pitch of local high schools Lease or ownership 22. SNAPS NL Various community facilities in Kilsyth and Cumbernauld Lease or ownership 23. Release the Fire Old Cumbernauld theatre Lease 24. West of Scotland Football Academy Kilsyth Playing Fields and pavilion Lease or ownership 25. Holytown Karate Club Holytown Community Centre Ownership 26. Newmains Community Trust (NCT) Land adjacent to community facility Lease or ownership 27. Veterans Community (Lanarkshire) SCIO Former Regeneration Centre, Craigneuk Ownership 28. Flag Football Club Various sport pitches across North Lanarkshire Lease or ownership 29. Fir Park Corner FC Overtown Sports Pitch & Pavilion Ownership 30. Palm Church Rochsoles Community Centre Ownership 31. Bellshill Athletic Rockburn pitches and pavilion Ownership or lease 32. Pather Football Club Pather pitch and pavilion Lease 33. Bannan Fitness (second enquiry) Janet Hamilton Centre Lease 34. Newarthill Amateur Boxing Club New Stevenson CC or Holytown CC Lease or ownership 35. Lanarkshire Deaf Services Shawhead Community Centre Ownership 36. Chapelhall Community Development Group Site of former Chapelhall Senior Citizens Centre Ownership 37. Tony’s Safe Place Village Community Hall Lease or Ownership b) Number of new enquiries for 2024/25: (42) Organisation/group Asset Enquiry 1 9th Airdrie Scouts Group (second enquiry) Airdrie Community Centres Lease or ownership 2 A-Jabs Boxing Club Viewpark Pitch Changing Rooms (next to Viewpark Gardens) Lease or ownership 3 Fighting for Freedom Mount Pleasant, Chapelhall Lease or ownership 4 Cumbernauld Indoor Bowling Club Cumbernauld Indoor Bowling Centre Ownership 5 Keir Hardie ABC John Doyle Centre, Holytown Ownership 6 2nd Clyde (Moodiesburn) Scout Group Iain Nicolson Centre Ownership 7 Tick Tock Martial Arts (TTMA) Birkenshaw Sports Barn Lease or ownership 8 68 Fitness Community Iain Nicolson Centre Lease or ownership 9 Cobra Martial Arts Scotland – Airdrie Martial Arts Centre Glenmavis Community Centre Lease or ownership Page 286 of 352
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10 Airdrie Community School Uniform Bank Glenmavis Community Centre Lease or ownership 11 Lanarkshire Music Collaborative CIC Glenmavis Community Centre and Springfield Community Centre Lease 12 Tumble Time Gymnastics Academy Burnhead Community Centre Lease 13 Allanton Miners Charitable Society Land at front of their building, 187 Allanton Road, Allanton, ML7 5AX Ownership 14 Well Society Motherwell and Surrounding area (Women and Girls football) Lease or ownership 15 Bridges Bar Football Club Hamilton Place Football Pitch and Pavilion (Holytown) Lease or ownership 16 Nextgen Golf Antonine Hub Croy Lease 17 Glenmavis Community Group Glenmavis Community Centre Lease or ownership 18 Sea Cadets Airdrie and Coatbridge Glenmavis Community Centre / Hall leased from NLC Lease or ownership 19 Recycled Bikes Scotland Glenmavis Community Centre Lease or ownership 20 Local sports-based business Birkenshaw Sports Barn or other suitable community hub Lease or ownership 21 Holytown Amateur Football Club Windsor Park and pavilion Lease or ownership 22 St Patricks Sports Academy Bothwellhaugh Playing Pitches, Strathclyde Park, Motherwell, Watling Road Pitches, North Motherwell, Burnhead/Gala day Pitches, Viewpark Lease or ownership 23 New Craig Community Church John McCormack Centre Ownership 24 Airdrie Community Trust Football Pitches adjacent to the main Albert Barlett Stadium, Airdrie Lease or ownership 25 Sporting Chances Alba Auchinloch Community Hall and Car Park Lease or ownership 26 Motherwell Wishaw CAB Unknown - have requested list of sites Lease or ownership 27 Wishaw High School Former Pupils FC Various football pitches (Motherwell & Wishaw) Lease 28 Asian Business Centre Request for list of properties available for CAT Lease or ownership 29 Plains Amateur Football Club Grass Football Pitch - Plains Park Lease or ownership 30 Sapphire Gymnastic Academy Community Hall - Coatbridge/Airdrie Lease or ownership 31 Bellshill Amateur FC Birkenshaw Pitch or Mossend pitches Lease or ownership 32 RCCG Zoe Parish Church Paisley Council owned assets in Cumbernauld Lease Page 287 of 352
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33 Shakespeare Kids Unknown- Cumbernauld Lease 34 North Lanarkshire Ethnic Minorities Association Council owned assets in Cumbernauld, Coatbridge or Airdrie Lease 35 Thorniewood Community Council Various in Bellshill Lease or ownership 36 Cumbernauld Colts Ravenswood, Dowanfield Road, Earls Hill Park, Balloch, G68 9BZ Lease 37 Lowland Reserve Forces’ & Cadets Association (Army Cadets) Glenmavis Community Centre Lease or ownership 38 Shire Amateur Boxing Club Waterloo Community Centre, Wishaw Lease or ownership 39 Burnhead Bowling Club Land at side of Bowling Club (previous site of tennis greens) Lease 40 Motherwell Phoenix Football Club Muirhouse Parks and Pavilion Lease 41 Cardowan Community Meadow Various land sites within Village Lease or ownership 42 Caledonian Football Club Disused ash pitch at Lomond Grove, Disused ash pitch at Ravenswood, Disused ash pitch at Morar Drive (Cumbernauld) Lease or ownership Status logs for 2024/25: c) Enquiries leading to formal CAT applications being submitted: (2) Organisation/group Asset Enquiry Outcome 1 Cumbernauld Cottage Trust Former Cumbernauld Theatre building and car park Ownership Application refused 2 Fir Park Corner Football Club Overtown Football Pitch and Pavilion Ownership Application approved d) Enquiries resulting in other ownership or management outcomes: (06) Organisation/group Asset Outcome 1 Newarthill Boxing Club Community facilities, Newarthill / New Stevenson areas Commercial lease of premises in Merry Street, Motherwell 2 Shire Amateur Boxing Club Waterloo Community Centre, Wishaw Commercial lease Page 288 of 352
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3 Burnhead Bowling Club Land at side of Bowling Club (previous site of tennis greens) Extension of commercial lease to include extra land 4 Motherwell Phoenix Football Club Muirhouse Parks and Pavilion The club have an annual let in place with A&CC and are exploring a licence to use. 5 Bellshill Athletic Rockburn pitches and pavilion Long-term commercial lease confirmed 6 Pather Football Club Pather pitch and pavilion General Terms of Agreement for use of pavilion has been agreed by A&CC e) Enquiries withdrawn from ongoing enquiry list from previous periods: (16) Organisation/group Asset Note / update 1 Bannan Fitness Janet Hamilton Centre, Coatbridge Centre demolished due to fire. Application withdrawn 2 Shining Stars ASN Theatre School Former Whifflet Community Centre / Shawhead Centre, Coatbridge Application selected not to proceed with formal application 3 Viewpark Conservation Group Banyan Sports Pitch (Lancaster Field), Viewpark No contact from organisation in over a year 4 Kanokwai Judo Club Janet Hamilton Centre, Coatbridge No contact from organisation in over a year 5 Pawsitive Lives Land search No contact from organisation in over a year 6 Plains Food Bank and Community Group Plains Community Centre No contact from organisation in over a year 7 Coatbridge Football Club Coatbridge Outdoor sports Centre or Grass pitch of local high schools No contact from organisation in over a year 8 SNAPS NL Various community facilities in Kilsyth and Cumbernauld No contact from organisation in over a year. Asset requested deemed unsuitable 9 Release the Fire Old Cumbernauld theatre No contact from organisation in over a year 10 West of Scotland Football Academy Kilsyth Playing Fields and pavilion No contact from organisation in over a year 11 Holytown Karate Club Holytown Community Centre No contact from organisation in over a year 12 Newmains Community Trust (NCT) Land adjacent to community facility Land unavailable (subject to commercial sale) 13 Veterans Community (Lanarkshire) SCIO Former Regeneration Centre, Craigneuk No contact from organisation in over a year Page 289 of 352
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14 Flag Football Club Various sport pitches across North Lanarkshire No contact from organisation in over a year 15 9th Airdrie Scouts Group Rochsoles Community Centre Centre no longer available 16 Bannan Fitness Shawhead Community Centre Applicant decided to focus on another site 17 Tony’s Safe Place The Village community Hall, Cumbernauld Withdrawn by request of the applicant f) Enquiries withdrawn from new enquiries list for 2024/25: (11) Organisation/group Asset Note / update 1 A-Jabs Boxing Club Viewpark Pitch Changing Rooms (next to Viewpark Gardens) Lease or ownership 2 Tick Tock Martial Arts (TTMA) Birkenshaw Sports Barn Sole trader – not eligible for CAT 3 Lanarkshire Music Collaborative CIC Glenmavis Community Centre and Springfield Community Centre CIC – not eligible for CAT. Organisation will consider a partnership with other interested parties 4 Bridges Bar Football Club Hamilton Place Football Pitch and Pavilion (Holytown) Organisation have withdrawn their enquiry 5 Recycled Bikes Scotland Glenmavis Community Centre Company – not eligible for CAT using current structure. Applicant withdrew their enquiry 6 Local sports-based business Birkenshaw Sports Barn or other suitable community hub Not eligible for CAT 7 Airdrie Community Trust Football Pitches adjacent to the main Albert Barlett Stadium, Airdrie Land requested is a common good site 8 Motherwell Wishaw CAB Wishaw Town Centre sites Land requested is owned by North Lanarkshire Properties and is not available for CAT 9 Wishaw High School Former Pupils FC Various football pitches (Motherwell & Wishaw) Land requested are common good sites 10 North Lanarkshire Ethnic Minorities Association Council owned assets in Cumbernauld, Coatbridge or Airdrie The organisation is not eligible for, and the timescales requested unachievable Page 290 of 352
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11 Thorniewood Community Council Various in Bellshill Community Council are not eligible for CAT g) Enquiries with limited or no further updates to report: (18) 1 Cardowan Community Meadow Various land sites, Cardowan No update in the last 6 months 2 Holytown Colts Football Club Keir Hardie sports Centre and Windsor sports fields and pavilion (Holytown) The club committee are reviewing their position and plan to start preparatory work soon. 3 Strathkelvin Community Woodlands Association Former sports pitch, Moodiesburn Ongoing preparatory work is underway. 4 9th Airdrie Scouts Group Airdrie Community Centres The group management committee are reviewing options for premises, and are working with NLC- Facilities for alternative letting options 5 Fighting for Freedom Mount Pleasant, Chapelhall The organisation is planning to convert to SCIO and are exploring funding options 6 Cumbernauld Indoor Bowling Club Cumbernauld Indoor Bowling Centre No update in the last 6 months 7 Keir Hardie ABC John Doyle Centre, Holytown No update in the last 6 months 8 Allanton Miners Charitable Society Land at front of their building, 187 Allanton Road, Allanton No response from enquirer 9 Well Society Motherwell and Surrounding area (Women and Girls football) No response from enquirer 10 Sporting Chances Alba Auchinloch Community Hall and Car Park No update in the last 6 months 11 Asian Business Centre Request for list of properties available for CAT No update in the last 6 months 12 Plains Amateur Football Club Grass Football Pitch - Plains Park The football club are working to set a SCIO and are investigating funding options. No recent contact from club. 13 Sapphire Gymnastic Academy Community Hall - Coatbridge/Airdrie No response from enquirer 14 Bellshill Amateur FC Birkenshaw Pitch or Mossend pitches No update in the last 6 months 15 RCCG Zoe Parish Church Paisley Council owned assets in Cumbernauld Enquiry logged, awaiting asset information from organisation 16 Shakespeare Kids Unknown- Cumbernauld No update in last 6 months 17 Cumbernauld Colts Ravenswood, Dowanfield Road, Earls Hill Park, Balloch The club are currently investigating options and planning to liaise with the SFA. Page 291 of 352
