Agenda Document Pack - Finance and Resources Committee - 10/09/2025
North Lanarkshire Council · 10 September 2025
Back to Finance and Resources Committee — 10 September 2025 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
Page 1
Clerk Name: Karen Swan Clerk Telephone: 07919 730272 Clerk Email: committee@northlan.gov.uk 1 September 2025 Members of the Finance and Resources 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 Finance and Resources Committee is to be held in the Council Chamber, Civic Centre, Windmillhill Street, Motherwell, ML1 1AB on Wednesday, 10 September 2025 at 10:00 AM which you are requested to attend. The agenda of business is attached. Rachel Blair Chief Officer (Legal & Democratic) Members : B McCulloch, A Ballinger, M Boyd, G Brennan, T Carragher, C Costello, S Coyle, D Crichton, G Currie, K Duffy, A Duffy-Lawson, J Hume, D Johnston, T Johnston, P Kelly, A Khan, K Larson, G Lennon, J Logue, H Loughran, F MacGregor, A Masterton, P McDade, R McKendrick, J McLaren, M McPake, J McPhilemy, L Nolan, P Patton, C Quigley, L Roarty, G Robinson, W Shields, A Smith, L Stubbs, R Sullivan, A Thomas, S Watson, C Williams, G Woods. Page 1 of 292
Page 2
Page 2 of 292
Page 3
Agenda 1 Declarations of Interest In Terms of the Ethical Standards In Public Life Etc. (Scotland) Act 2000 Minutes 2 Minute of Meeting of Employee Appeals Sub Committee of 17 June 2025 Submit the Minute of the Meeting of Employee Appeals Sub Committee of 17 June 2025. 9 - 10 3 Minute of Meeting of Employee Appeals Sub Committee of 13 August 2025 Submit the Minute of Meeting of Employee Appeals Sub Committee of 13 August 2025. 11 - 12 Operational 4 Brighter Futures Programme of Work – NL Academies Submit report by Chief Officer (People Resources) advising of various projects for Young People to provide job ready skills to access growth industries and opportunities for adults in North Lanarkshire. 13 - 24 5 Local Public Holidays for Factories and Businesses 2026 Submit report by Chief Officer (Legal and Democratic) seeking consideration of the local public holidays in calendar year 2026 for factories and businesses in North Lanarkshire. 25 - 28 6 North Lanarkshire Council Registration Service - 2023 Performance Review and Operating Model Submit report by the Chief Officer (Legal and Democratic) providing an overview on the performance of the Councils Registration Service during 2023 together with the ongoing review of the operational arrangements and service delivery model. 29 - 38 Page 3 of 292
Page 4
7 North Lanarkshire Properties LLP - Performance Indicators - 1 October 2024 to 31 March 2025, Financial Performance as at 3rd January 2025 and Action Plan Update Submit report by Chief Officer (Assets and Procurement) detailing North Lanarkshire Properties LLP's performance, financial performance and action plan following the Arm's Length External Organisations Review 2024. 39 - 68 8 Glasgow City Region Investment Zone Update Submit report by Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) providing an update on the ongoing development of the Glasgow City Region Investment Zone programme, and specifically the proposal of Non- Domestic Rates Retention Sites. 69 - 76 Performance 9 Annual Procurement Report 2024-25 Submit report by Chief Officer (Assets and Procurement) seeking approval of the Annual Procurement Report 2024/25. 77 - 124 Financial 10 Revenues and Benefits Update Submit report by Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) providing an update on the performance within the Revenues and Benefits functions of Finance as at 30 June 2025. 125 - 134 11 Revenue Monitoring Report Council Summary 1 April 2025 to 18 July 2025 Submit report by Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) (1) providing an update on the overall financial position for the General Fund Account, Housing Revenue Account and Adult Health and Social Care, for the financial year to 31 March 2026; (2) consolidating the budget monitoring position of all Services, and (3) highlighting and explaining major outturn variances as per the Council's approved Financial Regulations. 135 - 144 Page 4 of 292
Page 5
12 Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Chief Executive's Service 1 April to 18 July 2025 (Period 4) Submit report by Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) (1) providing a summary of the Chief Executive's financial performance for the Period from 1 April to 18 July 2025 (Period 4) and (2) illustrating the provisional outturn as at 31 March 2026, with major outturn variances highlighted and explained per the Council's approved Financial Regulations. 145 - 156 13 Capital Programme 2025-26 Monitoring Report Submit report by Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) (1) providing an update on the 2025/26 resources and expenditure for the Council's Strategic Capital Investment Programme, and (2) detailing the 2025/26 projected outturn position and the resultant variances. 157 - 168 14 Chief Executives Service - Capital Monitoring Report 1 April to 18 July 2025 (Period 4) Submit report by Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) highlighting the financial performance and projected outturn of the 2025/26 Chief Executive's capital programme for the period ended 18 July 2025 (Period 4). 169 - 174 15 Treasury Management Monitoring Report for quarter ended 30 June 2025 Submit report by Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) informing of the quarterly Treasury Management activity for the period from 1 April to 30 June 2025 together with the mandatory treasury and prudential indicators. 175 - 192 16 Treasury Management Annual Activity Report – 2024-2025 Submit report by Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) outlining the treasury management activity undertaken during 2024/2025 and the resulting impact on the Council's borrowing and investment strategy. 193 - 222 Page 5 of 292
Page 6
17 2024-25 Annual Outturn Submit report by Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) informing that the annual statutory accounts of the Council for the year ended 31 March 2025 were reported to the Audit and Scrutiny Panel at its meeting of 26 June 2025 and subsequently submitted to the Council's External Auditors, Audit Scotland, by the statutory date of 30 June. 223 - 228 18 Review of 2025-26 to 2027-28 Budget Savings Submit report by the Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) providing an update on the achievement of the three-year financial savings total, approved as part of the 2025/26 budget setting process. 229 - 234 19 General Debtors Write-Off 2025-26 Submit report by Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) presenting a summary of outstanding debtor accounts which are deemed uncollectable following all attempts at recovery or are not economically viable to continue to pursue. 235 - 240 20 General Debtors Write Off 2025-26 People Resources Submit report by Chief Officer (People Resources) presenting a summary of outstanding debtor accounts which are deemed uncollectable following all attempts at recovery or are not economically viable to continue to pursue. 241 - 246 Remit 21 Remit - Adult Care & Social Work - Sundry Debt Write Off 2025 Submit report by Chief Officer (Adult Social Work Services) providing a summary of outstanding debtor accounts which are deemed uncollectable following all attempts at recovery or are considered uneconomically viable to continue pursuing. 247 - 252 Page 6 of 292
Page 7
22 Remit - Education, Children and Families Committee - Annual Bad Debt Write-Off Exercise Submit report by Chief Officer (Education North) providing a summary of outstanding debtor accounts relating to previous financial years which are deemed either to be uncollectible following all attempts at recovery or are not economically viable to continue pursuing. 253 - 258 23 Remit - Housing Committee - Sundry Debt Write Off 2025 Submit report by Depute Chief Executive providing a summary of outstanding debtor accounts which are deemed uncollectable following all attempts at recovery or are considered uneconomically viable to continue pursuing. 259 - 264 Contracts 24 Contract Award for Provision of Merchant Acquiring Services (2025-2029) Submit report by Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) acknowledging the decision taken by the Depute Chief Executive on 25 June 2025 to the award of contract to the Provision of Merchant Acquiring Services provided by Lloyds Bank plc. 265 - 272 25 Contract Award for the Provision of Utilities (Electricity, Gas and Water) Submit report by Chief Officer (Assets and Procurement) advising of the Council's continued participation in utility arrangements procured by Scottish Procurement for supply of Electricity, Natural Gas and Water and Waste Billing. 273 - 282 26 Contract awarded below Committee approval threshold Submit report by the Chief Officer (Assets and Procurement) notifying of the Contracts Awarded since the last meeting of the Committee with a value below the financial threshold requiring approval. 283 - 292 Page 7 of 292
Page 8
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 paragraphs 6 and 9 of Part 1 of Schedule 7A of the Act". 27 Affordable Housing Purchase - 75 Units, Mid Forest, Cumbernauld Submit report by Chief Officer (Assets and Procurement) seeking approval to purchase of 75 affordable housing properties at Mid Forest, Cumbernauld. 28 Ground Lease Extension - 42-62 Telford Place Lenziemill Industrial Estates Cumbernauld Submit report by Chief Officer (Assets and Procurement) seeking approval of extension to an existing ground lease of land at Telford Place, Lenziemill Industrial Estate, Cumbernauld. Remit Exempt 29 Remit - Housing Committee - Property-Related Matter - Debt Adjustment Submit report by the Depute Chief Executive regarding a proposed debt adjustment associated with a property acquisition to facilitate the progression of a strategic regeneration initiative. Page 8 of 292
Page 9
EMPLOYEE APPEALS SUB – 17 JUNE 2025 1 Tuesday, 17 June 2025 at 10am. A Meeting of the EMPLOYEE APPEALS SUB-COMMITTEE PRESENT Councillor Reddin, Convener, Councillor B McCulloch, Vice-Convener, Councillors Ballinger, Beveridge, Boyd, Currie, Hume, Leckie, Masterton, Roarty and Woods. CHAIR Councillor Reddin (Convener) presided. IN ATTENDANCE Chief Officer (Finance & Technology), Employment and Policy and Manager and Democratic Co-Ordinator. APOLOGIES Councillor Jones and Thomas. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST IN TERMS OF THE ETHICAL STANDARDS IN PUBLIC LIFE ETC. (SCOTLAND) ACT 2000 1. There were no declarations of interest. It was agreed in terms of Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, that the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item on the grounds that the business involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 7A of the Act. PROCEDURE GUIDE 2. There was submitted the Procedures for Conduct of the appeal hearing. Decided: that the Procedures for Conduct of the Appeal Hearing be noted. FINANCE AND TECHNOLOGY - APPEAL AGAINST DISMISSAL – 2025/01 3. There was submitted intimation of an appeal against dismissal by Appellant 2025/01, together with a report by the Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) in explanation of the circumstances leading to the dismissal. The Convener advised that a request to postpone the hearing had been received from the Appellant as their Trade Union Representative was unable to attend. Decided: that the meeting be postponed and re-arranged to a future date. Item 2 Page 9 of 292
Page 10
Page 10 of 292
Page 11
EMPLOYEE APPEALS SUB – 13 AUGUST 2025 1 Tuesday, 13 August 2025 at 2pm. A Meeting of the EMPLOYEE APPEALS SUB-COMMITTEE PRESENT Councillor Reddin, Convener, Councillor B McCulloch, Vice-Convener, Councillors Ballinger, Beveridge, Boyd, Cairns, Currie, Hume, Leckie, Masterton and Roarty. CHAIR Councillor Reddin (Convener) presided. IN ATTENDANCE Chief Officer (Finance & Technology), Employment and Policy Manager and Democratic Co-Ordinator. ALSO IN ATTENDANCE Appellant 2025/02. APOLOGIES Councillors Jones, Thomas and Woods. DECLARATIONS OF INTEREST IN TERMS OF THE ETHICAL STANDARDS IN PUBLIC LIFE ETC. (SCOTLAND) ACT 2000 1. There were no declarations of interest. It was agreed in terms of Section 50A(4) of the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973, that the public be excluded from the meeting for the following item on the grounds that the business involved the likely disclosure of exempt information as defined in paragraph 1 of Part 1 of Schedule 7A of the Act. PROCEDURE GUIDE 2. There was submitted the procedures for conduct of the appeal hearing. Decided: that the procedures for conduct of the Appeal Hearing be noted. FINANCE AND TECHNOLOGY - APPEAL AGAINST DISMISSAL – 2025/02 3. There was submitted intimation of an appeal against dismissal by Appellant 2025/02, together with a report by the Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) in explanation of the circumstances leading to the dismissal. The Sub Committee then heard representations and submissions from the Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) and a relevant officer from the Service and representations and submissions from Appellant 2025/02. The Convener explained that deliberations could take some time and each party was given the opportunity to either wait to be recalled by the Sub-Committee or for the Clerk to advise the decision by phone. The Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) requested to be recalled to the meeting. Item 3 Page 11 of 292
Page 12
EMPLOYEE APPEALS SUB – 13 AUGUST 2025 2 Appellant 2025/2 requested that they receive a phone call advising them of the decision of the Sub- Committee. Thereafter, both parties withdrew from the meeting. The Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) was the readmitted to the meeting. Decided: that the grounds of the appeal had not been substantiated and the appeal not be upheld. Page 12 of 292
Page 13
North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref FW/LS Date 10/09/25 Brighter Futures programme of work – NL Academies From Fiona Whittaker, Chief Officer (People Resources) E-mail WhittakerF@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07973 728628 Executive Summary The Brighter Futures Programme of Work (PoW) is a wide-ranging series of projects that aims to improve educational attainment, job opportunities, entrepreneurship, and volunteering. It is about preparing young people and the wider community for the future through specialised education, voluntary work and enterprise and making sure there are clear pathways for them to get jobs in industries of the future. NL Academies forms a key part of Brighter Futures by working closely with businesses and partners in thriving industry sectors such as the built environment, health and social care and digital to create innovative but viable pathways to employment, boosting jobs and economic growth. NL Academies are also responsible for leading the creation and development of the council’s Social Value Framework to enhance the outcomes from procurement activity. This report describes various ongoing activity under the 4 deliverables set for NL Academies. This includes externally funded project work, like summer placements, skills training for young people giving them job ready skills to access growth industries and opportunities for adults in North Lanarkshire to enter training and finish with a well-paid job in a growing industry. It also describes wider strategic activity around creating partnerships with employers in industry through the formation and progress in the Built Environment Sector Board and Care Academy Steering Group and an enhanced approach to realising social value across the council’s procurement activity. The report recognises the key drive to enhance attraction and equalities to key industry sectors and also acknowledges the next steps to be taken to further progress the work of NL Academies. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance and Resources committee: (1) Endorse and approve the contents of this report, the progress made and next steps. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Item 4 Page 13 of 292
Page 14
1. Background 1.1 The Programme of Work (PoW) 2023-2028 as approved at Policy and Strategy Committee in March 2023, is key to achieving the shared ambition as set out in The Plan for North Lanarkshire. Within the Brighter Futures PoW, a Delivery Framework is in place to ensure alignment and interconnectedness towards achieving the aims of Brighter Futures and a high-level list of deliverables against each programme have been identified detailing the roadmap to delivering the scale and impact required to deliver the vision of inclusive growth and prosperity for all. 1.2 The Brighter Futures strategic aims centre around: • Creating opportunities for young people and the wider community and connecting them to employment. • Maximising growth and meeting the needs of North Lanarkshire’s employers and key sectors. • Fully leveraging all resources and seeking opportunity to grow resources and funding. • Providing alternative pathways for residents to contribute and support North Lanarkshire’s economy and communities. • Supporting the recovery of the North Lanarkshire labour market. 1.3 Of the five themes of the Brighter Futures PoW, this report focuses on NL Academies, however, there are clear links and interdependencies with the other themes: Curricular Pathways, Employability and Community Learning and Development, Volunteering and Entrepreneurship. 1.4 NL Academies drives collaborative efforts between industry, the council and various partners to develop a skilled workforce to meet the needs of key industry sectors which are currently the built environment, health and social care and digital. This is achieved through a shared ambition, strong and mutually beneficial relationships, and a clear commitment to innovation and excellence, local community wealth building and a focus on sustained and circular economic growth. 1.5 NL Academies plays a key role in shaping the work, future direction, and growth of these key industries through: • defining a clear picture of key industry workforce gaps at a local level. • commissioning relevant employment and training activities to address gaps. • agreeing existing and new pathway priorities. • developing new and innovative solutions and partnerships. • driving industry collaboration and engagement, and • brokering joint approaches to funding. 2. Report 2.1 This report provides an update on the progress of the 4 deliverables of the NL Academies theme under the Brighter Futures PoW. The deliverables are detailed in table 1: Ambition statement (23) Build a workforce for the future capable of delivering on our priorities and shared ambition Programme of Work Brighter Futures Page 14 of 292
Page 15
Table 1 – NL Academies deliverables: Deliverable 1 Ensure increased skilled workforce employed in roles which fit industry needs and contribute to greater economic outputs. Expand pathways and progression routes within key sectors to connect to employment. Deliverable 2 Develop employer engagement within each model to ensure full participation and increased work opportunities. Deliverable 3 Enhance attraction and advance equalities across key industry sectors. Deliverable 4 Maximise opportunities to enhance social value through the council’s procurement activity 2.2 The next sections of this report describe the progress under each deliverable. Deliverable 1 2.3 Ensure increased skilled workforce employed in roles which fit industry needs and contribute to greater economic outputs. Expand pathways and progression routes within key sectors to connect to employment. 2.4 There are a number of activities under this deliverable with the progress of 3 of which demonstrated in table 2, these are: • Continue to deliver targeted UKSPF projects towards supporting key industries with skills and workforce gaps, • Enhance summer placement programme by expanding into other Health and Social Care and Digital sectors • Enhance pathway opportunities between existing funded vocational qualifications and workforce demand in key sectors. 2.5 The NL Academies team work closely with businesses and partners in industry sectors within the built environment, health and social care and digital to create innovative but viable pathways to employment, boosting jobs and economic growth. This involves leading on projects such as external summer placements, skills training for young people giving them job ready skills to access growth industries, and opportunities for adults to enter training and finish with a well-paid job in a growing industry. Table 2 provides details of projects delivered by NL Academies, funded via UK Shared Prosperity Funding (UKSPF) or via social value which demonstrate activity under deliverable 1: Table 2 – NL Academies projects and residents supported: Built Environment Academy Project Description No. of NL residents supported SP Energy Networks – Adult Craft Apprenticeships – Year 1 and 2 SP Energy Networks – Funding provided to SP Energy Networks (SPEN) and their Supply Chain Partners to permanently employ up to 15 North Lanarkshire residents, to train them via their Adult Craft Apprenticeship programme and continue their employment beyond completion of the training into LV Cable Jointer roles with salary prospects circa £35k/40k pa. 11 3 Page 15 of 292
Page 16
Overhead Line Inspectors Funding provided to SPEN to permanently employ three North Lanarkshire residents, into Overhead Line Inspector roles and to train them accordingly. BE-ST – Low Carbon Learning Young learners undertaking Foundation Apprenticeships, or who are interested in the Built Environment - provision of workshops suitable for aspiring young people with an interest in the sector. The sessions cover retrofit, Passivhaus, digital construction and modern methods of construction. Teacher focussed event delivering similar content to above. 162 11 Future In Construction This programme is designed to support anyone aged 16+ from North Lanarkshire to take their first steps into Construction and gain real work experience. 41 BE-ST Next Gen Summit S1 pupils participated in this hands-on experience in sustainable design, aiming to inspire the next generation toward careers in a net-zero carbon built environment. The event featured an Eco School Project by education programme creators ‘Class of Your Own’ integrating the Design, Engineer, Construct curriculum with a focus on sustainability. Pupils worked in teams, taking on real-world roles such as surveyor, director, and architect to design environmentally friendly, energy-efficient school buildings. 172 Build Your Future Aimed at S2 and S3 pupils Build Your Future provides young people with the insight, knowledge and skills they need to develop their awareness and experience of Construction and the Built Environment. Through a mixture of skills masterclasses and re-purposing design challenges, young people are given the opportunity to explore place making and get hands on with skills demonstrations across a variety of trades. 140 Digital Academy Project Description No. of NL residents supported Digital Youth Academy - Cohort 1 and 2 ASN Programme in conjunction with No Limits This programme provided 2 bootcamps over a 4-week period for 16–24- year-olds. The bootcamps completed were “Business” and “Digital Skills” for young people with no or basic IT skills where they learned problem solving, PC passport, office systems user, introduction to digital marketing, web skills, creative content skills and CV building and preparing for interviews. Candidates were supported to find apprenticeship opportunities following completed of the bootcamps. A specific programme was delivered to extend the NLC/QA Digital Youth Academy to a group of young people with additional support needs who were participating in the council’s No Limits programme via the Supported Employment team. The programme was specifically tailored to the digital needs of the participants in a fun and creative learning environment and provided opportunities in both digital and life skills. 47 11 Digital Labs Flexible, community-based, ‘Digital Labs’ have been set up by the libraries and CLD teams across North Lanarkshire to provide local adults aged 16+ with the relevant skills, confidence, and motivation to get online. Funded to date by the NL Digital Academy, support is given to those who currently have no digital device of their own as well as those who need support with an existing device. Learners are being supported to drop-in to their local ‘Lab’ to learn how to use tablets, laptops, and smartphones through both Public Access Computing (PAC) and ‘bring your own device’ (BYOD) approaches. As Digital Labs does not require a fixed suite of computers, staff are able to respond quickly to local and individual demands. 829 Page 16 of 292
Page 17
Care Academy Project Description No. of NL residents supported Trainee Social Worker Programme The programme offers existing staff the opportunity to study with the Open University to gain a BA (Hons) in Social Work whilst continuing to work for the council in several rotational placements giving them access to a wide range of meaningful, challenging and supportive situations. This programme is currently running with 9 staff who are training to become fully qualified Social Workers. 8 Equalities Recruitment Identification of target groups via the NLC Resettlement team and Cllr Khan (Equalities champion) – modified recruitment process leading to recruitment of 33 employees from Ukrainian / Congolese backgrounds. 33 Cross cutting activity Project Description No. of NL residents supported Summer Placement Programme (external placements) This programme provides young people of North Lanarkshire the opportunity to learn new skills, develop existing skills and earn money whilst gaining vital work experience during school summer holidays. Students from local high schools, priority groups and New College Lanarkshire are given the opportunity to gain hands-on experience working across a range of employment sectors. Placements in 2024 spanned key industries including the Built Environment, Health & Social Care and Digital Technology, with students working with external construction companies and NHS Lanarkshire. Students who embark on built environment placements, are supported to gain a Green Labourer CSCS Card and towards the end of placement all students attend a “My Skills My Future” workshop. In 2025, students are working towards an employability certificate supported by colleagues in CLD. To acknowledge the success of the programme and achievements of the students, a celebration event is held. In 2024, over 300 people were in attendance including students, their managers, parents/guardians and external contractors and businesses. In 2025, 53 external placements are taking place across various sectors (built environment, digital, automotive, political, nursing, podiatry, occupational therapy, NHS Admin and care) 2024 – 23 2025 - 53 Total residents supported via NL Academies funded programmes 1544 2.6 The final activity underway in deliverable 1 is to develop and implement the Built Environment Academy on a phased basis. As previously reported to committee, the council commissioned a Built Environment Sector Board (BESB) which is led by industry and exists to drive collaborative efforts between industry, the council and relevant partners to support skills development and workforce demands to meet the evolving needs of the sector. The BESB is progressing 3 interconnected workstreams; North Lanarkshire built environment ecosystem research, creation of a Youth Engagement Strategy and development and implementation of the North Lanarkshire Built Environment Academy. 2.7 To fully understand the future demand and supply of built environment skills in the area, research is being commissioned to create the evidence based to support to work of the BESB. The research will consider the supply and demand for construction skills Page 17 of 292
Page 18
leading to potential mismatches by undertaking a series of activities and stakeholder sessions to; assess the construction labour demand within North Lanarkshire, identify the occupations at potential risk of mismatches based on the workforce in North Lanarkshire and beyond and carry out an analysis of the structure of the construction industry in the area. The research commenced on 1 July 2025 and is expected to complete by end September 2025 whereby the analysis will be reviewed and specific activities directed towards supporting the industry with mismatches. 2.8 The creation of a Youth Engagement Strategy for the built environment sector is key to ensure enhanced engagement with young people to connect them to the workforce and employment opportunities the sector can provide both now and in the future. The strategy is expected to be completed by the first quarter of 2026. The aims and objectives of the strategy are highlighted in table 3: Table 3 – Built Environment Youth Engagement Strategy aims and objectives: Youth Engagement Strategy aims and objectives Set out the direction and actions required to engage, attract and recruit young people to careers in the built environment. Ensure the strategy aligns with ongoing activity, such as existing education provision, funded projects and the Summer Placement programme, and to create further opportunities to engage this group and enhance equalities. Ensure alignment with wider programmes taking place nationally via industry bodies and / or other national programmes. Highlight, promote and champion entrepreneurship opportunities within the sector. 2.9 The creation of the Built Environment Academy has the potential to bring various benefits to supporting the region, residents and industry as detailed in figure 1: Figure 1 – potential benefits of a North Lanarkshire Built Environment Academy: 2.10 A full business case for the Academy is expected to be completed by the end of 2025 Page 18 of 292
Page 19
and will consider options around a physical location, funding sources and will include proposals for phased implementation, incorporating apprenticeship delivery and upskilling for the industry. Deliverable 2 2.11 Develop employer engagement within each model to ensure full participation and increased work opportunities. 2.12 Within deliverable 2, activity is focused on engaging employers to ensure increased work opportunities by continuing to support the industry led sector boards within the built environment and health and social care. Enhancing digital employer engagement, creating partnerships and understanding the workforce is key towards developing the Digital Academy. Sector boards 2.13 The Built Environment Sector Board is commissioned by the council and led by a Chairperson from industry with the update on progress described at sections 2.6 to 2.10 of this report. 2.14 Similar activity is also underway in the Pan-Lanarkshire Care Academy where 5 workstreams exist to progress towards the aims of the Care Academy and respond to opportunities arising from workforce challenges (and future demand) which exist within the Health and Social Care Partnerships across Lanarkshire. The partnership formalises working relationships between the councils, NHS Lanarkshire and partners such that there is a process in place for identifying, defining, and progressing potential opportunities for engagement through collaboration. Figure 2 highlights the link between the Care Academy aims, the supporting workstreams and their purpose. It should be noted that workstreams 4 and 5 have recently commenced and are in the process of developing specific actions linked to their purpose. Figure 2 – Care Academy aims and workstreams: Page 19 of 292
Page 20
2.15 The range of programmes and activity within workstreams 1, 2 and 3 is highlighted in figure 3: Figure 3 – Care Academy activity for workstreams 1,2 and 3 2.16 Each workstream is refreshing activities required to be progressed across the short, medium and long term to ensure activity is consistent and reflective of changing workforce demands and the economic profile of the area. Deliverable 3 2.17 Enhance attraction and advance equalities across key industry sectors. 2.18 To ensure a future workforce within key industry sectors in North Lanarkshire, it is essential to attract people to these industries and enhance equality of access to skills and jobs. In addition to the funded projects detailed in table 2 of this report, attraction activities for young people and adults into Health and Social Care is progressing via the Care Academy workstreams 2 and 3 detailed in figure 2. Progress has also been made in implementing and scaling collaborative apprenticeships and other vocational pathways with NHS Lanarkshire and the Lanarkshire HSCP's. 2.19 Within NLC and in partnership with NHSL, a collaborative Modern Apprenticeship has been created and implemented. The Integrated Health and Social Care Modern Apprenticeship will provide apprentices with diverse exposure to both healthcare and social care environments to foster a more holistic skills set and encouraging collaboration between partners. The apprentices will work in the Integrated Rehab Team with occupational therapy across NLC and NHSL across a 2-year programme, gaining an SCQF (Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework) level 6 in year one and SCQF level 7 in year 2, with the first 2 Modern Apprentices commencing in these posts in August 2025. These posts are fully aligned towards hard to fill roles and through a “grow your own” approach, pathways are in place on completion of the apprenticeship to continue with education and progress into a job. Page 20 of 292
Page 21
2.20 Within the built environment the work to create and implement the Youth Engagement Strategy as described at section 2.8 of this report is fundamental to aligning ongoing activities towards the outcomes of the research around skills and workforce gaps in the industry. 2.21 Planned for 2025/26 under this deliverable is to continue to enhance equalities and enable UKSPF funded projects designed to support veterans transitioning into civilian employment and working with colleagues in Restorative Justice to focus on rehabilitation, skills development and reintegration into work through meaningful employment in the built environment sector. Deliverable 4 2.22 Maximise opportunities to enhance social value though the council’s procurement activity 2.23 As previously reported to committee in 2024, a key element to continuing the work of NL Academies is developing a model which supports longer term sustainable funding. Deliverable 4 picks up the need for the council to enhance social value through procurement activity, for programmes like NL Academies and wider council priorities linked to The Plan for North Lanarkshire. 2.24 Whilst it is recognised the council is committed to maximising social value, there is an opportunity to gain further value from the businesses we engage with and from the contracts we procure. The council’s capital investment programme along with other larger procurements provide significant opportunities to maximise the benefits delivered via social value, particularly within the Built Environment Sector. 2.25 The council’s Social Value Manager is now in post and sits alongside the NL Academies team with a specific focus on creating an effective Social Value Framework and operating model (people and technology) to maximise and fully leverage our outcomes. The proposal to base this post within the NL Academies team is due to the intrinsic link from social value to the NL Academies model and the wider Brighter Futures PoW and the need to build sustainable programmes to create opportunities with scale and impact, due to the instable funding environment which exists within opportunities around apprenticeships, pathways development and skills training. 2.26 The creation and implementation of the Framework will assist in driving consistency of approach in managing and monitoring activities. It will also encourage services to effectively utilise procurement to achieve wider financial and non-financial outcomes when awarding contracts, it will strengthen and enhance opportunities in delivering benefit to our communities and it will describe how we will embed social value principals into the commissioning, procurement, and contract management practices. The framework will also take into account reporting measures to ensure enhanced visibility of the social value outcomes in a joined up and consistent way. 2.27 The Social Value Framework is current being drafted and is planned to be presented to a future committee in cycle 4 of 2025. Summary and next steps 2.28 Considerable progress has been made across the 4 main deliverables for NL Academies. Various projects have been developed and implemented over the past Page 21 of 292
Page 22
12 months ensuring a reach across a wide range of groups within North Lanarkshire. The teams work to engage employers within key industry sectors has been crucial and will remain a key area of focus to ensure the employers voice is at the core of understanding workforce challenges and considering solutions. 2.29 The work to enhance the council’s approach to social value is key to feed the NL Academies model by augmenting sustainable programmes and creating opportunities with the required scale and impact. This will contribute towards the ability for NL Academies to continue to deliver industry specific initiatives making the most of opportunities around apprenticeships, pathways development and skills training. 2.30 Some key next steps exist within the deliverables for NL Academies, these are to create the business case and begin implementing the North Lanarkshire Built Environment Academy. Aligned to this is the research into skills and workforce demand within the industry and progressing the Youth Engagement Strategy to ensure awareness and attraction to the range of occupations which exist within the sector. Continuing to enhance attraction to the Health and Social Care sectors and working in partnership across the Pan-Lanarkshire Care Academy is also vital to supporting the skills and workforce needs of the sector. Within the digital sector, progress has been made in engaging and upskilling residents and to further progress this, enhancing digital employer engagement and creating partnerships within the sector is a priority for 2025 and 2026. 2.31 Further updates to committee will be provided on an annual basis in line with the council’s reporting framework. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Success in NL Academies will be measured via the UKSPF reporting on the outputs and outcomes aligned to the applicable intervention and via the Brighter Futures Delivery Framework, which links to the council’s Strategic Performance Framework. Performance reporting for Brighter Futures is due to commence in October 2025 to ensure regular monitoring and measurement of success within NL Academies and the wider Brighter Futures programme of work. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 None. Fiona Whittaker Chief Officer (People Resources) Page 22 of 292
Page 23
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 ☐ Page 23 of 292
Page 24
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 24 of 292
Page 25
North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref RB/MH Date 10/09/25 Local Public Holidays for Factories and Businesses 2026 From Rachel Blair, Chief Officer (Legal and Democratic) E-mail BlairR@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07958 166105 1. Background 1.1 North Lanarkshire Council is required to determine annually the dates of local public holidays applicable to factories and businesses operating within its area. These designations ensure clarity for employers and employees and support consistency in business and service planning. 1.2 Local public holidays are set by individual local authorities and therefore may differ between neighbouring council areas. The proposed dates have been selected to align with established local practice and recognised regional observances 2. Report 2.1 It is proposed that the following dates be designated as local public holidays for factories and businesses within North Lanarkshire during 2026: 2.1.1 Thursday 1 and Friday 2 January 2026; Executive Summary This report seeks approval for the proposed schedule of local public holidays for factories and businesses within North Lanarkshire for the 2026 calendar year. Recommendation It is recommended that the Finance and Resources Committee: (1) Approve the proposed local public holiday dates for factories and businesses in North Lanarkshire for 2026, as detailed in Section 2 of this report. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve economic opportunities and outcomes 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 5 Page 25 of 292
Page 26
2.1.2 Friday 3 and Monday 6 April 20226; 2.1.3 Monday 20 July 2026 (Glasgow Fair Monday); 2.1.4 Monday 28 September 2026; and 2.1.5 Friday 25 and Monday 28 December 2026. 2.2 The proposed dates have been selected to: • Align with traditional holiday periods observed, including New Year, Easter and Christmas; • Provide consistency for businesses and employees, supporting workforce planning and operational continuity; • Avoid unnecessary disruption by coordinating with existing regional and national holiday patterns, ensuring minimal impact on cross-boundary travel and trade; and • Maintain continuity with previous years’ arrangements, providing predictability for employers and employees in scheduling annual leave and production cycles. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Approval of this report will provide early confirmation of the public holiday schedule, enabling factories, businesses and employees to plan operational and staffing arrangements for the 2026 calendar year. 4. Supporting documentation N/A. Rachel Blair Chief Officer (Legal and Democratic) Page 26 of 292
Page 27
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 determination of local public holidays is carried out under the Council’s statutory powers, and approval of the proposed dates ensures compliance with relevant legal obligations while providing clarity for businesses and employees regarding recognised non-working days. 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 27 of 292
Page 28
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 28 of 292
Page 29
North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref RB/CJ Date 10/09/25 North Lanarkshire Council Registration Service: 2023 Performance Review and Operating Model From Rachel Blair, Chief Officer (Legal and Democratic) E-mail BlairR@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07958 166105 Executive Summary This report provides an overview of the performance of North Lanarkshire Council’s Registration Service during 2023, together with an update on the ongoing review of operational arrangements and service delivery model. The Registration Service continues to manage high levels of demand, delivering statutory functions relating to births, deaths and marriages, as well as civil ceremonies and citizenship services, on behalf of the Registrar General for Scotland. Significant transformation of service delivery has taken place since the COVID-19 pandemic, including the introduction and formalisation of remote registration methods under the Coronavirus (Recovery and Reform) (Scotland) Act 2022. The review of Registration Services has identified opportunities to centralise staffing at the Dalziel Building, Motherwell, while continuing to provide face-to-face appointments in the three key locality areas of Cumbernauld, Airdrie and Coatbridge to maintain community accessibility. This approach supports the Council’s wider Leadership and Operating Model and aligns with the strategic direction set out in the Council’s Programme of Work and office rationalisation commitments approved by the Policy and Resources Committee in 2019. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance and Resources Committee acknowledges: (1) The performance of North Lanarkshire Councils Registration Service during 2023; (2) The analysis of registration trends, in particular the decline in face-to-face appointments and growth in remote registrations from 2022 to 2024; (3) The continued provision of a blended operating model enabling residents to access registration services either remotely or in person; (4) The outcome of the ongoing review which has resulted in phased staff relocations within Airdrie and Motherwell; (5) The centralisation of the Registration Service, with staff relocating to the Dalziel Building, Motherwell, while retaining locality-based face-to-face appointments; Item 6 Page 29 of 292
Page 30
1. Background 1.1 North Lanarkshire Council’s Registration Service is part of Legal and Democratic and undertakes statutory functions on behalf of the Registrar General for Scotland, including the registration of births, deaths and marriages. In addition, the Service conducts civil ceremonies (marriages, civil partnerships) and citizenship ceremonies. 1.2 The Registration Service employs 12 staff (10.5FTE), designated as static workers, with eight staff holding the nationally recognised Certificate of Proficiency in the Law and Practice of Registration. These staff ensure compliance with all statutory obligations and best practice guidance issued by the National Records of Scotland (NRS). 1.3 The Registration Service currently operates from three primary offices: Airdrie, Cumbernauld, and Motherwell. In line with the Council’s office rationalisation policy approved in 2019, all registration staff have now been centralised at the Dalziel Building in Motherwell. 1.4 Importantly, this centralisation does not reduce accessibility for residents. Face-to-face appointments continue to be delivered at both Airdrie and Cumbernauld offices, supported by a managed appointment system to ensure efficient use of resources while maintaining local provision. 1.5 Looking forward, a review will be undertaken to explore additional opportunities for in- person appointments across other locality venues, fully aligned with the Council’s Leadership and Operating Model. This will ensure the service remains flexible, responsive to community needs, and strategically positioned within the wider transformation agenda. 2. Report 2.1 Performance is routinely monitored through internal performance management frameworks and independently assessed annually by District Examiners from NRS. The most recent audit, summarised at Appendix 1, demonstrates that the Registration Service continues to perform at a consistently high level, achieving accuracy rates in excess of 97% across all three districts (North, Central, and South). 2.2 In 2023, a total of 8,100 life events were registered, comprising 3,033 births, 4,399 deaths, and 650 marriages, alongside civil partnerships and stillbirth registrations. Error rates remained low, with an overall 2.02% error rate across all registrations. The South district recorded the highest volume of events (3,433) and also achieved the lowest (6) That this is consistent with the Council’s Leadership and Operating Model and the Programme of Work for office rationalisation; and (7) That further work will be undertaken to ensure full adoption of the Leadership and Operating Model within registration services as the review progresses. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (20) Improve the involvement of communities in the decisions, and development of services and supports, that affect them Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Page 30 of 292
Page 31
error rate (1.63%), highlighting both the scale and quality of work being delivered within that area. 2.3 While the data confirms consistently strong performance, it also reflects variations in demand across localities, with Central and South handling notably higher volumes of deaths and marriages compared to North. These trends are informing workforce deployment and the design of the blended delivery model, ensuring that resources are aligned to patterns of demand while maintaining service quality across all localities. 2.4 The resilience and professionalism of the registration staff are particularly noteworthy, given the backdrop of significant resource pressures, service transformation and the transition to remote and blended operating models. The ability to sustain such accuracy levels through this period of change reinforces confidence in the robustness of service delivery and the effectiveness of ongoing quality assurance processes. 2.5 Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, all registration activity was conducted face-to-face, with physical attendance required to comply with statutory processes. The Coronavirus (Scotland) Act 2020 introduced emergency measures allowing remote registration (primarily by telephone) and digital submission of statutory documents. These changes: 2.5.1 Enabled continuity of service during public health restrictions; and 2.5.2 Demonstrated significant benefits in terms of accessibility, convenience and efficiency for residents. 2.6 Analysis of the Registration Service’s operational data from 2022 to 2024 at Appendix 2 demonstrates a significant and sustained shift from traditional in-person appointments toward remote registrations across all life events (births, deaths, and marriages). This reflects both customer preference and legislative changes that permanently embedded remote registration following the COVID-19 pandemic. Key observations are as follows. 2.7 Birth Registrations: 2.7.1 In 2022, North Lanarkshire North recorded 486 in-person births compared to 102 remote. By 2024, this trend had reversed, with 214 remote births compared to only 20 in-person. 2.7.2 Central and South districts display similar patterns: Central rising from 87 remote births (2022) to 1,187 (2024); South rising from 173 remote births (2022) to 1,311 (2024). 2.7.3 Across all districts, remote registrations now account for the overwhelming majority of birth registrations, indicating a strong shift in customer behaviour. 2.8 Death Registrations: 2.8.1 Death registration was already largely remote by 2022, and this trend has strengthened: for example, North moved from 969 remote registrations in 2022 to 187 in 2024, and Central rose from 1,648 remote in 2022 to 2,297 in 2024. 2.8.2 Remote methods are now the default approach for death registrations, reflecting both customer convenience and operational efficiency. 2.9 Marriage Registrations: Page 31 of 292
Page 32
2.9.1 Marriage registrations have historically remained in-person, given the ceremonial and legal requirements. However, the associated administrative elements (e.g., notices of marriage) have increasingly shifted toward remote processes, with in-person appointments declining steadily (e.g., North Lanarkshire North dropped from 375 in- person marriages in 2022 to 186 in 2024). 2.10 Analysis of the data from 2022 to 2024 highlights a clear shift in customer behaviour and service delivery methods. In-person registrations have declined sharply across all event types and localities, falling from several hundred per district in 2022 to double- digit or low triple-digit figures by 2024. In contrast, remote registrations have grown significantly, in some cases increasing more than tenfold, for example, remote birth registrations in the Central district rose from 87 in 2022 to 1,187 in 2024. This trend strongly supports the continuation of a blended operating model, with remote registration positioned as the default method, while ensuring that face-to-face appointments remain available for complex cases or where customers have specific needs or preferences. 2.11 In line with the Council’s approved Leadership and Operating Model, a comprehensive review of Registration Services commenced in 2022. This review has now been implemented in full and has resulted in a phased relocation of staff to ensure greater efficiency and resilience: 2.11.1 Staff previously based in Cumbernauld were amalgamated with the Airdrie Area Registration Office team to consolidate resources and enhance service consistency; and 2.11.2 Following this, the combined team from Airdrie was relocated to the Dalziel Building, Motherwell, establishing a single operational base for all registration staff. 2.12 This consolidation has delivered improved supervision, streamlined processes, and greater operational flexibility, while ensuring that local service accessibility is maintained. 2.13 Although all staff are now based in Motherwell, the three existing registration districts, Cumbernauld, Airdrie, and Motherwell, remain in place and residents in each area continue to have access to face-to-face appointments. These are delivered via a managed appointment system, allowing the service to respond flexibly to customer need while prioritising efficiency. This approach ensures that residents across North Lanarkshire retain convenient local access to registration services, despite the centralisation of staff. 2.14 The revised structure demonstrates full alignment with the Council’s Leadership and Operating Model by: 2.14.1 Centralising specialist expertise in Motherwell, ensuring consistent professional standards; 2.14.2 Retaining localised service delivery points through continued provision of in-person appointments across three districts; 2.14.3 Enhancing resilience and flexibility by enabling staff to be deployed as required across multiple locations; and 2.14.4 Supporting further digital transformation and process modernisation, in lone with national legislative and technological developments. Page 32 of 292
Page 33
2.15 Further work will be undertaken during the next phase of the review to ensure full integration of the Leadership and Operating Model principles within the Registration Service, including consideration of whether additional locality appointment venues may be identified to further enhance accessibility. 3. Measures of success 3.1 The successful centralisation of the Registration Service, combined with the blended delivery model, will be evaluated against several key outcomes. Operational efficiency is expected to be demonstrated through the removal of duplication, more effective deployment of resources, and the achievement of ongoing cost savings. Service accessibility will be measured by the continued availability of local face-to-face appointments in Cumbernauld, Airdrie and Coatbridge, ensuring that residents across North Lanarkshire can still access services in their localities. 3.2 Performance outcomes will continue to be assessed through internal monitoring and annual external audits, with a commitment to maintaining accuracy rates at or above 96% in line with National Records of Scotland standards. Customer satisfaction will also remain a priority, with feedback gathered to gauge ease of access to both remote and in-person registration services. Finally, success will be judged on the extent to which the new arrangements fully embed the principles of the Council’s Leadership and Operating Model and contribute to the wider office rationalisation objectives established by the Council. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 - Registration Service Performance 2023. 4.2 Appendix 2 - Registration Service Demand and Delivery Trends (2022–2024). Rachel Blair Chief Officer (Legal and Democratic) Page 33 of 292
Page 34
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 proposals outlined in this report carry no adverse legal implications. The Registration Service will continue to operate fully in compliance with statutory duties under the Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Scotland) Act 1965 and associated legislation, with oversight from the Registrar General for Scotland. Centralisation of staff does not alter the Council’s legal responsibilities for service provision and statutory standards of accuracy and accessibility will continue to be met. 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 34 of 292
Page 35
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 35 of 292
Page 36
Appendix 1 Registration Service Performance 2023 District Name Births Deaths Religious Marriages Civil Marriages Total Marriages Civil Partnerships Stillbirths Total Events No. of Entries with Errors % of Entries without Corrections % Error Rate North Lanarkshire, North 711 920 139 49 188 5 2 1,826 36 98.03% 1.97% North Lanarkshire, Central 862 1,821 87 69 156 1 1 2,841 72 97.47% 2.53% North Lanarkshire, South 1,460 1,685 191 115 306 2 7 3,433 56 98.73% 1.63% Total 3,033 4,399 147 233 650 8 10 8,100 164 97.98% 2.02% Page 36 of 292
Page 37
Appendix 2 Registration Service Demand and Delivery Trends (2022 – 2024) 2022 District Name Births Deaths Marriages In-Person Remote In-Person Remote In-Person Remote North Lanarkshire North 486 102 - 969 375 - North Lanarkshire Central 908 87 - 1,648 289 - North Lanarkshire South 1,210 173 - 1,802 857 - 2023 District Name Births Deaths Marriages In-Person Remote In-Person Remote In-Person Remote North Lanarkshire North 223 488 - 920 410 - North Lanarkshire Central 330 532 - 1,821 349 - North Lanarkshire South 934 526 - 1,658 675 - 2024 District Name Births Deaths Marriages In-Person Remote In-Person Remote In-Person Remote North Lanarkshire North 20 214 - 187 186 - North Lanarkshire Central 128 1,187 - 2,297 505 - North Lanarkshire South 216 1,311 - 1,807 643 - Page 37 of 292
Page 38
Page 38 of 292
Page 39
North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref NLP/IM/JMcK Date 09/09/25 North Lanarkshire Properties LLP – Performance Indicators: 1 October 2024 to 31 March 2025, Financial Performance as at 3rd January 2025 and Action Plan Update From James McKinstry, Chief Officer (Assets and Procurement) E-mail MartinI@northlan.gov.uk Telephone Ian Martin Tel: 07966 397637 Executive Summary This report provides details of North Lanarkshire Properties LLP’s (NLP LLP) performance from 1 October 2024 to 31 March 2025 (Q3&Q4) and provides an update on significant events and service delivery highlights during the reporting period. The report also provides details of the financial performance for the period from 1st April 2024 to 3rd January 2025. This report also provides details of North Lanarkshire Properties LLP’s (NLP) action plan in response to the opportunities and development areas identified in the Arm’s Length External Organisations (ALEO) Review 2024, approved by the Policy and Strategy Committee on 13 March 2025. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance and Resources Committee: (1) Acknowledges NLP LLP’s operational performance against its 2024/25 targets for the period 1 October 2024 to 31 March 2025; (2) Acknowledges NLP LLP’s financial performance during the period from 1 April 2024 to 3 January 2025. (3) Acknowledges the Service delivery highlights detailed within the report. (4) Acknowledges the NLP action plan to address the opportunities and development areas detailed within the Arm’s Length External Organisations (ALEO) Review 2024. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve economic opportunities and outcomes Ambition statement (3) Maximise the use of our marketable land and assets through improved development in business and industrial infrastructure Programme of Work Transforming Places Item 7 Page 39 of 292
Page 40
1. Background 1.1 NLP LLP is a limited liability partnership established in 2013 between the Council and its wholly owned company, North Lanarkshire Property Investments Ltd. It undertakes the marketing, leasing and management of the Council’s commercial property portfolio (shop units, office accommodation, business centres, industrial yards and storage units) and, on behalf of the Council, manages legacy properties which remain in the Council’s investment property portfolio. It also delivers services in relation to externally owned properties that the Council leases for its own operational use and provides general advice on lease transactions. 1.2 Governance, strategic direction and oversight of the limited liability partnership is provided by the Management Committee which comprises four elected members and one senior Council officer appointed by the Council and one member appointed by the limited company, NL Property Investments Ltd. Members to the Board of Directors of the limited company, NL Property Investments Ltd, are also appointed by the Council with five elected members and one senior officer appointed. The Management Committee meets quarterly and is responsible for ensuring NLP LLP’s services are delivered in accordance with the approved Service Level Agreement and company objectives. 1.3 The Management Committee undertook a number of measures to implement recommendations from the ALEO review completed in 2019, most significantly, the establishment restructure and enhancement proposals approved in February 2019. 1.4 NLP LLP has been comprehensively reviewed in 2019 and 2024 with the latest review being reported to the Policy and Strategy Committee on 13 March 2025 where it was agreed that no change to the external delivery arrangements are feasible at this time. It is recognised that the outcome may have been different if the ‘buy out’ option of the existing loan had been assessed as feasible. The review did identify some opportunities and areas for future development and the recommendations in respect of NLP LLP are summarised below: • Prepare a detailed action plan by 30th June 2025 to address the opportunities for future development. • Re-examine the review findings following the drafting of the Council’s 2025/26 Annual Accounts. • Work with Council officers to identify properties which create scope to facilitate transformational change within town centres and communities. 1.5 Following consideration of the ALEO review report the Policy and Strategy Committee also decided that the Council will now present key financial performance information as part of the regular revenue budget monitoring reporting through Finance and Resources Committee on a quarterly basis. This will commence from Cycle 3 in 2025 and the start of formal reporting of the 2025/26 financial position for the Council. 1.6 In addition to contractual performance monitoring by this committee, the Audit and Scrutiny Panel is responsible for ensuring the effectiveness of each entity’s governance arrangements, including financial governance. The Policy and Strategy Committee retains responsibility for considering the outputs from reviews by the Council into its arm’s length delivery arrangements, including recommendations in relation to Best Value and potential future delivery options. Page 40 of 292
Page 41
2. Report Performance Indicators 2.1 Responsibility for oversight of service delivery by arm’s length bodies rests with the relevant service committee. The functions delivered by NLP LLP on behalf of the council fall within the Terms of Reference of this committee and a six-monthly performance report is submitted in line with the Strategic Performance Framework considered by members in November 2019. The report will confirm where NLP LLP is fulfilling its contractual obligations and meeting the council’s service delivery expectations, as well as providing information from Finance on financial performance and overall financial standing within the company. This information will help give early warning of any financial risks which may give rise to operational or reputational risks for the council. 2.2 2024/25 Performance indicators are listed at appendix 1 along with actual performance for the period 1 October 2024 to 31 March 2025, which fulfil the reporting requirements agreed between the organisation and the council and further demonstrate where NLP LLP is contributing to the council’s strategic priorities. 2.3 During the reporting period a total of 20 properties were let, renewed or assigned (5 Office; 3 Retail, 11 Industrial and 1 other) and there were 14 lease terminations over the corresponding period. 2.4 The percentage of vacant properties across the NLP portfolio over the corresponding period are shown at Section 12 in Appendix 1. Service Delivery Highlights 2.5 In conjunction with the Growth team, the development of the Braidhusrt Industrial site nears completion with the redevelopment of 6 existing units and the further construction of an additional 10 which will continue to support new start up and small businesses. The development has been delayed due to utility issues however the team continue to liaise with the relevant providers to conclude the works. NLP have commenced soft marketing of the site and currently noting interest. Financial Impact 2.6 To satisfy the Council’s duty to ensure the organisation delivering property management services on its behalf is financially sound, the Council’s Section 95 Officer maintains appropriate and proportionate processes and procedures for scrutinising NLP LLP’s financial performance. 2.7 The Council’s Legal Agreements with NLP LLP specify the financial information which NLP must submit to the Council including an annual business plan, quarterly management accounts, audited financial statements etc., to enable Finance to assess and report any financial risk likely to arise as a result of the Council using NLP LLP to deliver these services. 2.8 The Council expends revenue resources annually with NLP LLP to deliver services which assist the Council in achieving its priority outcomes. The Council has a duty to continue to ensure this money is being properly used to deliver both the Council’s and NLP LLP’s key objectives. Page 41 of 292
Page 42
2.9 For financial year 2024/25, the Council’s approved revenue spend includes property management services (£0.198m) and rental charges for properties utilised by the Council. Financial Performance 1 April 2024 to 3 January 2025 2.10 Based on the financial performance at 3 January 2025 a projected transfer into reserves of £0.905m is reported to 31 March 2025 which is a favourable movement against a budgeted transfer into reserves of £0.486m. The position is reflective of increased bank interest received and income rental. Further details on financial performance are given in Appendix 2. 2.11 Appendix 3 provides Balance Sheet balances as at 3 January 2025 along with the comparative figures as at 31 March 2024. Council representatives are asked to note: • The company has net assets of £51.135m predominately due to improvements in payments to Creditors and reduced cash balances due to improved timing of payments to creditors. This is a favourable movement of £2.230m on the previous year-end position. • Members should be assured that the company has sufficient resources to meet its current obligations. Projected Cashflow to December 2024 2.12 Appendix 4 provides the projected cashflow to 31 December 2025. The minimum balance of cash projected to be held is £4.640m in April 2025. The cashflow position includes approved utilisation of reserves. This demonstrates that NLP will continue to hold sufficient levels of cash. Bank Covenant 2.13 The new loan facility also revised the covenant arrangements, with a focus on achieving an Actual Debt Service Covenant (ADSC) ratio of 1.1:1 each period. As at P10 the ADSC is 1.28: which is in excess of the revised ratio agreed. Budget 2025/26 2.14 A range of budget planning scenarios were considered during the budget setting process. The budget, approved by the Board in February 2025, is based on assumptions which are in line with those used in North Lanarkshire Council medium term financial plan. 2.15 The NLP Board approved a budget transferring £0.388m into reserves after loan debt repayments. The budget incorporates anticipated increased expenditure in employee costs, janitorial supplies and financing costs offset by increased bank interest. 2.16 Following the refinancing of the Loan Facility, NLP LLP are required to report against the ADSC covenant and are budgeting a rate of 1.19:1. Further details of the 2025/26 Budget are given at Appendix 5. Performance against approved budget will continue to be carefully monitored throughout the forthcoming year. 2.17 NLC continue to monitor NLP financial performance closely with updates provided to the Corporate Management Team. Page 42 of 292
Page 43
NLP Action Plan 2.18 The outcome of the review of the council’s remaining ALEO’s was reported to the Policy and Strategy Committee on 13 March 2025. The report made a number of recommendations, some of which were specific to each individual ALEO. 2.19 The aforementioned Policy and Strategy report identified 17 areas for future development within NLP under 4 main themes which are: 1. Address Staffing, Recruitment and Succession Planning Challenges 2. Strengthen Business and Investment Planning 3. Portfolio Review 4. Improve Customer Engagement and Clarity 2.20 The action plan, attached at Appendix 6, has been developed in consultation with officers across NLP, Assets and Procurement, Legal and Democratic Services, People and Organisational Development, Finance, and the Business Partnership team. It serves as an initial assessment of the proposed actions and is intended to be a dynamic document, subject to continuous review and refinement. Progress will be monitored and reported regularly to the NLP Board. Oversight of the plan’s implementation will be provided to the Finance and Resources Committee on an annual basis through the performance monitoring report. 2.21 The NLP Board approved the action plan at a special meeting on 30 June 2025. 2.22 The Policy and Strategy also approved a recommendation to re-examine the financial feasibility of transitioning NLP to in-house delivery and repaying the loan following the drafting of the 2025/26 Annual Accounts. It should be recognised that timing and implementation of the action plan could be impacted by the outcome of this review, particularly action 4. 3. Measures of success 3.1 The financial position of the company is being monitored closely to ensure that NLP LLP will continue to meet its loan obligations. 3.2 Completion of the Braidhurst development will provide new industrial units for start up and small businesses and provide an additional income stream for NLP LLP. 3.3 Implementation of the action plan will assist NLP in addressing identified areas for future development ensuring the ALEO continues to meet its business objectives both now and in the future. In addition, NLP’s alignment to the Plan for North Lanarkshire and strategic direction will be more clearly demonstrated. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 – Performance Update – 1 October 2024 to 31 March 2025. 4.2 Appendix 2 - Financial Performance to 3rd January 2025 4.3 Appendix 3 - Overall Financial Standing – Balance Sheet as at 3rd January 2025 4.4 Appendix 4 - Cashflow Forecast to 31st December 2025 4.5 Appendix 5 - Approved Budget 2025/26 4.6 Appendix 6 - NLP Action Plan Page 43 of 292
Page 44
James McKinstry Chief Officer (Assets and Procurement) Page 44 of 292
Page 45
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 financial performance of NLP is closely monitored by the council’s Section 95 Officer and the financial performance along with other key financial information is detailed within the report. The financial feasibility of transitioning to in-house delivery and repaying the loan will be re-examined following the drafting of the 2025/26 annual accounts. 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? The action includes measures to address staffing, recruitment and succession planning challenges within NLP, in addition to examining the potential for outsourcing the management of the portfolio. 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? Page 45 of 292
Page 46
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 ☐ 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. Page 46 of 292
Page 47
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 47 of 292
Page 48
Page 48 of 292
Page 49
Page 49 of 292
Page 50
Page 50 of 292
Page 51
Page 51 of 292
Page 52
Page 52 of 292
Page 53
Page 53 of 292
Page 54
Appendix 2 North Lanarkshire Properties LLP Year to date 03 January 2025 Income & expenditure 2024/25 2024/25 2024/25 Commentary:- Annual Budget vrs Projected Outturn Annual Budget Projected Outturn Variance £m £m £m Rental, SLA income and Insurance Income 6.407 6.804 0.396 Favourable variance in relation to rental income. Investment and other income 0.778 1.122 0.344 In-year drawdown on reserves to fund Braidhurst Units coupled with anticipated income for dilapidation works within the 2 depots. Total Income 7.185 7.926 0.740 Expenditure; Employee costs (0.769) (0.715) 0.054 Favourable variance due to vacancies. Property Costs (2.721) (2.945) (0.223) Adverse variance relating to building costs and repairs and maintenance. Supplies & Services & Admin Costs (0.785) (0.825) (0.040) Adverse variance due to increased ICT costs. Financing Costs (1.991) (2.036) (0.045) Floating loan interest payments are calculated on SONIA rates which fluctuate over the course of the year. Total Expenditure (6.266) (6.520) (0.254) Trading Profit 0.920 1.405 0.486 Loan Principal Repayments (0.500) (0.500) 0.000 Profit Transferred to/(out) Reserves 0.420 0.905 0.486 Page 54 of 292
Page 55
Appendix 3 North Lanarkshire Properties LLP Overall Financial Standing - Balance Sheet as at 03 January 2025 Balances/ Indicator As at 03 Jan 2025 As At 31 March 2024 Variance Commentary £m £m £m Fixed Assets 73.946 73.946 0.000 Current Assets: Trade Debtors 0.910 0.901 0.009 Minor Bad Debt Provision (0.241) (0.241) 0.000 Prepayment and Other Debtors 0.000 0.000 0.000 Bank and short term investments 6.583 7.088 (0.505) Timing of payments. 7.251 7.748 (0.496) Current Liabilities: Creditors (0.327) (2.049) 1.722 Year end accountancy adjustments and timing of payments. Other Creditors inc. VAT & other taxes (0.404) (1.005) 0.601 VAT due to HMRC and accrued interest. Loan payments due in <1 yr (0.500) (0.500) 0.000 (1.231) (3.554) 2.322 Net current Assets/(liabilities) 6.020 4.194 1.826 Loan repayments due in > 1 yr (28.831) (29.235) 0.404 Loan Repayment Schedule agreed with bank . Defined scheme pensions liabilities 0.000 0.000 0.000 Net Asset / (Liabilities) 51.135 48.905 2.230 Page 55 of 292
Page 56
Appendix 4 0.0 1.0 2.0 3.0 4.0 5.0 6.0 Jan-25 Feb-25 Mar-25 Apr-25 May-25 Jun-25 Jul-25 Aug-25 Sep-25 Oct-25 Nov-25 Dec-25 Balance -£m NLP Cash Flow Forecast to December 2025 Total Balances Page 56 of 292
Page 57
Appendix 5 North Lanarkshire Properties LLP Approved Budget - 2025/26 Income & expenditure 2024/25 2025/26 Commentary Annual Budget Approved Annual Movement £m £m £m Rental, SLA income and Insurance Income 6.407 6.404 (0.003) Minor Investment and other income 0.778 0.075 (0.703) Removal of one-off 2024/25 in-year uplift to fund investment in property portfolio and consultancy fees. Total Income 7.185 6.479 (0.706) Expenditure; Employee costs (0.769) (0.800) (0.031) Budget increased to reflect actual pay increases arising from pay awards during 2024/25 and estimated additional pay awards for 2025/26. Property Costs (2.721) (2.041) 0.680 Removal of one-off 2024/25 in-year uplift to fund investment in property portfolio. Supplies & Services & Admin Costs (0.785) (0.713) 0.072 Removal of one-off 2024/25 in-year uplift to fund consultancy fees and ICT upgrades. Financing Costs (1.991) (2.037) (0.047) Loan interest payements are based on projected SONIA rates. Total Expenditure (6.266) (5.591) 0.674 Accounting Profit 0.920 0.888 (0.032) Accounting adjustments: FRS17 pension costs 0.000 0.000 0.000 Unrealised gain/(loss) on investment portfolio 0.000 0.000 0.000 Loan Principal Repayments (0.500) (0.500) 0.000 Profit Transferred to/(out) Reserves 0.420 0.388 (0.032) Page 57 of 292
Page 58
Appendix 6 Page 58 of 292
Page 59
Page 59 of 292
Page 60
Page 60 of 292
Page 61
Page 61 of 292
Page 62
Page 62 of 292
Page 63
Page 63 of 292
Page 64
Page 64 of 292
Page 65
Page 65 of 292
Page 66
Page 66 of 292
Page 67
Page 67 of 292
Page 68
Page 68 of 292
Page 69
North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref Date 10/09/25 Glasgow City Region Investment Zone Update From Greg Telfer, Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) E-mail WeirY@northlan.gov.uk Telephone Yvonne Weir 07508 001238 Executive Summary This report provides Finance and Resources Committee with an update on the ongoing development of the Glasgow City Region Investment Zone (GCR IZ) programme, and specifically the proposal of Non-Domestic Rates Retention Sites. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance and Resource Committee: (1) Acknowledge the ongoing development of the Glasgow City Region Investment Zone programme, including the identification of potential Investment Zone site in North Lanarkshire; (2) Acknowledge that North Lanarkshire Council will continue to be responsible for collecting Non-Domestic Rates locally; (3) Agree that additional Non-Domestic Rates associated with the Investment Zone site be retained and pooled at the GCR level and re-invested back into the GCR IZ programme in line with overall IZ objectives and this re-investment should be determined by GCR Cabinet in line with already agreed governance arrangements associated with the City Deal programme. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve economic opportunities and outcomes Ambition statement (3) Maximise the use of our marketable land and assets through improved development in business and industrial infrastructure Programme of Work Transforming Places Item 8 Page 69 of 292
Page 70
1. Background 1.1 Glasgow City Region Investment Zone (GCR IZ) is progressing through the Government five-stage Gateway Process for approval of the Investment Zone programme. This process was instigated following announcement in the summer of 2023 that Glasgow City Region (GCR) would receive £160m grant allocation and be the location of one of the two Investment Zones (IZ) in Scotland and one of 12 across the UK. The other Scottish IZ is located in the North-East Scotland (NES) region. 1.2 The £160 million funding envelope over 10 years, comprises both capital and revenue funding, and includes optional fiscal incentives such as tax reliefs and non-domestic rates retention (NDRR). 1.3 The GCR IZ aims to accelerate economic growth, attract inward investment, and create high-value jobs by focusing on strategic employment sectors where the region has existing strengths and growth potential. 1.4 Following an extensive analysis and engagement process, led by the GCR Programme Management Office (PMO), the sectoral focus of the GCR IZ was confirmed by GCR Cabinet (11 June 2024) as Advanced Manufacturing and Precision Engineering. Following the recommendation of a dedicated Strategic Investment Plan, a sub-set of the Regional Economic Partnership, Cabinet agreed on 25 February 2025 six short- listed projects and a tax-site. Table 1 provides an overview of the projects: Sector Project Grant Ask Space Skyrora £3.7m Project PRISM £33.2m Semi-Conductors Laser Supply Chain £25.5m NCASP £35.3m Neuranics £5.1m Maritime Malin Group £20m* Tax Site N/A £30m* Sectoral Support Investment Fund £30.7m Business Support / Skills £10m Capacity Funding N/A £6.4m Total £200m Table 1: GCRIZ Project Overview 1.5 The proposed tax site is planned to be located in Renfrewshire. The tax site aims to drive growth by leveraging key assets such as the Advanced Manufacturing Innovation District Scotland (AMIDS), National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS), Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (MMIC), and Glasgow Airport. With a focus on strategic land development, the site will be developed in partnership with the landowners - Renfrewshire Council and Glasgow Airport. 1.6 As part of the IZ programme and in addition to the tax site, Regional Economic Partnerships (REPs) can propose three sites, of 200 hectares each, to a total of 600 hectares that could be considered as potential sites for the retention of Non-Domestic Rates (NDRR) over a twenty-five year period. The GCR PMO has engaged with officers from Member Authorities (MAs) to understand the potential opportunities. 1.7 The GCR PMO developed a high-level application and evaluation process and asked MAs to submit options by 30 May 2025. Page 70 of 292