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18 Lanarkshire Deaf Hub Former Daisy Park Community Centre The organisation currently operates a tacit arrangement with A&CC. Alternative options may be required. The Hub have indicated a willingness to explore alternative premises. 19 Caledonia Football Club Disused ash pitch at Lomond Grove, Disused ash pitch at Ravenswood, Disused ash pitch at Morar Drive (Cumbernauld) No update in last 6 months h) Active/Progressing Enquiries within reporting period (24) Organisation/group Asset Notes / updates 1. Villa Park Football Club Calder Park football pitches (Motherwell) The organisation has completed a commercial valuation of the land and are now working towards a project proposal/ feasibility study with costings and looking at fundraising. 2. Lanarkshire Muslim Welfare Society Holytown Community Centre The organisation has now completed a commercial valuation and reviewing their options. The organisation has enquired about the possibility of licence to occupy to test out the practicalities of a longer- term arrangement. 3. North Lanarkshire Muslim Women and Family Alliance Janet Hamilton Centre & Coatbridge Outdoor Sports Centre and land Formal CAT application received within reporting year but considered by committee in the 2025. Application was unsuccessful. The organisation has submitted a request for an internal review. 4. Airdrie & Coatbridge Harriers Coatbridge Outdoor Centre site and facilities, Coatbridge Formal CAT application received within reporting year but considered by committee in the 2025. Application was unsuccessful. The organisation has submitted a request for an internal review. 5. African Collaboration Jerviston Community Centre, Motherwell Contact with the organisation has been limited. However multi-agency Page 292 of 352
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support has been offered. Formal CAT application pending. 6. Shotts Bon Accord Academy Clubs Football Pitches, Kirk Road, Shotts The organisation are planning to convert to a SCIO, and are currently exploring an amalgamation with Shotts Bon Accord Football Club 7. Airdrie & Coatbridge (AC) Rover’s football club Pitches in Thrashbush & Golfhill areas, Airdrie 8. Rivals Foundation Netherton Community Centre, Wishaw The organisation intends to submit a formal CAT application by May 2025. They have now completed a commercial valuation for the building. 9. VIP Pass Fallside School / Birkenshaw Sports Barn / Fallside Community Centre and Holytown Community Centre The charity have withdrawn their interest for Fallside school due to the amount of funds required to improve the facility. Due to this, they have decided to focus on a new application for their existing leased facility and also Birkenshaw Sports Barn 10. 2nd Clyde (Moodiesburn) Scout Group Iain Nicolson Centre The organisations continues to develop plans behind the scenes and they have completed a commercial valuation and conditions survey 11. 68 Fitness Community Iain Nicolson Centre 12. Cobra Martial Arts Scotland – Airdrie Martial Arts Centre Glenmavis Community Centre The organisation has applied for their SCIO status and sought advice on having a CAT ready constitution. 13. Airdrie Community School Uniform Bank Glenmavis Community Centre Airdrie Community School Uniform Bank submitted an enquiry for Glenmavis Community Centre on in Jan 2025, with initial support being provided by CPT 14. Tumble Time Gymnastics Academy Burnhead Community Centre The organisation is not the correct governance type for CAT but have attended meetings with officers and continue to express an interest in ownership of a site, whether that is Birkenshaw or another. They have Page 293 of 352
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been working on SCIO submission and also actively seeking alternative premises. 15. Nextgen Golf Antonine Hub Croy The organisation has met with officers to discuss eligibility. Currently operating under a business model but are exploring the possibility of becoming a SCIO. Follow up guidance and supporting documents has been sent. 16. Glenmavis Community Group Glenmavis Community Centre Glenmavis Community Council has initiated steps toward a Community Asset Transfer for the local community centre, forming a new community group, submitting an expression of interest, and receiving detailed guidance regarding eligibility. The group have advised that they have applied to the charity regulator to become a SCIO. 17. Sea Cadets Airdrie and Coatbridge Glenmavis Community Centre Initial enquiry regarding available assets including Glenmavis Community Centre. Information and advice have been issued 18. Holytown Amateur Football Club Windsor Park and pavilion 19. Lowland Reserve Forces’ & Cadets Association (Army Cadets) Glenmavis Community Centre Advice has been provided to the senior managers regarding CAT eligibility. This is currently being investigated. The cadet’s force is keen to work alongside other interested parties and have been actively discussing a partnership with Glenmavis Community Group 20. St Patricks Sports Academy Bothwellhaugh Playing Pitches, Strathclyde Park, Motherwell, Watling Road Pitches, North Motherwell, Burnhead/Gala day Pitches, Viewpark The football club have presented a two-phase proposal for the assets outlined. Initial meetings have taken place and information, and guidance issued. A follow up meeting is currently being planned between the club and A&CC Page 294 of 352
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21. New Craig Community Church John McCormack Centre The organisation has been fundraising towards the purchase of an asset and only require small governance changes to be eligible for CAT. Their next steps will be to complete a commercial valuation and condition survey of the asset. 22. Lanarkshire Deaf Services Shawhead Community Centre Application received within the reporting period. Approved during the 2025/26 year and will be officially counted next year. 23. Chapelhall Community Development Group Chapelhall Senior Citizens Centre site Application received within the reporting period. Approved during the 2025/26 year and will be officially counted next year. 24. Palm Church Airdrie Rochsoles Community Centre Application received within the reporting period. Approved during the 2025/26 year and will be officially counted next year. 22. Pending formal CAT applications expected in 2025/26: Organisation/group Asset Enquiry Note / update 1 Rivals / Tumble Time Gymnastics / VIP Pass / Birkenshaw Sports Barn Ownership Deadline set for end of August 2025 2 Rural Rest (light-touch community proposal) Land within Cecil Street Park, Coatbridge Lease Expected between July and August 2025 3 St Patrick’s Football Club (phase 1) Bothwellhaugh Hybrid Pitch Lease / Ownership December 2025 4 Airdrie Uniform Bank / COBRA / Glenmavis Community Group / Lowland Army Cadets Glenmavis Community Centre Lease / Ownership December 2025 5 Airdrie Community Club Katherine Park (blaes pitch) Ownership March 2026 Page 295 of 352
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Appendix 3 Participation Request Activity Log for 2024/25 a) Ongoing enquiries from 2023/24 period: (02) Organisation/group Details 1 ML2 Action Sports Group (Social Track) Considering proposal to work with NLC (various services) to work in partnership to deliver a new destination pump track in vacant land within Wishawhill and/or to further develop the existing pump track site. 2 Abronhill Regeneration Forum The organisation has been working on an updated participation request and is expected to submit this soon. The proposal remains the same, to: - Install and maintain sensory / streetscene features at various locations throughout Abronhill. (All sites are owned by NLC and operated by NLC – Land Management b) Number of new participation request enquiries and discussions for 2024/25: (02) Organisation/group Details 1 The Village Community Council The community council and other organisations who use the Village Community Centre are considering a participation request proposal to work alongside NLC Facilities to improve the availability and usage of the local village hall. 2 Croy Community Hub Initial discussion about the potential use of PR to safeguard the continued community use of Antonine Community Sports Hub c) Total number of new / ongoing enquiries or discussions: (04) d) Enquiries / discussions leading to formal Participation Request applications: (00) e) Number of participation requests with successful outcome improvement plan: (00) Page 296 of 352
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f) Enquiries / discussions leading to other formal outcomes 0 g) Number of unsuccessful participation requests determined 0 h) Number of withdrawn enquiries 0 i) Number of applications pending determination 0 j) Total number of live PR cases operating within NLC Active – Gartcosh Tenants and Residents Association (Village Square) Active - Cardowan Community Meadow (Active Travel Hub) Note – Stepps Community Development Trust has now dissolved, and the agreed improvement plan has now ended. 2 Page 297 of 352
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Appendix 4 Annual Report to Scottish Government 2024/25 Participation Requests Reporting Template 2024/25 for Public Service Authorities Section 32 of the Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 requires Public Service Authorities to produce an annual report on Participation Request activity and publish this no later than 30 June each year. This template has been created to gather Participation Request data for the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. Information provided will help inform policy and practice at local and national level as the data will be collated and shared by the Scottish Government’s Community Empowerment Team. However, it is for each Public Service Authority to make their own annual report publicly available by 30 June each year, whether using this template or not. Please provide information in the sections below and email the completed template by 30 June 2025 or as soon as possible thereafter to community.empowerment@gov.scot . Section One – Public Service Authority Information Organisation: North Lanarkshire Council Completed by: Role: Gary Stark Assistant Community Partnership Manager Email: Telephone: starkga@northlan.gov.uk 07793 314527 Date of completion: 28 June 2025 Are you the Participation Request Lead Contact for the organisation? (Yes): If not please provide the name, job title and email address for the lead contact for any queries: Page 298 of 352
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Section 2: Participation Request Data for 2024/25 Please complete following overview table: A B C D E F G H I Outstanding applications received prior to 2024/25 and still to be determined at 31 March 2025 Applications received prior to 2024/25 and decided on in 2024/25 Applications received prior to 2024/25 and accepted in 2024/25 Applications received prior to 2024/25 and refused in 2024/25 Total new applications received in 2024/25 Number of applications received in 2024/25 which were decided on in 2024/25 Number of applications received in 2024/25 which were accepted in 2024/25 Number of applications received in 2024/25 which were refused in 2024/25 Number of applications received in 2024/25 which are yet to be decided on 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 2.1 Where you were unable to accept a Participation Request, how did you address the community group’s needs/ support them? We had one PR request in 2023/24 in chich the participation body was unable to start the outcome improvement plan in the agreed timeline. By consensus, the PR was paused and we are working with the participation body to resubmit later this year. Page 299 of 352