Page 71
1.8 Six of the eight MAs including North Lanarkshire Council submitted proposals to be considered by the PMO. Based on these submissions, a number of options have been taken forward and further refined following feedback from the Scottish Government. Advice and guidance on the options has been provided by KPMG, through their original GCR IZ commission with Renfrewshire Council. This has helped shape the refinement of the three proposed NDRR locations. The proposed locations are considered to present the best link to the Investment Zone objectives, together with the most viable development timeline. 1.9 Table 2 provides details of the NDRR locations that are being proposed as part of the Gateway process, outline maps are included in Appendix 1: Location Member Authority Potential Size AMIDS / Airport Renfrewshire Council 146 Hectares Eurocentral North Lanarkshire Council 195.5 Hectares Glasgow Clyde Corridor Glasgow City Council / South Lanarkshire Council 209 Hectares (*tbc) Table 2: List of proposed NDRR locations 1.10 Scottish Government guidance has made clear, GCR must make a robust argument for the rationale for any proposed NDRR location. Any location must meet the ‘but-for’ test, where this is defined as; ‘retention of non-domestic rates is a direct consequence of Investment Zone status’. It is incumbent on GCR to provide a clear narrative for the locations that are proposed. 1.11 The PMO has continued to work with Renfrewshire Council, North Lanarkshire Council, Glasgow City Council, South Lanarkshire Council and Clyde Gateway Urban Regeneration Company to further refine the location options in advance of the final formal submission of Gateway 4 at the end of September 2025. 1.12 The GCR PMO is confident there is a clear rationale for the three areas that have been proposed and initial feedback from the Scottish Government supports this. The NDRR site at the Airport / AMIDS has a clear link to the GCR IZ and the Advanced Manufacturing sector via the proposed tax-site. Meanwhile there are already a significant number of Advanced Manufacturing companies located within the Eurocentral boundary. The proposal that covers GCC and SLC is centred on existing Advanced Manufacturing activity through the Innovation Districts at both Glasgow and Strathclyde Universities and clearly link with the ongoing development at the Clyde Gateway URC. In addition, there were a number of strong bids for the original GCR IZ ‘open-call’ based in each of the potential locations for NDRR. 2. Report Non-Domestic Rates Retention - Principles and Purpose 2.1 The revenue generated from the retention of Non-Domestic Rates (NDR) is over and above the GCR IZ £160m grant allocation and is the devolved responsibility of the Scottish Government. The retention of rates is on the basis of any uplift in NDR, within the ‘red-line’ boundary, from an agreed baseline with Scottish Government. 2.2 As part of the Gateway process, referenced in section 1.1, GCR need to demonstrate that any uplift in NDR would not have been possible without the Investment Zone programme – this is how we are able to justify the retention of rates. In the absence of Page 71 of 292
Page 72
NDRR process, all rates collected by the Local Authority are transferred to the Scottish Government, as normal to form part of the national NDR pooling arrangements and redistributed across local government in accordance with agreed funding distribution methodologies. Establishing NDRR sites as part of the programme will enable any uplift in NDR, above an agreed baseline, to be retained and reinvested to support the GCR Investment Zone objectives. 2.3 As noted to a previous GCR Chief Executive’s Group meeting (14 May 2025) and GCR Cabinet (27 May 2025), following Scottish Government guidance, any NDR retained should be pooled at the GCR level and their re-investment supporting the objectives of the IZ Programme, should be determined by GCR Cabinet. 2.4 Retained non-domestic rates must be used to promote the Investment Zone’s objectives and for activity that: would not otherwise occur; demonstrably requires public funding; and is most appropriately funded from retained non-domestic rates, rather than other public funding pots. 2.5 Noted below are the GCR IZ Objectives, agreed by both GCR Cabinet and UK / Scottish Governments: • Build on strengths of the Region’s current and emerging cluster specialisms • Grow new and existing R&D focused firms which are geared to take advantage of local academic expertise • Create a significant number of mid to high skilled ‘good’ jobs • Generate short and longer-term private sector investment in the Region’s cluster specialisms – both through existing firms and wider supply chain development • Align with existing investment within the Region e.g. City Deal, Innovation Districts / Innovation Accelerator, UK Shared Prosperity Fund • Maximise the impacts through enhancing connections to existing clusters • Facilitate the development / regeneration of under-developed land and assets within the Region • Extends the benefit to the whole Region including developing options for a IZ skills programme for local residents and a regional investment fund. 2.6 GCR PMO will work with partners to develop a re-investment strategy for any NDR retained rates to support GCR IZ objectives across the GCR geography. The Investment Zone Technical Guidance provides clarity on the activity the income from retained non-domestic rates growth should primarily be used to fund: • Investment Zone operating costs • physical and/or digital infrastructure that will facilitate investment in the Investment Zone area • land assembly and/or site remediation works that will facilitate investment in the Investment Zone area. • skills and workforce development • innovation initiatives • mitigating any displacement and/or negative externalities associated with the Investment Zone • activity in support of the Investment Zone Net Zero ambitions • the delivery of Investment Zone -specific planning measures 2.7 Officers will work closely with GCR PMO to develop the re-investment strategy and identify potential activity for support in North Lanarkshire. Page 72 of 292
Page 73
NDDR Governance 2.8 A formal legal agreement will be developed between Glasgow City Council, on behalf of Glasgow City Region, and the four Member Authorities to agree the approach for the collection and retention of NDR within the Investment Zone programme. 2.9 This approach will align with the established GCR governance arrangements already in place through Finance Strategy Group (FSG), Chief Executives’ Group (CEG) and GCR Cabinet. 2.10 Reports have been approved by the Chief Executives’ Group (14 May 2025) and City Region Cabinet (27 May 2025) that make reference to the pooling of the NDR at a regional level, with their redistribution and use being agreed by Cabinet. Next Steps 2.11 During September, Renfrewshire Council, Glasgow City Council, North Lanarkshire Council and South Lanarkshire Council will all seek local committee approval for the collection and retention of Non-Domestic Rates, in line with the requirements of Gateway 3 process. 2.12 A final draft of Gateway 3 and 4 will be submitted by GCR PMO to UK and Scottish governments by 30 September 2025. Failure to meet this deadline may result in GCR IZ losing year 1 grant of £16m. If approval for the collection and retention of NDR cannot be secured by any of the authorities, before the submission deadline of 30 September, the respective NDRR site will need to be removed from the GCR IZ programme. 2.13 Subject to Committee approval, officers will continue to engage with GCR PMO and other Member Authorities to finalise the NDDR programme and re-investment strategy. 3. Measures of success 3.1 To maximise the re-investment of non-domestic rates to support the growth of the Advanced Manufacturing sector in North Lanarkshire and across the wider GCR. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 There is no supporting documentation. Greg Telfer Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) Page 73 of 292
Page 74
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 retention of additional non domestic rates from designated Investment Zone areas identified by Glasgow City Region provides the potential for North Lanarkshire and the wider City Deal region to benefit from income that would otherwise form part of the national non-domestic rates pool and be distributed across Scotland’s 32 local authorities. It is not anticipated that there will be significant additional costs associated with the administration and monitoring of the NDRR site, however, in the event that there are any then these costs are expected to be covered through retained non-domestic business rates. 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? A formal legal agreement will be developed between Glasgow City Council, on behalf of Glasgow City Region, and the four Member Authorities to agree the approach for the collection and retention of NDR within the Investment Zone programme. Any legal agreement will be considered in line with already established City Deal governance arrangements. Page 74 of 292
Page 75
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 ☐ 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? There is a risk that the funding pooled through the NDDR programme does not benefit development within the North Lanarkshire Council area. To mitigate this risk, officers will be working closely with GCR PMO to develop the re-investment strategy for the pooled funding and identifying potential investment activity that the retained rates could be used to fund. There is a risk that sites developed within the NDDR do not meet the sectoral criteria or GCR IZ Objectives. Whilst this will not prevent those sites being developed or restrict any end-use by other sectors, it will result in a lower pool of funds raised through the NDDR programme. Page 75 of 292
Page 76
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 76 of 292
Page 77
North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref JMcK/BF Date 10/09/25 Annual Procurement Report 2024/25 From James McKinstry, Chief Officer (Assets and Procurement) E-mail McKinstryJ@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07939 281012 Executive Summary To comply with the procurement legislation ‘The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014’, the council is required to prepare and publish an Annual Procurement Report that details the procurement activity in the most recently completed financial year. This Annual Procurement Report covers the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 and provides: • an outline of the procurement activity undertaken; • a summary of performance against the council’s Procurement Strategy 2024/25; • the council’s values applied to the national reporting template (Appendix 1); • a list of Regulated procurements awarded in financial year 2024/25(Appendix 2); and, • a list of expected Regulated procurements for 2025/26 and 2026/27 (Appendix 3). The council are required by legislation to publish the Annual Procurement Report online through its website and to share a copy of the report with Scottish Ministers. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance and Resources Committee: (1) Approve the content of this report; (2) Endorse publication of the Annual Procurement Report 2024-25 on the council’s website; and (3) Acknowledge the requirement to share a copy of the Annual Procurement Report 2024-25 with Scottish Ministers. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement All ambition statements Programme of Work All Programmes of Work Item 9 Page 77 of 292
Page 78
1. Background 1.1. As legislated through the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (the “Act”), the council is required to prepare an Annual Procurement Report as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of that financial year. 1.2. The Act requires the Annual Procurement Report to include: • a summary of the Regulated procurements that have been completed in the previous financial year; • a review of whether those procurements complied with the council’s procurement strategy, and where any Regulated procurements did not comply, a statement of how the council intends to ensure that future Regulated procurements do comply; • a summary of any Community Benefits fulfilled from Regulated procurements; • a summary of any steps taken to facilitate the involvement of Supported Businesses in Regulated procurements; • a summary of the Regulated procurements the council expects to commence in the next two financial years; and • such other information as the Scottish Ministers may by order specify. 1.3. The Act requires the council to publish the Annual Procurement Report online and to share a copy with Scottish Ministers. Scottish Ministers must prepare a report on procurement activity in Scotland; this is generated from the Annual Procurement Reports submitted by relevant public bodies. Scottish Ministers are required to publish their report and lay a copy before the Scottish Parliament. 1.4. The Act requires Scottish Ministers to publish guidance for the consistent data gathering and preparation of annual procurement reports and procurement strategies; this is provided in the Scottish Procurement Policy Note, SPPN 2/2025. Website link: https://www.gov.scot/publications/public-procurement-update-annual- procurement-reports-for-2024-2025-sppn-2-2025/. 2. Report 2.1. This is the council’s eighth Annual Procurement Report and covers the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. 2.2. The relevant Procurement Strategy associated to this paper is “Procurement Strategy 2024-25”; this was approved at Finance and Resources Committee on 19 February 2024 and is published on the council website. Website link: Finance and Resources, Cycle 1 2024, Procurement Strategy 2024/25 2.3. The Act sets out specific details to be covered by the Annual Procurement Report, which are listed in bold type below, and followed by the council’s headline reporting stats: 2.3.1 A summary of the Regulated procurements that have been completed in the previous financial year: • there were 89 Regulated Procurements undertaken, with a total Agreement Value of £2.702 Billion. • Please refer to the Annual Procurement Report 2024/25 Appendix 2 table which lists all Regulated procurements undertaken, including contract award values. Page 78 of 292
Page 79
2.3.2 A review of whether those procurements complied with the council’s Procurement Strategy, and where any Regulated procurements did not comply, a statement of how the council intends to ensure that future Regulated procurements do comply: • All 89 Regulated Procurements undertaken complied with the council’s Procurement Strategy 2024/25. • Please refer to the Annual Procurement Report 2024/25 section 4 where further comments are included. 2.3.3 A summary of any community benefits fulfilled from Regulated procurements: • It is mandatory to consider Community Benefits in Agreements over £4M; the council undertook 23 individual Regulated procurements above £4M for which 22 of those achieved Community Benefits directly attributable for the council. • Please refer to the Annual Procurement Report 2024/25 section 5 and Appendix 1 item 4 which provide further details of Community Benefits achieved. 2.3.4 A summary of any steps taken to facilitate the involvement of Supported Businesses in Regulated procurements: • The council procured a range of supplies and services from six Supported Businesses (included NLI) for a total spend of £1,342,515. • Please refer to the Annual Procurement Report 2024/25 section 6 and Appendix 1 item 7 which provide further details on spend with Supported Businesses. 2.3.5 A summary of the Regulated procurements the council expects to commence in the next two financial years: • There are 211 Regulated Procurements known at this time (with an estimated total contract value of £952 Million), which are expected to be undertaken in the next two financial years. It is probable that additional requirements will emerge, and procurements on the list are subject to change. • Please refer to the Annual Procurement Report 2024/25 section 7 and Appendix 3 which provides a table of the anticipated procurements with additional details on potential contract value and procurement route. 2.3.6 No additional or further information was specified by Scottish Ministers for Annual Procurement Reports 2024/25. 2.4 For awareness, separate procurement metrics for 2024/25 will be produced for the Local Government Benchmarking Framework and the council’s Strategic Performance Framework (which track the council’s procurement activity over an extensive period). As per previous years, these metrics will be reported at Finance and Resources Cycle 4 Committee. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Report information fully complies with the legislative requirements set by the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. 3.2 Report data fully complies with the template requirements set out in the Scottish Procurement Policy Note, SPPN 2/2025. Page 79 of 292
Page 80
4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 – Annual Procurement Report 2024-25 James McKinstry Chief Officer (Assets and Procurement) Page 80 of 292
Page 81
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 Annual Procurement Report has been prepared in accordance with requirements set by the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 and supporting guidance from Scottish Procurement Policy Note SPPN 2/2025. 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 81 of 292
Page 82
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? The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 requires the publication of the Annual Procurement Report online and a copy to be shared with Scottish Ministers. 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? Failure to publish the Annual Procurement Report and/or comply with the reporting requirements would be a breach of the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014. The procurement risks associated to governance are managed at a corporate level. 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. Page 82 of 292
Page 83
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 83 of 292
Page 84
APPENDIX 1 Annual Procurement Report Covering the period: 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025 Page 84 of 292
Page 85
1. GLOSSARY 1.1. “Community Benefits” requirements which deliver wider benefits in addition to the core purpose of a contract. These can relate to social, economic and environmental benefits. 1.2. “Contractor” any organisation that provides Supplies, Works or Services to the Council or on behalf of the Council. 1.3. “Living Wage” an independently calculated rate based on the cost of living and is paid voluntarily by employers. The rate is calculated each year in November by The Resolution Foundation on an analysis of the wage that employees need to earn in order to afford the basket of goods required for a decent standard of living. This basket of goods includes housing, childcare, transport and heating. The Real Living Wage is different to the UK government’s National Living Wage which is not calculated according to what employees need to live on. 1.4. “Procurement” the tasks and decisions which secure an external Contractor to provide what we want, at a price that we can afford. Activity is focused on the period from prior to advertising a tender to signing the contract. It includes both competitive tenders and circumstances where we negotiate with a single Contractor. 1.5. “Regulated Procurements” refers to any Procurement: above £50,000 for Supplies or Services; and above £2,000,000 for Works. 1.6. “Services” are those services that we buy including specialist support for vulnerable children and adults, and also repairs and maintenance services, financial advice, designs and surveys for new building works. 1.7. “SME or Small and Medium Enterprises” defined by the number of employees whereby micro is 9 or fewer, small is 10-50, medium is 51-250. 1.8. “Supplies” items that we buy, such as pens and paper, or plants and seeds, or fruit and vegetables. 1.9. “Sustainable Procurement” a process whereby organisations meet their needs for Supplies, Services and Works in a way that achieves value for money and generates benefits, not only for the organisation but also to wider society, the economy and the environment. 1.10. “Supplier Development Programme” is a public sector organisation who offer expert training, support and information to businesses develop and compete for Contracts. 1.11. “Supported Business” are social enterprises whose main aim is to integrate disabled or disadvantaged people socially and professionally. Their workforce must be at least 30% disabled or disadvantaged. Page 85 of 292
Page 86
1.12. “Third Sector” is the group name for a range of organisations including community groups, charities, voluntary organisations, faith groups, social enterprises, community interest companies. Third sector organisations may be registered charities and may be registered companies. They include small, local groups and large multinational operations, and everything in between. 1.13. “Works” is the construction works that we buy, including construction of new buildings, or extensions, and creation and improvements to roads and bridges and open spaces. Page 86 of 292
Page 87
2. INTRODUCTION 2.1. North Lanarkshire Council (the “Council”) is a unitary authority, the fourth largest in Scotland, and is responsible for the delivery of a wide and diverse range of statutory and discretionary public services. 2.2. The Council deliver services through a mixed economy acting as both a provider, through direct provision of services using its own workforce and assets, and an enabler with services delivered through private Contractors, the Third Sector and Supported Businesses. 2.3. During the financial year 2024/25 the Council spent £706 Million excluding VAT on goods, services and works to carry out our operations and delivery of public services. 2.4. The Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 (the “Act”) requires us to prepare an ‘Annual Procurement Report’ (“APR”) on our Regulated Procurement activities as soon as reasonably practicable after the end of each financial year. 2.5. Accordingly, we are pleased to publish our seventh APR covering the period 1 April 2024 to 31 March 2025. This reporting period is aligned to Procurement Strategy 2024/25 which is published on the Council’s website for reference. 2.6. National guidance in the form of a procurement policy note, SPPN 2/2025, was published 12 June 2025; this provided an APR template designed to assist public bodies meet their reporting obligations from the Act and to gather data in a consistent way. The guidance was set out for annual procurement reports 2024/25. Page 87 of 292
Page 88
3. REGULATED PROCUREMENT ACTIVITY 2023/24 The Act requires the APR to provide a summary of the Council’s Regulated Procurements that have been completed 3.1. For the reporting period 2024/25: • 89 Regulated Procurements were undertaken that lead to contract awards being made, o the total value of all contracts established from the Regulated Procurements was £2.702 Billion – this includes a mix of one-off supply and multi-year contracts. Up to £848M (31.40%) of the total award value could be sub-contracted (based on successful tenderer proposals). o 178 unique Contractors were appointed across those contract awards of which 151 (84.83%) of the unique Contractors are SME; o the SME’s account for around £248 Million (9.20%) of the total contract award value; and o 75 (42.13%) of the unique Contractors are based in the North Lanarkshire Council area and they account for around £123 Million (4.55%) of the total contract award value. 3.2. The Council itself is committed to national guidance for Fair Work First in Procurement, and measures are incorporated into our procurement procedures; this is evident in all our Regulated Procurement contract awards. 1For Contracts in scope, 120 (94.49%) of unique Contractors have committed to pay the real Living Wage, from which 45 (37.50%) are living wage accredited. 3.3. All reporting indicators on Regulated Procurement that are requirements under the Act and set out in a national format by SPPN 2/2025 are included at APPENDIX 1. A list of the 89 Regulated Procurements are included at APPENDIX 2. 1 Contracts for “Transport of Pupils with Additional Support Needs” are not considered in-scope for this metric Page 88 of 292
Page 89
4. COMPLIANCE WITH PROCUREMENT STRATEGY The Act requires the APR to provide a review of whether the Regulated Procurements undertaken complied with the Council’s Procurement Strategy 2024/25, and where any Regulated Procurements did not comply, to provide a statement of how the council intends to ensure that future Regulated Procurements do comply 4.1. The Council are reporting that all 89 Regulated Procurements undertaken during the reporting period were in compliance with the Procurement Strategy 2024/25. 4.2. In accordance with the direction of the Procurement Strategy 2024/25, measures in place that have full compliance include: • all Council Procurements must be undertaken in accordance with our internal rules General Contract Standing Orders (“GCSOs”) which set out essential requirements prior to tendering and post tender to ensure procurement is controlled and managed effectively, and strives to achieve best value; • A comprehensive procurement toolkit is in place for Regulated Procurement activity, containing templates and supporting documents, which are aligned with the national standards set by the Procurement Journey, ensuring that the Council are complying in the procurement approach with the Sustainable Procurement duty, such as encouraging commitment from our tenderers to the seven principles of Fair Work First and seeking Community Benefit and/or social value. • There are frequent internal audits on procurement activity and procurement procedures to ensure compliance with GCSOs, and to support continuous improvement. • The Act requires public bodies to give consideration whether to incorporate Community Benefit requirements as part of the Procurement when the estimated contract value is greater than or equal to £4 million; the Council comply with this requirement. In addition to this, the Council give enhanced consideration for Community Benefits for all Regulated Procurement for Supplies or Services, and for all Works procurements greater than £500k; this is incorporated into the pre-tender procedures. • The Council jointly host the annual Meet the “Real” Buyer Lanarkshire with South Lanarkshire Council, and have continued to support national events for suppliers (which are led and organised by the Supplier Development Programme) in compliance with the Procurement Strategy 2024/25. Page 89 of 292
Page 90
5. COMMUNITY BENEFITS The Act requires the APR to provide a summary of any community benefits fulfilled from Regulated Procurements 5.1. For the reporting period there were: • 23 Regulated Procurements with a value of £4million or greater, for which 22 (95.65%) achieved Community Benefits. • 15 Regulated Procurements with a value of between £1million and £4million, for which 13 (86.67%) achieved Community Benefits. • The overall position from the 89 Regulated Procurements undertaken was that Community Benefits were secured from 50 (56.18%) of the contract awards made. 5.2. It is important to give awareness that Community Benefits are not delivered on day one of a Contract but are expected to be delivered across the contract duration (most of which have a multi-year contract term). 5.3. All reporting indicators on Community Benefits that are requirements under the Act and set out in a national format by SPPN 2/2025 are included at APPENDIX 1 - 4 a) to j). The Council have included additional detailed measures in APPENDIX 1 - 4k). Page 90 of 292
Page 91
6. SUPPORTED BUSINESSES The Act requires the APR to provide a summary of any steps taken to facilitate the involvement of supported businesses in Regulated Procurements. 6.1. For all Regulated Procurements, the Council’s GCSOs and procurement toolkit ensure that pre-tender consideration is given to contracting opportunities that are suited to the offerings available from Supported Businesses. In the pre-tender Contract Strategy (internal document) for each Regulated Procurement, the procuring officer must consider the opportunity to use a Supported Businesses, and may consider the options to contract via the National Dynamic Purchasing System (DPS) for The Provision of Requirements Reserved For Supported Businesses. This increases the possibility to engage and work with Supported Businesses. 6.2. Furthermore, the Council has a Supported Enterprise Service comprising ‘North Lanarkshire Industries’ (“NLI”) who operate as a Supported Business. The Council has several contractual agreements in place with NLI to provide a range of services including: the provision of furniture; furniture refurbishment; removals and storage; PPE provision for homecare; and the servicing of fire equipment. The combined value of these arrangements with NLI amounted to a total spend of £715,111 during the APR reporting period. 6.3. The council have engaged with an additional five (5) individual Supported Businesses during the APR reporting period, with an aggregate spend of £627,404. The five Supported Businesses each operate under separate categories of work (Software Developers, Security Guards, Recycling Service Providers, Personal Care Product Suppliers, and Promotional Item Suppliers), allowing the council to promote the range, specialism and scope of services available from the Supported Business sector. 6.4. The total overall spend made with the six (6) Supported Businesses was £1,342,515. 6.5. All reporting indicators on Supported Businesses that are requirements under the Act and set out in a national format by SPPN 2/2025 are included at APPENDIX 1 - 7a) to b). Page 91 of 292
Page 92
7. REGULATED PROCUREMENTS EXPECTED DURING 2025/26 AND 2026/27 The Act requires the APR to provide a summary of the Regulated Procurements the Council expects to commence in the next two financial years 7.1. As per the requirements under the Act, a full list of known Regulated Procurement expected to be undertaken during the next two financial years are included in tabular format at APPENDIX 3, and in summary: • 211 Regulated Procurements are anticipated – this includes a mix of new requirements and renewals, with a mixed range of procurement approach that include our own tendering or procuring through collaborative frameworks. 7.2. The approximate aggregate contract value of these future Regulated Procurements is £951,855,743; this includes one-off activities and multi-year contracts. None of these future Regulated Procurements are guaranteed; they are subject to change or deletion and there is scope for additional procurement requirements to emerge. Page 92 of 292
Page 93
APPENDIX 1: PROCUREMENT OUTCOMES 1. REPORT PARAMETERS 1.1. The following report information in parts 2-9 match the template provided through SPPN 2/2025; these indicators are required to conform with the requirements of the Act. 2. SUMMARY OF REGULATED PROCUREMENTS COMPLETED Ref Metric 2024/25 2a) Total number of regulated contracts awarded within the report period 89 2b) Total value of regulated contracts awarded within the report period £2,701,736,574 2c) Total number of unique suppliers awarded a place on a regulated contract awarded during the period 178 i) how many of these unique suppliers are SMEs 151 ii) how many of these unique suppliers are Third sector bodies 16 3. REVIEW OF REGULATED PROCUREMENTS COMPLIANCE Ref Metric 2024/25 3a) Number of regulated contracts awarded within the period that complied with your Procurement Strategy 89 3b) Number of regulated contracts awarded within the period that did not comply with your Procurement Strategy 0 4. COMMUNITY BENEFIT REQUIREMENTS SUMMARY Use of Community Benefit Requirements in Procurement: Ref Metric 2024/25 4a) Total Number of regulated contracts awarded with a value of £4 million or greater. 23 4b) Total Number of regulated contracts awarded with a value of £4 million or greater that contain Community Benefit Requirements. 22 4c) Total Number of regulated contracts awarded with a value of less than £4 million that contain Community Benefit Requirements 28 Page 93 of 292
Page 94
Key Contract Information on community benefit requirements imposed as part of a Regulated Procurement that were fulfilled during the period: Ref Metric 2024/25 4d) Number of Jobs Filled by Priority Groups (Each contracting authority sets its own priority groups) 26 posts 4e) Number of Apprenticeships Filled by Priority Groups 16 posts 4f) Number of Work Placements for Priority Groups zero 4g) Number of Qualifications Achieved Through Training by Priority Groups zero 4h) Total Value of contracts sub-contracted to SMEs £848M (31.40%) of the total Contract Award Value has been indicated for potential sub- contracting over the contract term; this is not broken down by business type. 4i) Total Value of contracts sub-contracted to Social Enterprises 4j) Total Value of contracts sub-contracted to Supported Businesses Other Community Benefits Fulfilled: Ref Theme Benefit Category 2024/25 Outcome 4k) 1.Community Engagement 1.1 Financial Support for a Community Project / Organisation (minimum of £1k per project) 35 projects 1.2 Non-financial Support for a Community Project / Organisation (days of support) 38 days 2. Education based Skills and Training 2.1 MCR Pathways 1-2-1 Mentoring Programme (or equivalent Programme) 7 programmes 2.2 Work Experience Placement for an individual aged 14 to 16 years of age 20 work placements 2.3 Work Experience Placement to obtain a "Foundation Apprenticeship" 0 work placements Page 94 of 292
Page 95
3. Education based Support and Development 3.1 Educational Sponsorship 2 sponsorships 3.2 Educational Support and Skills Transfer 7 sessions 3.3 Educational Visits 22 school visits 3.4 Educational Workplace Visit 12 workplace visits 4. Supply Chain Development 4.1 Business Event / Briefing to promote supply chain opportunities 19 events 4.2 Business Mentoring and Advice to support to an SME / Social Enterprise / Voluntary organisation 11 events 4.3 New Job for a Graduate from a Priority Group 1 post 4.4 New Job for a Graduate not from a Priority Group 1 post 4.5 New Job for an Individual not from a Priority Group 15 posts 4.6 Work Experience Placement for an individual16+ years of age 33 work placements 5. FAIR WORK AND THE REAL LIVING WAGE Ref Metric 2024/25 5a) Number of regulated contracts awarded during the period that included a Fair Work First criterion. 285 5b) Number of unique suppliers who have committed to pay the real Living Wage in the delivery of a regulated contract awarded during the period. 120 5c) Number of unique suppliers who are accredited Living Wage employers and were awarded a regulated contract during the period. 45 2 Contracts for “Transport of Pupils with Additional Support Needs” are considered out of scope for this metric Page 95 of 292
Page 96
6. PAYMENT PERFORMANCE Ref Metric 2024/25 6a) Number of valid invoices received during the reporting period. 294,629 6b) Percentage of invoices paid on time during the period (“On time” means within the time period set out in the contract terms.) 91.90% 6c) Number of regulated contracts awarded during the period containing a contract term requiring the prompt payment of invoices in public contract supply chains. 89 6d) Number of concerns raised by sub-contractors about the timely payment of invoices within the supply chain of public contracts. zero 7. SUPPORTED BUSINESSES SUMMARY Ref Metric 2024/25 7a) Total number of regulated contracts awarded to supported businesses during the period 1 7b) Total spend with supported businesses during the period covered by the report, including: £1,342,515 i) spend within the reporting year on regulated contracts £221,851 ii) spend within the reporting year on non-regulated contracts £1,120,664 Page 96 of 292
Page 97
8. SPEND AND SAVINGS SUMMARY The below table of information provides the general Council expenditure during 2024/25 alone i.e. money spent on goods, services and works to carry out our operations and delivery of public services. Ref Metric 2024/25 8a) Total procurement spend for the period covered by the annual procurement report. £706,470,889 8b) Total procurement spend with SMEs during the period covered by the annual procurement report. £274,263,981 8c) Total procurement spend with third sector bodies during the period covered by the report. £75,724,026 8d) Percentage of total procurement spend through collaborative contracts. 34.70% 8e) 3Total delivered cash savings for the period covered by the annual procurement report £281,867 8f) Total non-cash savings value for the period covered by the annual procurement report £183,014 9. FUTURE REGULATED PROCUREMENTS The below table of information provides the totals for expected Regulated Procurements in 2025/26 and 2026/27, which are listed individually at Appendix 3. Ref Metric 2024/25 9a) Total number of regulated procurements expected to commence in the next two financial years 211 9b) Total estimated value of regulated procurements expected to commence in the next two financial years. £951,855,743 3 8e) and 8f) are based on SPPN 2/2025 Annex A annual procurement report template Page 97 of 292
Page 98
APPENDIX 2: REGULATED PROCUREMENTS – COMPLETED 2024/25 DATE OF AWARD CONTRACT TITLE NAME OF THE CONTRACTOR(S) VALUE OF THE CONTRACT CONTRACT START DATE CONTRACT END DATE INCL. EXTENSION 24/04/2024 M365 BACK UP SOLUTION SOFTCAT (UK) PLC £200,000 01/05/2024 30/04/2027 02/05/2024 MTC FOR SERVICING AND MAINTENANCE OF SWIMMING / HYDROTHERAPY POOLS AND ANCILLARY EQUIPMENT 2024 – 2026 AQUATEQ POOLS LIMITED £350,000 16/05/2024 15/05/2025 22/05/2024 ENTERPRISE PROJECT - HOUSING AND CORPORATE SERVICES MEARS LIMITED £1,800,000,000 01/07/2024 30/06/2036 24/05/2024 PROVISION OF A CORPORATE BOOKING SYSTEM GLADSTONE MRM LIMITED £3,000,000 03/06/2024 02/06/2031 24/05/2024 SUPPLY & DISTRIBUTION OF GROCERIES & PROVISIONS BRAKE BROS LIMITED £6,000,000 08/06/2024 30/06/2026 28/05/2024 PROVISION OF UNIFIED COMMUNICATIONS VIRGIN MEDIA 02 BUSINESS £4,323,000 02/04/2024 01/04/2029 04/06/2024 PATHER FARM, WISHAW – CEMETERY DEVELOPMENT TILBURY DOUGLAS CONSTRUCTION LIMITED £3,746,763 01/06/2024 01/04/2025 04/06/2024 PROVISION OF COMMUNITY LIVING SUPPORT NEIGHBOURHOOD NETWORKS £1,209,960 04/06/2024 03/06/2027 06/06/2024 REMOVAL, STORAGE, REDISTRIBUTION AND DISPOSAL SERVICES 2024-26 KELERBAY LIMITED T/A DOREE BONNER INTERNATIONAL £450,000 21/06/2024 20/06/2027 25/06/2024 TREASURY MANAGEMENT ADVISORY SERVICES (2024-2027) ARLINGCLOSE LIMITED £87,000 01/07/2024 30/06/2028 Page 98 of 292
Page 99
28/06/2024 BRIDGE INSPECTIONS 2024-2025 ATKINSREALIS LIMITED. £740,174 01/07/2024 31/03/2025 03/07/2024 ROAD CORING 2024-28 STANGER TESTING SERVICES LIMITED £175,535 08/07/2024 07/06/2028 05/07/2024 SUPPLY OF BUILDING CLEANING EQUIPMENT DMG FLOORCARE LIMITED £475,000 24/07/2024 23/07/2029 08/07/2024 MTC FOR WINDOW & DOORS REPLACEMENT 2024 -2025 SIDEY SOLUTIONS LIMITED £2,000,000 09/07/2024 04/04/2025 11/07/2024 ENVIRONMENTAL SENSORS IOPT LIMITED £102,000 01/07/2024 30/06/2025 18/07/2024 CUMBERNAULD TOWN CENTRE - ASSET MANAGEMENT 2024 - 2025 2 DIFFERENT CONTRACTORS APPOINTED £125,000 01/07/2024 30/09/2025 18/07/2024 CUMBERNAULD TOWN CENTRE - PROPERTY MANAGEMENT 2024- 2025 GATEHOUSE PROPERTY MANAGEMENT LIMITED £205,000 01/07/2024 30/09/2025 23/07/2024 PURCHASE OF 5 TRACTORS HAMILTON BROS (ENGINEERING) LIMITED £325,000 24/07/2024 31/03/2025 08/08/2024 TREATMENT & DISPOSAL OF WASTE UPHOLSTERED DOMESTIC SEATING CONTAINING PERSISTENT ORGANIC POLLUTANTS (POPS) DOW GROUP LIMITED £476,000 02/09/2024 13/10/2025 12/08/2024 ENTERPRISE PROJECT - ROADS AND RELATED SERVICES: MAINTENANCE & IMPROVEMENT HOCHTIEF PPP SOLUTIONS GMBH £450,000,000 01/10/2024 30/09/2036 12/08/2024 FRAMEWORK FOR SERVICES LINKED TO SCOTTISH ATTAINMENT CHALLENGE (SAC) AND PUPIL EQUITY FUND (PEF) (ENTRY POINT 3) 38 DIFFERENT CONTRACTORS APPOINTED £16,000,000 01/09/2024 08/01/2027 28/08/2024 SUPPLY AND DELIVERY OF JANITORIAL PRODUCTS ARROW COUNTY SUPPLIES LIMITED £5,500,000 16/09/2024 31/07/2028 Page 99 of 292