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2.3 The recent Community Empowerment (Scotland) Act 2015 -Part 3 Participation Requests Findings Report which was published on 31 March 2025 showed that many Public Service Authorities believe that Participation Requests should only be used when informal engagement has failed and therefore do not proactively promote them. In the report some Public Service Authorities highlighted alternative community engagement processes used which avoids the need for a Participation Request. Please provide information on your local community engagement strategies and your approaches to working collaboratively with your communities: Here is a link to our Community Matters – A Framework for Working with Communities 2.2 Please provide details of participatory activities with community groups you have agreed/ undertaken during 2024/25. This can include Participation Requests and also any informal arrangements you have agreed that doesn’t involve using Participation Request legislation that has led to improved local outcomes: • We have been liaising with three organisations interested in submitting more complex participation requests. • No informal arrangements have been agreed. • A part of our core community funding for CVS organisations. We have improved our application process to capture how funded organisations will contribute to local outcome improvement plan priorities and outcomes. From the April 2026, there will be extra data and intelligence to demonstrate success in this regard. • Two outcome improvement plans remain operational. These relate to low level environmental / street scape initiatives. Page 300 of 352
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2.4 We are looking to gather Participation Request case study examples with a particular focus on the outcome improvement process. Please include a link to any examples or provide information here: No case studies currently available Completed by: Gary Stark Role: Assistant Community Partnership Manager Email: starkga@northlan.gov.uk Tel: 07793 314527 Date of completion: 28 June 2025 Please email the completed template to community.empowerment@gov.scot If you have any queries please contact Malcolm Cowie, Participation Request Policy Manager at Malcolm.cowie@gov.scot Community Empowerment Team, Scottish Government Page 301 of 352
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Communities Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref LR/HL Date 18/08/25 Motion to Council – Miners’ Strike in North Lanarkshire From Lyall Rennie, Chief Officer (Community Operations) E-mail liddleh@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07976 726496 1. Background 1.1 In agreeing the motion associated with the miners’ strike, a number of asks were approved: The Council resolves to commemorate this anniversary by conducting a feasibility study into the following actions: 1. Hosting a series of events and educational programs to honour the memory and contributions of the miners and their families Executive Summary At the council meeting on 20 June 2024, the following motion was agreed – “This Council recognises the 40th anniversary of the miners’ strike in North Lanarkshire, an event of profound historical significance”. This report outlines initial discussions, presents broad potential proposals for our response and seeks approval of the recommended way forward. Recommendations It is recommended that the Communities Committee (1) Following approval of the outlined motion, the Committee gives consideration to actions taken and discussions taken to date and endorses officers to move forward to finalise plans in line with the overall motion. (2) Otherwise, acknowledge the contents of the report. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement (19) Improve engagement with communities and develop their capacity to help themselves Programme of Work Transforming Places Item 13 Page 303 of 352
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2. Consider options, including cost, and make recommendations to the appropriate committee for a permanent memorial at the Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life to serve as a reminder of the strike's impact on our community and its place in our collective history. 3. Supporting initiatives that promote workers' rights, fair labour practices, and community solidarity, ensuring that the values fought for during the strike continue to be upheld. This will be highlighted in any research work conducted during the feasibility study. 4. Lighting up the Civic Centre "RED" in memory of parts of this authority with a strong socialist past and to remember those who sacrificed to uphold the integrity of social justice. 5. Writing to the UK Government, after the UK General Election, in support of the Miners' Strike (Pardon) Bill. 1.2 Actions 4 and 5 have been completed. Officers have discussed options around the first three asks for initial consideration. 2. Report 2.1 Holding a series of events and educational programs to honour the memory and contributions of the miners and their families. 2.2 Early discussions with colleagues in Education & Families indicates that there is significant scope for schools across North Lanarkshire to engage in some project work, including researching some of the historical links to former mining communities, and undertaking projects and activities to support learning around this key subject area. It is envisaged that learners would benefit significantly from gaining a greater insight into the impact that the mining industry had, in forming, and sustaining their local communities. 2.3 Linking to the second action associated with Summerlee, there is also scope for learning inputs from the Museums learning team, working with schools either on site within the museum or within schools. A proposed outline may include a two-part (or more) workshop where they learn the history of the mining industry, the history of the union movement, the build-up to the 1984/5 national miners’ strike and pit closures in the council area and where the North Lanarkshire miners were involved in disputes, decommissioning of Cardowan and where they worked after the 1983 closures. 2.4 Consider options, including cost, and make recommendations to the appropriate committee for a permanent memorial at the Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life to serve as a reminder of the strike's impact on our community and its place in our collective history. 2.5 Members will be aware that the council is soon to submit an application to the National Lottery Heritage Fund for a significant redevelopment of Summerlee. The plans for Summerlee will include the creation of a new miners’ welfare hall, a second village street comprising both heritage shops and houses and a new Learning Landscape. Subject to a successful application, Summerlee is set to be transformed, and it is critical that future decisions around a permanent memorial are able to enhance the new Summerlee. Based on the success of earlier projects, discussions have taken place around the creation of a stained-glass window which can be displayed initially in the museum and subsequently moved to the miners’ welfare hall or one of the heritage homes. Linking to the opportunities to support educational opportunities, schools could be offered the opportunity to help design the stained glass window. There is also an Page 304 of 352
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opportunity for community groups to become involved if there is particular text or imagery they wish to be captured. All options for a permanent memorial can be explored. 2.6 Supporting initiatives that promote workers' rights, fair labour practices, and community solidarity, ensuring that the values fought for during the strike continue to be upheld. This will be highlighted in any research work conducted during the feasibility study. 2.7 Members will be aware that the Council is fully compliant with the Fair Work First Charter and has a signed agreement with our recognised Trade Unions to this effect. This means that we incorporate all of the fair work pillars into our workforce practices and policies and that our own Trade Unions are in agreement that we fully meet the criteria. The criteria are: • Providing effective channels for effective employee engagement. • Investing in workforce development • Not using zero hours contracts inappropriately • Taking action to tackle the gender pay gap and create a more diverse and inclusive workplace • Committing to paying the Real Living Wage • Offering flexible and family friendly working practices for all workers from day one of employment; and • Opposing the use of fire and rehire practice. 2.8 We have a strong working partnership with our own Trade Unions and are also required to provide evidence on a yearly basis to the Scottish Government Fair Work Directorate that we meet the Fair Work criteria, or we would not be able to apply for or be awarded and SG grant monies across a range of services. In terms of wider promotion of fair work and workers’ rights across North Lanarkshire our Employer Charter has an expectation that fair work and key elements such as payment of the living wage and no fire and re-hire practices must be in place before an award is made. We now have a growing cohort of North Lanarkshire businesses who are signed up to the charter. 3. Measures of success 3.1 The Council recognises the 40th anniversary of the miners’ strike in North Lanarkshire, an event of profound historical significance. 4. Supporting documentation No supporting documentation. Lyall Rennie Chief Officer (Community Operations) Page 305 of 352
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? There will be costs associated with the creation of a memorial piece. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Page 306 of 352
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Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Corporate Communications are aware and are involved in this work. They may wish to issue an announcement in due course. 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 307 of 352
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Communities Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref LR/HL Date 18/08/25 John Smith Pool From Lyall Rennie, Chief Officer (Community Operations) E-mail liddleh@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07976 726496 Executive Summary Following a flood in the plant room of John Smith Pool on 31 December 2024, the pool was forced to close when the failure led to the draining of the pool, causing major water damage to electrics and pumps. Since that time, the council has been working with loss adjusters to understand the likely insurance settlement available and to consider how best to fund the additional costs required to re-open the facility. Recommendations It is recommended that the Communities Committee: (1) Acknowledges the work required to re-open John Smith Pool following its closure in late December 2024 and the value of the required works as estimated in paragraph 2.1. (2) Approves the realignment of funding from within the Active and Creative Communities capital investment programme to support the works at John Smith Pool. (3) Acknowledges the intent to undertake a swimming pool strategy, providing future direction for the provision, planning and resourcing of North Lanarkshire pools, with presentation to a future committee in line with the review of the future capital programme. (4) Otherwise, acknowledges the contents of the report. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve the health and wellbeing of our communities Ambition statement (15) Encourage the health and wellbeing of people through a range of social, cultural, and leisure activities Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 14 Page 309 of 352
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1. Background 1.1 John Smith Pool is one of seven swimming pools across North Lanarkshire. The pool was most recently refurbished in 2017 with a £350,000 investment in the swimming pool, gym and health suite. As one of the older swimming pools in our estate, maintenance of the building has been challenging. A 2022 survey of all swimming pools found that there a number of inherent design issues within John Smith Pool that cannot be easily resolved by a refurbishment. The most pressing issue in 2022 was considered to be the need for significant refurbishment of the pool hall. It was noted that a refurbishment could address some issues around access but would continue to be a compromised design and will be much less efficient and usable than a modern replacement facility. The majority of defects noted regarding structural steelwork relate to break down of the paint protection and corrosion of the steel sections to varying degrees. John Smith Pool has been closed since 31 December 2024 when a flood in the plant room caused the pool to drain, leading to the discovery of further damage to the pool tank, pumps and electrics. It is estimated that it will cost approximately £1 million to bring the pool back into operation while addressing the key issues highlighted. 1.2 John Smith Pool is one of the lesser used pools, showing a patten of usage since 23/24 to closure as follows: 23/24 24/25 Movement Q1 23423 15694 -31.8% Q2 17576 17280 -1.7% Q3 14178 15827 +7.82% Q4 16096 Closed Over the same period, the financial position of John Smith Pool was as follows: Operational Costs Income Net Position 2023/24 £590,380 £54,695 -£535,685 2024/25 £628,140 £51,698* -£576,442 *Income for Q1-Q3 only. 1.3 To accommodate the demand for use of the pool, John Smith operates on a split shift opening hours system – opening for a few hours in the morning and from late afternoon. 2. Report 2.1 Since the closure of the pool at end December 2024, the council has worked with the loss adjuster to understand the potential insurance payment which may be available. While insurance is likely to cover 50% of the cost of original repair (estimated value of insurance payment is £175,000), the draining of the pool has led to a number of additional problems. At this time, we estimate that the projected cost of re-opening is likely to be in the region of £1 million. This will include addressing long standing issues relating to the health suite and dealing with some of the access concerns previously highlighted in the 2022 survey. Page 310 of 352
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Works Required Estimated Value (£) Main Pool Wall Re-Tiling (including new top tile and channel grating 70,000 Pool Floor Regrouting (including under the movable floor once removed) 65,000 New Movable Floor System (including boom system) 400,000 Two New Circulation Pumps 18,000 New Chemical Dosing System 6,000 New PAC Dosing System 6,000 Service and Reinstate UV System 6,000 Repair Damaged Pipework (at filtration system and install new pipe supports) 5,000 Reinstate Plant Room Drain Pump 2,000 Replace Chlorine Dosing Pum and Day Tank 3,000 Refurbish Pool Filter Internals (and reload with new media) 50,000 New Pool Cover System 18,000 New Control Panel (complete with variable speed drives for circulation pumps) 35,000 Health Suite Upgrades 130,000 Access Upgrades (support overall accessibility) 150,000 Service Upgrades 80,000 Total Cost £1,057,000 2.2 Subject to approval to proceed, the route to market is fairly straightforward with the majority of work likely to be carried out by the council’s term contractor, Aquatec Pools Ltd. The larger and more specialised job of the new movable floor system will be managed through Public Contract Scotland. Financial Implications 2.3 For the work to proceed, the Council needs to find a suitable funding mechanism. The approved capital programme is currently fully committed towards delivery of projects in line with programme or project plans for each individual service. Therefore, identifying funding to support the reopening of John Smith Pool would require the de-prioritisation of other projects within the current overall funding envelope. 2.4 The Strategic Capital Delivery Group’s Terms of Reference includes such a mechanism through an emerging priorities protocol. The capital group has considered the request for additional funding to support works at John Smith Pool and has recommended that Committee is asked to support these costs from within the existing Active and Creative Communities capital programme. This will mean that the previous planned improvements on venues and performing arts, swimming pool and wider estate condition survey works will have to be scaled back to support the reopening of John Smith Pool. A re-alignment exercise is now underway to determine the likely potential impact on other projects. Next Steps 2.5 More broadly, the council has given a commitment to undertake a swimming pool strategy which will outline the vision for swimming pools across North Lanarkshire. A Page 311 of 352
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pool strategy, which will be reported to a future committee, will consider existing facilities in terms of condition, use, accessibility and costs with the ultimate objective of improving community health and wellbeing through the provision of high-quality facilities which improve access and increase participation. It is anticipated that the pool strategy will be presented to a future committee in line with the review of the future capital programme. 2.6 In line with the Councill’s wider ambitions through the Town and Community Hub programme, the Council will continue to seek opportunities to consider the potential for replacement swimming pools if funding becomes available in future cycles of the Strategic Capital Delivery Programme. The council will continue to explore this possibility while undertaking a review of current provision, demand and future aspirations. In addition, the Council will liaise with the Scottish Government (i.e. LEIP), respective sport governing bodies and SportScotland to consider the potential for securing additional capital funding opportunities that may augment Council-backed funding in the estate. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Reopening of John Smith swimming pool facility. 4. Supporting documentation No supporting documentation. Lyall Rennie Chief Officer (Community Operations) Page 312 of 352
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Details reflected in report 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Page 313 of 352
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Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The closure of the pool has attracted considerable interest. Assuming that there is agreement from Committee to proceed, we will continue to engage with Corporate Communications to provide a timeline on the opening of the pool. 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 314 of 352
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Communities Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref LR/HL Date 18/08/25 Immersive Experience Action Plan From Lyall Rennie, Chief Officer (Community Operations) E-mail liddleh@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07976 726496 Executive Summary The Digital North Lanarkshire PoW theme contains twelve key deliverables which seek to enable the Council to deliver on its Digital Communities, Digital Economy and Digital Council aspirations. This report is focused on the following key activity within the ‘Digital First Operations’ theme - Develop and deliver community access to the immersive pods (sensory spaces which can be utilised to house the latest sensory technology to provide support, in such areas as mental health and employability) across North Lanarkshire. This report provides an update on the four Immersive Experience pods now in place across North Lanarkshire, outlines the governance arrangements now in place and presents the recently launched action plan which seeks to deliver on our overall support to communities. Recommendations It is recommended that the Communities Committee: (1) Acknowledge the establishment of four Immersive Experience Rooms across North Lanarkshire and the arrangement now in place to maximise the benefits from their use. (2) Provide approval to the associated Action Plan, noting that a report on progress will be presented to a future meeting of the Communities Committee. (3) Otherwise, acknowledge the contents of the report. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve the health and wellbeing of our communities Ambition statement (18) Ensure our digital transformation is responsive to all people's needs and enable access to the services they need Programme of Work Digital North Lanarkshire Item 15 Page 315 of 352
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1. Background 1.1 Reports presented to committee in recent years illustrate that the Council and the communities we support need to function in a modern digital world, which is fast moving, forever changing, and increasingly reliant upon technology for work, learning, business, and connecting with others. 1.2 As technology continues to play an ever-increasing role in the way in which service users, residents, and businesses live, learn, work, invest, and visit within North Lanarkshire both now and in the future, it is vital that the council - as a critical provider of public care, supports, and services – embraces developing technology to improve user access and experience. 1.3 The council has four Immersive Experience Rooms now in operation: • Muirfield Centre, Cumbernauld – opened in early 2021 and recently refurbished. The upgrade to the immersive room in Muirfield included a full upgrade to the projection unit, a refurbishment of the walls and floor, and installation of aroma technology. • Motherwell Library – opened January 2024. • Summerlee Museum of Scottish Industrial Life – opened in June 2024. • Airdrie Library – opened November 2024. 2. Report 2.1 Immersive experience rooms create scenario-driven environments where users are fully immersed within the space. The main objective of the immersive space is to harness the power of digital media, creating opportunities for communities, staff, and partners in many aspects, including digital skills development, health and wellbeing improvement, social skills development, educational attainment, and pathways to future learning and employment. 2.2 A two-tier governance and operational management structure has been developed as part of the immersive rooms project: 2.3 Governance Group – An Immersive Experience Board has been created to retain an overview of the general performance and use of all immersive room services, create and monitor a council-wide action plan (attached) - which incorporates the vision and direction of travel for the Immersive room services - and monitor contract performance. 2.4 Operational Group - made up of representatives from the services working within the immersive rooms, has been formed with a remit of sharing good practice, sharing content, trouble shooting and developing and managing the immersive room operating plan. 2.5 Both groups, led by Active & Creative Communities, are made up with a wide range of stakeholders to ensure broad representation across the community. This includes: • Finance & Technology • Community Partnership Team • Community Learning & Development • Education, Children & Families • Enterprise • Corporate Communications Page 316 of 352
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• Voluntary Action North Lanarkshire 2.6 Based on discussions to date, it is anticipated that other teams/groups may join the operational group from time to time based on projects that may be of interest. For example, discussions with NHS Lanarkshire have confirmed their interest in further developing content to support giving real life experiences to individuals adapting to new situations or life circumstances. Impact to Date 2.7 All of our Immersive Rooms have been busy providing valuable services to the community. In Motherwell Library and Airdrie Library during 2024/25 there were approximately 110 events / sessions held with approximately 2163 people in attendance over these sessions. 2.8 In addition to general events under Easter and Summer activities groups using the rooms include the following: • NLC Community Learning and Development groups from SumItUp and Adult Learning programmes. This has included Mens and Women’s groups from both Motherwell and Wishaw areas and included mindfulness activities / courses • NL Carers groups who have utilised content for both those with additional needs and as mindfulness/relaxation for carers. These have been both as groups and as individual referrals • Hope for Autism – staff, groups and individual referrals • Townhead PS Wellbeing Hub – parent, child and support worker of school refusing child who had been recently diagnosed on the Austism spectrum • Local primary schools – Glencairn PS, Firpark, Ladywell. All Saints and Cathedral PS have attended sessions in the Immersive room as part of library visits. Newarthill Primary School used the Immersive Room over a 6-week project as part of a note- taking course for some pupils where they learned to take notes from the information on screen and then use this in writing projects back in school during the week. (Firpark Primary School also used the space as a greenscreen to film content for an end of term Christmas story). • Gaelic education team visited to explore content development. Also, former NLC HT who is involved with a project to install Immersive Rooms in Islay has visited along with partners (educators and architects) in their project • NLC Supported Employment projects • NLC Creative Arts team, artists, and North Lanarkshire Artists Network members. In addition, Deep Fried Media Project used the space to create and film content. • NHS Lanarkshire, NHS Fife, NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde (including the children’s hospital), State Hospital staff – visits from teams in each of these NHS areas to look at possible use and partnerships. • New College Lanarkshire Art Students held their end of year exhibition in the Motherwell Immersive Room in June 2024. Students curated the exhibition for both their families and friends and members of the public. • World Poetry Day event in Airdrie Library saw over 90 people enjoy content created with local poet Ross Mitchell and designer Colin Mathieson which included material created in response to Ross’s cancer journey. Macmillan attended this event too to provide support and raise awareness. 2.9 The setting within Summerlee has hosted around 2500 visitors since opening in June 2024. Due to its position within the museum, the Immersive Room primarily caters for visitors to the museum, including: Page 317 of 352