Page 100
06/09/2024 DESIGN AND BUILD DEVELOPMENT AGREEMENT FOR THE CONSTRUCTION OF ST KEVIN'S COMMUNITY HUB HUB SOUTH WEST SCOTLAND LIMITED £17,554,196 06/09/2024 16/02/2026 06/09/2024 NEURODEVELOPMENTAL FAMILY SUPPORT NORTH LANARKSHIRE CARERS TOGETHER £499,000 09/09/2024 31/03/2027 16/09/2024 NEC4 CONTRACT MANAGEMENT SOLUTION SOFTCAT PLC £407,258 16/09/2024 15/09/2028 18/09/2024 NORTH LANARKSHIRE HOMES FIRST FLEXIBLE SUPPORT SIMON COMMUNITY SCOTLAND £878,632 01/02/2025 31/03/2028 18/09/2024 KILSYTH SURFACE WATER MANAGEMENT PLAN ATKINSRÉALIS UK LIMITED £65,489 30/09/2024 12/05/2025 19/09/2024 NEW BUILD SOCIAL HOUSING AT FORMER COLUMBA HIGH SCHOOL SITE, COATBRIDGE CCG (SCOTLAND) LIMITED £26,843,806 23/09/2024 30/09/2028 20/09/2024 DEMOLITION ENGINEER PERSES LIMITED £1,000,000 30/08/2024 28/02/2026 26/09/2024 PROVISION OF CASH COLLECTION SERVICES 2024/25 SECURITY PLUS LIMITED £107,000 01/10/2024 30/09/2025 02/10/2024 BEFRIENDING SERVICE NORTH LANARKSHIRE COMMUNITY VOLUNTEERS ENABLING YOU LIMITED £361,596 01/10/2024 30/09/2027 03/10/2024 APPOINTMENT OF LIFT CONSULTANT FOR LIFT REPLACEMENT WORKS PHASE 4 AND PHASE 5 TUV SUD LIMITED £51,240 14/10/2024 27/07/2027 04/10/2024 NEW BUILD SOCIAL HOUSING AT THORN ROAD, BELLSHILL MCTAGGART CONSTRUCTION LIMITED £5,961,318 07/10/2024 02/02/2026 16/10/2024 PROVISION OF RETROFIT AND CONTRACTOR DESIGN APPRAISAL CONSULTANCY SERVICES FOR RE-ROOFING, RE-RENDERING & ENERGY EFFICIENCY WORKS ECD ARCHITECTS LIMITED £3,200,000 16/10/2024 15/10/2029 Page 100 of 292
Page 101
21/10/2024 IT & TECHNOLOGY RELATED ELECTRICAL WASTE DISPOSAL RE-TEK UK LIMITED Zero 01/11/2024 31/10/2031 22/10/2024 THE CENTRE CUMBERNAULD - MAST DEVELOPMENT PROPOSALS MAST ARCHITECTS £125,700 21/10/2024 20/10/2027 06/11/2024 ENGAGE PROCESS MODELLER ENGAGE PROCESS UK LIMITED £87,220 06/11/2024 07/11/2027 06/11/2024 INTELLIGENT EMAIL SECURITY (DEFEND AND PREVENT) EGRESS SOFTWARE TECHNOLOGIES LIMITED £228,000 05/11/2024 03/11/2026 07/11/2024 DIGITAL ROAD CONDITION MANAGEMENT SOLUTION SOFTCAT PLC £150,000 01/10/2024 30/09/2027 08/11/2024 RECOVER NL PROGRAMME PITCH UPGRADES - (HARTHILL, CLEALAND & MOODIESBURN) HUB SOUTH WEST SCOTLAND LIMITED £3,048,709 08/11/2024 29/03/2025 22/11/2024 EUROCENTRAL STRATEGIC ACTIVE TRAVEL PHASE 1 AND 2 DETAILED DESIGN, PHASE 3 OPTIONS APPRAISAL AND CONCEPT DESIGN STANTEC UK LIMITED £239,725 19/11/2024 21/05/2027 29/11/2024 MTC FOR RE-ROOFING, RE-RENDERING AND INSULATON WORKS 2024 - 2028 (HO RF 23 052) 3 DIFFERENT CONTRACTORS APPOINTED £99,000,000 02/12/2024 01/12/2029 29/11/2024 MTC FOR FULL GAS HEATING INSTALLATIONS; 2025-2029 (HO HT 24 033) 2 DIFFERENT CONTRACTORS APPOINTED £40,000,000 22/01/2025 21/01/2029 29/11/2024 MTC FOR WINDOW & DOOR REPLACEMENTS 2025 -2028 (HO WN 24 027) 2 DIFFERENT CONTRACTORS APPOINTED £45,000,000 22/01/2025 21/01/2029 29/11/2024 ANNUAL HOSTED JOB MANAGER AND LICENCES (2024-2025) ADVANCED BUSINESS SOFTWARE & SOLUTIONS LIMITED £99,063 02/12/2024 01/12/2025 03/12/2024 COATBRIDGE; PROPOSED DEVELOPMENT OF EXISTING CARNBROE PRIMARY SCHOOL CLARK CONTRACTS £1,698,882 16/01/2025 28/08/2025 Page 101 of 292
Page 102
04/12/2024 PROVISION OF SANITARY PRODUCTS FAST AID PRODUCTS LIMITED £450,000 05/12/2024 04/12/2028 09/12/2024 HOUSING & ASSET MANAGEMENT SOLUTION CIVICA UK LIMITED £2,500,000 02/12/2024 01/12/2036 11/12/2024 PROVISION OF DOMESTIC FURNITURE & FURNISHINGS 2024 - 2027 CF SERVICES LIMITED £15,173,974 13/01/2025 12/01/2028 17/12/2024 ADVOCACY SERVICES EQUAL SAY LIMITED £3,507,405 03/03/2025 01/03/2030 17/12/2024 SUPPORT FOR UNPAID CARERS AND YOUNG CARERS 5 DIFFERENT CONTRACTORS APPOINTED £16,380,000 03/03/2025 28/02/2031 18/12/2024 DESIGN AND BUILD OF GARTCOSH COMMUNITY HUB HUB SOUTH WEST SCOTLAND LIMITED £31,720,935 18/12/2024 24/08/2026 18/12/2024 NEW BUILD SOCIAL HOUSING AT LABURNUM ROAD, VIEWPARK CCG (SCOTLAND) LIMITED £6,301,325 18/12/2024 01/10/2027 19/12/2024 JACKSON COURT DEMOLITION DEM-MASTER DEMOLITION LIMITED £4,989,490 06/01/2025 05/03/2026 20/12/2024 RAVENSCRAIG ACCESS INFRASTRUCTURE SOUTH - VALUE ENGINEERING REVIEW ATKINSREALIS £157,942 23/12/2024 14/07/2025 20/12/2024 CIVICA UK LIMITED, LICENCE, SUPPORT AND MAINTENANCE SCHEDULE FOR 3 YEARS 2025-28 CIVICA UK LIMITED £226,000 01/04/2025 31/03/2028 06/01/2025 DIRECT PAYMENT SERVICE GCFIL £415,778 06/01/2025 05/01/2028 17/01/2025 MENTAL HEALTH PEER SUPPORT AND SHORT TERM MENTAL HEALTH SUPPORT SERVICE SAMH £3,081,204 01/02/2025 31/01/2029 Page 102 of 292
Page 103
31/01/2025 CONVERSION OF OLD MOTHERWELL TOWN HALL TO SOCIAL HOUSING CLARK CONTRACTS LIMITED £5,856,023 31/01/2025 09/07/2027 31/01/2025 CORPORATE WEB FILTERING SOLUTION SOFTCATC PLC £498,984 01/03/2025 29/02/2028 31/01/2025 ENTERPRISE PROJECT - EXTERNAL ADVISOR APPOINTMENT (3RD GEN) TURNER & TOWNSEND COST MANAGEMENT LIMITED £450,000 03/02/2025 02/02/2028 14/02/2025 COMMUNITY ALARM DIGITAL DEVICES LEGRAND ELECTRIC LIMITED £494,846 17/02/2025 31/03/2025 17/02/2025 GARDEN ASSISTANCE SCHEME & AD HOC GARDEN WORKS 2025 - 2028 5 DIFFERENT CONTRACTORS APPOINTED £5,750,000 10/03/2025 09/03/2029 26/02/2025 PROVISION OF MICROSOFT ENTERPRISE AGREEMENT 2025-2028 PHOENIX SOFTWARE LIMITED £10,883,000 01/04/2025 31/03/2028 26/02/2025 PROVISION OF A SHARED ALARM RECEIVING CENTRE (ARC) TECHNOLOGY SOLUTION CHUBB FIRE & SECURITY LIMITED £412,183 03/03/2025 02/03/2031 27/02/2025 STRATEGIC SUPPORT SERVICES FOR GLENBOIG COMMUNITY HUB FEASIBILITY STUDY / MASTERPLAN HUB SOUTH WEST SCOTLAND LIMITED £153,146 11/02/2025 17/06/2025 27/02/2025 PURCHASE OF 20 X SMALL PANEL VANS 2 DIFFERENT CONTRACTORS APPOINTED £366,503 01/03/2025 31/03/2025 28/02/2025 MULTI AGENCY RISK ASSESSMENT CONFERENCE (MARAC) WOMEN’S AID SOUTH LANARKSHIRE AND EAST RENFREWSHIRE (WASLER) £223,912 01/07/2024 30/06/2027 03/03/2025 ADVOCACY SERVICE CHILDREN & YOUNG PEOPLE WHO CARES SCOTLAND £241,000 03/03/2025 28/02/2026 03/03/2025 WISHAW, EDWARD LAWSON CENTRE - RECOVERY PROJECT PROCAST BUILDING CONTRACTORS LIMITED £2,839,320 31/01/2025 06/06/2025 Page 103 of 292
Page 104
03/03/2025 PURCHASE OF 3 COMPACTORS BERGMANN DIRECT LIMITED £57,696 03/03/2025 31/03/2025 05/03/2025 PROVISION OF SUPPORT FOR PEOPLE AFFECTED BY HUNTINGTON’S DISEASE SCOTTISH HUNTINGTON’S ASSOCIATION £398,898 01/04/2025 31/03/2028 06/03/2025 BUSINESS SUPPORT AND EXPERT HELP SERVICES 2025 – 2029 26 DIFFERENT CONTRACTORS APPOINTED £1,400,000 01/04/2025 31/03/2029 07/03/2025 PROVISION OF INFORMATION AND ADVICE SERVICE (AUTISM) HOPE FOR AUTISM £62,500 01/04/2025 30/09/2025 12/03/2025 DEMOLITION OF ALLAN, COURSINGTON & DRAFFEN TOWERS THOMPSONS OF PRUDHOE LIMITED £5,695,170 12/03/2025 11/03/2026 13/03/2025 SUPPLY AND DELIVERY OF FRESH FRUIT AND VEGETABLES GEORGE CARRUTHERS & SONS LIMITED £2,423,598 01/04/2025 31/03/2029 17/03/2025 PURCHASE OF REFRIGERATION CATERING EQUIPMENT MERCHANT CITY REFRIGERATION (SCOTLAND) LIMITED £480,000 17/03/2025 30/06/2027 19/03/2025 PROVISION OF CONTRACT PROGRESS ANALYST/PROGRAMMERS HARVEY NASH LIMITED £485,000 03/04/2025 02/04/2027 20/03/2025 DOMESTIC ABUSE SACRO £1,384,492 02/06/2025 31/05/2029 20/03/2025 CONTINUATION OF ESRI GIS CONTRACT ESRI (UK) LIMITED £91,905 01/04/2025 31/03/2026 25/03/2025 NEW BUILD SOCIAL HOUSING COSHNEUK ROAD, MILLERSTON JR CONSTRUCTION (SCOTLAND) LIMITED £4,291,649 07/04/2025 01/06/2026 25/03/2025 NEW BUILD SOCIAL HOUSING AT DUNOTTAR AVENUE, SHAWHEAD, COATBRIDGE CCG (SCOTLAND) LIMITED £23,716,921 07/04/2025 14/07/2027 Page 104 of 292
Page 105
27/03/2025 AP EXPORT INTERFACE DEVELOPMENT & SUPPORT 2024-28 (ELCOM INTEGRATION SERVICE) INTEGRELLA LIMITED £89,102 05/11/2024 04/11/2028 27/03/2025 ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY CLIENT SUPPORT SERVICES & MAINTENANCE ACCESS TEHNOLOGY COMPANY (ATC) £468,000 01/04/2025 31/03/2027 27/03/2025 PROVISION OF PROGRESS MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT 2025-27 PROGRESS SOFTWARE LIMITED. £198,000 01/04/2025 31/03/2027 25/05/2024 DPS MINI COMPETITIONS FOR PROVISION OF TRANSPORT OF PUPILS WITH ADDITIONAL SUPPORT NEEDS COMMENCING ACADEMIC YEAR 2024/25 – BATCH 1 AWARDS LISTED ON THE COUNCIL WEBSITE £3,111,288 01/08/2024 30/06/2025 31/05/2024 DPS MINI COMPETITIONS FOR PROVISION OF TRANSPORT OF PUPILS WITH ADDITIONAL SUPPORT NEEDS COMMENCING ACADEMIC YEAR 2024/25 – BATCH 2 AWARDS LISTED ON THE COUNCIL WEBSITE £1,081,765 01/08/2024 30/06/2025 12/07/2024 DPS MINI COMPETITIONS FOR PROVISION OF TRANSPORT OF PUPILS WITH ADDITIONAL SUPPORT NEEDS COMMENCING ACADEMIC YEAR 2024/25 – BATCH 3 AWARDS LISTED ON THE COUNCIL WEBSITE £805,454 01/08/2024 30/06/2025 29/07/2024 DPS MINI COMPETITIONS FOR PROVISION OF TRANSPORT OF PUPILS WITH ADDITIONAL SUPPORT NEEDS COMMENCING ACADEMIC YEAR 2024/25 – BATCH 4 AWARDS LISTED ON THE COUNCIL WEBSITE £324,900 01/08/2024 30/06/2025 Page 105 of 292
Page 106
APPENDIX 3: REGULATED PROCUREMENTS – PLANNED 2025/26 AND 2026/27 REQUIREMENT TITLE ESTIMATED VALUE / BUDGET ANTICIPATED PROCUREMENT START DATE ANTICIPATED CONTRACT START DATE PROPOSED ROUTE TO MARKET TRANSPORT FOR ASN PUPILS 2025 / 26 £6,000,000 APR 25 AUG 25 CALL-OFF FROM COUNCIL FRAMEWORK / DPS TEMPORARY HOUSING BROADBAND SERVICE £1,000,000 APR 25 JUN 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF CREWCAB VANS AND TIPPERS £627,000 APR 25 JUN 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK PROVISION OF CLOUD RECORDS MANAGEMENT SOFTWARE £180,000 APR 25 AUG 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS PROVISION OF WOODLAND AND FORESTRY SITE AUDITS £50,000 APR 25 SEP 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS PROVISION OF LOCAL DEVELOPMENT PLANNING CONSULTANCY SUPPORT £300,000 APR 25 SEP 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS PROVISION OF MULTI FUNCTION DEVICE (MFD) MANAGED PRINT SERVICES £2,535,210 APR 25 SEP 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS MANAGEMENT SERVICES FOR THE CENTRE CUMBERNAULD £2,350,000 APR 25 JAN 26 OPEN PROCEDURE PROVISION OF CASH COLLECTION SERVICES £400,000 APR 25 OCT 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS CONTRACTOR MANAGEMENT / DESIGN TEAM SERVICES - CUMBERNAULD VILLAGE £75,000 APR 25 JUL 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK Page 106 of 292
Page 107
PROVISION OF PANTHEON WEBSITE HOSTING £110,000 APR 25 SEP 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS SUPPLY OF OFFICE FURNITURE £1,000,000 APR 25 SEP 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS REFURBISHMENT OF LANARK COUNTY COUNCIL STYLE HOUSING £5,880,000 MAY 25 DEC 25 OPEN PROCEDURE GROUND INVESTIGATIONS AT PALACERIGG £480,000 MAY 25 AUG 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK PROVISION OF A BUILDING SURVEYING CONSULTANCY (BUILDINGS OVER 11M HIGH) £250,000 MAY 25 AUG 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK MOTHERWELL STATION ACTIVE TRAVEL LINKS PHASE 2 DETAILED DESIGN AND TENDER PREPARATION £200,000 MAY 25 AUG 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SURVEYS FOR COMMON AREA REWIRES £250,000 MAY 25 AUG 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK CONSULTANT SERVICES FOR "OTHER TIMBERS" HOUSING PROJECT £100,000 MAY 25 OCT 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS SUPPLY OF SIGNAGE (CORPORATE) £50,000 MAY 25 OCT 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS SIGNAGE FOR HOUSEHOLD WASTE RECYCLING CENTRES £80,000 MAY 25 NOV 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT FOR THE DEMOLITION AND DECONSTRUCTION OF HIGH-RISE RESIDENTIAL AND COMPLEX BUILDINGS £150,000,000 MAY 25 NOV 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS Page 107 of 292
Page 108
PROJECT MANAGER, QUANTITY SURVEYOR, PRINCIPAL DESIGNER SERVICES FOR GLENBOIG COMMUNITY HUB £700,000 MAY 25 JAN 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS INDEPENDENT TESTER AND COMPLIANCE MONITOR SERVICES FOR GLENBOIG COMMUNITY HUB £200,000 MAY 25 JAN 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS WESTFIELD PRIMARY SCHOOL MUGA PITCH £200,000 MAY 25 OCT 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS MONKLANDS CANAL IMPROVEMENTS FEASIBILITY STUDY £50,000 MAY 25 AUG 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK IMPROVED LINKAGES BETWEEN KEY ASSETS IN COATBRIDGE FEASIBILITY STUDY £50,000 MAY 25 AUG 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF 4X4 VEHICLE £50,000 MAY 25 AUG 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK CONSULTANT - CIVICA IMPLEMENTATION SUPPORT £100,000 MAY 25 AUG 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF 32 SEAT MINIBUSES £2,160,000 MAY 25 SEP 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS BLACKBURN HOUSING CONSULTANCY £320,000 MAY 25 NOV 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF 17 SEAT ACCESSIBLE MINI BUS £400,000 MAY 25 OCT 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS BULKY WASTE MATERIAL (INCLUDING POPS) FROM HOUSEHOLD WASTE RECYCLING CENTRES, SPECIAL UPLIFTS, FLYTIPPING AND HOUSING £11,500,000 MAY 25 OCT 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS Page 108 of 292
Page 109
DISPOSAL AND TREATMENT OF KERBSIDE COLLECTED PAPER AND CARD WASTE £450,000 MAY 25 OCT 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS STRATHCLYDE PARK WATERSPORTS CENTRE REDEVELOPMENT MAIN WORKS PACKAGE £11,000,000 JUN 25 JAN 27 HUB SOUTH WEST ALLERSHAW TOWER DEMOLITION £2,000,000 JUN 25 DEC 25 OPEN PROCEDURE PROVISION OF WINDOW AND GLAZING CLEANING £300,000 JUN 25 JAN 26 OPEN PROCEDURE SUPPLY OF 18T ROAD SWEEPERS £390,000 JUN 25 AUG 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF ELECTRIC CARS £127,181 JUN 25 AUG 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF CRANE OPERATED TRUCK £120,000 JUN 25 AUG 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF HOOK LOADER TRUCK £240,000 JUN 25 AUG 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF PRECINCT SWEEPERS £240,000 JUN 25 AUG 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK UPGRADE OF SPRINKLERS PHASE 4 £1,500,000 JUN 25 FEB 26 OPEN PROCEDURE RESPONSIVE WHOLE FAMILY SUPPORT FOR COMPLEX NEEDS (PLAYPEACE) £236,749 JUN 25 SEP 25 H&SRS AWARD WITHOUT COMPETITION MTC FOR CONTROLLED DOOR ENTRY SYSTEM REPLACEMENTS £6,000,000 JUN 25 JAN 26 OPEN PROCEDURE Page 109 of 292
Page 110
EUROCENTRAL STRATEGIC ACTIVE TRAVEL LINKS PHASE 1 AND 2 £2,000,000 JUN 25 DEC 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS MTC FOR ELECTRIC HEATING REPLACEMENT £2,000,000 JUN 25 SEP 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SKIP SERVICE AND REPAIR £150,000 JUN 25 JAN 26 OPEN PROCEDURE GLENBOIG LINK ROAD ADDITIONAL ECOLOGICAL MONITORING £50,000 JUN 25 SEP 25 NEGOTIATED PROCEDURE SHELTERED HOUSING PHASE 3 - DESIGN TEAM APPOINTMENT £180,000 JUN 25 NOV 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS REFURBISHMENT OF BLACKBURN STYLE HOMES £5,500,000 JUL 25 FEB 26 OPEN PROCEDURE SOLUTIONS FOR ASN PUPILS: EQUIPMENT AND ADAPTATIONS £504,000 JUL 25 FEB 26 OPEN PROCEDURE PLAY AREAS - MOODIESBURN, BARGEDDIE AND EASTFIELD £300,000 JUL 25 NOV 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS PLAY AREAS - CALDERCRUIX, FORGEWOOD, PETERSBURN AND RENNIE ROAD £430,000 JUL 25 NOV 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS PLAY AREAS SPRING - CAMBUSNETHAN & WAVERLEY DRIVE, CAMBUSNETHAN, JERVISTON AND GREEN END £400,000 JUL 25 NOV 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS OUTDOOR GYMS - AUCHINLOCH AND CARDOWAN MEADOW £70,000 JUL 25 NOV 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS SUPPLY OF 26T REFUSE COLLECTION VEHICLES £1,290,000 JUL 25 SEP 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK Page 110 of 292
Page 111
PROVISION OF ADOBE ACROBAT LICENSING £171,000 JUL 25 OCT 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK PROVISION OF UTILITIES (ELECTRICITY, GAS, AND WATER) £150,000,000 JUL 25 OCT 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK MTC FOR LOFT, UNDERFLOOR AND CAVITY WALL INSULATIONS £2,000,000 JUL 25 SEP 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK PROFESSIONAL PROPERTY CONSULTANCY SERVICE £475,000 JUL 25 FEB 26 OPEN PROCEDURE REFURBISHMENT OF 2NO TOWER BLOCKS; WHIFFLET AND CALDER COURT, COATBRIDGE £19,500,000 JUL 25 NOV 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK INDEPENDENT AUDITING SERVICES FOR ELECTRICAL WORKS £80,000 JUL 25 MAY 26 OPEN PROCEDURE EUROCENTRAL STRATEGIC ACTIVE TRAVEL LINKS PHASE 3 DETAILED DESIGN AND TENDER PREPARATION £100,000 JUL 25 DEC 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS SERVICENOW SOLUTION (SUPPORT, PLATFORM MANAGEMENT AND ARCHITECTURAL SUPPORT) £350,000 JUL 25 DEC 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS REVENUES AND BENEFITS WORKFLOW SYSTEM £325,000 JUL 25 DEC 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS PROVISION OF SERVICENOW (SNOW SUPPORT) £577,000 JUL 25 DEC 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS SUPPLY OF 30 X 40 CUBIC YARD SKIPS £210,000 JUL 25 DEC 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS SUPPLY OF WORKWEAR, FOOTWEAR AND PPE £1,000,000 JUL 25 JAN 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS Page 111 of 292
Page 112
CONVERSION OF KILDONAN ST MUNICIPAL BUILDINGS TO SOCIAL HOUSING AND OFFICES £17,500,000 JUL 25 JAN 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS DUNBETH / HIGH COATS & MAXTON DEMOLITION SITE INVESTIGATIONS £100,000 JUL 25 SEP 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK PROJECT MANAGER, QUANTITY SURVEYING AND PRINCIPAL DESIGNER SERVICES FOR GLENBOIG COMMUNITY HUB £1,500,000 JUL 25 OCT 25 NEGOTIATED PROCEDURE SUPPLY OF CATERING SUNDRIES £1,920,000 JUL 25 NOV 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK ADVOCACY SERVICE CHILDREN'S AND YOUNG PEOPLE £900,000 AUG 25 MAR 26 OPEN PROCEDURE NORTH LANARKSHIRE ADULT AND YOUNG CARER SUPPORT SERVICES £50,000 AUG 25 MAR 26 OPEN PROCEDURE SUPPLY OF BAKERY PRODUCTS (BREAD, ROLLS, CAKES AND CONFECTIONERY) £250,000 AUG 25 APR 26 OPEN PROCEDURE SHERIFF OFFICER SERVICES £800,000 AUG 25 APR 26 OPEN PROCEDURE THE HIVE - MANAGEMENT SERVICES £100,000 AUG 25 APR 26 OPEN PROCEDURE PLAYPARK EQUIPMENT REPAIRS £200,000 AUG 25 NOV 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK DUNBETH COURT DEMOLITION £8,000,000 AUG 25 NOV 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK RESILIENCE SOFTWARE £58,000 AUG 25 NOV 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF RIDE ON LAWN MOWERS £132,000 AUG 25 NOV 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK Page 112 of 292
Page 113
SUPPLY OF RIDE ON LAWN MOWERS £180,600 AUG 25 NOV 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF RIDE ON LAWN MOWERS £197,460 AUG 25 NOV 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK PAYMENT PROCESSING SERVICES £100,000 AUG 25 NOV 25 NEGOTIATED PROCEDURE ROUTING AND IN-CAB SOLUTIONS (WASTE AND LAND) £250,000 AUG 25 JAN 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS IT CABLING £487,000 AUG 25 MAR 26 OPEN PROCEDURE BARGEDDIE CROSS - JUNCTION IMPROVEMENTS £2,000,000 AUG 25 JAN 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS MAINTENANCE AND REPAIR OF BUILDING CLEANING EQUIPMENT £1,350,000 AUG 25 FEB 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS SUPPLY AND FIT OF TYRES (INCLUDING ASSOCIATED SERVICES) FOR VEHICLES AND PLANT £330,000 AUG 25 NOV 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK PROVISION OF ROUTING WITH ASSOCIATED IN-CAB AND HANDHELD SOLUTION £188,000 AUG 25 NOV 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK RECYCLING OF SCRAP METAL FROM HOUSEHOLD WASTE RECYCLING CENTRES £0 AUG 25 JAN 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS CUMBERNAULD MASTERPLAN DESIGN TEAM £500,000 AUG 25 JAN 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS CONFIDENTIAL WASTE DISPOSAL £150,000 SEP 25 MAR 26 OPEN PROCEDURE Page 113 of 292
Page 114
PROVISION OF EXTERNAL AUDIT AND TAX ADVICE (NLP AND FUSION ASSETS) £200,000 SEP 25 MAR 26 OPEN PROCEDURE CLYDE VALLEY HS / ORCHARD PS ADDITIONAL CAPACITY WORKS £2,160,000 SEP 25 APR 26 OPEN PROCEDURE LEGAL SERVICES FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT £2,000,000 SEP 25 APR 26 OPEN PROCEDURE BUILDING MANAGEMENT SERVICES £2,000,000 SEP 25 MAY 26 OPEN PROCEDURE EAST AIRDRIE LINK ROAD - CONSULTANCY SERVICES (SPECIMEN DESIGN) AND PROJECT MANAGEMENT £750,000 SEP 25 DEC 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK CUMBERNAULD DEMOLITION CONSULTANT £250,000 SEP 25 DEC 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK INDEPENDENT GAS AUDITS £80,000 SEP 25 APR 26 OPEN PROCEDURE MOBILE WEBCASTING & ELECTRONIC VOTING SOLUTION £180,000 SEP 25 FEB 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS PROVISION OF UIPATH LICENSING £180,000 OCT 25 DEC 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK AIRDRIE LEISURE CENTRE PUMP TRACK £140,000 OCT 25 FEB 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS DETAILED DESIGN OF RAVENSCRAIG INFRASTRUCTRE ACCESS SOUTH - WINDMILLHILL STREET TO RAVENSCRAIG £750,000 OCT 25 DEC 25 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF BIOMASS HEATING SYSTEM FUEL £450,000 OCT 25 APR 26 OPEN PROCEDURE SMART HUB LANARKSHIRE £200,000 OCT 25 APR 26 OPEN PROCEDURE Page 114 of 292
Page 115
TENANT SATISFACTION SURVEY'S £50,000 OCT 25 JUN 26 OPEN PROCEDURE SUPPLY OF VEHICLE PARTS £3,000,000 OCT 25 FEB 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK NEW BUILD SOCIAL HOUSING AT BANK STREET, COATBRIDGE £4,500,000 OCT 25 FEB 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK NEW BUILD SOCIAL HOUSING AT BANK STREET, COATBRIDGE £4,500,000 OCT 25 FEB 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK ROOFING WORKS AT PIVOT COMMUNITY CENTRE, MOODIESBURN £4,000,000 OCT 25 MAR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS MANNED GUARDING AND KEY HOLDING SERVICES £150,000 OCT 25 MAR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS GARDEN WASTE PERMIT PRINT AND DELIVERY SERVICES £500,000 OCT 25 APR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS CONTAMINATED LAND INVESTIGATIONS AND ASSESSMENT REPORTS FOR PLANNING APPLICANTS £120,000 OCT 25 APR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK CONTAMINATED LAND SITE INVESTIGATIONS £100,000 OCT 25 APR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK PROJECT MANAGER, QUANTITY SURVEYOR, PRINCIPAL DESIGNER SERVICES FOR ABRONHILL COMMUNITY HUB £700,000 OCT 25 JUN 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS INDEPENDENT TESTER AND COMPLIANCE MONITOR SERVICES FOR ABRONHILL COMMUNITY HUB £200,000 OCT 25 JUN 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS Page 115 of 292
Page 116
PROJECT MANAGER, QUANTITY SURVEYOR, PRINCIPAL DESIGNER SERVICES FOR ABRONHILL COMMUNITY HUB £1,000,000 OCT 25 JUN 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS INDEPENDENT TESTER AND COMPLIANCE MONITOR SERVICES FOR ABRONHILL COMMUNITY HUB £500,000 OCT 25 JUN 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS SUPPLY OF SACKS AND LINERS £250,000 OCT 25 JAN 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF LAND MANAGEMENT TOOLS £150,000 OCT 25 MAR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS SUPPLY OF HERBICIDES AND OTHER CHEMICALS £300,000 OCT 25 MAR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS SUPPLY OF EDUCATIONAL FURNITURE £1,000,000 NOV 25 MAR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS SUPPLY OF AIDS FOR DAILY LIVING £2,625,000 NOV 25 JUN 26 OPEN PROCEDURE SUPPLY OF BOX VANS £96,000 NOV 25 JAN 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF VANS £160,000 NOV 25 JAN 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK NEW BUILD SOCIAL HOUSING AT DALZELL DRIVE, MOTHERWELL. £6,480,000 NOV 25 MAR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK NEW BUILD SOCIAL HOUSING AT HILL STREET (FORMER ST MARY'S PS), CALDERCRUIX £6,000,000 NOV 25 MAR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK Page 116 of 292
Page 117
FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT FOR AD-HOC PASSENGER TRANSPORT (COACHES, MINIBUSES AND TAXIS) £3,200,000 NOV 25 APR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS FRAMEWORK AGREEMENT FOR VEHICLE MAINTAINED, REPAIRS AND OPERATIONAL DAMAGE, £2,500,000 NOV 25 APR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS PROVISION OF LAN / SAN HARDWARE SUPPLY / MAINTENANCE £50,000 NOV 25 APR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS GLENMANOR PRIMARY SCHOOL MUGA PITCH £200,000 NOV 25 APR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS SUPPLY OF PEOPLE CARRIER / 8/9 SEATER CARS £385,000 NOV 25 JAN 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK PROVISION OF STORE SERVICES (COMBINE SACKS, TOOLS, PAINTS, FERTILISERS) £2,000,000 NOV 25 APR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS BAIRNS' HOOSE DEVELOPMENT FUND £102,640 DEC 25 FEB 26 H&SRS AWARD WITHOUT COMPETITION SHARED COLLEGE SUPPORT £120,000 DEC 25 JUN 26 OPEN PROCEDURE SUPPLY OF THREE (3) X MECHANICAL HANDLERS £500,000 DEC 25 APR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK NEW BUILD SOCIAL HOUSING AT NEWTON DRIVE (FORMER ST BRIGID'S PRIMARY SCHOOL), NEWMAINS £8,750,000 DEC 25 APR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF HAND HELD TOOLS AND EQUIPMENT £50,000 DEC 25 MAR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK Page 117 of 292
Page 118
RAVENSCRAIG ACTIVE TRAVEL LINK (RAVENSCRAIG EMPLOYMENT AREA TO MOTHERWELL) - STAGE 3 MULTIDISCIPLINARY DESIGN SERVICES £100,000 DEC 25 MAR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK 4 TOWERS MULTI DISCIPLINARY CONSULTANT £180,000 JAN 26 MAR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK WORKWEAR, FOOTWEAR AND PPE FOR HOMECARE WORKERS £450,000 JAN 26 MAY 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS PROVISION OF GEOGRAPHIC INFORMATION SYSTEM (MAPPING) SOFTWARE £300,000 JAN 26 APR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK NEW BUILD SOCIAL HOUSING AT TAY STREET, COATBRIDGE (PENTLAND) £4,400,000 JAN 26 MAY 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF GROCERIES AND PROVISIONS £12,000,000 JAN 26 JUL 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS COATBRIDGE MAIN STREET IMPROVEMENTS FEASIBILITY STUDY £50,000 JAN 26 APR 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK ROADS COMPLIANCE TESTING £150,000 FEB 26 SEP 26 OPEN PROCEDURE CONDORRAT PRIMARY SCHOOL - ROOF REPLACEMENT(TARGETED INVESTMENT) £2,160,000 FEB 26 JUL 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS PROVISION OF POSTAL SERVICES £2,736,338 FEB 26 JUL 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS CONDORRAT PRIMARY SCHOOL - ELECTRICAL (TARGETED INVESTMENT) £2,010,000 FEB 26 JUL 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS Page 118 of 292
Page 119
PROVISION OF BANKING SERVICES £300,000 FEB 26 AUG 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS ADMINISTRATION SUPPORT OF ENGAGEMENT AND PARTICIPATION (SUPPORTED PEOPLE) £945,000 MAR 26 OCT 26 OPEN PROCEDURE UNIX ORACLE SUPPORT HOSTED SERVICES. £285,000 MAR 26 AUG 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS RENTAL OF CO-LOCATION DATA CENTRE SERVICES £50,000 MAR 26 AUG 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS NEW BUILD SOCIAL HOUSING AT GARTLEA ROAD, AIRDRIE (COATS HOUSE) £6,300,000 MAR 26 SEP 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS NEW BUILD SOCIAL HOUSING AT FORMER PORTLAND SCHOOL, COATBRIDGE £6,000,000 MAR 26 NOV 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS NEW BUILD SOCIAL HOUSING AT ELM CRESCENT (FORMER MUIRPARK CARE HOME) £6,250,000 MAR 26 NOV 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS DELIVERY OF BA CHILDHOOD PRACTICE COURSE £308,000 MAR 26 OCT 26 OPEN PROCEDURE TRANSPORT FOR ASN PUPILS 2026 / 27 £6,000,000 APR 26 AUG 26 CALL-OFF FROM COUNCIL FRAMEWORK / DPS PROVISION OF INSURANCE COVER FOR THE COUNCIL'S INSURANCE PROGRAMME £17,856,685 APR 26 OCT 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS DESIGN AND BUILD OF RAVENSCRAIG COMMUNITY HUB £68,500,000 APR 26 DEC 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS SUPPLY OF FROZEN FOODS £8,500,000 APR 26 OCT 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS Page 119 of 292
Page 120
HR AND PAYROLL SOLUTION, LICENSING AND MAINTENANCE £2,500,000 MAY 26 DEC 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS PROVISION OF AN ONLINE SCHOOL PAYMENTS SOLUTION £170,000 MAY 26 OCT 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS FRAMEWORK FOR SERVICES LINKED TO SCOTTISH ATTAINMENT CHALLENGE AND PUPIL EQUITY FUND £17,000,000 MAY 26 JAN 27 OPEN PROCEDURE NEW BUILD SOCIAL HOUSING AT FORMER DUNBETH TOWER, COATBRIDGE £25,500,000 MAY 26 JAN 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS INTELLIGENT EMAIL SECURITY SOFTWARE £230,000 JUN 26 NOV 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS EAST AIRDRIE LINK ROAD - DESIGN AND BUILD (DESIGN AND PHASED WORKS) - FIRST STAGE OF CONTRACT DESIGN/SECOND PHASE WORKS £110,000,000 JUN 26 JAN 27 OPEN PROCEDURE SUPPLY AND FIT OF TYRES (INCLUDING ASSOCIATED SERVICES) FOR VEHICLES AND PLANT £1,500,000 JUN 26 NOV 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS TENANTS HOME CONTENTS INSURANCE SCHEME £2,200,000 JUL 26 APR 27 OPEN PROCEDURE SUPPLY OF MILK £2,500,000 AUG 26 SEP 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK TOTAL LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEM GOVERNMENT (PUBLIC SECTOR) CATALOGUE INTEGRATION MAINTENANCE £300,000 AUG 26 NOV 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK DISPOSAL AND TREATMENT OF KERBSIDE COLLECTED GLASS, METAL AND PLASTICS WASTE £1,500,000 AUG 26 JAN 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS NEURODEVELOPMENTAL FAMILY SUPPORT £524,000 SEP 26 APR 27 OPEN PROCEDURE Page 120 of 292
Page 121
DISTRESS BRIEF INTERVENTION SUPPORT £2,012,000 SEP 26 APR 27 OPEN PROCEDURE WHOLELIFE FAMILY SUPPORT £4,284,000 SEP 26 APR 27 OPEN PROCEDURE COUNSELLOR FOR CARE EXPERIENCED YOUNG PEOPLE £190,000 SEP 26 APR 27 OPEN PROCEDURE DEMOLITION ANVIL BLOCK - CONSULTANT APPOINTMENT £300,000 SEP 26 DEC 26 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK PROVISION OF DOMESTIC FLOORING £1,500,000 OCT 26 FEB 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS PROVISION OF DIGITAL MENTAL HEALTH AND WELLBEING SUPPORT SOLUTION £120,000 OCT 26 MAR 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS UTILITIES MONITORING AND TARGETING DATABASE £300,000 OCT 26 MAY 27 OPEN PROCEDURE BOTTLED WATERCOOLERS AND ASSOCIATED PRODUCTS £250,000 OCT 26 MAR 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS PROVISION OF COMMUNITY LIVING SUPPORT £1,300,000 NOV 26 JUN 27 OPEN PROCEDURE FLEET MANAGEMENT SOLUTION £300,000 NOV 26 APR 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS ASSISTIVE TECHNOLOGY CLIENT SUPPORT SERVICES AND MAINTENANCE £234,000 NOV 26 APR 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS EASTFIELD PRIMARY SCHOOL MUGA PITCH £200,000 NOV 26 APR 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS Page 121 of 292
Page 122
NEW BUILD SOCIAL HOUSING AT COATS ST, COATBRIDGE (FORMER JACKSON TOWER) £18,750,000 NOV 26 JUL 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS SUPPLY OF ELECTRIC CARS £284,200 NOV 26 JAN 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF SMALL ELECTRIC VAN £203,400 NOV 26 JAN 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF PEOPLE CARRIER / 8/9 SEATER CARS £219,780 NOV 26 JAN 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF PANEL VANS - ELECTRIC £203,400 NOV 26 JAN 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF VANS - ELECTRIC £207,700 NOV 26 JAN 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF VANS £428,400 NOV 26 JAN 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF 4X4 VEHICLES £120,000 NOV 26 JAN 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK REMOVAL, STORAGE, REDISTRIBUTION AND DISPOSAL SERVICES £450,000 NOV 26 JUN 27 OPEN PROCEDURE FLEXIBLE FRAMEWORK FOR EARLY LEARNING AND CHILDCARE SERVICES IN NORTH LANARKSHIRE £63,000,000 DEC 26 AUG 27 OPEN PROCEDURE MICROSOFT 365 BACK UP SOLUTION £170,000 DEC 26 MAY 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS PROVISION OF OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH SERVICES AND EMPLOYEE ASSISTANCE PROGRAMME £2,775,000 DEC 26 JUN 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS Page 122 of 292
Page 123
SUPPLY OF FRESH MEATS, COOKED MEATS AND FRESH FISH £3,000,000 JAN 27 JUN 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS MAKING LIFE EASIER WEB-SOLUTION FOR SOCIAL CARE £306,000 JAN 27 AUG 27 OPEN PROCEDURE ROAD CORING £250,000 JAN 27 SEP 27 OPEN PROCEDURE PROVISION OF PROGRESS MAINTENANCE AND SUPPORT £208,000 JAN 27 APR 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK REFRIGERATION CATERING EQUIPMENT SUPPLY AND REPAIR £1,350,000 JAN 27 JUL 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS NEW BUILD SOCIAL HOUSING AT FORMER COURSINGTON TOWER, MOTHERWELL £18,900,000 JAN 27 SEP 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS SUPPLY AND DELIVERY OF LIQUID FUELS £15,000,000 JAN 27 APR 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK SUPPLY OF 26T REFUSE COLLECTION VEHICLES £1,290,000 FEB 27 APR 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK PROVISION OF WASHROOM SOLUTIONS £500,000 FEB 27 MAY 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK CARDINAL NEWMAN HS RE-ROOFING £3,000,000 FEB 27 JUL 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS BEFRIENDING SERVICE NORTH LANARKSHIRE £380,000 MAR 27 OCT 27 OPEN PROCEDURE PROVISION OF A FLEET TRACKER SYSTEM £280,000 MAR 27 AUG 27 CALL-OFF FROM 3RD PARTY FRAMEWORK / DPS Page 123 of 292
Page 124
RECRUITMENT ADVERTISING AND PINS £1,100,000 MAR 27 OCT 27 OPEN PROCEDURE Page 124 of 292
Page 125
North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref GT / PH Date 10/09/25 Revenues and Benefits Update From Greg Telfer, Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) E-mail TelferG@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07583 010692 Executive Summary This report provides an update on the performance within the Revenues and Benefits functions of Finance and Technology as at 30 June 2025. Key points to note include: • As at 30 June 2025, 29.10% of Council Tax due for 2025/26 had been collected. This is a marginal increase from the same period last financial year (0.08%). • Non-Domestic Rates collection at 30 June 2025 20.90% of the total annual charge which is slightly higher than the previous financial year (20.63%). • The Service continues to meet statutory timescales for administering benefits applications and changes of circumstance. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance and Resources Committee: (1) Acknowledge the content of the report. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (21) Continue to identify and access opportunities to leverage additional resources to support our ambitions Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 10 Page 125 of 292
Page 126
1. Background 1.1 The Finance Service is responsible for the administration and collection of all local taxation in North Lanarkshire in the form of Council Tax and Non Domestic Rates. 1.2 In addition, the Service administers a number of benefits for residents of North Lanarkshire including Housing Benefit, Council Tax Reduction, Scottish Welfare Fund, Discretionary Housing Payment, Free School Meals, Clothing Grants and Blue Badges. 2. Report Council Tax 2.1 The graph below shows the cash collected at 30 June for each financial year. It is worth noting that cash is allocated to specific Council Tax years so the graph represents cash received against the initial billing year (i.e. billed and received in 2025/26) and does not include cash collected in subsequent years (i.e. billed in 2024/25 but received in 2025/26). This ensures a like for like comparison. 2.2 The collection figure to 30 June in the 2025/26 financial year of 29.10% is 0.08% higher than the same period last financial year. 2.3 It should be noted that in-year collection of Council Tax is a Statutory Performance Indicator. However, it does not reflect the overall collection rate of Council Tax which includes collection of prior year arrears. This latter measure has a greater bearing on the Council’s finances and is reflected in the regular budget monitoring reports to Committee. 2.4 Members may be aware that the Service undertakes an ongoing programme of discount and exemption reviews to ensure that everyone receives the discounts they 0.00 5.00 10.00 15.00 20.00 25.00 30.00 35.00 40.00 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26 Percentage of annual billing collected (%) Financial Year Council Tax Collection Rate at 30 June Page 126 of 292
Page 127
are entitled to and that discounts are awarded to the appropriate people. A review of all customers currently receiving single person discount (SPD) is about to commence. 2.5 This review was last completed during 2023 by outsourcing this to an external third- party to match and review council tax SPD records to credit reference data. This yielded positive results, and as such, we are again using an external third-party to undertake this review. Where initial data matching indicates a potential risk of fraud or error, residents will receive a letter requesting they update their details in respect of their entitlement to SPD by using the either the text facility noted on the letter, completing an online SPD review form or returning the letter to the address noted on it with the relevant information. This will also discharge the requirement to review any matches for SPD identified via the National Fraud Initiative (NFI), as the NFI report will be matched to the outcome of this review. The results will be reported to the Audit and Scrutiny Panel, in accordance with established practice. Non-Domestic Rates 2.6 The following graph shows the cash collected at 30 June for each financial year: 2.7 The collection figure to 30 June in the 2025/26 financial year is 20.90%. This represents an increase of 0.27% compared to the same time period in 2024/25. Housing Benefits 2.8 The data below highlights the Statutory Performance Indicators measuring the speed of processing for new Housing Benefit claims and for changes in circumstances. The table below shows the cumulative figures for the 2025/26 financial year. Days to Process 2024/25 2025/26 DWP Processing Target New Claims 12 16 < 30 days Change of Circumstances 9 7 < 16 days 2.9 The Service continues to meet DWP targets aligned to the statutory requirements for the speed of processing of both new claims and changes of circumstances. 0 5 10 15 20 25 2019/20 2020/21 2021/22 2022/23 2023/24 2024/25 2025/26Percentage of annual billing collected (%) Financial Year Non Domestic Rates Collection Rate at 30 June Page 127 of 292
Page 128
Council Tax Reduction Scheme 2.10 As at 30 June 2025 a total of £29.140m in Council Tax Reduction has been awarded for the 2025/26 financial year. This compares to £26.278m to the same period during 2023/24, representing an increase of £2.862m (10.89%). 2.11 The Service received 1,577 applications between 1 April and 30 June 2025 compared with 1,862 during 2024/25, representing a decrease of 15.30%. 2.12 The Service continues to see an upward trend in the volume of changes in circumstances requests. From 1 April to 30 June 2025 a total of 57,841 changes were processed compared to 44,951 for the previous financial year; an increase of 28.7%. Discretionary Housing Payments (DHP) 2.13 From 1 April 2017 funding for DHP has been devolved to Scottish Government. This funding supports both the Scottish Government’s commitment to fully fund the implications of the Bedroom Tax and an additional sum available for other reasons such as the Benefit cap and the restrictions on Local Housing Allowance rates. 2.14 From 1 January 2023 the Scottish Government is fully funding the implications of mitigating the benefit cap. This was announced as part of the tackling child poverty delivery plan ‘Best Start, Bright Futures’ in March 2022. Local authority Leaders have agreed to fuller benefit cap mitigation through the DHP scheme from 1st January 2023. For 2025/26 the Scottish Government has provided ring-fenced funding of £0.469m to mitigate the benefit cap. As at 30 June, the amount paid and committed in respect of the benefit cap was £0.007m (1.49%). 2.15 As at 30 June 2025 the total paid and committed in respect of Bedroom Tax was £5.492m. In comparison, this sum was £5.581m at the same point during 2023/24. 2.16 In addition the Council also receives £0.467m in respect of non-bedroom tax related issues. As at 30 June 2025 £0.121m (25.86%) has been paid or committed from the fund. 2.17 As in previous years, the Service will continue to liaise with colleagues in Housing and Housing Associations to encourage applications to the fund. In addition, the Service will also liaise with Universal Credit claimants affected by the benefit cap who could possibly be eligible for the mitigation. Scottish Welfare Fund 2.18 The Council has administered the Scottish Government’s Scottish Welfare Fund (SWF) since 1 April 2016. 2.19 The Scottish Government provides an annual award budget of £2.760m to North Lanarkshire Council. 2.20 As indicated in the last update to Committee, the Council has continued to assess applications at High priority. This means that applications will only be considered where there is immediate and severe need, applicants are highly vulnerable, where there will be significantly adverse impacts to health and wellbeing with a no grant award, and where the effect of the grant is immediate and substantial. Staff assessing Scottish Welfare Fund applications are highly trained in making these judgements in Page 128 of 292
Page 129
accordance with the statutory guidance and where an application is unsuccessful they will signpost the applicant to other community-based supports. 2.21 There are two grant schemes and their relative performance during 2025/26 and prior year comparison is as follows: 2025/26 Applications Assessed Awards Unsuccessful Applications Acceptance Rate Crisis Grants 4,563 3,505 1,058 76.8% Community Care Grants 907 588 319 64.8% Total 5,470 4,093 1,377 74.8% 2024/25 Applications Assessed Awards Unsuccessful Applications Acceptance Rate Crisis Grants 5,077 3,757 1,320 74.0% Community Care Grants 1,444 1,015 429 70.3% Total 6,521 4,772 1,719 73.2% 2.22 As at 30 June 2025, the total financial value of grants paid from the Scottish Welfare Fund amounted to £674,669. The underspend carried forward from 2024/25 has now been utilised and the award budget for 2025/26 is now being spent. 2.23 During 2025/26, the Scottish Welfare Fund has seen a decrease in demand for Crisis applications of 10.1% and a decrease in demand for Community Care Grant applications of 37.2%. The decline in SWF application volumes during 2025/26 appears to be influenced by a combination of policy, awareness, accessibility, and broader socioeconomic factors. The continued application of High priority criteria will likely maintain this trend 2.24 The Service strives to assess applications within the timescales outlined within Scottish Government guidance. Throughout the period the Service has largely continued to assess Crisis applications within the two working day time limit. Whilst it has been more challenging throughout the last year to meet the 15 working day time limit for Community Care Grants, the Service is currently assessing such applications within that timeframe and continues to Fastrack applications linked to homelessness supporting the wider Rapid Rehousing and Homes First strategies. Clothing Grants and Free School Meals 2.25 The Finance Service administers Clothing Grant payments and applications for Free School Meals on behalf of the Council for families meeting low-income eligibility criteria. 2.26 Members will recall that the Finance Service amended the processing arrangements for both clothing grants and free school meals last year, via the introduction of improved digital solutions (an online form and robotic process automation to reduce the level of manual checking by staff), which resulted in a significant increase in the number of applications administered and paid out at the start of the summer holiday period. Page 129 of 292
Page 130
2.27 The same process has continued this year and to provide the most up-to-date position, as at 31 July 2025, the Service administered and paid out 9,118 Clothing Grants (9,069 for the same period last year). The Service also awarded 8,055 Free School Meal applications in this period which is in line with the same period last year (8,005). Blue Badges 2.28 The Finance Service administers the Blue Badge scheme in accordance with Scottish Government guidance. The eligibility criteria means that some are automatically entitled to a Blue Badge. In other cases, the Council assesses an individual’s eligibility which may include the requirement for a mobility assessment and meeting a healthcare professional. 2.29 As at 30 June 2025, the Service administered 3,074 Blue Badge applications with 2,467 awarded (80.25% award rate). Over the same period in the 2024/25 financial year the Service administered 3,053 applications with 2,572 awarded (84.2% award rate). 2.30 Scottish Government guidance states that applicants should receive a decision on their application in around 12 weeks. The Council is currently reaching a decision within 4 weeks. Visitor Levy 2.31 Committee will recall their request that officers continue to investigate the potential for introducing a Visitor Levy within North Lanarkshire which could see additional funding being raised from tourist and business visitors and subsequently reinvested to improve local facilities and services. A Visitor Levy Working Group consisting of various officers across relevant Services has been established to create a draft Visitor Levy Strategy with subsequent sub groups being created to further explore the potential impact of introducing a levy; including soft engagement with the business community and learning from neighbouring authority’s early launch; as well as considering the cost implications of set up, administration and monitoring of such a scheme versus the likely revenue to be generated. 2.32 This work remains ongoing and the outcome of this along with a recommendation on how to proceed will be reported to a future meeting of the Policy and Strategy Committee. Other Considerations 2.33 The Finance and Technology service is currently in the process of procuring an updated Revenues and Benefits system that will support the ongoing administration of revenues and benefits for the Council and support the collection of local taxation. The contract strategy document anticipates that following extensive market research this will be a direct award to the current provider through a Crown Commercial framework. The service will report the outcome of the procurement exercise to Committee in line with the Council’s General Contract Standing Orders. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Continuous improvement in processing and collection rates. Page 130 of 292
Page 131
4. Supporting documentation None Greg Telfer Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) Page 131 of 292
Page 132
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 ☐ Page 132 of 292
Page 133
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? The Service has been liaising with Business and Digital on the Landlord Portal and RPA developments and these will be managed in line with Business and Digital’s available resources. 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 133 of 292
Page 134
Page 134 of 292
Page 135
North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref GT/KS/FC/DC Date 10/09/25 Revenue Monitoring Report Council Summary 1 April 2025 to 18 July 2025 From Greg Telfer, Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) E-mail TelferG@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07583 010692 Executive Summary This report updates on the overall financial position for the General Fund Account, Housing Revenue Account and Adult Health and Social Care, for the financial year to 31 March 2026. The report consolidates the budget monitoring position of all Services, highlighting and explaining major variances as per the Council’s approved Financial Regulations. The Council approved its General Fund Revenue Budget on 20 February 2025. Following confirmation of funding from Scottish Government, at the time of reporting, the overall budget is now £1,088.895m. At this early stage in the year, a surplus of £0.487m is currently projected. The 2025/26 budget incorporates £6.628m of net savings. It is projected that £5.894m of the savings (89%) will be delivered within the financial year, with replacement savings of £0.734m identified to fully address the shortfall. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance and Resource Committee: (1) Acknowledge the financial position of the 2025/26 revenue budget; and (2) Otherwise endorse the contents of this report. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement (25) Ensure intelligent use of data and information to support fully evidence based decision making and future planning Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 11 Page 135 of 292
Page 136
1. Background 1.1 The Council’s approved Financial Regulations require services to remain within their approved budgetary provision, and to report all significant deviations - defined as the higher of £100,000 or 5% - within their budget monitoring reports. Where significant deviations are identified, services must provide explanatory commentary, outline the action required to rectify such deviations and where relevant, must also highlight the impact this has on other budget headings. 2. Report 2.1 At its meeting of 20 February 2025, the Council approved a General Fund Revenue Budget of £1,095.241m including expenditure budgets which will be offset by ring fenced grant resources of £15.296m, resulting in a net expenditure position for monitoring purposes of £1,079.945m. Following confirmation of Scottish Government funding for financial year 2025/26, and after reflecting, for monitoring purposes, the reversal of use of balances in respect of previously approved savings now applied, the overall total budget is now £1,088.895m. 2.2 Following the budget setting in February 2025 the Council has an approved savings target of £6.628m for 2025/26. Further detail can be found in Section 2.9 below. 2.3 Table 1 below summarises the projected income and expenditure position, which illustrates a balanced budget, is currently envisaged at this early stage in the financial year. Annual Budget (£m) Projected Outturn (£m) P4 Variance (£m) Expenditure Total Expenditure 1,088.895 1,088.408 0.487 Income Aggregate External Finance 895.837 895.837 - Local Tax Collection 187.769 187.769 - Use of Balance 5.289 5.289 - Total Income 1,088.895 1,088.895 - Forecast Surplus/ (Deficit): to support future budgets - 0.487 0.487 Table 1 Analysis of Significant Variations 2.4 Table 2 as follows illustrates the projected outturn financial position of services: Page 136 of 292
Page 137
Service P4 Outturn (£m) Education and Families - On Budget Enterprise and Communities - On Budget Chief Executives and Other Corporate Services 0.487 Underspend Social Work (Non-Integrated) - On Budget Forecast Surplus/ (deficit): to support future budgets 0.487 Underspend Table 2 2.5 Enterprise and Communities is reporting a projected breakeven position, with a number of compensatory variances contributing to this overall position. Employee costs are forecast to underspend by £1.308m as a result of vacancy savings partially offset by increased overtime and turnover, together with an underspend of £0.242m in Administration costs due to service redesign reducing First Stop Shops costs partly offset by overspends on professional fees due to vacancies in the design team. These underspends are offset by overspends in payments to other bodies of £0.533m, primarily as a result of overspends in asset management, waste and fleet to cover current vacancies, £0.279m in supplies and services primarily due to increased ICT costs, and £0.362m overspend in property costs due to increased costs of stair and close lighting and repairs. In addition, income is projected to under-recover by £0.383m due to reduced recharges to capital as result of staff vacancies offset by an over recovery in garden waste charges. 2.6 Chief Executives and Other Corporate Services is reporting a projected underspend of £0.487m, primarily as a result of employee cost savings across the service totalling £0.189m due to vacancies, an underspend within Administration costs of £0.082m mainly in respect of reduced training costs, and an over-recovery in income of £0.176m relating to the NLP Financial Guarantee, and interest on repayments of VAT from HMRC. 2.7 Committee is also advised that the budget for both council tax income and council tax reduction (CTR) are monitored on an ongoing basis. This includes consideration of council tax collection, CTR uptake and household numbers. In addition, an assessment of expected credit losses will be required. At this point in the financial year the Council Tax product is expected to be on budget and an update on this position will be reported further into the financial year. 2.8 It should be noted that the 2025/26 pay awards for non-Teachers has now been settled with an uplift of 4% for 2025/26 and a further 3.5% for 2026/27 agreed. Negotiations in relation Teachers pay award are still ongoing. Scottish Government has given commitments around additional funding to support this offer. The full cost implications will be finalised in due course, however at present it is anticipated that the provision made within the 2025/26 budget in relation to pay awards, together with the additional funding, will be sufficient to meet the costs. 2.9 In line with recent years Scottish Government’s funding for pay includes £39.000m to be made through capital funding for 2025/26. Although the value has not yet been confirmed, North Lanarkshire Council has been asked to absorb a proportion of this in lieu of revenue funding. As a result, the reported net budget illustrated in appendix 1 Page 137 of 292
Page 138
is expected to be reduced, with a corresponding increase in General Capital Grant. As in previous years, it is expected that a Local Government Finance Circular will be issued providing a temporary amendment to the statutory accounting requirements for capital grant which allows the necessary flexibilities in accounting such that the grant can be used to offset the revenue pressures linked to pay award, thus ensuring this transfer does not have a negative impact on the Council's overall revenue position. 2025/26 Budget Savings 2.10 As outlined in paragraph 2.2 above, the Council has approved net savings of £6.628m for 2025/26. Each Service reports on the achievement of their savings within the relevant service monitoring report. It is projected that £5.894m of savings (89%) will be achieved in the current year, with replacement savings of £0.734m identified to fully address the shortfall. Earmarked Reserves and Change Management Fund 2.11 The Council’s unaudited annual accounts highlight a General Fund reserve balance of £281.970m. This balance includes £8.000m for the Contingency Fund, with a further £242.079m earmarked for specific future commitments including £12.563m allocated to the Change Management Fund to support one off costs of approved savings and to ensure the Council has a resilient and sustainable financial plan. The remaining £31.891m of funds have been set aside to support future budget strategies. 2.12 A total of £143.138m of earmarked reserves is profiled for use in 2025/26 with a further £98.941m profiled for use in future years. It is currently projected that £142.845m will be spent during this financial year with £98.941m anticipated to be required in future years and £0.293m no longer required. A summary position is shown in Appendix 2. Taking into account the projected forecast surplus of £0.487m and £0.293m of earmarked reserves no longer required, it is expected that at the end of the financial year the General Fund will include funds set aside for future budget pressures of £32.671m as detailed in Appendix 3. These balances are to support future budget challenges in accordance with the approved reserves policy, and any budget smoothing strategy recommended by the S95 Officer. Risks and Uncertainty 2.13 All activities undertaken by the Council are subject to risk, and in acknowledging the Council’s approved Risk Management Strategy, Services manage these as part of their overall corporate and service planning processes. The current economic climate and pay and non-pay inflation continuing at historically high levels, are some of the key factors that have the potential to impact upon the Council’s ability to provide quality services within approved budget levels. Housing Revenue Account 2.14 The Housing Revenue Account is currently projecting a Breakeven position for the financial year and anticipate that £1.050m of savings (100%) will be delivered by year end. Adult Health and Social Care 2.15 Council Adult Health and Social Care provision to the Integration Joint Board (IJB) is projecting an overspend of £5.936m mainly as a result of overspends in payments to other bodies and transfer payments of £6.802m primarily in relation to increased Page 138 of 292
Page 139
demand in relation to Care at Home and Independent Care homes. These overspends are partially offset underspend in employee costs of £0.760m as a result of slippage in relation to recruitment across the service. The net overspend for the year will be fully funded from IJB reserves. Arm’s Length External Organisations 2.16 Following Committee agreement this paragraph will provide financial performance information in relation to the Council’s Arm’s Length External Organisations (ALEOs), namely North Lanarkshire Properties and Fusion Assets. However, these organisations have their own governance arrangements, and report on their financial performance to the appropriate Boards/ Management Committee in line with their own reporting timetables. Therefore, at this point in the financial year, financial reporting information relating to 2025/26 for these companies is not yet available. However, this information will be incorporated into future Revenue Monitoring Reports. 3. Measures of success 3.1 The Council continues to operate within approved budgeted resources. 4. Supporting documentation Appendix 1 Summary by Division Appendix 2 Anticipated Commitments – Earmarked Reserves Appendix 3 Availability of One-Off Funds – Change Management Fund Greg Telfer Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) Page 139 of 292
Page 140
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 ☐ Page 140 of 292
Page 141
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 141 of 292
Page 142
LINE SERVICE ACCOUNT ANNUAL PROVISIONAL NO. BUDGET OUTTURN (1) (2) (3) (4) £ £ £ 1 Education, Children & Families 529,322,532 529,322,532 - 2 Early Years 32,272,807 32,272,807 - 3 Primary Schools 138,899,296 138,899,296 - 4 Secondary Schools 138,928,199 138,928,199 - 5 Special Schools 27,610,971 27,610,971 - 6 Education & Families Service Delivery 138,510,947 138,510,947 - 7 Childrens Services Social Work 43,300,552 43,300,552 - 8 Justice Services 93,996 93,996 - 10 Employability 2,870,623 2,870,623 - 11 Community Learning 4,669,239 4,669,239 - 12 Tackling Poverty 2,165,902 2,165,902 - 13 Enterprise & Communities 231,760,948 231,760,948 - 14 Assets & Procurement 41,404,659 41,456,018 (51,359 ) 15 Trading Accounts (462,203 ) (15,001 ) (447,202 ) 16 Community Operations 175,478,289 175,604,596 (126,307 ) 17 Housing Management 6,048,616 5,752,397 296,219 18 Place 9,291,587 8,962,938 328,649 19 Chief Executives & Other Corporate Services 114,657,904 114,170,828 487,076 20 Directorate & Support 1,287,897 1,286,525 1,372 21 Finance & Technology 71,741,120 71,546,219 194,901 22 Audit & Risk 495,586 475,384 20,202 23 Legal & Democratic 2,999,478 2,911,699 87,779 24 People Resources 9,754,789 9,712,617 42,172 25 Strategy & Communications 7,260,044 7,260,044 0 26 Other Corporate Services 7,946,920 7,806,271 140,649 27 Joint Boards 13,172,070 13,172,070 - 28 Social Work (non Integrated) 220,834,072 220,834,072 - 29 GENERAL FUND SERVICES 1,096,575,456 1,096,088,380 487,076 30 FINANCING COSTS (29,305,800 ) (29,305,800 ) - 31 Reversal of Capital Charge (87,955,196 ) (87,955,196 ) - 32 Loan Charges and Interest on Revenue Balances 58,649,396 58,649,396 - 33 OTHER BUDGETARY ISSUES 21,625,809 21,625,809 - 34 Assumptions not yet Realised 21,625,809 21,625,809 - 37 Transfer from capital grant (Pay Award) - - 38 TOTAL EXPENDITURE 1,088,895,465 1,088,408,389 487,076 39 SOURCES OF FUNDING 1,088,895,465 1,088,895,465 - 40 Aggregate External Finance 895,837,000 895,837,000 - 41 Council Tax 187,769,465 187,769,465 - 42 Use of balances 5,289,000 5,289,000 - 43 FORECAST (SURPLUS)/DEFICIT: TO SUPPORT FUTURE BUDGETS - (487,076 ) 487,076 44 HOUSING REVENUE ACCOUNT (SURPLUS) / DEFICIT - - - 45 ADULT HEALTH AND SOCIAL CARE (SURPLUS) /DEFICIT - 5,936,342 (5,936,342 ) Appendix 1 NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL SUMMARY BY DIVISION FOR PERIOD ENDING 18 July 2025 (PERIOD 4) PROVISIONAL VARIANCES Page 142 of 292
Page 143
Appendix 2 2025/26 Future Years Total Opening Reserve Balances 2025/26 Revised Earmarked Reserve 25/26 Projected Spend Anticipated Year End Balance Anticipated Future Year Use No Longer Required Profiled for Future Years Anticipated Future Year Use No Longer Required No Longer Required £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 £000 Check Future Years Change Management Fund 12,563 1,627 1,627 - - - 10,936 10,936 - - 10,936 - Earmarked & One Off Resources Schools Future Contractual Obligations 66,330 - - - - - 66,330 66,330 - - 66,330 - Strategic Capital Investment Programme 44,800 44,800 44,800 - - - - - - - - - Loans Charges 26,614 26,614 26,614 - - - - - - - - - Strategic Workforce Planning 17,709 17,709 17,709 - - - - - - - - - Temporary Accommodation 8,038 8,038 8,038 - - - - - - - - - Refugee Resettlement Programmes 6,887 2,665 2,665 - - - 4,222 4,222 - - 4,222 - Whole Family Wellbeing 5,313 600 600 - - - 4,713 4,713 - - 4,713 - Budget One-off Investment 5,289 5,289 5,289 - - - - - - - - - One Workforce Grading Pressures 5,000 5,000 5,000 - - - - - - - - - Unmanaged burdens within Education, Children & Families 4,507 2,821 2,821 - - - 1,686 1,686 - - 1,686 - School ICT Upgrades linked with Windows 11 2,675 820 820 - - - 1,855 1,855 - - 1,855 - Balances held by Schools under Devolved School Management 2,395 2,395 2,395 - - - - - - - - - Pupil Equity Fund 1,941 1,941 1,941 - - - - - - - - - Early Years & Childcare Expansion 1,881 1,826 1,826 - - - 55 55 - - 55 - Winter Reserve 1,500 1,500 1,500 - - - - - - - - - Support of Restructure Realignment of Home to School Transport 1,500 1,500 1,500 - - - - - - - - - Economic Recovery 1,400 341 341 - - - 1,059 1,059 - - 1,059 - Owner Occupier Grants 1,233 - - - - - 1,233 1,233 - - 1,233 - Cumbernauld Town Centre Regeneration 1,042 - - - - - 1,042 1,042 - - 1,042 - Unmanaged burdens within Enterprise & Communities 1,000 1,000 1,000 - - - - - - - - - Property Repairs 1,000 1,000 1,000 - - - - - - - - - Other Earmarked Funds 21,462 15,652 15,359 293 - 293 5,810 5,810 - 293 5,810 - Earmarked & One Off Resources Total 229,516 141,511 141,218 293 - 293 88,005 88,005 - 293 88,005 - Total Reserves 242,079 143,138 142,845 293 - 293 98,941 98,941 - 293 98,941 - Contingency Reserve 8,000 Non-Earmarked Balance; to support future budget challenges 31,891 General Fund Surplus at 31 March 2025 281,970 ANTICIPATED COMMITMENTS AGAINST EARMARKED RESERVES AS AT 18 July 2025 (PERIOD 4) NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Page 143 of 292
Page 144
Appendix 3 £000 £000 Total Balance B/f per 2024/25 Annual Accounts 12,563 31,891 Period 4 reported variance 487 Earmarked Reserves no longer required 293 Total Balance 2025/26 before commitments 12,563 32,671 Revised one - off costs of approved savings (1,627) Draw down from Capital Fund 0 Total Balance 2025/26; to support future budget challenges 10,936 32,671 Known Commitments :- Revised one - off costs of approved savings (1,147) Forecast Balance; to support future budget challenges 9,789 32,671 NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL AVAILABILITY OF GENERAL FUND BALANCES AS AT 18 July 2025 (PERIOD 4) Change Management Fund Future Budget Pressures Page 144 of 292
Page 145
North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref GT/PH/PF Date 10/09/25 Revenue Budget Monitoring Report; Chief Executive’s Service 01.04.25 – 18.07.25 (Period 4) From Greg Telfer, Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) E-mail TelferG@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07583 010692 Executive Summary This report provides a summary of the Chief Executive’s Service financial performance for the Period 1 April 2025 to 18 July 2025 (Period 4). The report illustrates the provisional outturn as at 31 March 2026, with major outturn variances highlighted and explained per the Council’s approved Financial Regulations. The Council approved its General Fund Revenue Budget on 20 February 2025, of which £114.658m currently represents the net revenue budget for the Chief Executive’s Service. Incorporated within the revenue budget are approved service savings totalling £0.793m. The Service is currently projecting a year-end underspend of £0.487m for the financial year predominately as a result of employee vacancies, reduced training costs and over- recoveries of income relating to VAT interest and the NLP Financial Guarantee. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance and Resources Committee: (1) Acknowledge the financial position of the 2025/26 Chief Executive’s Service revenue budget. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (25) Ensure intelligent use of data and information to support fully evidence based decision making and future planning Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 12 Page 145 of 292
Page 146
1. Background 1.1 The Council’s approved Financial Regulations require the Chief Executive to remain within the approved budgetary provision, and to report all significant deviations - defined as the higher of £100,000 or 5% - within budget monitoring reports. Where significant deviations are identified, the Chief Executive must provide explanatory commentary, outline the action required to rectify such deviations and where relevant, must also highlight the impact this has on other budget headings. 2. Report Summary of Financial Position 2.1 The Council approved its General Fund Revenue Budget on 20 February 2025, of which £113.897m (10.93%) represented the approved Revenue Budget for the Chief Executive’s Service. Additional funding for the Improvement Service and in-year transfers to Enterprise & Communities results in a revised budget of £114.658m. 2.2 The overall projected outturn position of the Service is a year-end underspend of £0.487m. Appendices one to five provide further information in respect of this position. 2.3 As at Period 4 the position on Council Tax Reduction Scheme remains under review along with other elements of the Council Tax Product including household numbers and Council Tax collection for the year. The Council Tax Product will then be assessed for expected credit losses as part of the year end process. It is currently anticipated there will be no material variance overall. 2.4 The 2025/26 budget incorporates £0.793m of service savings which have been fully delivered at Period 4. Further information regarding savings is included in Appendix 5. Analysis of Significant Variances 2.5 The service currently anticipates a projected underspend of £0.189m within Employee costs as a result of actual and projected vacancies. 2.6 The service is projecting a year-end underspend of £0.023m within Supplies and Services due to lower than anticipated ICT costs. 2.7 The service is currently anticipating an underspend of £0.082m within Administration Costs predominately due to underspends within training and other administration costs. 2.8 The service is currently projecting an underspend of £0.016m within Payments to Other bodies due to the prioritisation of UKSPF funding partially offset by costs for short-term contracted agency staff. 2.9 The projected outturn for income is an over-recovery of £0.176m predominately attributable to VAT interest and the impact of the NLP Financial Guarantee. 2.10 There are various minor variances across other budget areas resulting in the Service forecasting an underspend of £0.487m as at 31 March 2026. Earmarked and One-off Reserves 2.11 In finalising the Council’s draft accounts to 31 March 2025, the service was given approval to earmark £3.045m of resources to fund key projects and initiatives profiled Page 146 of 292
Page 147
over a number of years. It is anticipated that £1.876m of the reserves balances will be utilised in 2025/26, a balance of £0.040m to be returned to reserves and the remaining balance required for future years. Details of the Service’s earmarked funds are provided in Appendix 4. 2.12 The Service has also been given approval to utilise £2.439m of funds from the Corporate Strategic Workforce Planning Reserve over a number of years. It is anticipated £1.738m of this reserve will be utilised in 2025/26 and actual costs arising will be reported in future reports. These funds are not included in the Service position. 2.13 The Service was further given approval to utilise £0.253m of funds from the Change Management Fund over several years. It is anticipated that £0.099m will be utilised in 2025/26. These funds are not included in the Service outturn position. 2.14 The Service has incurred £0.223m of severance costs relating to previous approved savings/restructures. Therefore, there is a requirement to utilise the Corporate Change Management fund at this time. Any further costs arising will be reported in future reports as they are incurred. These costs are not included in the Service outturn position. 2025/26 Budget Savings 2.15 The Council approved service savings of £0.793m savings have been fully delivered as at Period 4. Further information regarding savings is included in Appendix 5. Management Actions 2.16 The Service is being pro-active to ensure expenditure is contained within its approved 2025/26 budget. 3. Measures of success 3.1 The Service continues to operate within approved budget resources. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 Objective Summary 4.2 Appendix 2 Subjective Summary 4.3 Appendix 3 Payments to Other Bodies 4.4 Appendix 4 Earmarked Reserves 4.5 Appendix 5 Budget Savings Greg Telfer Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) Page 147 of 292
Page 148
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? As stated in the main body of the 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 ☐ Page 148 of 292
Page 149
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? All activities undertaken by the Council are subject to risk, and in acknowledging the Council’s approved Risk Management Strategy, Services manage these as part of their overall corporate and service planning processes. The current economic climate, in particular, has the potential to impact upon the Council’s ability to provide quality services within approved budget levels. To minimise risk, this report has been prepared by service based Finance personnel in consultation with budget managers, in accordance with the Financial Regulations. 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. Page 149 of 292
Page 150
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 150 of 292
Page 151
APPENDIX 1 [1] [2] [3] [5] [6] [7] DIRECTORATE & SUPPORT 1,287,897 1,286,525 1,372 FAV 0.1% Minor FINANCE & TECHNOLOGY 71,741,120 71,546,219 194,901 FAV 0.3% Underspend in employee costs as a result of vacancies, over- recovery of income relating to DWP Resource Management, offset by overspends in relation to Insurance premiums and postages. AUDIT & RISK 495,586 475,384 20,202 FAV 4.1% Underspend within employee costs. LEGAL & DEMOCRATIC 2,999,478 2,911,699 87,779 FAV 2.9% Underspend within employee costs as a result of vacancies. PEOPLE RESOURCES 9,754,789 9,712,617 42,172 FAV 0.4% On Target STRATEGY & COMMUNICATIONS 7,260,044 7,260,044 0 0.0% On Target OTHER COPORATE SERVICES 7,946,920 7,806,271 140,649 FAV 1.8% Over-recovery of income relating to VAT Repayment interest and the NLP Financial Guarantee plus underspends in pensions. JOINT BOARDS 13,172,070 13,172,070 0 0.0% On Target NET EXPENDITURE 114,657,904 114,170,828 487,075 FAV 0.4% 0 NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Objective Analysis Period 04 (01 April 2025 - 18 July 2025) A - Chief Executives Service DIVISION OF SERVICE ANNUAL BUDGET PROJECTED OUTTURN PROJECTED OUTTURN VARIANCE % [4] PERIOD MOVEMENT ANALYSIS Page 151 of 292
Page 152
APPENDIX 2 [1] [2] [3] [5] [6] [7] EMPLOYEE COSTS 45,787,965 45,598,775 189,190 FAV 0.4% Underspends due to vacancies. PROPERTY COSTS 2,052,817 2,061,055 (8,238) ADV (0.4%) Unbudgeted building repair costs. SUPPLIES & SERVICES 10,835,836 10,813,214 22,622 FAV 0.2% Underspends within ICT. TRANSPORT & PLANT 655,389 650,389 5,000 FAV 0.8% On target. ADMINISTRATION COSTS 7,875,927 7,793,904 82,021 FAV 1.0% Underspends within training and other admin costs. PAYMENTS TO OTHER BODIES 15,924,038 15,907,735 16,304 FAV 0.1% Underspend due to prioritisation of UKSPF funding. TRANSFER PAYMENTS 112,598,087 112,598,087 0 0.0% On target. CAPITAL FINANCING COSTS 6,873,574 6,873,574 0 0.0% On target. REVENUE FINANCING COSTS 0 0 0 0.0% On target. OTHER EXPENDITURE 5,189,924 5,185,924 4,000 FAV 0.1% Minor. TOTAL EXPENDITURE 207,793,556 207,482,656 310,899 FAV 0.2% 0 INCOME (93,135,652) (93,311,828) 176,176 FAV (0.2%) Over-recovery of income relating to VAT Repayment interest and the NLP Financial Guarantee. NET EXPENDITURE 114,657,904 114,170,828 487,075 FAV 0.4% 0 NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Subjective Analysis Period 04 (01 April 2025 - 18 July 2025) A - Chief Executives Service CATEGORY ANNUAL BUDGET PROJECTED OUTTURN PROJECTED OUTTURN VARIANCE % [4] PERIOD MOVEMENT ANALYSIS Page 152 of 292
Page 153
APPENDIX 3 [1] [2] [3] [5] [6] [7] PAYMENTS TO OTHER BODIES GENERAL 408,443 408,443 0 0.0% MEDICAL FEES 11,104 16,491 (5,387) ADV (48.5%) Increased costs in relation to medical fees. AGENCY FEES 167,686 182,996 (15,310) ADV (9.1%) Agency staff for fixed term within L&D, being offset by vacancies within Employee costs. TOWN TWINNING 0 0 0 0.0% CHILDRENS PANEL 25,035 25,035 0 0.0% COSLA ANNUAL LEVY 207,942 207,942 0 0.0% COMMUNITY COUNCIL GRANTS 125,222 125,222 0 0.0% GRANTS TO ORGANISATIONS 773,242 773,242 0 0.0% EXTERNAL AUDIT FEE 644,389 644,389 0 0.0% ELECTION PROVISION 0 0 0 0.0% TOURISM - VISIT NORTH LANARKSHIRE 77,000 40,000 37,000 FAV 48.1% Prioritisation of UKSPF funding SCOTTISH WELFARE FUND 3,375,940 3,375,940 0 0.0% SUB-CONTRACTOR PAYMENTS 1,869 1,869 0 0.0% LOCAL TAX PAYPOINT COMMISSION 35,000 35,000 0 0.0% COSLA MIGRATION SCOTLAND 150,000 150,000 0 0.0% LANDS VALUATION CONTRIBUTION 1,814,004 1,814,004 0 0.0% SPT CONTRIBUTION 5,481,746 5,481,746 0 0.0% SPT CONCESSIONARY FARES CONTRIBUTION 569,805 569,805 0 0.0% CUSTOMER FIRST CONTRIBUTION 2,700,000 2,700,000 0 0.0% TOTAL EXPENDITURE 16,568,427 16,552,124 16,303 FAV 0.1% 0 NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Payments to Other Bodies Period 04 (01 April 2025 - 18 July 2025) A - Chief Executives Service CATEGORY ANNUAL BUDGET [4] PROJECTED OUT-TURN VARIANCE PROJECTED OUT- TURN % PERIOD MOVEMENT ANALYSIS Page 153 of 292
Page 154
APPENDIX 4 Value % Service Specific Earmarked Reserves: Modern Apprentices 53,813 0 53,813 11,190 28,583 53.1% 0 25,230 28,583 Underspend is a result of previous postholders successfully gaining employment prior to the end of their placement. SWF Grant (Core and Admin) 616,096 0 616,096 0 616,096 100.0% 0 0 616,096 Civica Procurement Implementation 500,000 (500,000) 0 0 0 0.0% 0 0 0 Redundancy costs for staff (includes additional) 250,000 0 250,000 0 250,000 100.0% 0 0 250,000 Investment model replacement of funds 128,735 0 128,735 38,768 128,735 100.0% 0 0 128,735 Backfill for EUC Infrastructure Team (Windows 11) 26,552 0 26,552 21,036 26,552 100.0% 0 0 26,552 Training 12,000 0 12,000 0 12,000 100.0% 0 0 12,000 Equipment 15,000 0 15,000 0 0 0.0% 0 15,000 0 Reserve no longer required Learning / Construction Academy 225,111 0 225,111 6,557 225,111 100.0% 0 0 225,111 Brighter Futures 117,224 (57,498) 59,726 13,978 59,726 100.0% 0 0 59,726 CSH Recover NL 13,107 (5,974) 7,133 7,133 7,133 100.0% 0 0 7,133 Recover NL CSH 2022/23 (Single Number) 457,861 (457,861) 0 0 0 0.0% 0 0 0 Grant Award Programme 54,000 (54,000) 0 0 0 0.0% 0 0 0 SC&E - Grant Award Programme 131,787 0 131,787 0 131,787 100.0% 0 0 131,787 SC&E - Cumbernauld Community Grant 53,322 (53,322) 0 0 0 0.0% 0 0 0 SC&E - Cumbernauld Grants - LDP Funds 59,023 0 59,023 59,023 59,023 100.0% 0 0 59,023 SC&E - Greengairs Community Council 80,000 0 80,000 0 80,000 100.0% 0 0 80,000 Investment model replacement of funds 251,297 (0) 251,297 0 251,297 100.0% 0 0 251,297 TOTAL 3,044,928 (1,128,655) 1,916,273 157,685 1,876,043 97.9% 0 40,230 1,876,043 Reprofile to Future Years No Longer Required Reserves Required In Year Commentary Regards Usage NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Status of Earmarked Reserves Period 04 (01 April 2025 - 18 July 2025) A - Chief Executives Service FINANCIAL YEAR - 2025/26 DESCRIPTION OF EARMARKED RESOURCE Reserve Allocation Profiled in Future Years Approved Reserve Total Spend to Date Projected Spend Page 154 of 292
Page 155
APPENDIX 5 £000 £000 £000 27CEX - a Chief Officer Review 140 140 0 04CEX Finance (5%) 71 71 0 Trend in recovery of rent allowances / rent rebates 200 200 0 12CEX Business & Digital - Technology Solutions - restructure and review of contracts 290 290 0 13CEX Business & Digital - Business Strategy 35 35 0 08CEX Registrars 57 57 0 TOTAL 793 793 0 APPROVED SAVINGS Ref. DESCRIPTION OF APPROVED SAVING Target Value Value Deliverable Savings Gap Reasons for Savings Gap NORTH LANARKSHIRE COUNCIL Revenue Budget Monitoring Report - Savings Period 04 (01 April 2025 - 18 July 2025) A - Chief Executives Service Page 155 of 292
Page 156
Page 156 of 292
Page 157
North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref GT/VR/RM Date 10/09/25 Capital Programme 2025/26 Monitoring Report From Greg Telfer, Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) E-mail TelferG@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07583 010692 Executive Summary The purpose of the report is to provide an update on the 2025/26 resources and expenditure for the Council's Strategic Capital Investment Programme. The report shows the 2025/26 projected outturn position and the resultant variances. It is currently anticipated that the General Fund programme will be in line with the programme budget but will be subject to continuous review as the financial year progresses. With the HRA programme, the projected outturn also anticipates that expenditure will be in line with the programme budget at this early stage of the financial year. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance and Resources Committee: (1) Acknowledges the provisional outturn financial position of the Council’s Strategic Capital Investment Programme as at 18 July 2025. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (25) Ensure intelligent use of data and information to support fully evidence based decision making and future planning Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 13 Page 157 of 292
Page 158