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• Organised school groups participating in formal educational visits. • Families, holiday clubs and general museum visitors for drop in experience sessions at weekends and during school holidays. • Specialist groups such as Community Learning & Development, Resettlement Groups, Twenty 21 (film making club) and the children’s film club. • Over the summer period, we have offered Immersive Thursdays – a free, drop- in session, suitable for all ages with adult accompaniment. 2.10 Murfield - The NL Digital School continued to support establishments at the Immersive Classroom in two workstreams – Targeted intervention blocks (in line with Annual Improvement Priority targets) and experience days (to enhance a context/theme for teaching and learning). • There were 15 schools across ASN, FLC, Primary and Secondary establishments within North Lanarkshire who accessed the immersive classroom this year. • 32 different classes experienced the room through a combination of experience days and intervention blocks. • 708 pupils took part in the experience days and 161 in targeted intervention blocks, meaning 869 pupils have accessed the immersive classroom this year. • The total number of children who have access the room since the pilot began in 2021 is 3,531. • Adult learning groups, local community groups and the Virtual School also used the space on a regular basis and were supported by Digital Pedagogy Practitioners throughout. This has included pupil groups from Cumbernauld areas and included mindfulness activities / courses with Relax kids. 2.11 2024/2025 saw the introduction of a further support programme, a new bespoke intensive support package has been established through immersive technology at Muirfield. It has started with a bespoke package for 3 pupils across Ravenswood, Condorrat and Baird Primary around Health and Wellbeing co-ordinated with the EFM working with pupils on Part time timetables on a 8week 1 hour block. This was continued with Pentland and Portland pupils enjoyed a similar experience to enhance learning with 3 pupils learning about IDL topics through the World War and computing science support providing pupils with vital skills for life, learning and work. The total number of children who have accessed the room for this additional pilot was 6. Action Plan 2.12 The Action Plan (attached at Appendix One) has been developed following consideration of key areas of focus by the Governance Group. The plan focuses on seven key areas where the rooms can add value: • Consultation and awareness raising • Training and development • Curriculum and attainment • Experience • Health and wellbeing • Business support and engagement • Operational 2.13 Subject to approval, the plan will be updated and progress reported to a future meeting of the Communities Committee. Page 318 of 352
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3. Measures of success 3.1 General performance will be measured by the number of bookings taken within a specified period and the number of users of each interactive room within a specified period. 3.2 Specific outcomes will be developed for each immersive room that will focus on a range of areas such as digital skills development, health and wellbeing improvement, social skills development, attainment of knowledge, employability and pathways to future learning opportunities. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 Immersive Experience Action Plan Lyall Rennie Chief Officer (Community Operations) Page 319 of 352
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☒ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? At present, content development is paid from existing budget lines. This will continue to be monitored by Finance colleagues. 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☒ No ☐ Page 320 of 352
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If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? The immersive rooms are a key feature of our overall Digital plans and are discussed regularly with Finance & Technology colleagues. Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 321 of 352
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North Lanarkshire Immersive Rooms Action Plan 2025/26 Appendix 1 Consultation and Awareness Raising Action Audience Lead Officer Timescale Resources Funding Success Criteria RAG Engage partners/key stakeholders to develop the use of the immersive rooms as part of an integrated approach to consultation activities NLC and external partners Governance Group Jan - Dec 2025 Training and content creation Consumables cost Immersive rooms are used regularly to hold a range of consultation activities. Training and Staff Development Action Audience Lead Officer Timescale Resources Funding Success Criteria RAG Explore options for utilising the immersive rooms to deliver in-house training to NLC staff via the TOD team NLC staff Operations group, TOD April 25-March 26 Immersive Room, consumables Consumable costs A range of training events for NLC staff delivered within and utilising the immersive rooms. Explore options for utilising the immersive rooms to deliver training events for external partners and key stake holders including those in voluntary sector organisations External partners & key stakeholders including voluntary sector organisations Operations Group April 25 – March 26 Immersive Room Consumable costs A range of training events for external partners and key stakeholders (including voluntary sector) delivered within and utilising the immersive rooms. Develop a series of interview technique and employability activities to support customers seeking employment. Routes to Work, members of the public seeking employment Operations Group April 25 – March 26 Immersive Room Consumable costs Employability events and activities to support customers seeking employment regularly run via the immersive rooms Work with stakeholders to develop training and content targeted to young people supporting community priorities Community Safety, external partners & key stakeholders Operations Group April 25 – March 26 Immersive Room, consumables Consumable costs A range of training events for external partners and key stakeholders delivered within and utilising immersive rooms. Page 322 of 352
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Identified content created. Curriculum and Attainment Action Audience Lead Officer Timescale Resources Funding Success Criteria RAG Develop the use of all 4 immersive rooms to support curricular, attainment and achievement activities Primary & secondary school pupils Governance Group, Operations Group April 25 – March 26 Immersive Room N/A A range of curricular activities available to schools which support attainment and achievement targets. Develop the links between the immersive room and the Makerspace activities Members of the public, partners and key stakeholders Operations Group, Libraries Digital Team April 25 – March 26 Immersive Room N/A Evidence of cross-over between immersive room and makerspace activities. Explore options for using the immersive rooms to support attainment and accreditation for senior secondary pupils and adult learners Secondary school staff and pupils. Community Learning & Development staff and learners Operations Group, April 25 – March 26 Immersive Room Content creation kit TBA Pupils and community learners engaged with immersive spaces Experience Action Audience Lead Officer Timescale Resources Funding Success Criteria RAG Develop a range of ‘real life’ events and activities to enhance the user experience. Members of the public, partners and key stakeholders Operations Group, Libraries Digital Team April 25 – March 26 Immersive Room TBA A series of ‘real life’ events and experiences delivered via the immersive rooms. Explore options for and create a link between the Airdrie Library immersive room and the telescope in the observatory to enhance the user experience. NLC staff External Partners & key stakeholders Governance Group, Operations group, Libraries Digital team April 25 – March 26 Immersive Room TBA Link created between Immersive Room and Observatory telescope within Airdrie Library. A range of training events for relevant staff delivered Page 323 of 352
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Explore options for utilising the immersive room to deliver training for external partners and key stakeholder and develop a range of relevant content. within and utilising the immersive rooms. Identified content created. Develop a range of content to enhance the user experience and accessibility of visitor attractions Members of the public, partners and key stakeholders Operations Group, Museums team April 25 – March 26 Immersive Room Content creation TBA A series of experiences delivered via the immersive rooms Develop a range of content to enhance the user experience and accessibility of local studies and archives resources. Members of the public, partners and key stakeholders Operations Group, Libraries Digital Team April 25 – March 26 Immersive Room content creation TBA A series of experiences created and delivered via the immersive rooms. Explore options for using the immersive rooms to support primary-secondary transition, additional support needs and empowering clusters. Primary & secondary school staff and primary school pupils Operations group April 25 – March 26 Immersive Room TBA Primary school pupils engage in primary- secondary school transition activities via the immersive rooms. Explore options for using the immersive rooms to support school to workplace transition. Primary & secondary school staff and primary school pupils Operations group April 25 – March 26 Immersive Room TBA School pupils engage in workplace transition activities via the immersive rooms. Health & Wellbeing Action Audience Lead Officer Timescale Resources Funding Success Criteria RAG Ensure the immersive rooms are actively engaged with and support customers with special needs Members of the NHS, public, partners and key stakeholders Operations Group, Libraries Digital Team April 25 – March 26 Immersive Room TBA The support of people with special needs is core to the offer made available. Develop a range of events and activities that support Members of the NHS, public, Operations Group, April 25 – March 26 Immersive Room TBA A range of events and activities developed and Page 324 of 352