1. Background 1.1 The Strategic Capital Investment Programme 2024/25 to 2028/29 was approved at Policy and Strategy Committee in March 2025 and represents the total Community Investment Programme incorporating the General Services Capital Programme and HRA Capital Programmes. The programme was developed in conjunction with Services and led by the Strategic Capital Delivery Group (SCDG) using the principles established by the Council’s Capital Strategy. 1.2 The General Services Capital Programme supported by General Services resources demonstrates to communities that the place making visions for towns remains a priority and that the approved 5-year capital investment plan supports delivery of The Plan for North Lanarkshire. The programme includes additional investment in Town and Community Hubs, the City Deal programme, and external grant funding. 1.3 In addition, the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) resources support several HRA Capital Investment Programmes including the Mainstream programme for investment in the Council’s existing estate and delivery of the ambition for 5,000 additional supply through the New Build and Council Buy Back programmes. 1.4 The 2025/2026 General Services Capital Programme is currently £199.577m with a £140.146m investment programme in relation to the Housing Revenue Account. This reflects the approved budget in March 2025 at Policy and Strategy Committee and subsequent decisions made at the Strategic Capital Delivery Group (SCDG) in accordance with the SCDG terms of reference, and where appropriate either by the individual service committees, Finance and Resources Committee or the Policy and Strategy Committee per the Scheme of Administration. Appendix 1 provides a breakdown of the overall 2025/26 budget by Service Programme and associated approved budget movements. 2. Report Overall Council Strategic Capital Investment Programme 2.1. The overall Council Strategic Capital Investment programme for 2025/26 and the provisional outturn to 31 March 2026 is summarised in Table 1 as follows: Page 158 of 292
Page 159
2.2 On a budgeted programme of £339.723m expenditure is anticipated to be on budget with the current programme. Further financial performance information regarding each of the programmes is discussed in section 2.3 and 2.16 below. General Services Capital Programme and Projected Outturn by Service/ Programme 2.3 The forecast financial performance of the overall General Services Investment programme at 31 March 2026 is detailed in Appendix 2 and summarised below. Community Capital Investment Programme Summary 2025/26 Current Programme £000s Provisional Outturn £000s Outturn Variance £000s Enterprise & Communities 183,058 183,058 0 Chief Executives 10,758 10,758 0 Adult Health & Social Care 2,364 2,364 0 Corporate Contingency 3,397 3,397 0 General Services: Total Capital Investment 199,577 199,577 0 General Services Resources: General Fund External Grants & Contributions 2025/26 - GCG 27,637 27,637 0 External Grants & Contributions 2025/26 - Other Grants 10,582 10,582 0 External Grants & Contributions b/f 2024/25 - Other Grants 7,924 7,924 0 External Grants & Contributions Unapplied cfwd to 2026/27 0 0 0 Net External Grants & Contributions 46,143 46,143 0 City Deal Grant 3,698 3,698 0 Capital Receipts 3,375 1,845 (1,530) CFCR 27,370 27,370 0 General Services: Total Resources 80,586 79,056 (1,530) General Services : Borrowing Requirement 118,991 120,521 1,530 HRA : Total Capital Investment 140,146 140,146 0 HRA Resources: Net External Grants & Contributions 23,754 23,754 0 Capital Receipts 0 0 0 CFCR 20,089 20,089 0 HRA : Total Resources 43,843 43,843 0 HRA : Borrowing Requirement 96,303 96,303 0 Summary Total Council : Capital Investment 339,723 339,723 0 Total Council : Resources 124,429 122,899 (1,530) Total Council : Borrowing Requirement 215,294 216,824 1,530 Page 159 of 292
Page 160
General Services Total Resources 2.4 The revised programme approved by the SCDG is £199.577m with total resources available to meet the current programme forecast to be £80.586m, resulting in a borrowing requirement of £118.991m. 2.5 In 2025/26 net external grants and contributions of £46.143m will be utilised. This capital resource primarily includes the Scottish Government (SG) General Capital Grants receivable of £31.023m including General Capital Grant (GCG) of £27.637m and additional specific grant allocations for Active Travel of £1.490m and Vacant and Derelict Land Fund (VDLF) of £1.896m. In addition, other specific SG grants receivable of £3.766m and contributions from other sources such as City Deal Grant of £3.698m, Shared Prosperity Fund (SPF) of £1.406m, developer contributions of £1.342m, and other grants of £0.682m. 2.6 Capital grants received in 2024/25 have been added to the programme to match expenditure in 2025/26 of £7.924m including £2.224m for VDLF, £0.949m for PBIP, £1.142m for Regeneration Capital Grant Fund (RCGF), £3.212m for Live Labs, £0.060m for Levelling Up Fund (LUF), £0.164m for Active Travel, £0.044m for Parking Prohibition, £0.038m for Community Bus Fund , £0.055m for Environmental Key Fund and £0.026m for Scottish Wildlife Trust. Whilst at Period 4 it is anticipated that all capital grant funding will be utilised in 2025/26, this will be monitored closely as the year progresses. 2.7 Receipts from the sale of assets are currently projected to be £1.845m, which is £1.530m less than the budget of £3.375m. This results in a corresponding increase in the borrowing requirement for 2025/26, however these receipts will continue to be closely monitored throughout the remainder of the financial year. General Services Total Expenditure 2.8 As indicated in Table 1 the General Services investment programme is £199.577m. At Period 4, the provisional outturn spend is on budget. Further analysis by service/programme is outlined below and summarised within Appendix 2. 2.9 Enterprise and Communities is projecting outturn expenditure of £183.058m, which is on budget. Committed expenditure of £144.989m is currently reported, which represents 79.20% of the targeted expenditure, and actual expenditure is £33.440m which represents 18.27% of targeted expenditure. 2.10 At this early stage in the financial year the Service is reporting a break-even position with no major variances to report. However, it is worth noting that with continuing increases in the cost of delivering capital programmes all service areas continue to face significant challenges managing the delivery of capital programmes within the available envelope of resources. The Service will continue to seek to manage within existing resources. 2.11 Chief Executives is projecting outturn expenditure of £10.758m, which is on budget. Committed expenditure of £3.005m is currently reported, which represents 27.93% of the targeted expenditure. Actual expenditure is £0.176m, which is 1.64% of targeted expenditure. 2.12 At this early stage in the financial year, the Service is reporting a break-even position with no major variances to report. All activities are closely monitored to ensure available Page 160 of 292
Page 161
budgets are maximised whilst monitoring and actively managing the ongoing external challenges in delivery of projects. 2.13 Adult Health & Social Care is projecting outturn expenditure of £2.364m, which is on budget. Committed expenditure of £0.273m is currently reported, which represents 11.55% of the targeted expenditure, and actual expenditure is £0.208m which is 8.80% of targeted expenditure. 2.14 At this early stage in the financial year, the Service currently anticipates a balanced position. There remain uncertainties in respect of demand and complexity of need and therefore this budget will continue to be monitored closely, and any forecast movements will be highlighted in future reports. 2.15 Corporate Contingency is projecting outturn expenditure of £3.397m, which is on budget. There has been no committed or actual expenditure to date. HRA Capital Investment 2.16 The financial performance of the HRA Capital Programme is reported in detail to the Housing Committee. A summary of performance as at 18 July 2025 is provided at Appendix 3. 2.17 Total expenditure of £140.146m is forecast for 2025/26 which is on budget. Committed expenditure of £122.879m is currently reported, which represents 87.68% of the targeted expenditure, and actual expenditure is £27.244m which is 19.44% of targeted expenditure. 3. Measures of success 3.1 N/A 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1: Strategic Capital Investment Programme 2025/26 budget movements 4.2 Appendix 2: General Services Capital Investment Programme Summary 2025/26 4.3 Appendix 3: HRA Capital Investment Programme Summary 2025/26 Greg Telfer Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) Page 161 of 292
Page 162
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 financial impact is outlined within the 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 ☐ Page 162 of 292
Page 163
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? Despite the updated programme approved at Policy and Strategy Committee in March 2024 the capital programme continues to face challenges in relation to the wider economic climate, linked to availability of materials, contractors and inflationary pressures. These are currently being managed by services and Project Boards associated with specific programme delivery and will continue to be monitored throughout the year in accordance with the SCDG Terms of Reference 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. Page 163 of 292
Page 164
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 164 of 292
Page 165
2025/26 Strategic Capital Investment Programme – budget movements Appendix 1 Enterprise & Communities Chief Executives Adult Health &Social Care Corporate Total General Services Investment Programme Total HRA Investment Programme Total Community Investment Programme £000s £000s £000s £000s £000s £000s £000s 25/26 Opening programme approved Policy& Strategy Committee March 25 159,022 7,809 2,200 1,104 170,135 140,146 310,281 24/25 Overs/Unders Carry Forward 16,049 1,921 164 0 18,134 0 18,134 25/26 Budget adjustments approved by SCDG 230 0 0 0 230 0 230 Increase/(Decrease) in Externally Funded Projects 6,374 0 0 0 6,374 0 6,374 Increase/(Decrease) in CFCR 1,113 59 0 0 1,172 0 1,172 25/26 Budget adjustments to be approved by SCDG 270 969 0 2,293 3,532 0 3,532 Revised Capital Programme 2025/26 183,058 10,758 2,364 3,397 199,577 140,146 339,723 Page 165 of 292
Page 166
General Services Capital Investment Programme Summary 2025/26 - as at 31 March 2026 Appendix 2 Investment Current Programme 2025/26 £000s Projected Outturn 2025/26 £000s Outturn Variance 2025/26 £000s Committed Expenditure @ P4 £000s Committed Expenditure % of Projected Outturn Actual Expenditure @ P4 £000s Actual Expenditure % of Projected Outturn Enterprise & Communities 183,058 183,058 0 144,989 79.20% 33,440 18.27% Chief Executives 10,758 10,758 0 3,005 27.93% 176 1.64% Adult Health & Social Care 2,364 2,364 0 273 11.55% 208 8.80% Corporate Contingency 3,397 3,397 0 0 0.00% 0 0.00% Total General Services Investment 199,577 199,577 0 148,267 74.29% 33,824 16.95% General Services Resources; External Grants & Contributions 2025/26 - GCG 27,637 27,637 0 External Grants & Contributions 2025/26 - Other Grants 10,582 10,582 0 External Grants & Contributions b/f 2024/25 - Other Grants 7,924 7,924 0 External Grants & Contributions Unapplied cfwd to 2026/27 0 0 0 Net External Grants & Contributions 46,143 46,143 0 City Deal Grant 3,698 3,698 0 CFCR 27,370 27,370 0 Capital Receipts 3,375 1,845 (1,530) Total Resources 80,586 79,056 (1,530) Borrowing Requirement: General Services 118,991 120,521 1,530 Total General Services Borrowing Requirement 118,991 120,521 1,530 Total Resources incl Borrowing Requirement 199,577 199,577 0 Page 166 of 292
Page 167
HRA Capital Investment Programme Summary 2025/26 - as at 31 March 2026 Appendix 3 Investment Current Programme 2025/26 £000s Projected Outturn 2025/26 £000s Outturn Variance 2025/26 £000s Committed Expenditure @ P4 £000s Committed Expenditure % of Projected Outturn Actual Expenditure @ P4 £000s Actual Expenditure % of Projected Outturn Mainstream Programme 86,230 86,230 0 79,722 92.45% 18,638 21.61% New Build Programme 41,919 41,919 0 41,919 100.00% 3,619 8.63% Council Buy Back Scheme 11,997 11,997 0 1,238 10.32% 4,987 41.57% Total HRA Investment 140,146 140,146 0 122,879 87.68% 27,244 19.44% HRA Capital Resources; External Grants & Contributions 23,754 23,754 0 External Grants & Contributions Unapplied 0 0 0 Net External Grants & Contributions 23,754 23,754 0 CFCR 20,089 20,089 0 Capital Receipts 0 0 0 Total Resources 43,843 43,843 0 Borrowing Requirement: HRA - Mainstream 70,811 70,811 0 HRA - New Build 18,537 18,537 0 HRA - Buyback Scheme 6,955 6,955 0 Total Borrowing Requirement 96,303 96,303 0 Total Resources incl Borrowing Requirement 140,146 140,146 0 Page 167 of 292
Page 168
Page 168 of 292
Page 169
North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref GT/PH/PF Date 10/09/25 Chief Executive Service – Capital Monitoring Report 1 April to 18 July 2025 (Period 4) From Greg Telfer, Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) E-mail TelferG@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07583 010692 Executive Summary This report highlights the financial performance and projected outturn of 2025/26 Chief Executive Service’s capital programme for the period ended 18 July 2025 (Period 4). In summary the service has a total capital budget of £10.758m, comprising of £6.736m within Finance & Technology and £4.022m within Strategy & Communications. This budget reflects the budget approved by the Policy and Strategy Committee in March 2025, additional Scottish Government Play Area funding and balances carried forward from previous years. The Service is currently projecting a break-even position at this stage of the financial year. Further explanation of management action taken by the Service is included within the main report and attached appendices. Recommendations It is recommended that Finance and Resources Committee: (1) Considers the financial position of the 2025/26 Chief Executive Service capital programme. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (25) Ensure intelligent use of data and information to support fully evidence based decision making and future planning Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 14 Page 169 of 292
Page 170
1. Background 1.1 This report provides a summary of the Chief Executive Service financial performance for the period 1 April 2025 to 18 July 2025 (Period 4), with major outturn variances highlighted and explained per the Council’s approved Financial Regulations. 1.2 The Council approved its Capital programme at Policy and Strategy Committee on 13 March 2025 with an allocated budget of £7.809m for the current year. In addition, carry forwards from the previous year and Scottish Government funding for Play Areas have resulted in a revised Capital Programme of £10.758m for the 2025/26 Financial Year as detailed in Appendix 1 of this report. 1.3 The Council’s approved Financial Regulations required the Chief Executive to remain within his approved budgetary provision, and to report all significant deviations – defined as the higher of £0.100m or 5% - within their budget monitoring reports. Where significant deviations are identified, Chief Officers must provide explanatory commentary, outline the action required to rectify such deviations and where relevant, must also highlight the impact this has on other budget headings. 2. Report Summary of Financial Position 2.1 The Service is projecting break-even for the financial year 2025/26 of the Capital Programme with no significant variances to report at this stage of the financial year. Capital budgets and expenditure are summarised in Appendix 1. Management Action 2.2 The Service closely monitors all activities to ensure available budgets are maximised whilst monitoring and actively managing the ongoing external challenges in delivery of projects. The Service continues to review the programme with updates being provided to the SCDG and Committee. 3. Measures of success 3.1 The Service aim is to operate within approved budget resources over the term of the capital programme. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 Summary Expenditure by Project / Theme Greg Telfer Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) Page 170 of 292
Page 171
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? As stated within the main body of the 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 ☐ Page 171 of 292
Page 172
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? 5.9.1 All activities undertaken by the Council are subject to risk, and in acknowledging the Council’s approved Risk Management Strategy. Services manage these as part of their overall corporate and service planning processes. The current economic climate, in particular, has the potential to impact upon the Council’s ability to provide quality services within approved budget levels. 5.9.2 To minimise risk this report was prepared by Finance personnel in consultation with budget managers, in accordance with the Financial Regulations. 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. Page 172 of 292
Page 173
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 173 of 292
Page 174
Appendix 1 Theme Budget £ Actual £ Committed £ Uncommitted £ Projected Outturn £ Outturn variance £ Digitisation & Innovation 2,103,201 7,810 648,689 1,454,512 2,103,201 - Line of Business (LOB) System Portfolio 2,839,072 - 671,573 2,167,499 2,839,072 - End User Device (Eud) Refresh 1,075,333 2,258 5,984 1,069,349 1,075,333 - Cyber 115,000 - - 115,000 115,000 - Capacity 353,000 42,311 136,853 216,147 353,000 - Innovation 250,000 - - 250,000 250,000 - TOTAL FINANCE & TECHNOLOGY 6,735,606 52,378 1,463,100 5,272,506 6,735,606 - Community Board Project Investment Fund 3,472,041 123,916 1,541,996 1,930,168 3,472,041 - Community Asset Transfers 550,000 - - 550,000 550,000 - TOTAL STRATEGY & COMMUNICATIONS 4,022,041 123,916 1,541,996 2,480,168 4,022,041 - TOTAL CHIEF EXECUTIVES SERVICE 10,757,647 176,294 3,005,096 7,752,674 10,757,647 - Chief Executives Capital Programme 2025/26 Summary Expenditure by Thematic Categories Period 04 (01 April 2025 - 18 July 2025) YTD OUTTURN Page 174 of 292
Page 175
North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref GT/KS/RM/GM Date 10/09/25 Treasury Management Monitoring Report for quarter ended 30 June 2025 From Greg Telfer, Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) E-mail McnameeR@northlan.gov.uk Telephone Ryan McNamee, Finance Manager 1. Background 1.1 The Council manages its treasury activities in line with the CIPFA Code ‘Treasury Management in the Public Services’. The Code requires the Council to produce reports on its Treasury Management policies, practices and activities on a regular and ongoing basis. The Council fulfils these obligations, in part, by the preparation of this Treasury Management Monitoring report produced on a quarterly basis, encompassing a review of performance. 1.2 The Council’s “Treasury Management Strategy 2025/2026 and Treasury and Prudential Indicators 2025/2026 to 2029/2030” was approved by Committee at its meeting on 26 February 2025. The Treasury activity undertaken in the first quarter of 2025/26 reflects the key requirements of the Council’s 2025/26 Treasury Management Strategy, with the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) and Long-term Money Market Executive Summary This report fulfils the key requirements of the Council’s reporting procedures for Treasury Management in accordance with the CIPFA Code of Practice on Treasury Management and the CIPFA Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities. It informs on the quarterly Treasury Management activity for the period 1 April 2025 to 30 June 2025 and compliance with the mandatory treasury and prudential indicators. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance and Resources Committee: (1) Acknowledge the Treasury Management activity for the quarter ended 30 June 2025 including the performance against the key treasury and prudential indicators. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (25) Ensure intelligent use of data and information to support fully evidence based decision making and future planning Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 15 Page 175 of 292
Page 176
being the prime source of long-term funds. In terms of investment activity, this is conducted in accordance with the approved 2025/26 investment strategy. 2. Report Summary Position 2.1 The net overall borrowing position to 30 June 2025 is £1,193.8m, which is a reduction of £41.4m from the final position at 31 March 2025. A detailed breakdown of the net cash movement is shown in column (6) within Appendix 1 and is discussed below. Borrowing 2.2 At the end of the quarter, total external debt amounted to £1,282.5m, an increase of £1.7m. This was primarily due to additional net longer-term borrowing of £20.0m being undertaken, comprising new PWLB borrowing of £20.0m, offset by repayment of existing PWLB debt of £9.2m. 2.3 During the quarter, the Council sourced PWLB loans totalling £20.0m on an equal instalment payment (EIP) basis, which provides a smoother debt maturity profile, thus spreading the refinancing risk The EIP loan was sourced at an interest rate of 4.65% over an 8-year repayment period with the respective certainty rate discount (see para 2.6) utilised. 2.4 In addition, there was a decrease in net temporary borrowing of £5.5m, due to £66.5m falling due for repayment being offset by £61.0m of new borrowing. There was also a £3.5m reduction in long term liabilities due to existing finance lease and Service Concession obligations falling due for repayment and a £0.1m repayment of energy efficiency loans. 2.5 The Council’s approach to borrowing is in line with the approved strategy which aims to source long-term borrowing and take advantage of temporary (short-term) borrowing at attractive rates, and where possible, using internal cash balances, to meet the principal repayments, daily revenue account requirements and the capital financing requirement, in lieu of borrowing for capital purposes. The strategy adopted considers interest rate forecasts, the management of carrying costs and the retention of cash balances at appropriate levels, whilst managing the associated investment, interest, and liquidity risk. 2.6 The Council made a successful application to the PWLB to access the certainty rate which allows a 20-basis point (bps) (0.20%) discount on loans from the PWLB under the prudential borrowing regime. This will continue to provide the Council with an opportunity to borrow from the PWLB at more beneficial rates until 31 March 2026. 2.7 A new PWLB HRA rate, which is 0.40% below the certainty rate, has been available from 15th June 2023, which has been extended until March 2026 in the UK Budget in October 2024, to support local authorities borrowing for Housing capital purposes or refinancing existing loans. In conjunction with our treasury advisors, we continue to review borrowing requirements and assess borrowing opportunities for the Council during 2025/26. 2.8 The CIPFA Prudential Code is clear that local authorities must not borrow to invest primarily for financial return and that it is not prudent for local authorities to make any investment or spending decision that will increase the capital financing requirement and so may lead to new borrowing, unless directly and primarily related to the functions of Page 176 of 292
Page 177
the Council. The Council is compliant with this requirement. Members should note also that PWLB loans are no longer available to local authorities planning to buy investment assets primarily for yield. 2.9 Members will be aware interest rates have risen significantly over the past 2 years, increasing materially the cost of both short and long-term borrowing. In this quarter, the Bank of England reduced the base rate to 4.25% in May. It should be noted that the Council’s cost of short-term borrowing reduced slightly during the quarter. The cost of new short-term borrowing from other local authorities has been similar to base rate during the period at 4.0% to 4.5%. The Authority’s short-term borrowing cost has reduced slightly over the period in line with base rate and short-dated market rates. The average rate on the Authority’s current short-term loans of £214.5m at 30th June 2025 was 4.72%, this compares with 4.96% on £220.0m loans in previous quarter. 2.10 After substantial rises in interest rates since 2021 many central banks have now begun to reduce their policy rates, albeit slowly. Gilt yields have been volatile but have reduced slightly except in the longer term in response to expectations of lower future interest rates. There has been a slight increase in gilt yields for period of around 30 years and longer, which is due primarily to an increased uncertainty premium being priced into the longer period. 2.11 The PWLB certainty rate for 10-year maturity loans was 5.38% at the beginning of the period and 5.27% at the end. The lowest available 10-year maturity rate was 5.17% and the highest was 5.56%. Rates for 20-year maturity loans ranged from 5.71% to 6.16% during the period, and 50-year maturity loans ranged from 5.46% to 5.97% Debt Restructuring 2.12 In conjunction with our Treasury advisors, we monitored the economic climate in relation to our financial targets and Treasury Management Strategy, for the quarter under review. The interest rates prevailing throughout the period resulted in no beneficial opportunities for debt restructuring/rescheduling of the existing PWLB debt portfolio arising. 2.13 The Council continues to hold £3.0m of LOBO (Lender’s Option Borrower’s Option) loans where the lender has the option to propose an increase in the interest rate at set dates, following which the Authority has the option to either accept the new rate or to repay the loan at no additional cost. As market interest rates have risen, there was increased probability of call options on the LOBOs being exercised by lenders, however, no lender exercised their option during the quarter. 2.14 Further reports regarding future activity will be presented to Committee as appropriate. Investments 2.15 Treasury management investments arise from cash flows or treasury risk management activity, that results in balances being invested, until the cash is required for use in the course of business. 2.16 At the end of the first quarter of 2025/26, the Council held total investments of £88.7m, which is a net increase of £43.0m in cash and cash equivalents, primarily due to a £15.7m increase in short-term investments held, reflecting maturing temporary investments of approximately £392.6m, and undertaking new short-term investments of £408.3m, and a favourable movement in uncleared balances due to timing differences including cash in transit of £27.3m. See summary at Appendix 1, column 6. Page 177 of 292
Page 178
2.17 At quarter end the uncleared balances including cash in transit was £9.7m which is a net deficit position, a favourable increase of £27.3m compared to the position reported at the end of the previous quarter of a net deficit position of £37.0m. This primarily reflects the timing of significant BACS receipts and payments. The balance at 30 June 2025 comprises £9.5m of net BACS debits outstanding due for clearance within 3 days of the quarter end date and cheques unpresented of £0.3m, partly offset by cash in transit balance of £0.1m. 2.18 In line with the approved strategy to manage liquidity, the Council aims to maintain a minimum balance of £30.0m available on an overnight basis (instant access), ensuring a prudent level of funds is maintained to meet all service requirements. 2.19 During the quarter, the Bank of England’s (BoE) Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) voted to reduce the base rate by 0.25% to 4.25%, which resulted in short-dated cash rates also reducing, with rates ranging between 4.48% in early April to 4.15% in mid- May, a reduction of 0.33% for overnight/7-day maturities. There is little noticeable difference between the 7 day and 1-month SONIA (Sterling Overnight Rate) bid rates and generally available investment rates offered by financial institutions and money market funds. Despite this, the Council will endeavour to achieve good performance levels in investment activity. 2.20 Overall, the Treasury Management team continues to take a prudent approach to investing surplus funds in line with the approved 2025/26 Investment Strategy. Security of investment and ensuring sufficient liquidity are key investment criteria governing Council investment decisions. This approach is aligned to the prudent management of current commitments and future cash demands based on latest robust cashflow projections. During the quarter, the rates on Debt Management Account Deposit Facility (DMADF) deposits ranged between 4.20% and 4.45% and money market rates between 4.21% and 4.50%. 2.21 However, as demonstrated by the liability benchmark reported at (xi) below and Appendix 3 attached, it is anticipated the Council will be a long-term borrower and therefore new treasury investments are primarily made to manage day-to-day cash flows using short-term low risk instruments. The existing portfolio of strategic pooled funds will be maintained to diversify risk into different sectors and boost investment income. Non-Treasury Management Investments 2.22 During the quarter, repayments of £0.012m were made in respect of third-party advances in connection with the Cumbernauld Academy DBFM and Greenfaulds DBFM. Interest Rate Movements & Other Economic Updates 2.23 As outlined by our treasury management advisors, the quarter started to significant financial market volatility as US President Donald Trump announced a wide range of ‘reciprocal’ trade tariffs in early April, causing equity markets to decline sharply which was subsequently followed by bond markets as investors were increasingly concerned about US fiscal policy. As the UK was included in these increased tariffs, equity and bond markets here were similarly affected by the uncertainty and investor concerns. President Trump subsequently implemented a 90-day pause on most of the tariffs previously announced, which has been generally positive for both equity and bond markets since, but heightened uncertainty and volatility remained a feature over the period. Page 178 of 292
Page 179
2.24 UK headline consumer price inflation (CPI) increased over the quarter, rising from an annual rate of 2.6% in March to 3.6% in June, well above the Bank of England’s 2% target. The core measure of inflation also increased, from 3.4% to 3.7% over the same period. May’s inflation figures were generally lower than in the previous month when CPI was 3.5% and core CPI 3.8% but rose slightly again in June. Services inflation was 4.7% in May and June, a decline from 5.4% in April. 2.25 Data released during the period showed the UK economy expanded by 0.7% in the first quarter of the calendar year, following three previous quarters of weaker growth. However, monthly GDP data showed a contraction of 0.3% in April, suggesting growth in the second quarter of the calendar year is unlikely to be as strong as the first. 2.26 Labour market data appeared to show a softening in employment conditions as weaker earnings growth was reported for the period March to May 2025, in what would no doubt be welcome news to BoE’s policymakers. Regular earnings (excluding bonuses) was 5.0% 3mth/yoy while total earnings was also 5.0% with both measures experiencing decreases since last quarter. Both the employment and unemployment rates increased, while the economic inactivity rate and number of vacancies fell. 2.27 Having started the financial year at 4.5%, the MPC cut Base Rate to 4.25% in May. The 5-4 vote was split with the majority wanting a 25bps cut, two members voting to hold rates at 4.5% and two voting for a 50bps reduction. At the June MPC meeting, the committee voted by a majority of 6-3 to keep rates on hold. The three dissenters wanted an immediate reduction to 4%. This dovish tilt by the Committee is expected to continue and financial market expectations are that the next cut will be in August, in line with the publication of the next quarterly Monetary Policy Report (MPR). 2.28 The May version of the MPR highlighted the BoE’s view that disinflation in domestic inflation and wage pressures were generally continuing and that a small margin of excess supply had opened in the UK economy, which would help inflation to fall to the Bank’s 2% target over the medium term. While near-term GDP growth was predicted to be higher than previously forecast in the second quarter of calendar 2025, growth in the same period the following year was trimmed back, partly due to ongoing global trade developments. 2.29 Our treasury management advisors maintain its central view that base rate would continue to fall, and that the BoE would focus more on weak GDP growth rather than stickier and above-target inflation. Two more cuts to base rate are expected during 2025, taking the main policy rate to 3.75%, however the balance of risks is deemed to be to the downside as weak consumer sentiment and business confidence and investment impact economic growth. 2.30 In global terms, despite the uncertainty around US trade policy and repeated calls for action from the US President, the US Federal Reserve held interest rates steady the period, maintaining the Fed Funds Rate at 4.25%-4.50%. The decision in June was the fourth consecutive month where no changes were made to the main interest rate and came despite forecasts from Fed policymakers that compared to a few months ago they now expected lower growth, higher unemployment and higher inflation. The European Central Bank cut rates in June, reducing its main refinancing rate from 2.25% to 2.0%, and representing the eighth cut in just over a year. ECB noted heightened uncertainty in the near-term from trade and that stronger economic growth in the first quarter of the calendar may weaken. Inflation in the region rose to 2.0% in June, up from an eight-month low of 1.9% in the previous month but in line with the ECB’s target. Inflation is expected to stay broadly around the 2% target over the next year or so. Page 179 of 292
Page 180
2.31 After the sharp declines seen early in the quarter, sentiment in financial markets showed signs of improvement during the period, but bond and equity markets remained volatile. Early in the period bond yields fell, but then uncertainty from the impact of US trade policy caused bonds to sell-off but from the middle of May onwards, yields have steadily declined, but volatility continues. Equity markets sold off sharply in April but have seen gained back most of the previous declines, with investors seemingly remaining bullish in the face of ongoing uncertainty. 2.32 Over the quarter, the 10-year UK benchmark gilt yield started at 4.65% and ended at 4.49% having hit 4.82% early in April and falling to 4.45% by the end of the same month. While the 20-year gilt started at 5.18%, fell to 5.02% a few days later before jumping to 5.31% within a week, and then ending the period at 5.16%. The Sterling Overnight Rate (SONIA) averaged 4.31% over the quarter to 30th June. 2.33 Due to the cut in the base rate during the period, short-term borrowing interest rates reduced with the short term 7-day offer rate ranging between 4.32% and 4.62% over the period. Taking account of the decrease in borrowing rates and advice from our treasury management advisors, it continues to be considered more cost effective in the near term to use a combination of internal resources or to borrow rolling temporary / short-term loans at lower interest rates where possible rather than long term borrowing. This will result in increased temporary borrowing costs for the Council partially offset by increased investment income earned on surplus balances. 2.34 The Treasury Management team will continue to monitor financial and economic policy and their impact upon the Council’s investment and borrowing activity. The Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities 2.35 The Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 requires the Council to undertake its Treasury activities in line with the Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities. 2.36 Committee, at its meeting on 26 February 2025, approved a report titled, “Treasury Management Strategy 2025/2026 and Treasury and Prudential Indicators 2025/2026 to 2029/2030”. This report detailed a variety of mandatory and local indicators aimed at assisting members to determine that proposed capital investment levels and treasury management decisions satisfied the key requirements of affordability, prudence and sustainability. Performance against key prudential indicators for 2025/26 to date is detailed within Appendix 2. (i) Indicator 1(a) illustrates planned investment on capital expenditure is forecast to be higher than initially anticipated by £39.1m in 2025/26. This reflects increases of £25.2m in the General Fund capital investment and £14.3m for the HRA Mainstream and New Build programmes partly offset by a decrease in Credit Arrangements of £0.4m reflecting updated estimates of IFRS16 on service concession contracts. This is based on the updated ‘Strategic Capital Investment Programme 2024-2025 to 2028-2029’ approved at Policy & Strategy Committee on 13 March 2025 and the ‘Housing Outline HRA Capital Programme 2025/26’ approved at Housing Committee on 12 February 2025 and also incorporating any subsequent profiling updates e.g. carry-forwards from final outturn 2024/25 programmes. For further information, this is monitored in detail as part of the Council's capital programme reporting mechanisms which will provide spend details including any revisions to the estimates approved for 2025/26. Page 180 of 292
Page 181
(ii) The mix of resources required to finance the capital expenditure in 2025/26 reflects the updates on forecast capital investment. Therefore, the level of in-year borrowing is anticipated to be higher by £27.5m due to increases in General Fund programme requirements of £16.6m and £10.9m for HRA programme. This forecast level of borrowing also reflects a net increase in capital grants and external contributions of £13.2m with increased funds available to General Fund of £6.5m and HRA programmes of £6.7m. A net increase of £0.5m in CFCR is also anticipated (General Fund increase of £3.8m offset by decrease in HRA of £3.3m) and a decrease in capital receipts of £1.7m within General Fund. (iii) IFRS 16 Lease Accounting was implemented in 2024/25. As a result of annual remeasurement of PPP liabilities and Service Concessions, the accounting impact is an estimated increased capital investment of £14.0m (increase to capital financing requirement) to be recognised in 2025/26, which is a minor decrease of £0.4m that initial estimates. It should be noted that this is an accounting adjustment and does not represent cash expenditure, which is offset by an equal and opposite recognition of associated credit arrangements financing. (iv) Indicator 1(b) – The Council’s cumulative outstanding amount of debt finance is measured by the capital financing requirement (CFR). The CFR is essentially a measure of Council’s underlying borrowing need i.e. capital expenditure not resourced by capital grants, receipts or CFCR, with any new borrowing increasing the CFR. The CFR is projected to rise to £1,728.7m within financial year 2025/26. (v) The Prudential Code requires the Council’s capital investment to be prudent and affordable. To demonstrate this, a Prudential Margin (the need to borrow versus actual borrowing) is calculated. Indicator 1(c) demonstrates a healthy prudential margin of £263.1m estimated as at 30 June 2025. The timing and profile of external borrowing to replenish cash reserves and balances are being managed, giving full consideration to liquidity, interest rate and refinancing risk, whilst minimising the potential carrying costs. (vi) Indicator 1(d) illustrates that both the overall Authorised Limit and Operational Boundary limits for borrowing and long-term liabilities have not been exceeded, with the maximum borrowing undertaken within the period being well below the approved boundaries. (vii) Indicator 1(e) illustrates the financing costs forecasts as at 30 June 2025 for both general fund and HRA as a proportion of net revenue stream. Although capital expenditure is not charged directly to revenue, interest payable on loans, and loan fund and long-term liability repayments are. The net annual charge is known as financing costs; this is compared to the net revenue stream i.e. the amount funded from Council Tax, NDR and government grants. (viii) Indicator 2(a) highlights the proportion of external interest payable by the Council which is fixed and variable over the term of the borrowing, and therefore the exposure to the effects of interest rate changes. As at 30 June 2025, the level of borrowing subject to variability is deemed to be within acceptable levels. (ix) Indicator 2(b) highlights a projected increase in loan charges of £1.9m compared to the initial Treasury Management Strategy estimates for 2025/26. This projection takes into account treasury management activity, internal Interest on Revenue Balances (IORB) recharges due to increased market interest rates, the loans fund holiday flexibility adopted in 2022/23 and decisions of the Policy and Page 181 of 292
Page 182
Strategy Committee and the Strategic Capital Delivery Group to approve and reprofile the current capital programme for the period 2024/25 to 2028/29 based on current programme delivery plans. This current loan charge variance is made up of: • A net treasury management interest and expenses increased spend of £2.1m is projected (General Fund £2.1m), which is a primarily a reflection of increased internal IORB charges, and incorporates cashflow management techniques adopted, e.g. directing the timing of new borrowing, managing investment security, liquidity and interest rate risk. • In 2025/26 it is anticipated there will be a minor decrease in anticipated loans fund advance repayments of £0.2m (£0.1m General Fund, HRA £0.1m). This is primarily due to lower capital borrowing incurred in 2024/25 and revised average loan pool rates from previously forecast. (x) Indicator 2(c) relates to the level of fixed debt due to mature within time periods. The level of debt maturing remains within the upper limits set for each category at the beginning of the financial year. (xi) The Liability Benchmark at Appendix 3. The Treasury Management Code states that organisations should evaluate the amount, timing and maturities needed for new borrowing in relation to planned borrowing needs, in order to avoid borrowing too much, too little, too long or too short. The liability benchmark is an important tool to help establish whether the Council is likely to be a long-term borrower or long-term investor in the future and so shapes its strategic focus and decision making. Essentially this benchmark identifies the projection of external debt/borrowing required over the long term to fund approved revenue & capital budgets, while keeping treasury investments at the minimum level required to manage day-to-day cash. (xii) This represents the comparison of the Council’s actual borrowing against an alternative strategy. This utilises the forecasts for Capital Financing Requirement, long-term liabilities, current external borrowing, balance sheet resources i.e. reserves, and that cash and investment balances are kept to a minimum of £30.0m at each year-end to maintain sufficient liquidity but minimise credit risk. (xiii) The Loans CFR (solid light blue) represents the total cost of the capital expenditure plans based on the estimated current profile of the 5-year Capital Programme 2024-2025 to 2028-2029 as approved by Policy & Strategy Committee on 13th March 2025. This reduces over time as scheduled principal repayments are made to the loans fund. The Net Loans Requirement (dotted red line) represents the minimum external borrowing required to fund the current capital expenditure plans assuming all cash reserves and balances are utilised to offset borrowing requirements. The Liability Benchmark (solid red line) 31/3/25 Actual £m 31/3/26 Forecast £m 31/3/27 Forecast £m 31/3/28 Forecast £m 31/3/29 Forecast £m 31/3/30 Forecast £m Loans CFR 1,262.7 1,433.5 1,715.0 1,929.3 2,217.8 2,409.3 less Balance Sheet Resources (356.5) (360.3) (343.4) (284.3) (265.0) (273.3) Net Loans Requirement 906.1 1,073.1 1,371.6 1,645.0 1,952.8 2,136.0 plus: Liquidity Allowance 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0 Liability Benchmark 936.1 1,103.1 1,401.6 1,675.0 1,982.8 2,166.0 Existing Borrowing 987.6 789.4 645.6 589.7 537.9 486.6 New Borrowing Required 0.0 313.8 756.0 1,085.3 1,444.9 1,679.4 Page 182 of 292
Page 183
represents the estimated borrowing required, taken account of liquidity allowance required of £30.0m to be held to maintain liquidity and to manage day-to-day cashflows. (xiv) The solid grey section shows the maturity profile of current borrowing. The gap between the grey section and the liability benchmark line represents the estimated additional borrowing that is forecast will be required to fund the current capital expenditure plans, via long-term and short-term borrowing options. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Overall the approach adopted by the Council’s Treasury Management team during the quarter under review met the key requirements of the 2025/26 Treasury Management Strategy. Prudential indicators have remained in accordance with those approved by Committee on 26 February 2025. The projected final outturn illustrates a healthy prudential margin and borrowing levels that are below sustainable limits, ensuring that the projected capital investment levels remain affordable and sustainable. However, the current financial volatility and increased borrowing costs has resulted in an assessment being undertaken of the potential impact on future years of the current capital programme. This will continue to be monitored to determine if any further review of the programme is required to ensure that it remains sustainably affordable. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1: Loans, Long term Liabilities & Investments as at 30 June 2025 4.2 Appendix 2: Summary of Treasury and Prudential Indicators as at quarter ended 30 June 2025 4.3 Appendix 3: Liability Benchmark as at quarter ended 30 June 2025 Greg Telfer Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) Page 183 of 292
Page 184
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? Financial impacts are outlined within the 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 ☐ Page 184 of 292
Page 185
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? As the Council borrows and invests significant sums of money it is exposed to financial risks including the loss of invested funds and the revenue effect of changing interest rates. Therefore, successful identification, monitoring and control of risk remains central to the Council’s treasury management strategy. Treasury Management activity by its very nature has a number of inherent risks including interest rate, liquidity and refinancing risks. To minimise risk for its treasury management activities the Council adopts and operates in accordance with the guidelines for best practice prescribed within the CIPFA “Treasury Management in the Public Services” Code of Practice and the CIPFA Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities. 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. Page 185 of 292
Page 186
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 186 of 292
Page 187
LOANS, LONG TERM LIABILITIES & INVESTMENTS AS AT 30 JUNE 2025 Appendix 1 DEBT RESTRUCTURING BALANCE 1-April-25 EARLY REDEMPTION REFINANCING NEW BORROWING / LONG-TERM LIABILITIES PRINCIPAL REPAYMENTS NET CASH MOVEMENTS BALANCE 30-June-25 (1) (2) (3) (4) (5) (6) (7) LONG-TERM LOANS PWLB 710,123,329 0 0 20,000,000 (9,190,915) 10,809,085 720,932,415 MONEY MARKET LOANS 54,000,000 0 0 0 0 0 54,000,000 LOBO 3,000,000 0 0 0 0 0 3,000,000 ENERGY EFFICIENCY LOAN 481,519 0 0 0 (98,006) (98,006) 383,513 767,604,849 0 0 20,000,000 (9,288,921) 10,711,079 778,315,927 SHORT-TERM LOANS TEMPORARY 220,000,000 0 0 61,000,000 (66,500,000) (5,500,000) 214,500,000 MUNICIPAL BANK 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 INTERNAL LOANS 6,280 0 0 0 0 0 6,280 220,006,280 0 0 61,000,000 (66,500,000) (5,500,000) 214,506,280 LONG -TERM LIABILITIES FINANCE LEASE OBLIGATIONS 1,055,925 0 0 0 (249,934) (249,934) 805,990 LONG TERM LIABILITY 292,200,604 0 0 0 (3,297,084) (3,297,084) 288,903,520 293,256,529 0 0 0 (3,547,018) (3,547,018) 289,709,510 TOTAL EXTERNAL DEBT 1,280,867,657 0 0 81,000,000 (79,335,939) 1,664,061 1,282,531,718 INVESTMENTS THIRD PARTY ADVANCES 1,135,267 0 0 0 (12,241) (12,241) 1,123,026 BANKS & OTHER FINANCIAL INSTITUTIONS 81,501,698 0 0 0 0 15,757,936 97,259,635 UNCLEARED BALANCES INCL CASH IN TRANSIT (36,981,791) 0 0 0 0 27,297,816 (9,683,975) CASH & CASH EQUIVALENTS 45,655,175 0 0 0 (12,241) 43,043,511 88,698,686 NET BORROWING 1,235,212,482 0 0 81,000,000 79,323,698 (41,379,451) 1,193,833,032 Page 187 of 292
Page 188
Appendix 2 Summary of Treasury and Prudential Indicators as at quarter ended 30 June 2025 1. Prudential Indicators (a) Capital Expenditure Initial Estimate 2025/2026 (£m) Projected Outturn 2025/2026 (£m) Variance 2025/2026 (£m) Forecast 2026/2027 (£m) Forecast 2027/2028 (£m) Forecast 2028/2029 (£m) Forecast 2029/2030 (£m) Capital Expenditure: General Services 153.4 178.6 25.2 166.1 133.8 246.4 104.6 Capital Expenditure: HRA 125.8 140.1 14.3 220.3 189.5 157.6 179.4 Total spend : Capital Expenditure 279.2 318.7 39.5 386.4 323.3 404.0 284.0 Total spend : Credit Arrangement 14.4 14.0 (0.4) 15.9 16.2 15.5 15.5 Total Capital Investment 293.6 332.7 39.1 402.3 339.5 419.5 299.5 Financed By: Capital Grants & Other External Contributions 59.5 72.7 13.2 52.3 52.6 54.9 30.0 Capital from Current Revenue 46.8 47.3 0.5 20.1 20.1 20.1 20.1 Capital receipts 3.4 1.7 (1.7) 3.4 3.4 3.4 0.0 Capital receipts transfer to Capital Fund 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 CFR : Borrowing - General Services 84.1 100.7 16.6 127.4 94.8 205.1 91.6 CFR : Borrowing - HRA 85.4 96.3 10.9 183.2 152.4 120.5 142.3 Credit Arrangements 14.4 14.0 (0.4) 15.9 16.2 15.5 15.5 (b) Capital Financing Requirement (CFR) Initial Estimate 2025/2026 (£m) Projected Outturn 2025/2026 (£m) Variance 2025/2026 (£m) Forecast 2026/2027 (£m) Forecast 2027/2028 (£m) Forecast 2028/2029 (£m) Forecast 2029/2030 (£m) General Services 1,080.8 1,085.0 4.2 1,198.7 1,278.0 1,463.8 1,533.8 HRA 640.6 643.7 3.1 811.0 945.4 1,045.4 1,164.7 Total CFR 1,721.4 1,728.7 7.3 2,009.7 2,223.4 2,509.2 2,698.5 Movement in CFR 143.8 171.0 281.0 213.7 285.8 189.3 (c) Gross Debt and the Capital Financing Requirement Initial Estimate 2025/2026 (£m) Projected Outturn 2025/2026 (£m) Variance 2025/2026 (£m) Forecast 2026/2027 (£m) Forecast 2027/2028 (£m) Forecast 2028/2029 (£m) Forecast 2029/2030 (£m) Gross Borrowing : Loan Debt 1,186.8 1,170.4 (16.4) 1,468.1 1,740.7 2,047.9 2,232.7 Long-term Liabilites 294.0 295.2 1.2 294.7 294.1 291.4 289.3 Gross Debt 1,480.8 1,465.6 (15.2) 1,762.8 2,034.8 2,339.3 2,522.0 Capital Financing Requirement 1,721.4 1,728.7 7.3 2,009.7 2,223.4 2,509.2 2,698.5 Prudential Margin 240.6 263.1 22.5 246.9 188.6 169.9 176.5 Page 188 of 292
Page 189
Appendix 2 (cont) Summary of Treasury and Prudential Indicators as at quarter ended 30 June 2025 1. Prudential Indicators (d) Authorised Limit and Operational Boundary Initial Authorised Limit 2025/2026 (£m) Initial Operational Boundary 2025/2026 (£m) Maximum Borrowing Level Q1 2025/2026 (£m) Borrowing 1,505.0 1,455.0 996.8 Other Long-term Liabilities 325.0 325.0 289.7 Total Debt 1,830.0 1,780.0 1,286.5 (e) Proportion of Financing Costs to Net Revenue Stream Initial Estimate 2025/2026 (£m) Projected Outturn 2025/2026 (£m) Variance 2025/2026 (£m) Forecast 2026/2027 (£m) Forecast 2027/2028 (£m) Forecast 2028/2029 (£m) Forecast 2029/2030 (£m) General Fund Loan Charges 46.6 48.5 1.9 53.4 62.2 70.7 83.3 General Fund Finance Lease/PPP Costs 15.3 15.3 0.0 15.1 14.8 14.6 14.1 General Fund : Capital Financing Costs 61.9 63.8 1.9 68.5 77.0 85.3 97.4 General Fund : Net Revenue Stream 1,068.8 1,068.8 0.0 1,068.8 1,068.8 1,068.8 1,068.8 Proportion of Financing Costs to Net Revenue Stream - GF 5.8% 6.0% 0.2% 6.4% 7.2% 8.0% 9.1% Proportion of Financing Costs to Net Revenue Stream Initial Estimate 2025/2026 (£m) Projected Outturn 2025/2026 (£m) Variance 2025/2026 (£m) Forecast 2026/2027 (£m) Forecast 2027/2028 (£m) Forecast 2028/2029 (£m) Forecast 2029/2030 (£m) HRA Loan Charges 43.3 43.2 (0.1) 48.5 59.5 71.5 79.5 HRA Finance Lease/PPP Costs 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.3 0.3 0.3 0.0 HRA : Capital Financing Costs 43.6 43.5 (0.1) 48.8 59.8 71.8 79.5 HRA : Net Revenue Stream 171.9 171.9 0.0 175.3 188.6 201.6 209.2 Proportion of Financing Costs to Net Revenue Stream - HRA 25.4% 25.3% (0.1%) 27.8% 31.7% 35.6% 38.0% Page 189 of 292
Page 190
Appendix 2 (cont) Summary of Treasury and Prudential Indicators as at quarter ended 30 June 2025 2. Treasury Management Indicators a) Interest Rate Exposures on External Interest Payments Position as at 30/06/2025 (£m) % External Interest Payable on Fixed Rate Loan Debt 46.2 99.5% External Interest Payable on Variable Rate Loan Debt 0.3 0.5% b) Loans Fund Revenue Account Initial Estimate 2025/2026 (£m) Projected Outturn 2025/2026 (£m) Variance 2025/2026 (£m) %age Loans Fund Interest Payments 64.6 66.9 (2.3) (3.6%) Loans Fund Expenses 0.4 0.4 0.0 0.0% Total Loans Interest Payments & Expenses 65.0 67.3 (2.3) (3.5%) Loans Funds Investment Income (1.5) (1.7) 0.2 (13.3%) Total Loans Fund Interest Payments Investment Income & Expenses 63.5 65.6 (2.1) (3.3%) Allocated as follows : Loans Fund Interest Payments Investment Income & Expenses:General Fund 34.4 36.5 (2.1) (6.1%) Loans Fund Interest Payments Investment Income & Expenses:HRA 29.1 29.1 0.0 0.0% Capital Advances Repayments - General Fund 12.2 12.1 0.1 0.8% Capital Advances Repayments - HRA 14.2 14.1 0.1 0.7% Total Capital Advances 26.4 26.2 0.2 0.8% Total Loan Charges 89.9 91.8 (1.9) (2.1%) c) Maturity Structure of Borrowing <12months 12 months to 2 years 2 to 5 years 5 to 10 years 10 to 20 years 20 to 40 years >40 years Upper Limit maturing :Fixed & Variable Rate Debt 15.0% 15.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 45.0% 30.0% Lower Limit maturing :Fixed & Variable Rate Debt 0.0% 0.0% 5.0% 5.0% 5.0% 10.0% 10.0% Maturity structure at the start of Q1 10.2% 7.8% 19.6% 27.7% 9.8% 21.6% 3.4% Maturity structure at the end of Q1 10.5% 7.9% 20.4% 27.9% 10.0% 20.0% 3.3% Page 190 of 292
Page 191
Appendix 3 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 2024 2026 2028 2030 2032 2034 2036 2038 2040 2042 2044 2046 2048 2050 2052 2054 £m Liability Benchmark - North Lanarkshire Fixed rate loans LOBO loans Loans CFR Liability benchmark Net loans requirement Page 191 of 292
Page 192
Page 192 of 292
Page 193
North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref GT/KS/RM Date 10/09/25 Treasury Management Annual Activity Report – 2024/2025 From Greg Telfer, Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) E-mail McnameeR@northlan.gov.uk Telephone Ryan McNamee, Finance Manager 1. Background 1.1 The Council is required to meet a number of key reporting requirements for Treasury Management in accordance with the CIPFA Code of Practice on Treasury Management and the CIPFA Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities. 1.2 This report fulfils one of these requirements, outlining the treasury management activity undertaken during 2024/2025 and the resulting impact on the Council’s borrowing and Executive Summary This report fulfils the key requirements of the Council’s reporting procedures for Treasury Management in accordance with the CIPFA Code of Practice on Treasury Management and the CIPFA Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities in that it: • Outlines the treasury management activity undertaken during 2024/2025 and the resulting impact on the Council’s borrowing and investment strategy. • Reports on the Council’s performance in complying with the mandatory prudential indicators. • Provides a detailed summary of the Council’s performance, making reference to those targets and prudential indicators set at the start of the year within the approved strategy. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance and Resources Committee: (1) Acknowledges the Treasury Management activity undertaken during 2024/2025 and its resulting impact on the Council’s borrowing and investment strategy set out within Appendix 1 to this report. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (25) Ensure intelligent use of data and information to support fully evidence based decision making and future planning Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 16 Page 193 of 292
Page 194
investment strategy and the Council’s performance in complying with the mandatory treasury and prudential indicators. 2. Report 2.1 The Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2024/2025 approved by Committee on 28 February 2024, set out the Treasury Management policies, practices and activities to be undertaken by the Treasury Management function during 2024/2025 2.2 Appendix 1 provides a detailed summary of the Council’s performance, referencing those targets and prudential indicators set at the start of the year within the approved strategy. 2.3 It focuses on the key areas of Treasury Management activity during 2024/2025 including: • External Borrowing • Interest Rates & Payments • Debt Maturity Profile • Investment Performance • Sources of Borrowing • Leasing • Regulatory Framework, Risk and Performance 2.4 The Council’s Treasury Management activity continued to be managed in the light of the market conditions, to take advantage of lower interest rates for borrowing where possible, while minimising the level of investment balances held, with the Council’s average loans pool rate increasing from 4.45% to 4.87% due to increasing market interest rates throughout 2024/25. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Overall, the approach adopted by the Council’s Treasury Management team met the key requirements of the 2023/2024 Treasury Management Strategy. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1: Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Greg Telfer Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) Page 194 of 292
Page 195
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? Financial impacts are outlined within the 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 ☐ Page 195 of 292
Page 196
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? As the Council borrows and invests significant sums of money it is exposed to financial risks including the loss of invested funds and the revenue effect of changing interest rates. Therefore, successful identification, monitoring and control of risk remains central to the Council’s treasury management strategy. Treasury Management activity by its very nature has a number of inherent risks including interest rate, liquidity and refinancing risks. To minimise risk for its treasury management activities the Council adopts and operates in accordance with the guidelines for best practice prescribed within the CIPFA “Treasury Management in the Public Services” Code of Practice and the CIPFA Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities. 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. Page 196 of 292
Page 197
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 197 of 292
Page 198
Appendix 1 Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Page 198 of 292
Page 199
Appendix 1 Index 1. Introduction 2. Background 3. Borrowing Requirement 2024/2025 4. Economic Background & Interest Rates 2024/2025 5. Interest Payments 2024/2025 6. Debt Maturity Profile 7. Sources of Borrowing 8. Debt Rescheduling 9. The Prudential Code for Capital Finance 10. Temporary Funds Investment Performance 11. Leasing 12. Soft Loans 13. Financial Guarantee 14. Treasury Management Advisory Service 15. Policy on Repayment of Loans Fund Advances 2024/2025 16. Regulatory Framework, Risk and Performance Page 199 of 292
Page 200
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 1. Introduction 1.1 Treasury Management deals with the borrowing and investment activity of the Council and is an integral part of the Council’s Financial Strategy. It seeks to ensure that both capital borrowing requirements and day to day revenue transactions are fully funded. Its importance has increased as a result of the additional freedoms provided by the Prudential Code. 1.2 The Council’s treasury activities are strictly regulated by statutory requirements and a professional code of practice. Revised editions of the CIPFA Prudential Code and CIPFA Treasury Management Code of Practice were issued in December 2021. In accordance with the Council’s financial regulations, the Council adopts the fully revised CIPFA “Treasury Management in the Public Services” Code of Practice (the Code) including the key principles and the Treasury Management Policy statement. 1.3 Within the Council, the Audit and Scrutiny Panel ensures the effective scrutiny of the treasury management strategy and policies, while the Finance and Resources Committee remains responsible for the development of the Strategy, its implementation and monitoring. The Council also promotes members’ responsibility in this area, requiring greater member scrutiny of treasury management activity. 1.4 The Code of Practice requires the Council to produce reports on its Treasury Management policies, practices and activities, including, as a minimum, an annual strategic plan at the beginning of the financial year, a mid-year review, followed by an annual report on the measurement of success at the year-end. To ensure compliance with the Code of Practice, Treasury Management procedures are continually reviewed with any amendments reported to Committee as appropriate. Prudential arrangements and treasury management performance information is submitted to Committee on a quarterly basis. 2. Background 2.1 The Council has adopted the CIPFA Code of Practice in Treasury Management and operates its treasury services to mitigate the effect of possible risk in this function, while undertaking borrowing and investment activities that are prudent, affordable and sustainable. 2.2 As noted in 1.4 above, the Code of Practice requires the Council to produce reports on its Treasury Management policies, practices and activities on a regular and ongoing basis. This includes the preparation of an annual activity report providing a detailed summary of the Council’s performance, making reference to those targets, limits and indicators set at the start of the year within the approved strategy. 2.3 In accordance with the Council’s Treasury Management policy, the report focuses on activities undertaken during the year in the following key areas:- • External Borrowing • Interest Rates • Interest Payments • Debt Maturity Profile • Sources of Borrowing • Debt Rescheduling • Temporary Investments • Leasing • Compliance with the Prudential Code • Regulatory Framework, Risk and Performance Page 200 of 292
Page 201
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 3. Borrowing Requirement 2024/2025 Capital Borrowing Requirement 3.1 The Treasury Management Strategy for 2024/2025, approved by the Finance & Resources Committee on 28 February 2024, indicated a capital programme of £312.3m. The capital expenditure programme was budgeted to be funded by external grants & contributions of £72.1m, capital contributions from revenue of £20.1m and capital receipts of £3.3m, resulting in a projected increase in the capital borrowing requirement of £216.8m. 3.2 The actual total investment in council assets during 2024/2025, amounted to £212.8m, which was partially funded by external grants and receipts of £70.9m, capital contributions from revenue of £24.7m and capital receipts of £6.4m, resulting in a capital borrowing requirement totalling £110.8m to support this capital investment, which is £106.0m lower than the initial estimate and £21.5m less than the revised estimate reported at Q3. 3.3 This reduction in capital expenditure and reduced capital financing requirement is primarily a result of the Council experiencing challenges in delivering the Strategic Capital Investment Programme and HRA Investment Programme in light of a number of external factors affecting the wider economy including availability of materials, contractors and inflationary pressures. This resulted in reduced capacity for external contractors to deliver projects within previously assumed timelines, and increased material costs. As a result, decisions were taken by the Policy & Strategy Committee on 14 March 2024, Housing Committee on 14 February 2024 and Strategic Capital Delivery Group (SCDG) at its meetings on the October 2024 and January 2025, to reduce the overall capital programme and re-profile the capital programme to reflect revised delivery timescales. This resulted in reductions in the budgeted capital programme throughout 2024/25, and final expenditure resulted in slippage that will be re-profiled to 2025/26. 3.4 The revised estimates contained within this report when compared to the initial estimates reflect the impact of Policy & Strategy Committee, Housing Committee and SCDG decisions and were approved within the Treasury Management Strategy 2025/2026 and Prudential Indicators 2025/26 to 2029/2030, approved by the Finance & Resources Committee on 26 February 2025. For comparison of the estimate to actual outturn, unless otherwise stated, the comparator adopted within this report is the actual outturn to the revised estimate reported at Q3. 3.5 Members have received reports throughout the year advising them of anticipated variations to the capital expenditure programmes and resource levels. 3.6 As highlighted in Table 3 included within Section 9 which outlines the Prudential Code for Capital Finance requirements, the resource mix to finance the 2024/2025 capital expenditure programme varied from the original estimate, primarily due to increases in CFCR contributions of £4.6m, Credit Arrangements of £9.0m and Capital Receipts of £3.1m partly offset by a decrease in net capital grants and external contributions available of (£1.2m). Capital Financing Requirement 2024/2025 3.7 The 2024/2025 capital financing requirement of £110.8m was funded primarily by a combination of internal balances/reserves, short-term borrowing(<1year) and long-term borrowing from the Public Works Loan Board (PWLB). A full summary is provided within Section 7 Sources of Borrowing. Page 201 of 292
Page 202
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 4. Economic Background & Interest Rates 2024/2025 4.1 Both the UK and US elected new governments during the period, whose policy decisions impacted the economic outlook. The Chancellor of the Exchequer delivered her Spring Statement in March 2025, following her Budget in October 2024. Based on the plans announced, the Office for Budget Responsibility downgraded its predictions for UK growth in 2025 to 1% from 2%. However, it upgraded its predictions for the four subsequent years. Inflation predictions for 2025 were pushed up, to 3.2% from 2.6%, before seen as falling back to target in 2027. The market reaction to the Spring Statement was more muted compared to the Budget, with very recent market turbulence being driven more by US trade policy decisions and President Trump. 4.2 UK annual Consumer Price Index (CPI) inflation continued to stay above the 2% Bank of England (BoE) target in the later part of the period. The Office for National Statistics (ONS) reported headline consumer prices at 2.6% in March 2025, down from 3.0% in January 2025 and below expectations. Core CPI also remained elevated, falling slightly in March to 3.4% from 3.7% in January. 4.3 The UK economy Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by 0.1% between October and December 2024, unrevised from the initial estimate. This was an improvement on the zero growth in the previous quarter, but down from the 0.4% growth between April and June 2024. Of the monthly GDP figures, the economy was estimated to have contracted by 0.1% in January, worse than expectations for a 0.1% gain however in surprising news, February GDP grew 0.5%, exceeding expectations of 0.1% growth. 4.4 The labour market continued to cool, but the ONS data still require treating with caution. Recent data showed the unemployment rate rose to 4.5% (3mth/year) in the three months to March 2025 while the economic inactivity rate fell again to 21.4%. The ONS reported pay growth over the same three-month period at 5.6% for regular earnings (excluding bonuses) and 5.5% for total earnings. 4.5 The BoE’s Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) held Base Rate at 4.5% at its March 2025 meeting, having reduced it in February. This follows earlier 0.25% cuts in November 2024 and August 2024 from the 5.25% peak. At the March MPC meeting, members voted 8-1 to maintain Base Rate at 4.5%, with the one dissenter preferring another 25 basis points cut. The meeting minutes implied a slightly more hawkish tilt compared to February when two MPC members wanted a 50bps cut. In the minutes, the Bank also upgraded its Q1 2025 GDP forecast to around 0.25% from the previous estimate of 0.1%. 4.6 The February Monetary Policy Report (MPR) showed the BoE expected GDP growth in 2025 to be significantly weaker compared to the November MPR. GDP is forecast to rise by 0.1% in Q1 2025, less than the previous estimate of 0.4%. Four-quarter GDP growth is expected to pick up from the middle of 2025, to over 1.5% by the end of the forecast period. The outlook for CPI inflation showed it remaining above the MPC’s 2% target throughout 2025. It is expected to hit around 3.5% by June before peaking at 3.7% in Q3 and then easing towards the end of the year but staying above the 2% target. The unemployment rate was expected to rise steadily to around 4.75% by the end of the forecast horizon, above the assumed medium-term equilibrium unemployment rate of 4.5%. 4.7 In global terms, The US Federal Reserve paused its cutting cycle in the first three months of 2025, having reduced the Fed Funds Rate by 0.25% to a range of 4.25%- 4.50% in December, the third cut in succession. Fed policymakers noted uncertainty around the economic outlook but were anticipating around 0.50% of further cuts in the Page 202 of 292
Page 203
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 policy rate in 2025. Economic growth continued to rise at a reasonable pace, expanding at an annualised rate of 2.4% in Q4 2024 while inflation remained elevated over the period. However, growth is now expected to weaken by more than previously expected in 2025, to 1.7% from 2.1%. The uncertainty that President Trump has brought both before and since his inauguration in January is expected to continue. The European Central Bank (ECB) continued its rate cutting cycle over the period, reducing its three key policy rates by another 0.25% in March, acknowledging that monetary policy is becoming meaningfully less restrictive. Euro zone inflation has decreased steadily in 2025, falling to 2.2% in March, the lowest level since November 2024. Over the current calendar year, inflation is expected to average 2.3%. GDP growth stagnated in the last quarter of the 2024 calendar year, after expanding by 0.4% in the previous quarter. For 2025, economic growth forecasts were revised downwards to 0.9% 4.8 Reflecting the impact of the economic volatility throughout 2024/25, the graph below illustrates lending interest rates falling throughout the year anticipating and reflecting Bank of England base rate decreases announced throughout the year to stand at 4.50% in March 2025. The fluctuation in the short-term borrowing rates payable by the Council for temporary funds (less than 1 year) is influenced by the prevailing market lending rates, the margin representing the relative supply and demand on any given day for local authority to local authority borrowing, and the term of borrowing profiled to the Council’s cashflow requirements. 4.9 Financial market sentiment was reasonably positive over most of the period, but economic, financial and geopolitical issues meant the trend of market volatility remained. In the latter part of the period, volatility increased and bond yields started to fall following a January peak, as the economic uncertainty around likely US trade policy 4.000 4.250 4.500 4.750 5.000 5.250 5.500 Interest Rate % 2024/2025 Monthly Average market lending rates for 7 day, 3 months, and 12 months Base rate 7 day 3 Mths 12 Mths Page 203 of 292
Page 204
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 impacted financial markets. Yields in the UK and US started to diverge in the last month of the period, with the former rising around concerns over the fiscal implications on the UK government from weaker growth, business sentiment and higher rates, while the latter started falling on potential recession fears due to the unpredictable nature of policy announcements by the US President and their potential impact. 4.10 After substantial rises in interest rates since 2021 many central banks have now begun to reduce their policy rates, albeit slowly. Gilt yields were volatile but have increased overall during the period. Much of the increase has been in response to market concerns that policies introduced by the UK government will be inflationary and lead to higher levels of government borrowing. The election of Donald Trump in the US in November 2024 is also expected to lead to inflationary trade policies. 4.11 The 10-year UK benchmark gilt yield started the period at 3.94% and ended at 4.69%, having reached a low of 3.76% in September and a high of 4.90% in January in between. Whilst the 20-year gilt started at 4.40% and ended at 5.22%, hitting a low of 4.27% in September and a high of 5.40% in January. The Sterling Overnight Rate (SONIA) averaged 4.90% over the period. 4.12 The change in the perception as to how the economy is progressing is more readily explained by an analysis of the fluctuations in the PWLB medium to long term rates as per the graph below. 4.13 The spread between the highest and lowest daily interest rates payable for PWLB 10, 25 and 50 year borrowing periods throughout 2024/2025 were 1.19% for the 10-year range, 1.10% for 25 year range and 1.00% for the 50 year range. The PWLB certainty rate for 10-year maturity loans was 4.80% at the beginning of the period and 5.42% at 4.000 4.500 5.000 5.500 6.000 6.500 Interest Rate % 2024/2025 Monthly Average PWLB rates or periods up to 10, 25 and 50 years up to 10 years up to 25 years up to 50 years Page 204 of 292
Page 205
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 the end. The lowest available 10-year maturity rate was 4.52% and the highest was 5.71%. Rates for 25-year maturity loans ranged from 5.08% to 6.18% during the period, and 50-year maturity loans from 4.88% to 5.88%. 4.14 The new HRA PWLB rate which is 0.4% below the currently available certainty rate was made available from 15th June 2023. This rate will now be available to March 2026. The discounted rate is to support local authorities borrowing for Housing capital purposes or refinancing existing HRA loans, providing a window of opportunity for HRA- related borrowing during this time frame. During 2024/25, borrowing of £75.0m was taken utilising the HRA discount rate. In conjunction with our treasury advisors, we continue to review the requirements and assess the borrowing opportunities for the Council for 2025/26. 4.15 For the majority of the year the cost of short-term borrowing from other local authorities closely tracked Base Rate at around 5.00% - 5.25%. However from late 2024 rates began to rise, peaking at around 6% in February and March 2025. 4.16 The period in question ended shortly before US President Donald Trump announced his package of ‘reciprocal tariffs’, the immediate aftermath of which saw stock prices and government bond yields falling and introduced further uncertainty over the economic outlook and possible impacts will be reported in future reports. 5. Interest Payments 2024/2025 5.1 The Council made interest payments in 2024/2025 of £57.2m (£46.8m in 2023/2024). This includes both the external and internal elements of interest payable, and the annual write-off associated with premiums and discounts. This increase of £10.4m from 2023/2024 levels represents additional net interest costs of £10.2m, comprising an increase in external interest payable of £7.5m and internal interest on revenue balances charges of £2.7m, and decreased investment income of £0.2m due to increasing interest rates throughout the year. Whilst an increase in costs from previous year, total costs are primarily managed using a combination of internal balances/reserves and short-term borrowing(<1yr) which was sourced at lower interest rates, to meet the in- year capital financing requirement and the refinancing of long-term debt maturing, in lieu of future long-term borrowing where possible. This reflecting the borrowing strategy adopted in 2024/2025, which is complimented by efficient cashflow management and balance sheet analysis and ensures the nature and timing of new borrowing remains efficient and effective, achieving value for money. 5.2 The Council’s average cost of servicing its debt and investment portfolio has started to increase in recent years due to rising market interest rates with the weighted average loans fund pool rate for 2024/25 being 4.87%, an increase of 0.42% when compared to the average rate of 4.45% for 2023/24. 5.3 Given the term structure of interest rates prevailing throughout the year, the borrowing strategy adopted minimised carrying costs (see paragraph 9.17 below), whilst managing liquidity. Whilst the weighted average loans fund pool rate of the Council’s loan portfolio rose this year, debt costs were retained at prudent levels despite the significant increase in prudential borrowing rates. However, with interest rates forecast to continue to remain high in 2025/2026 and possibly thereafter, this will become more challenging whilst maintaining the current capital investment programme. Page 205 of 292
Page 206
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 6. Debt Maturity Profile 6.1 Debt maturity profiles are continually monitored in the management of Treasury Management risk and in particular refinancing, liquidity and interest rate risk. 6.2 A summary of the current debt maturity profile is contained in Table 1 below. Maturity Profile 2024/2025 2023/2024 £m % £m % Temporary Borrowing < 1yr 220.0 22.28% 240.8 27.77% Long term borrowing: Maturing in less than 1 Year 78.0 7.90% 35.5 4.10% Maturing in 1 - 2 Years 60.2 6.10% 36.9 4.26% Maturing in 2 - 5 Years 150.6 15.24% 105.7 12.19% Maturing in 5 - 10 Years 212.3 21.49% 153.8 17.74% Maturing in 10 - 20 Years 74.9 7.58% 95.3 11.00% Maturing in 20 - 40 Years 165.9 16.79% 173.1 19.96% Maturing in more than 40 Years 25.8 2.61% 25.8 2.98% 987.6 100.00% 866.9 100.00% Table 1 6.3 A graphical presentation of the current long-term debt maturity profile on an annual basis is shown below. 5 10 15 20 25 30 35 40 45 50 55 60 65 70 75 80 85 Millions FINANCIAL YEAR Forecast Long-term Debt Maturity Profile as at 31 March 2025 Public Works Loan Board (PWLB) Market Loans SALIX Page 206 of 292
Page 207