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specific health and wellbeing issues such as grief counselling, support for carers and mindfulness partners and key stakeholders Libraries Digital Team delivered that support specific health and wellbeing issues. Business Support & Engagement Action Audience Lead Officer Timescale Resources Funding Success Criteria RAG Develop a range of training, events and activities that support local businesses in their use of the immersive spaces. Partners, key stakeholders and Business Gateway team Operations Group, Libraries Digital Team Business Gateway team April 25 – March 26 Immersive Room TBA A range of training, events and activities developed and delivered that support local businesses Operational Action Audience Lead Officer Timescale Resources Funding Success Criteria RAG Develop reporting and monitoring practices for issues raised with BT / Immersive Support NLC staff Operations Group April 25 – June 25 Time None Issues reporting and monitoring approach agreed and in place Create operational guides, trouble shooting documents and support for staff NLC staff Operations Group April 25 – December 25 Time immersive rooms None Guides created and available for staff Develop and agree reporting processes for internal performance monitoring NLC staff Operations group April 25 – June 25 Time None Central reporting for all immersive rooms agreed and in place Page 325 of 352
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Communities Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref LR/HL/AH Date 28/04/25 ACC and Community Facility Usage and Footfall Q1 25-26 and Q1 24-25 From Lyall Rennie, Chief Officer (Community Operations) Email Liddleh@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07973 726496 Executive Summary For the information of elected members, this report provides an overview of usage of a range of sports, culture and leisure venues and our community facilities, comparing quarter 1 of 205-26 and quarter 1 of 2024-25. Recommendations It is recommended that Committee: (1) Acknowledges usage and footfall associated with the council’s sports, culture, leisure and community facilities. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (24) Review and design services around people, communities, and shared resources Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 16 Page 327 of 352
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1. Background 1.1 North Lanarkshire Council has made a commitment to ensure our residents have access to a range of services and venues across the authority which support their ability to maximise health and wellbeing and give access to areas where they are able to work with others to participate in activities or take part in projects which seek to provide overall community benefit. 1.2 Within this context, the council has a range of venues provided by either Active and Creative Communities or Community Facilities which are used by the community in a range of different ways. Some venues are better used than others and it is recognised that people’s habits have changed, particularly in the period following the pandemic. 1.3 In line with our commitment to ensure the best use of the limited resources we have, usage of such facilities is closely monitored and presented within this report for the information of elected members. 2. Report 2.1 Appendix One provides a breakdown of footfall during quarter 1 of 2024/25 as compared to quarter 1 of 2025/2 for Active NL, Community Libraries, Creative Resources and Venues and Museums. Information for community facilities is gathered in a different manner, recorded both by the number of bookings made (count) and the duration of those bookings. 2.2 Overall, there is a generally positive picture across Active & Creative Communities, with a slight reduction in attendance at sport and leisure venues following the busy period at the beginning of the year. We have had two significant closures impacting on larger venues. Firstly, the closure of the Waterpark within the Time Capsule where over £1.5 million has been invested in upgrading the plant room and restoring original water features. Through additional investment we have also been able to restore one of the two flumes back into use. We expect the second flume to be in operation by end July 2025. At time of writing, the planned re-opening of the Time Capsule will take place on 19 July, approximately six weeks ahead of schedule. Secondly our planned refurbishment of the gym in Sir Matt Busby was stalled by the discovery of significant work required to reinforce the gym floor. This led to a longer than anticipated closure of the gym, with the planned re-opening to take place in mid July 2025. Beyond Active NL, we continue to see an overall increase in library footfall and attendance at our museum sites and entertainment venues. 2.3 Quarter 1 figures include the easter break, May holidays and the commencement of the summer holiday period in June when many users do not operate. Overall, this quarter, in comparison to the same 3-month period in 2024/25, there has been an increase in usage for the period of 921 hours, however figures for Stepps have now been included following the reintroduction of daytime access to community spaces. Total usage in the community areas of Stepps is 682 hours (most of the usage was already in place, prior to reintroduction of daytime access). Taking this into consideration, the adjusted increase is 239 hours. The positive trend of increased usage continued in both April and June, however, there was a slight decrease in usage in May (decrease of 65 hours). This decrease in mostly attributed to small changes in usage, however, May 2024 also included several bookings for Council Roadshows. Page 328 of 352
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2.4 The team will continue to monitor usage. The colour coding within the table demonstrates performance against the same period in 2024/25 as a RAG status. 2.5 Members may previously have noted the minimal community usage within Airdrie@Home Centre. Discussions have taken place between the services and it has been agreed that, due to the budget for the building sitting, within Education & Families that performance on the centre will be reported through another means by Community Learning & Development. As a result, this has been removed from the Community Facilities portfolio. . 2.6 The council continues to work with a range of local groups to support increased use of our facilities wherever possible. Work with the Community Ownership and Management Group continues to support community interest in all forms of access including community asset transfer where this approach supports the aspirations of local groups. 3. Measures of success 3.1 A thriving and sustainable council service which supports the delivery of culture, sport, leisure, and community facility services. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 Usage and Footfall Q1 2024/25 and Q1 2025/26 Lyall Rennie Chief Officer (Community Operations) Page 329 of 352
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Page 330 of 352
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Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 331 of 352
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Usage and Footfall Q1 2024/25 and Q1 2025/26 Appendix 1 Active NL 2024-25 2025-26 % Q4 2024-25 Comment Venues Q1 Q1 Movement Airdrie Leisure Centre 105,779 87,966 -16.8 101632 Closed 7/7/25 - leak Aquatec 5,465 9,462 73.1 10463 Birkenshaw Sports Centre 1,627 534 -67.2 458 Building closed from 31/1/25 Broadwood Leisure Centre 162,987 150,367 -7.74 196613 Ian Nicolson Centre 19,251 28,819 49.7 21567 John Smith Pool 17,683 0 -100 0 Keir Hardie Centre 9,216 17,623 91.2 16392 Kilsyth Swimming Pool 26,634 22,866 -14.1 263320 Lochview Golf Centre 19,277 23,315 20.9 11915 Palacerigg Golf Course 11,570 18,866 63.1 8909 Ravenscraig Sports Centre 15,1966 157,541 3.7 205668 Shotts Leisure Centre 20,461 15,135 -26.1 15544 Health suite closed from 23/25 Sir Matt Busby Sports Centre 111,216 124,074 11.56 125675 Spin studio closed 09/07 for air conditioning fix. Gym closed since 28/4 for floor replacement and refurb. Time Capsule 143,844 90,480 -37.1 133911 Waterpark closed from 3/3/25 to 19/7/25. Townhead 23,974 15,417 -45.3 21374 Tryst Sports Centre 123,089 190,940 21.5 174370 2 closures (half day) to deal with heating issues. Wishaw Sports Centre 116,574 131,814 3.2 138303 Total 1,014,255 1,065,431 -4.8 1,205,688 Page 332 of 352
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Community Libraries 24-25 25-26 % Q4 2024-25 Comment Libraries Q1 Q1 Movement Abronhill 5,971 7,267 21.7 7565 Airdrie 14,976 16,057 7.2 15257 Bellshill 14,519 15,541 6.4 16114 Chapelhall 4,516 4,487 -0.6 4551 Chryston 2,769 1,899 -31.4 2081 Cleland 3,019 3,390 12.3 3814 Coatbridge 14,413 13,558 -5.93 14293 Condorrat 5,522 5,515 -0.1 5959 Cumbernauld 16,418 16,101 1.9 14887 Kilsyth 4,895 6,842 39.8 11526 Moodiesburn 3,669 4,394 19.8 4564 Motherwell 24,187 23,435 -3.1 22296 New Stevenson 3,732 3,462 -7.2 4164 Newarthill 1,410 1,464 3.8 1706 Newmains 4,419 3,397 -23.1 3962 Shotts 1,746 2,637 51 2055 Stepps - 7,048 - Viewpark 3,692 4,123 11.7 4114 Wishaw 22,733 26,796 17.9 29996 Total 152,606 1697,323 9.6 175872 Page 333 of 352
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Outreach Services 24-25 25-26 % Q4 2024-25 Comment Q1 Q1 Movement Outreach Van 199 396 Creative Venues Creative Venues 24-25 25-26 % Q4 2024-25 Q1 Q1 Movement Comment Airdrie Town Hall 12,584 14,814 +17.3% 9853 Bellshill Cultural Centre 2,837 3,824 +34.8% 3174 Cumbernauld Theatre 16,974 15398 -9.3% 10281 Total 32,395 34694 +7.1% 23308 Museums & Collections Museums 24-25 25-26 % Q4 2024-25 Q1 Q1 Movement Comment Summerlee 56,987 57,925 +1.65% 33927 NL Heritage Centre 2,541 5,364 +111% 4330 Total 59,528 63,289 +6.3% 38257 Page 334 of 352
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Community Facilities Facility Centre Status (weeks) 24-25 Q1 Count 24-25 Q1 Duration (hours) 25-26 Q1 Count 25-26 Q1 Duration (hours) Footfall Q1 2025- 26 Average Weekly Hours in Q1 25/26 Comments Abronhill Community Facility 52 151 239 141 260 2526 20 Variations in line with customer demand. Allanton Cc 52 55 140 65 158 650 12 Andrew Hamilton Cc 38 50 145 38 116 1299 12 Dancing group not renewed. Antonine Community Sports 52 64 162 3 6 54 0 Centre now closed. Auchinloch Cc 38 133 283 162 393 2999 43 Beechbank Cc 52 99 308 114 390 1577 31 Burngreen Cc 38 18 60 26 69 666 8 Burnhead Cc 52 142 377 294 946 6077 75 Calderbank Cc 38 53 127 40 88 806 10 Reduction highlighted in Quarter 2024/25. Caldercruix Cc 38 11 20 11 28 61 3 Chapelside Cc 52 709 2351 509 1544 7308 122 Reduction highlighted in Quarter 2024/25. Charlotte Toal Cc 52 286 1087 279 1159 2700 91 Page 335 of 352
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Chryston Cultural Centre 52 369 779 235 551 3331 43 Centre used for NLC Roadshows which increased usage in 202425. Reduced usage by support and hobby groups. Facility Centre Status (weeks) 24-25 Q1 Count 24-25 Q1 Duration (hours) 25-26 Q1 Count 25-26 Q1 Duration (hours) Footfall Q1 25/26 Average Weekly Hours in Q1 25/26 Comments Cleland Cc 38 21 57 37 92 333 10 Coatbridge Cc 52 674 2553 1421 3621 15087 285 Coltness Cc 52 157 432 145 370 2783 29 Variations expected in line with customer demand. Cumbernauld New Town Hall 52 222 561 217 575 6525 45 Reduction highlighted in 2024/25. Usage dependent on functions. Forge Cc 38 71 196 23 57 511 6 Reduced usage noted from 2024/5. Four Isles Cc 52 80 263 54 101 848 8 Reduced usage noted from 2024/5. Frank Ferguson Cc 52 90 332 81 315 753 25 Variations expected in line with customer demand. Garrell Vale Cc 52 314 929 283 777 2620 61 Gartcosh Cc 52 233 683 228 699 3751 55 Page 336 of 352
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Facility Centre Status (weeks) 24-25 Q1 Count 24-25 Q1 Duration (hours) 25-26 Q1 Count 25-26 Q1 Duration (hours) Footfall Q1 25/26 Average Weekly Hours in Q1 25/26 Comments Gartlea Cc 52 282 1061 316 1266 5696 100 Glenmavis Cc 38 10 17 14 26 85 3 Centre now closed. Gowkthrapple Cc 38 35 131 39 101 422 11 Variations in line with customer demand. Greenfaulds Cc 52 96 250 95 249 1485 20 Harthill Cf 52 154 362 165 407 2408 32 Hattonrigg Cc 38 66 203 60 189 1087 21 Variations in line with customer demand. Holytown Cf 38 127 353 113 297 4108 33 One hall closed due to maintenance. Isa Money Cc 52 111 294 124 299 2227 24 Jim Foley Cc 52 215 723 197 717 2605 56 Reduced usage by support group and 1 support group not renewed. Joe McKay Cc 52 237 823 262 861 3090 68 John McCormack Cc 38 279 761 266 698 6299 81 Reduced usage by wellbeing group. MacAuley Cc 38 98 250 92 252 2258 29 Michael Sherry Cc 52 62 162 71 217 953 17 Variations in line with customer demand. Page 337 of 352
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Facility Centre Status (weeks) 24-25 Q1 Count 24-25 Q1 Duration (hours) 25-26 Q1 Count 25-26 Q1 Duration (hours) Footfall Q1 25/26 Average Weekly Hours in Q1 25/26 Comments Mount Pleasant Cc 52 87 174 100 197 1148 15 Reduced usage by baby and toddler groups in June. Netherton Cc 38 38 66 56 109 520 13 New Stevenston Cc 38 46 104 49 136 826 15 Newarthill Cf 52 393 1340 354 1139 3650 89 Reduced usage by local community group. Old Monkland C Wing 52 106 214 102 205 675 16 Old Monkland Cc 38 117 284 132 351 2073 39 Overtown Cc 52 129 364 125 323 1247 25 Pat Cullinan Cc 52 382 1895 346 1642 4360 129 1 hobby group not renewed. Pather Cc 52 292 986 307 1067 4084 84 Pivot Cf 52 210 449 0 0 0 0 Centre closed Plains Cc 52 52 129 82 222 1100 17 Pollock Cc 38 66 217 46 164 1061 18 Reduced usage noted from 2024/25. Rochsoles Cc 38 20 50 22 54 950 6 Centre now closed. Salsburgh Cc 38 84 164 103 216 1396 24 Page 338 of 352
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Facility Centre Status (weeks) 24-25 Q1 Count 24-25 Q1 Duration (hours) 25-26 Q1 Count 25-26 Q1 Duration (hours) Footfall Q1 25/26 Average Weekly Hours in Q1 25/26 Comments Shawhead Cc 52 144 343 127 238 2628 19 Support group not renewed. CAT agreed and arrangements in place. Shotts Cf 52 221 589 208 534 3107 42 Reduced usage noted from 2024/25. Springfield Cc 52 49 120 88 181 1631 14 Stepps 52 - - 249 682 Not available 54 Daytime access to community space has been reinstated, including out of school care usage already in place. Tannochside Cc 52 111 301 137 357 2274 28 The Link 52 289 793 412 1197 5315 94 The Muirfield Centre 52 682 2274 771 2433 6421 192 The Village Cc 38 32 105 35 123 1397 13 Viewpark Cf 52 599 1632 584 1564 5131 122 Westfield Cc 38 82 215 66 175 887 20 Support group not renewed, reduced usage by hobby group. Totals 10018 30295 10061 29428 Page 339 of 352
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Notes School holiday periods tend to have lower usage. Term time sites are closed Easter periods, May holidays and from the end of term in June – any usage showing in term time facilities during the holiday periods are for agreed exceptions. Footfall is provided by Caretakers on a monthly basis. Usage figures can vary from month to month as new groups start and others do not renew. Page 340 of 352
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North Lanarkshire Council Report Communities Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref LR/HL Date 18/08/25 Strategic Performance Framework - latest performance results for Active and Creative Communities From Lyall Rennie, Chief Officer (Community Operations) E-mail RennieLy@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07973 726496 Executive Summary Active & Creative Communities is made up of a range of services providing cultural and leisure services to the communities of North Lanarkshire. There are six key areas: • Active NL – operating from 18 leisure centres across North Lanarkshire Council, the service provides a range of physical activity services including leisure centres and gyms, sports development, health and wellbeing support through our links with NHS Lanarkshire and the Volunteer NL programme. • Community Libraries – the council has 19 static libraries across North Lanarkshire and an outreach delivery service. We also operate a records, archives and local studies services, contributing to a range of national and local projects and providing protection to council and other public service records. • Museums & Collections – operating from Summerlee Industrial Heritage Park and North Lanarkshire Heritage Centre, the service also supports local schools, colleges and community groups to display art exhibitions and deliver a range of collections across the year. The team delivers a range of visual arts programmes to the community including photo media and ceramic workshops. • Creative Resources – working from Airdrie Town Hall, Bellshill Cultural Centre and Cumbernauld Theatre, the service delivers over 200 performance every year, including the annual Christmas Pantomime. The team also delivers a range of community performing arts classes and is responsible for delivery of the council’s Arts Strategy. • Active Schools – funded partly by sportscotland, the Active Schools team operate from across all North Lanarkshire Council secondary schools, supporting extracurricular activity for primary, secondary and ASN young people. • Outdoor Education – from Palacerigg Country Park, all P7 pupils are given the opportunity to take part in one week of outdoor education as a key element of their curriculum. Subject to availability, this is also offered to secondary and ASN schools wherever possible. For strategic overview and scrutiny purposes, the report provides members of the Communities Committee with an update of the latest results for the suite of performance indicators used by Active & Creative Communities to inform service delivery and underpin operational decisions. Item 17 Page 341 of 352
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1. Background 1.1 There are six inter-related strategic frameworks which are key to evaluating the success of The Plan for North Lanarkshire and assessing delivery towards achieving the overall vision by ensuring each stage is appropriately aligned, planned, guided, implemented, monitored, and governed. 1.2 The six frameworks focus on ensuring a corporate one council approach in respect of Policy, Governance, Performance, Self-Evaluation, Project Management, and Demonstrating Improved Outcomes for Communities. 1.3 The Strategic Performance Framework comprises performance measurement at three levels (as per the diagram on the right). This aims to collectively provide an overview of performance to help understand the impact of council activities on improving services and outcomes for the people and communities of North Lanarkshire. The measures in this Framework allow for day-to-day activities, and progress towards achieving the long-term vision set out in The Plan for North Lanarkshire, to be regularly monitored, reported, assessed, and scrutinised. 1.4 The Strategic Performance Framework is aligned to the Accounts Commission’ Statutory Direction which places a requirement on councils to report a range of information in terms of (1) improving local services and outcomes, and (2) demonstrating Best Value. Key points of note in this respect are that the Accounts Commission also expect to see: (a) A balance in terms of reporting that captures highlights of good performance as well as areas of performance requiring improvement. (b) Reporting that is undertaken in a timely manner. (c) Easy access to performance information for all citizens and communities. (d) Comparisons of performance (i) over time (e.g. compared to previous years), and (ii) with others (e.g. other local authorities or the national average (where available and appropriate). The council’s comparative performance in Local Government Benchmarking Framework (LGBF) indicators can be viewed through the Improvement Service’s online dashboard: https://www.improvementservice.org.uk/benchmarking/explore-the-data Recommendations It is recommended that the Communities Committee: (1) Review the high-level performance overview presented in Appendix 1 and identify where further information is required to understand or investigate performance further. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement All ambition statements Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Page 342 of 352
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1.5 A Performance Reporting Schedule supports the timely submission of a range of performance information to ensure fully informed review, reporting, scrutiny, and decision-making processes by Elected Members and senior management. This Schedule, endorsed by the Audit and Scrutiny Panel each year, includes Chief Officer’s individual Performance Reviews at Service Committees in line with the Strategic Performance Framework. 1.6 This report therefore presents the Communities Committee with the latest performance results for Active and Creative Communities for Members’ further review and scrutiny. 2. Strategic Performance Framework Communities Committee responsibilities 2.1 In line with the terms of reference outlined in the Scheme of Administration, the Communities Committee is responsible for monitoring and reviewing performance information for the following Ambition Statements from The Plan for North Lanarkshire. 15. Encourage the health and wellbeing of people through a range of social, cultural, and leisure activities. 2.2 The high-level performance overview in Appendix 1 presents Members with a summary of the latest results for performance indicators relating to the Active and Creative Communities service that sit within the remit of the Chief Officer (Community Operations). 2.3 The information in Appendix 1 comprises the undernoted. Appendix 2 provides additional context in respect of the council’s approach to the measurement of indicators and setting of targets. • An ideal direction arrow - this indicates whether a higher or lower figure is the preferred direction of travel. • Measurement unit - for example whether the result is a %, a number, a unit cost (in £), or a ratio. • Performance results for the most recent financial years (depending on availability of data) along with the latest year’s target and corresponding RAG status (for indicators where it is appropriate to set targets). • The most recent quarterly results, along with the corresponding target and RAG status. Note the inclusion of this information is dependent on the measurement frequency of the indicator and availability of data as at the time of reporting. • A trend graph - this captures the direction of travel achieved over the years and includes the most recent monthly or quarterly results where available. • Comments - narrative summarising the current position and providing an explanation for any significant variations in performance. Where applicable, this narrative also highlights any internal or external factors impacting on service delivery as well as any residual effects of the pandemic, e.g. any increase or decrease in the volume of transactions or enquiries processed. A higher figure is better A lower figure is better Key to RAG status Green Performance is on target and/or within acceptable thresholds Red Performance does not meet target and is outwith acceptable thresholds Blue Performance surpasses the target and exceeds expectations Page 343 of 352
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Current context 2.4 The performance information presented in Appendix One should be considered within the context of the following: • There is a clear distinction in some areas of performance before and after the COVID pandemic where it is clear that behavioral change impacted on some elements of how services are accessed and used. For example, while overall use of library services has continued to grow since the services re-opened following lockdown in 2021, we are still seeing a significant drop in the overall number of people accessing our services. This has led to a review of how libraries are used and the services we now provide from these sites. • Over the last few years, and with growing pressure on council budgets, there has been increased consideration of what the council can and cannot continue to support in terms of cultural and leisure, non-statutory, services. While we have maintained service levels, on the whole, it is clear that some decisions around maintenance of facilities have been delayed in order to manage budgets, leading to increased closure of facilities due to unavoidable delays. Recent performance highlights 2.5 From Appendix 1, the following are worthy of highlight: • Digital Users of Library Services – This indicator has shown a 182% increase in performance from 202/24 to 2024/25. This is in part due to a growing focus on improving access to digital services across North Lanarkshire Council Library Service. This is reflected in achievement of the Programme of Work ambition to deliver Digital Zones for use by the community. We recently launched two new Digital Zones in Coatbridge Library and Chryston Library. Digital access to services has also been boosted by growing access to digital resources and an improved range of titles, including newspapers, which our library members are able to access. • Community Arts Activities – This indicator has shown a 51% increase in performance from the previous year. This is in part due to delivery of a newly focused service, as set out in the recently approved Arts Strategy. The Arts Strategy seeks to use the arts to support vulnerable groups and support learning across all areas of North Lanarkshire. • Indoor Sports Activities – we now have the highest number of Active NL members recorded since the organisation was established under North Lanarkshire Leisure – 37412 members. This, combined with pay as you go members and our focused programmes for all participants, sees this figure continue to grow. We remain committed to increasing this number further. • Outdoor Sports Activities – while showing a slight decrease in performance in 2024/25, we continue to operate above target. Our recent investment in the council’s outdoor spaces – at Moodiesburn, Harthill and Cleland pitches, Airdrie Leisure Centre, Ravenscraig Regional Sports Facility and Bothwellhaugh Sports Fields will continue to encourage increased usage. Areas of performance requiring improvement 2.6 Areas which require further improvement: • Libraries: Number of Visits – this indicator is one of the most significantly Page 344 of 352
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impacted following the pandemic, with a national picture which shows a significant drop in the number of people attending libraries. In North Lanarkshire Council, we monitor the number of visits to the library on a monthly basis, reporting these figures quarterly. While our nine town centre libraries continue to show healthy growth in attendance, the smaller libraries are less well used and contribute to an overall picture of falling attendance. In recognition of this change in habits, our town centre libraries are increasingly moving towards a position where the public can use libraries to access a range of different services. This might include access to Routes to Work advice and support, information on a range of public service, access to our digital services or the use of our Immersive Experience rooms (Motherwell and Airdrie) or our maker space services (Motherwell and soon to open in Cumbernauld). We recognise that this is more challenging in smaller branches but are working to provide additional service, where appropriate, including Bookbug and support for clubs and groups. • Museum Learning Experiences – while showing a 47.5% improvement in performance in 2024/25, we are still not quite at target for this indicator. Excellent progress has been made in terms of a more focused programme of learning, linking in with schools both on site and within schools, to deliver a range of educational programmes. The Immersive Room opened with Summerlee during 2024/25 has been very popular with groups and schools and we hope to see continued growth in this indicator through access to the immersive experience. Our proposed project at Summerlee, subject to agreed funding, will also improve specifically in our learning offer with a new Learning Landscape and increased opportunities for visitors to participate in our programmes. • Museum Visits – Similarly, while showing an increase in performance we feel there is scope for more significant improvement in this indicator. Our planned project at Summerlee will transform the attraction into one of the most important and impressive in Scotland. We hope to see this indicator continuing to improve. Next steps 2.7 As noted in paragraph 1.5, the Strategic Performance Framework is supported by a Performance Reporting Schedule. This sets out the arrangements for service, statutory, and Strategic Performance Framework reporting to committee. In this respect the relevant Committee can expect to receive the following reports in respect of Active and Creative Communities areas of work during 2025 to 2026. Report Description Committee Committee cycle Active and Creative Communities usage and footfall This report provides an overview of usage of a range of sports, culture, and leisure venues comparing quarterly figures from one year to the next. Latest report in February 2025: link to report Communities Committee Reported each cycle. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Measures of success include: • Regular oversight and monitoring of performance across the organisation to gain assurances in terms of governance and accountability. • Regular review and challenge processes to scrutinise the performance of the council to ensure effective use of resources and that resources are directed in Page 345 of 352
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accordance with agreed policy and according to priorities, while ensuring sound decision making and clear accountability for the use of resources in achieving improved outcomes for service users and the local community. • Performance monitoring, management, and reporting arrangements that support the demonstration of improved performance in local services and outcomes, and the delivery of Best Value. 4. Supporting documentation Appendix 1 High-level performance overview. Appendix 2 Note for information in respect of performance indicators and targets. Lyall Rennie Chief Officer (Community Operations) Page 346 of 352
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5. Impacts 5.1 Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty Does the report contain information that has an impact as a result of the Public Sector Equality Duty and/or Fairer Scotland Duty? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? If Yes, has an assessment been carried out and published on the council’s website? https://www.northlanarkshire.gov.uk/your-community/equalities/equality- and-fairer-scotland-duty-impact-assessments Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.2 Financial impact Does the report contain any financial impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant financial impacts been discussed and agreed with Finance? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.3 HR policy impact Does the report contain any HR policy or procedure impacts? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant HR impacts been discussed and agreed with People Resources? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.4 Legal impact Does the report contain any legal impacts (such as general legal matters, statutory considerations (including employment law considerations), or new legislation)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, have all relevant legal impacts been discussed and agreed with Legal and Democratic? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.5 Data protection impact Does the report / project / practice contain or involve the processing of personal data? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, is the processing of this personal data likely to result in a high risk to the data subject? Yes ☐ No ☐ If Yes, has a Data Protection Impact Assessment (DPIA) been carried out and e- mailed to dataprotection@northlan.gov.uk Yes ☐ No ☐ 5.6 Technology / Digital impact Does the report contain information that has an impact on either technology, digital transformation, service redesign / business change processes, data management, or connectivity / broadband / Wi-Fi? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? Where the impact identifies a requirement for significant technology change, has an assessment been carried out (or is scheduled to be carried out) by the Enterprise Architecture Governance Group (EAGG)? Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 347 of 352
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5.7 Environmental / Carbon impact Does the report / project / practice contain information that has an impact on any environmental or carbon matters? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.8 Communications impact Does the report contain any information that has an impact on the council’s communications activities? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact? 5.9 Risk impact Is there a risk impact? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the key risks and potential impacts, highlighting where the risk(s) are assessed and recorded (e.g. Corporate or Service or Project Risk Registers), and how they are managed? 5.10 Armed Forces Covenant Duty Does the report require to take due regard of the Armed Forces Covenant Duty (i.e. does it relate to healthcare, housing, or education services for in-Service or ex- Service personnel, or their families, or widow(er)s)? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the provision which has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the particular needs of the Armed Forces community to make sure that they do not face disadvantage compared to other citizens in the provision of public services. 5.11 Children’s rights and wellbeing impact Does the report contain any information regarding any council activity, service delivery, policy, or plan that has an impact on children and young people up to the age of 18, or on a specific group of these? Yes ☐ No ☒ If Yes, please provide a brief summary of the impact and the provision that has been made to ensure there has been appropriate consideration of the relevant Articles from the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNCRC). If Yes, has a Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact Assessment (CRWIA) been carried out? Yes ☐ No ☐ Page 348 of 352
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Appendix 1 Active and Creative Communities High-level performance overview - as at July 2025 Page 349 of 352
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Appendix 2 Note for information in respect of performance indicators and targets It should be noted that the nature of particular areas of service being measured in order to assess and manage performance do not always lend themselves to a traditional approach to either measuring performance or setting targets, for example: • Some indicators (and targets) are required to monitor performance against a commitment or minimum standard the council has made in advance to achieve a stated level of performance when delivering a service. • Some indicators (and targets) are required to assess compliance with legislative requirements. • Some targets represent the level of performance that the council aims to achieve from a particular activity in either the short, medium, or long- term. • Some indicators are needed to help present a complete picture of performance in the round, as a single performance indicator used in isolation rarely tells the whole performance story and a range of indicators are required to reflect the economic, efficient, and effective aspects of demonstrating best value. • Some indicators and targets can help to support accountability to the public in terms of demonstrating best value and an efficient and effective approach to the delivery of services. • Some indicators are monitored to ensure the council complies with specific requirements, such as information governance or health and safety. • Some indicators are monitored to provide added context in order to help interpret performance results or supplement other existing measures. Information such as this can be critical to enhance knowledge and decision making in terms of demand to help determine priorities and allocate resources. • For some indicators it is not appropriate to set targets as it is the trend in the data (i.e. the direction of travel) that provides more meaningful information to allow for an assessment in relation to whether performance has improved. • Some indicators are national benchmarking indicators where their purpose is to allow for comparisons with other councils and the national average. These benchmarks are, in essence, can openers designed to focus questions on why variations in cost and performance are occurring between similar councils. • Some indicators are proxy measures, particularly in the case of measuring outcomes, as without directly measurable data for a desired outcome the only alternative is to use a proxy that is an indirect measure of the desired outcome but which is itself strongly correlated to that outcome. Page 352 of 352