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 6.4 It should be noted that the maturity profile includes variable rate debt which can be repaid in whole or part at any time up until the maturity date without penalty, further increasing the flexibility within the repayment profile. It is currently assumed this debt will be held to maturity, subject to certain conditions. 6.5 The graph highlights that for the period 2028/2029 until 2031/2032, the average debt maturing is lower than earlier years, and after these periods and in a number of later years there is little or no debt due to be repaid. This may offer opportunities for sourcing debt within this maturity spectrum as part of future capital financing or debt restructuring/replacement strategies, dependent upon interest rates and in compliance with the overall Treasury Management strategy. 6.6 The graphical presentation of the debt maturity profile excludes short-term borrowing which was originally sourced to be repaid within 12 months (temporary borrowing < 1 year) per Table 1 above. It also includes principal outstanding for LOBO (Lender’s Option Borrower’s Option) loans based on their maturity date as opposed to the potential maturity date in the year where options or calls exist. A LOBO is called when the lender exercises its right to amend the interest rate on the loan at which point the Council can accept the revised terms or reject them and repay the loan. 6.7 At 31 March 2025 the Council had an exposure of £3.0m to LOBO loans, all of which have call dates falling within less than one year, with interest rates payable ranging from 10.625% to 10.937%. This balance of £3.0m, taken out in the mid 1980’s to early 1990’s, having an average interest rate of 10.73%. Based on the current and the forecast interest rates the likelihood of these loans being called has been assessed as minimal. In the event that the call option were to be exercised, the default position will be the repayment of the LOBO without penalty with the associated treasury management risks (refinancing/interest rate/liquidity) managed in line with the borrowing strategy for other maturing debt. 6.8 The graphical presentation below provides a further analysis of the average annual rate of interest payable on maturing long-term debt. This analysis highlighting possible opportunities for savings in interest costs over the coming years, as the refinancing strategy adopted, will look to replace these loans at lower average interest rates than the historic interest rates currently being paid on the respective debt reaching maturity. In the years where no loans fall due for repayment this shows as 0.00% within the graph below. 0.00% 2.00% 4.00% 6.00% 8.00% Average Interest Rate of Interest Payable on Maturing Long term Debt Page 207 of 292
Page 208
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 7. Sources of Borrowing 7.1 At the 31 March 2025 the Council’s total external debt, defined as actual gross borrowing (excluding interest accrued) plus obligations outstanding in respect of finance leases and Service Concessions liabilities had risen from £1,075.6m to £1,280.9m, an increase of £205.3m as shown in Table 2 below. Sources of Finance 2024/2025 2023/2024 £m % £m % Public Works Loan Board 710.1 71.8% 568.4 65.5% Money Market Loans 57.0 5.8% 57.0 6.6% Temporary Borrowing 220.0 22.3% 240.8 27.8% Energy Efficiency Loan – Salix 0.5 0.1% 0.7 0.1% Total Debt Outstanding 987.6 100.0% 866.9 100.0% Finance Lease Liabilities (including IFRS16) 1.1 0.4% 1.3 0.8% Service Concessions Liabilities 292.2 99.6% 207.4 99.2% Total Long-term Liabilities 293.3 100.0% 208.7 100.0% Total External Debt 1,280.9 1,075.6 Annual Movement 205.3 Table 2 7.2 The increase in external debt of £205.3m is primarily due to movements in the total debt outstanding of £120.7m with PWLB borrowing increasing by £141.7m, due to new PWLB borrowing of £177.0m offset by PWLB repayments of principal for PWLB of £35.3m falling due for repayment in 2024/2025 per the terms of the original loan agreements, a decrease of £20.8m in temporary borrowing, (with transactional activity in terms of temporary borrowing being £558.8m in total, comprising £269.0m of cash received and £289.8m of cash being repaid during 2024/2025) and repayment of £0.3m in respect of energy efficiency loans from Salix. 7.3 In addition, within 2024/25 there was an increase in long term liabilities of £84.6m which was due to the implementation of IFRS16 Leases in 2024/2025 which requires the re- measurement of PPP liabilities on transition on 1 April 2024 and annually thereafter which resulted in an increase of £88.3m recognised in 2024/2025. In addition, the Service Concession flexibility available through Finance Circular 10/2022 (Finance Leases and Service Concession Arrangements) which was implemented in 2023/24, which allowed the Council to amend statutory repayment of principal elements of the lease component of service concession arrangements over the estimated asset lives instead of the contractual period. The value of this deferral relating to 2024/2025 was £9.4m. These were offset by contractual repayments in respect of the finance lease and Service Concessions liabilities of £13.1m. 7.4 The above approach to borrowing in 2024/2025 was underpinned by: • interest rate expectations; • the management of carrying costs; Page 208 of 292
Page 209
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 • the spend profile of the Capital Investment programme; and • managing reserves and balances at prudent levels in lieu of external borrowing. 8. Debt Rescheduling 8.1 Debt rescheduling is defined as the reorganisation of existing debt in such a way as to amend the debt repayment profile of the authority, reduce the principal sum borrowed, alter the degree of volatility of the debt or vary the interest charge payable. 8.2 During 2024/2025, the economic climate in relation to our financial targets and Treasury Management strategy was monitored. The interest rates prevailing throughout the period resulted in no beneficial opportunities for debt restructuring/rescheduling of the PWLB debt portfolio. 8.3 A decision taken by the PWLB in October 2010 to increase interest rates, by an average of 0.90% above UK Government gilts, across the whole maturity spectrum for new PWLB fixed and variable rate loans from 1 year up to 50 years continues to significantly limit opportunities. 9. The Prudential Code for Capital Finance Prudential Indicators 9.1 Following the introduction of the Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 and the Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities, the Treasury Management Strategy Statement 2024/2025 detailed the mandatory prudential indicators, essential for ensuring that the Council's capital programmes were affordable, prudent and sustainable. 9.2 The Council approved a variety of indicators, including revised estimates for the financial years 2024/2025 through to 2028/2029. The total capital investment in 2024/2025 was £310.5m. A summary as to how this was financed is provided in Table 3 below. Table 3 Capital Expenditure 2024/2025 Initial Estimate (£m) 2024/2025 Revised Estimate (£m) 2024/2025 Actual (£m) Variance (£m) Expenditure on assets 312.3 239.6 212.8 26.8 Credit Arrangements 88.7 88.6 97.7 (9.1) Total Capital Investment 401.0 328.2 310.5 17.7 Financed by Borrowing 216.8 132.3 110.8 (21.5) Capital receipts 3.3 6.4 6.4 - Grants & External Contributions 72.1 55.8 70.9 15.1 CFCR 20.1 45.1 24.7 (20.4) Credit Arrangements 88.7 88.6 97.7 9.1 Page 209 of 292
Page 210
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 9.3 The Capital Financing Requirement (CFR) which is a measure of the Council’s underlying borrowing need, comprising borrowing and credit arrangements, was £22.3m less than anticipated as at 31 March 2025, compared to the revised estimate as shown in Table 4. The CFR is split between General Services and HRA which reflects actual debt outstanding as at 31 March 2025. Capital Financing Requirement 31 March 2025 Initial Estimate (£m) 31 March 2025 Revised Estimate (£m) 31 March 2025 Actual (£m) Variance (£m) General Services 1,081.8 1,008.6 994.2 14.4 HRA 603.8 569.6 561.7 7.9 Total CFR 1,685.6 1,578.2 1,555.9 22.3 Table 4 9.4 This 2024/2025 decreased borrowing requirement (CFR) of £22.3m per Table 4 above comprises the reduced borrowing for capital expenditure on assets of £21.5m and a minor £0.7m movement related to measurement of Service Concession liabilities for 2024/25 (see table 5). 9.5 Per Table 5 below, the external debt position of the Council at the 31 March 2025 was £15.2m less than expected compared to the revised estimate. The total debt outstanding was lower than anticipated and healthy cash balances resulted in a reduced requirement for PWLB and Temporary borrowing of £14.5m to meet daily cashflow requirements and manage liquidity risks. Sources of Finance 31 March 2025 Initial Estimate 31 March 2025 Revised Estimate 31 March 2025 Actual Variance £m £m £m £m Public Works Loan Board 847.6 714.6 710.1 4.5 Money Market Loans 57.0 57.0 57.0 - Energy Efficiency Loan –Salix 0.5 0.5 0.5 - Temporary Borrowing 242.0 230.0 220.0 10.0 Total Debt Outstanding 1,147.1 1,002.1 987.6 14.5 Finance Lease Liabilities 1.1 1.1 1.1 - Service Concessions Liabilities 292.2 292.9 292.2 0.7 Total Long-term Liabilities 293.0 294.0 293.3 0.7 Total External Debt 1,440.1 1,296.1 1,280.9 15.2 Table 5 9.6 As a result of the movements in the capital financing requirement and the external debt position described above, there is a healthy prudential margin of £275.0m (the need to borrow versus actual borrowing) at the end of 2024/2025, as shown in Table 6 below. This is consistent with the Council approach to use internal reserves and balances to Page 210 of 292
Page 211
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 fund the cumulative capital financing position at the 31 March 2025 as an alternative to undertaking additional external borrowing where possible. 31 March 2025 Initial Estimate (£m) 31 March 2025 Revised Estimate (£m) 31 March 2025 Actual (£m) Total CFR 1,685.6 1,578.2 1,555.9 Total External Debt 1,440.1 1,296.1 1,280.9 Prudential Margin 245.5 282.1 275.0 Table 6 9.7 Table 7 below shows the ratio of capital financing costs to total income for General Services and HRA. Interest costs were lower than initial estimates due to decreases in market interest rates led by decreasing base rate during the year outlined within Section 15 below, however apportionment of specific interest costs to General Fund and HRA of new borrowing undertaken during the year resulted in a minor decrease in ratio for General Fund of 0.2% and an increase in ratio for HRA of 0.6%. Overall it continues to reflect the efficient management of investment and borrowing activity demonstrated throughout this report. Proportion of Financing Costs/Income 31 March 2025 Initial Estimate 31 March 2025 Actual General Services 6.0% 5.8% HRA 23.5% 24.1% Table 7 9.8 The Authorised Limit is the ‘Affordable Borrowing Limit’ required by S35 of the Local Government Act 2003. The Council does not have the power to borrow above this level. The Operational Boundary is the expected borrowing position of the Council during the year. Periods where the actual position is either below or above the Operational Boundary are acceptable subject to the Authorised Limit not being breached. Page 211 of 292
Page 212
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 9.9 Table 8 below shows in 2024/2025 the Council has maintained its gross borrowing and its long-term liabilities within the Authorised Limit and Operational Boundary. Approved Limit 2024/2025 (£M) Maximum held per 2024/2025 Activity (£M) Limit Breached (Yes/No) Authorised Limit : Borrowing 1,515.0 987.6 No : Long-term Liabilities 340.0 293.3 No Operational Boundary : Borrowing 1,465.0 987.6 No : Long-term Liabilities 340.0 293.3 No Total Gross Borrowing at 31.03.2025 987.6 Total Long-term Liabilities at 31.03.2025 293.3 External Debt at 31.03.2025 1,280.9 Table 8 9.10 The external debt includes both the actual gross borrowing and long-term liabilities held at a specific point in time (i.e. 31 March 2025). 9.11 The Liability Benchmark at Table 10 below is a new indicator. The Treasury Management Code states that organisations should evaluate the amount, timing and maturities needed for new borrowing in relation to planned borrowing needs, in order to avoid borrowing too much, too little, too long or too short. The liability benchmark is an important tool to help establish whether the Council is likely to be a long-term borrower or long-term investor in the future, and so shapes its strategic focus and decision making. Essentially this benchmark identifies the projection of external debt/borrowing required over the long term to fund approved revenue & capital budgets, while keeping treasury investments at the minimum level required to manage day-to- day cash. 9.12 This represents the comparison of the Council’s actual borrowing against an alternative strategy. This utilises the forecasts for Capital Financing Requirement, long-term liabilities, current external borrowing, balance sheet resources i.e. reserves, and that cash and investment balances are kept to a minimum of £30.0m at each year-end to maintain sufficient liquidity but minimise credit risk. Table 9 31/3/25 Actual £m 31/3/26 Forecast £m 31/3/27 Forecast £m 31/3/28 Forecast £m 31/3/29 Forecast £m 31/3/30 Forecast £m Loans CFR 1,262.7 1,433.5 1,715.0 1,929.3 2,217.8 2,409.3 less Balance Sheet Resources (356.5) (360.3) (343.4) (284.3) (265.0) (273.3) Net Loans Requirement 906.1 1,073.1 1,371.6 1,645.0 1,952.8 2,136.0 plus: Liquidity Allowance 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0 30.0 Liability Benchmark 936.1 1,103.1 1,401.6 1,675.0 1,982.8 2,166.0 Existing Borrowing 987.6 789.4 645.6 589.7 537.9 486.6 New Borrowing Required 0.0 313.8 756.0 1,085.3 1,444.9 1,679.4 Page 212 of 292
Page 213
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 Table 10 9.13 The Loans CFR (solid light blue) represents the total cost of the capital expenditure plans based on the estimated current profile of the 5-year Capital Programme 2024/2025 to 2028/2029 as approved by Policy & Strategy Committee on 14th March 2025. This reduces over time as scheduled principal repayments are made to the loans fund. The Net Loans Requirement (dotted red line) represents the minimum external borrowing required to fund the current capital expenditure plans assuming all cash reserves and balances are utilised to offset borrowing requirements. The Liability Benchmark (solid red line) represents the estimated borrowing required, taken account of liquidity allowance required of £30.0m to be held to maintain liquidity and to manage day-to-day cashflows. 9.14 The solid grey section shows the maturity profile of current borrowing. The gap between the grey section and the liability benchmark line represents the estimated additional borrowing that is forecast will be required to fund the current capital expenditure plans, via long-term and short-term borrowing options. 0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 2025 2027 2029 2031 2033 2035 2037 2039 2041 2043 2045 2047 2049 2051 2053 2055 £m Liability Benchmark - North Lanarkshire Fixed rate loans LOBO loans Loans CFR Liability benchmark Net loans requirement Page 213 of 292
Page 214
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 Treasury Management Indicators 9.15 The Council approved a variety of Treasury Management indicators for the financial years 2024/2025 through to 2028/2029. Tables 11 and 12 below provide a comparison of the estimated and actual 2024/2025 Treasury Management indicators. Interest Category Initial Estimate 2024/2025 (£m) Actual 2024/2025 (£m) Variance (£m) % Interest payable on Fixed Rate Debt 45.1 38.3 6.8 15.1% Interest payable on Variable Rate Debt 0.3 0.3 0.0 0.0% Total External Interest Payments 45.5 38.6 6.8 14.9% Interest Receivable Funds Invested (1.9) (2.8) 0.9 47.4% Net Loan External Interest Charges 43.6 35.9 7.7 17.7% Table 11 9.16 Table 11 above provides prudential information in respect of external payments due and income receivable only as these are under the direct control of the Treasury Management section. In 2024/2025 there was a reduction of £6.8m in net loan external interest payments compared to initial estimates for 2024/2025. This favourable variance was achieved due to the borrowing strategy adopted to meet the revised General Services and HRA Capital Programme for 2024/25. 9.17 This interest saving primarily represents the difference between the initial estimate cost of new long term and temporary borrowing based on an interest rate of 5.20% and 5.43% respectively compared to the actual average interest rates of approximately of 4.76% and 5.03% respectively throughout 2024/2025. Overall a saving was achieved due to both the actual average rates for both long-term and temporary borrowings being lower than initial estimates, in conjunction with the level of actual long-term borrowing and temporary borrowings undertaken being significantly less than initial estimates at £177.0m and £220.0m respectively compared to anticipated initial estimates of £269.0m and £242.0m. This primarily being due to cash balances and reserves, in line with TM Strategy, being utilised in lieu of future long-term borrowing where possible and the impact of the challenges to the Strategic Capital Investment programme due to external supply and inflationary pressures. 9.18 Table 12 below provides a summary of the Capital Financing charges for both General Fund and HRA in respect of the loans fund which includes; • external payments due and income receivable per Table 9 above • the annual premium/discount written off for historic and new rescheduling/refinancing • the internal interest payable on revenue balances • the capital advance repayments made in the year Page 214 of 292
Page 215
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 Capital Financing Charges Initial Estimate 2024/2025 (£m) Final Outturn 2024/2025 (£m) Variance (£m) % Loans Fund Interest Payments 58.2 59.6 (1.4) (2.4%) Loans Fund Expenses 0.4 0.4 0.0 0.0% Total Loans Interest Payments & Expenses 58.6 60.0 (1.4) (2.4%) Loans Funds Investment Income (1.9) (2.8) 0.9 47.4% Total Loans Fund Interest Payments Investment Income & Expenses 56.7 57.2 (0.5) (0.9%) Loans Fund Advances Repayments 24.4 24.0 0.4 1.6% Total Loans Fund Charges 81.1 81.2 (0.1) (0.1%) Table 12 9.19 The table above highlights a loan charge overspend of £0.1m compared to the prudential estimates for 2024/2025 taking into account treasury management activity, internal Interest on Revenue Balances (IORB) recharges due to current market interest rates, the loans fund holiday flexibility adopted in 2022/23 and the decisions of the Policy & Strategy Committee, Housing Committee and SCDG to reduce and reprofile the capital programme in response to the significant delivery challenges as per para 3.3. 9.20 Overall a treasury management overspend of £0.5m was incurred, primarily a reflection of increased internal IORB recharges of £8.1m, offset by reduced external loan interest payments of £6.9m and increased interest income received of £0.7m. This incorporated cashflow management techniques adopted, directing the timing of new borrowing, managing investment security, liquidity and interest rate risk and the identification of short-term borrowing opportunities. 9.21 The reduction in the Loans Fund advance repayments of £0.4m is primarily due to lower final outturn capital borrowing in 2023/24 than previously estimated. 9.22 The Council sets interest rate exposure limits to manage the Council’s exposure to the effects of interest rate changes by limiting the amount of total loans whose interest rate is not fixed. Table 13 shows the interest exposure at 31 March 2025. During 2024/2025 at no point were the limits breached with the average levels being below the upper limits for fixed rate exposure. Page 215 of 292
Page 216
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 Maturity Structure of Borrowing <12m 12m to 2yrs 2 to 5yrs 5 to 10yrs 10 to 20yrs 20 to 40yrs >40 yrs Upper Limit on Fixed Rate debt 15.0% 15.0% 25.0% 30.0% 35.0% 45.0% 30.0% Lower Limit on Fixed Rate debt 0.0% 0.0% 5.0% 5.0% 5.0% 10.0% 5.0% 2024/2025 Average Profile 7.2% 6.8% 17.3% 26.5% 12.6% 25.6% 3.9% Maturity Structure at 31/03/2025 10.2% 7.8% 19.6% 27.7% 9.8% 21.6% 3.4% Table 13 10. Temporary Funds Investment Performance 10.1 During 2024/2025 the primary principle governing Council investment criteria was the security of the investment. After this, the Council ensured that it held sufficient liquidity in its investments, carefully selecting the maximum periods for which funds could prudently be committed whilst also applying the Council’s prudential and treasury management indicators covering the maximum principal sums invested. 10.2 The Council complied fully with the ratings criteria outlined within the 2024/2025 Treasury Management Strategy, minimising risk in this area by adopting a Lowest Common Denominator (LCD) approach having a criteria-based counterparty list. This restricted the Council to only using those counterparties that met a pre-determined credit-rating level, to which monetary limits were applied. This meant that the counterparty had to meet all the relevant rating requirements being assessed by its weakest set of ratings, rather than the strongest. 10.3 Throughout 2024/2025 the Council continued to utilise the research of the world’s foremost providers of independent credit ratings (Fitch, Moody’s and Standard & Poors). The ratings provided by these bodies define the likelihood of an investor such as the Council receiving their money back on the terms in which it was invested. 10.4 The credit ratings of counterparties were monitored regularly. The Council receives credit rating information from Arlingclose (the Council’s advisors) as and when ratings change, and the counterparties are checked promptly. If a ratings change results in a counterparty failing to meet the Council’s strict criteria they are removed immediately from the list. Similarly, if a counterparty rating is updated and they meet the Council’s strict criteria they would be added to the list. 10.5 To supplement credit rating information the Council used other operational market information in line with good practice identified within the Code of Practice this includes: • Credit Default swap prices • Quality financial press • Share prices • Government support status • Annual Reports • Statements to the market 10.6 In 2024/2025 the Council’s borrowing strategy assisted in minimising counterparty exposure to the financial markets, the Council strategically deciding the timing of temporary borrowing and longer-term borrowing, taking into account the levels of liquidity in conjunction with efficient cashflow management techniques and balance sheet analysis. 10.7 The approved 2024/2025 Treasury Management Strategy enabled investment activity for a period up to a maximum limit of 364 days and for certain types of investment up Page 216 of 292
Page 217
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 to 30 years, for permitted investments per the investment strategy. In ‘normal’ market circumstances the Council, would identify its liquidity requirements and the core funds within its daily balances that could be locked in over a longer period, thus achieving the optimum performance, spreading investment periods and security of return, subject to the overriding credit counterparty security. 10.8 During 2024/2025, the Council, restricted its maximum investment periods to approximately three months, with in reality this period being even shorter. In terms of investment types the Council primarily deposited funds in call, instant access accounts and money market funds, dealing directly with approved UK financial institutions. These accounts offered greater liquidity whereby the Council is allowed instant access whilst still being offered relatively attractive interest rates compared to sector averages. 10.9 A comparison of North Lanarkshire Council investment performance for the period April 2024 to March 2025 is shown in the graph below. 10.10 As shown in the graph above, the overnight market bid rates fell steadily through the year in response to the decreasing of the Bank of England Base Rate which started the period at 5.25% and reduced to 4.50% at the end of March. Short term investment rates peaked at 5.28% for 3-month rates and 5.37% for 12-month rates during the period in May 2024, although these rates subsequently began to decline towards the end of the period. Money Market Rates also fell and were between 4.42 and 4.74% by the end of March 2025. As a result, the Council managed to achieve a positive return on its investments. With security and liquidity key factors considered when determining cash- flow requirements and investment opportunities, the Council only utilised overnight and very short-term investment options during 2024/25 using its approved counterparties. Despite this, the Council continued to demonstrate good performance levels in 3.50% 4.00% 4.50% 5.00% 5.50% Interest Rate 2024/25 Comparison of NLC Average Interest Rates to the average Overnight, and 7 Day Bid rates NLC Interest Rate OVERNIGHT SONIA Rate 7 Day SONIA BID Rate 1 MONTH SONIA BID Rate Page 217 of 292
Page 218
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 investment activity when compared to these reliable benchmarks for assessing performance on temporary investments. 10.11 During 2024/2025, positive cashflows enabled short-term investments in total of £1.409 billion to be undertaken whilst during the same period, £1.388 billion of short-term investments matured representing over £2.796 billion in investment activity. 10.12 The graph below shows the average level of investment balances held throughout 2024/2025, managed on a weekly basis in accordance with the investment strategy, adhering to the underlying principle of security liquidity and yield supported by robust cashflow management. 10.13 Investment balance levels, forming part of the cash and cash equivalents, are influenced by a number of factors. Liquidity is monitored in conjunction with the Councils cashflow management reporting system, to manage and forecast future cash balances available to support the investment and borrowing strategy. 10.14 The Council prides itself on its cashflow management approach with receipts and payments data recorded daily with forecasts of cash balances readily available. The cashflow incorporating actual and estimated diary entries for a number of variables including: £0 £10,000,000 £20,000,000 £30,000,000 £40,000,000 £50,000,000 £60,000,000 £70,000,000 £80,000,000 £90,000,000 £100,000,000 1 5 9 13 17 21 25 29 33 37 41 45 49 Weeks 1 - 52 Average Weekly Investment Balances held during 2024/2025 • Payments to Suppliers • Precept Payments • House Rents • Staff Salaries & Wages • Loan Repayments and Interest • Council Tax • General Government Grants • Sales Fees & Charges • DWP Payments Page 218 of 292
Page 219
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 10.15 At 31 March 2025, the total balance of cash and cash equivalents amounted to approximately £58.5m, an increase of £10.2m from last year’s position. A detailed breakdown is provided below in Table 14, elements of which have been referenced throughout this report. Cash and Cash Equivalents at 31/03/2024 £48.3m 2024/2025 Borrowing for Capital Expenditure purposes (£110.8m) Cash Outflow Repayments of Maturing Long-term debt (£35.5m) Cash Outflow Finance Lease Principal repayments (£13.1m) Cash Outflow Scheduled principal repayments from service departments £37.1m Cash Inflow New Long-term borrowing £177.0m Cash Inflow Increase/(Decrease) in Temporary borrowing (<1yr) (£20.8m) Cash Outflow Increase/(Decrease) in Revenue Reserves & Cash Balances (£23.7m) Cash Outflow Cash and Cash Equivalents at 31/03/2024 £58.5m Movement in year £10.2m Table 14 10.16 Cash and cash equivalents are represented by cash in hand and deposits held with financial institutions repayable without penalty on notice of not more than 24 hours including call accounts and money market funds. This also includes investments that mature in three months or less from the date of acquisition provided they are assessed as readily convertible to known amounts of cash with an insignificant risk of a change in value. The Council’s bank overdraft is also included as this is treated as an integral part of the council’s day to day cash management procedures. 11. Leasing 11.1 During 2024/25 the Council used external borrowing to fund its vehicle requirements with no vehicles, plant and equipment being acquired under operational leasing agreements in 2024/25. 11.2 At 31 March 2025, the Council is committed to making minimum lease payments of approximately £1.2m under finance leases with £0.3m due in the next 12 months. These payments comprise settlement of the long-term liability for the interest in the asset and the finance costs that will be payable by the Council in future years while the liability remains outstanding. 11.3 During the year, the Council, for the remaining operating leases for vehicles, plant and equipment, made actual payments of £4.1m, met from the revenue budget. 12. Soft Loans 12.1 Within the Council’s 2024/2025 annual accounts, the Council has recorded a net amount receivable of £2.2m from service users receiving Social Care for which a charging order has been placed on the recipient’s property as a method of recovering the debt. 12.2 For these amounts payable the Council is charging interest at less than the market rate applicable for similar advances and as such these balances are notionally recognised Page 219 of 292
Page 220
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 as soft loans. However, on grounds of materiality, no adjustment for loss of interest has been made to the balances reported within the annual accounts. 13. Financial Guarantee 13.1 In 2023/24, the Council agreed to provide a new financial guarantee to North Lanarkshire Properties LLP (NLP LLP) as part of re-financing arrangements undertaken by NLP LLP, with the Council providing underwriting of debt service costs, up to a limit of 80% of the total debt service costs of the new long-term facility of £30.0m. The Council considered the likelihood of the guarantee being called as minimal. However, the Council, in recognition of this financial guarantee made an initial provision of £0.825m. 13.2 The financial impact upon the Council of providing this guarantee is negated as the Council has agreed with the NLP LLP that a premium is payable to the Council for providing this guarantee, paid in annual instalments, on a fair value basis, over the term of the loan, with £0.169m charged during 2024/25. The Council has therefore included a long-term debtor of £0.419m and a short-term debtor of £0.167m within the Balance Sheet to reflect this arrangement. 14. Treasury Management Advisory Service 14.1 During 2024/2025 the Council in line with the recommendations of the CIPFA Code of Practice for Treasury Management continued to use Arlingclose Ltd to provide, as required, additional specialist skills and resources in managing the Council’s loan debt and investment portfolio including strategic, economic advice and assistance with the investment policy. 15. Policy on Repayment of Loans Fund Advances 2024/2025 15.1 The Local Authority (Capital Finance and Accounting) (Scotland) Regulations 2016 within Regulation 13 require the Council to make a loans fund advance equal to the amount of capital expenditure that the Council has determined will be financed by borrowing. The timing of the borrowing being in accordance with treasury management principles with the timing not informing when a loans funds advance has been made. The Capital Expenditure definition being that adopted by proper accounting practice, the statutory control framework and the Prudential Code. 15.2 The statutory guidance requires the Council to approve a policy on loans fund repayments each year. After carrying out an in-house review of the existing Loans Fund Advance Repayment Policy, in light of the legislation, towards the end of the financial year 2019/2020, it was decided that to support this exercise that the Council appoint Link Asset Services (LAS) to carry-out a fuller review of the Council’s loan fund repayment model in 2020/21. LAS had specific expertise in this area and had carried out similar process for a number of other Scottish Local Authorities. 15.3 The main objective of the review was to explore options to re-profile loans fund repayments in order to assist with a prudent, sustainable and deliverable medium-term financial plan, whilst ensuring that the provision remains prudent and appropriate to the benefits that accrue to the community from the associated expenditure and is consistent with the prudential framework. 15.4 Following the review exercise being completed, a revised approach was recommended which was approved at the Finance and Resources Committee on the 26 November 2020 with further updates provided within the Treasury Management Strategy 2024/25 Page 220 of 292
Page 221
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 and Prudential Indicators 2024/2025 to 2028/2029 report approved at the Finance and Resources Committee on the 28 February 2024. 15.5 The revised approach adopts provisions within the 2016 Regulations which allow a local authority to subsequently vary either the period or the amount of the repayment (or both) if it considers it prudent to do so. Loans Fund Repayment Holiday 15.6 The statutory arrangements for the repayment of borrowing in Scotland, requires the Council to make an annual repayment of debt which it considers prudent. As an exceptional measure the Scottish Government had confirmed they would allow Councils to take a loans fund repayment holiday, the maximum permitted being the planned repayment for 2022/23, which the Council would be required to repay within the period of the loan fund advance, but where the loan period exceeds 20 years, within 20 years. 15.7 This flexibility was confirmed through Finance Circular 5/2022 (Statutory Repayment of Debt – Short Term Financial Flexibility) which afforded the Council the flexibility to defer statutory repayment of loans fund advances payable within 2022/23. This flexibility resulted in a deferral of loan charges of £18.6m across General Fund and HRA and will be repaid depending on the specific loan advances by the shorter of either the remaining period of the loans fund advance, or a maximum of twenty years from the end of 2022/23. During 2024/25, £0.852m of additional loan charges were repaid as a result of the flexibility exercised in 2022/23. 16. Regulatory Framework, Risk and Performance 16.1 The Council’s treasury management activities are regulated by a variety of professional codes and statutes and guidance. 16.2 The Local Government in Scotland Act 2003 (the Act) provides the powers to borrow and invest as well as providing controls and limits on this activity. The Act permits Scottish Ministers to set limits either on the Council or nationally on all local authorities restricting the amount of borrowing which may be undertaken (although no restrictions were made in 2021/2022). 16.3 Statutory Instrument (SSI) 29 2003 develops the controls and powers within the Act. The SSI requires the Council to undertake any borrowing activity with regard to the CIPFA Prudential Code for Capital Finance in Local Authorities. It also requires the Council to operate the overall treasury function with regard to the CIPFA Code of Practice for Treasury Management in the Public Services. 16.4 The Council continues to meet the conditions to opt up to professional status and has done so in order to maintain this MiFID II status. The Council’s ability to opt up is due to it having an investment balance of at least £10 million and the person(s) authorised to make investment decisions on behalf of the authority have at least a year’s relevant professional experience and the expertise, experience and knowledge to make investment decisions and understand the risks involved. This status allows the Authority to access a greater range of products including money market funds, pooled funds, treasury bills, bonds and shares. 16.5 The Council has complied with all of the above relevant statutory and regulatory requirements. This limits the levels of risk associated with its treasury management activities. In particular, its adoption and implementation of both the Prudential Code and the Code of Practice for Treasury Management means that its capital expenditure is Page 221 of 292
Page 222
Treasury Management Annual Activity Report 2024/2025 Appendix 1 prudent, affordable and sustainable and its treasury practices demonstrate a low-risk approach. 16.6 The Council is aware of the risks of passive management of the treasury portfolio and has proactively managed its treasury management position. The Council has continued to monitor movements in interest rates and has complied with its internal and external procedural requirements. There is little risk of volatility of costs in the current debt portfolio as the interest rates are mainly fixed, however new borrowing to support capital investment will result in higher borrowing costs due to increasing interest rates. Shorter-term rates and likely future movements in these rates predominantly determine the Council’s investment return. Since these returns can be volatile, accurately forecasting future returns can be difficult and the treasury management section monitor and manage the surplus balances available for investment by efficient cashflow and liquidity management. 16.7 Overall the approach adopted by the Council’s Treasury Management section throughout the year under review met the key requirements of the 2024/2025 Treasury Management Strategy with the performance and results described above demonstrating the effectiveness of the Council’s Treasury Management activity. Page 222 of 292
Page 223
North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref FT/KS/FC Date 10/09/25 2024/25 Annual Outturn From Greg Telfer, Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) E-mail TelferG@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07583 010692 Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to inform Committee that the annual statutory accounts of the Council for the year ended 31 March 2025 were reported to the Audit and Scrutiny Panel at its meeting of 26 June and subsequently submitted to the Council’s External Auditors, Audit Scotland, by the statutory date of 30 June before being published on the Council’s website. This report also updates Committee on the overall position for the General Fund Account and explains any major variations against the Council’s annual budget for the year 2024/25. An overall summary on the Housing Revenue Account is also provided. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance and Resources Committee: (1) Acknowledge the contents of the report. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement (25) Ensure intelligent use of data and information to support fully evidence based decision making and future planning Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 17 Page 223 of 292
Page 224
1. Background 1.1. The Annual Accounts demonstrate the Council’s stewardship of the public funds with which it is entrusted. The Annual Accounts are prepared in accordance with the Code of Practice on Local Authority Accounting in the United Kingdom. The Local Authority Accounts (Scotland) Regulations, require the Council to submit a set of unaudited accounts to its external auditors, Audit Scotland, by 30 June following the end of the financial year. 1.2. In addition, the Council’s approved Financial Regulations require Council Services to remain within the approved budgetary provision, and to report all significant deviations within their budget monitoring reports. 2. Report 2.1 The 2024/25 Unaudited Accounts were presented to Audit and Scrutiny Panel on 26 June 2025. Following the meeting the accounts were submitted formally to Audit Scotland and subsequently published on the Council’s website for public inspection. 2.2 The General Fund outturned with a deficit of £1.923m which has been added to the surplus of £283.893m brought forward from 2023/24, resulting in an overall surplus to be carried forward into 2024/25 of £281.970m. 2.3 The carried forward General Fund Surplus is represented by £12.563m held in the Change Management Fund in order to provide for the anticipated one-off costs of approved savings, £229.516m of earmarked funds held for specific future service commitments, a balance of £8.000m maintained as the approved contingency fund, and £31.891m held to support future budget pressures. Table 1: 2025/26 Earmarked Funds 2025/26 Earmarked Funds £m £m Change Management Fund 12.563 Schools Future Contractual Obligations 66.330 Strategic Capital Investment Programme 44.800 Future Loans Charges linked with Capital Investment Programme 26.614 Strategic Workforce Planning 17.709 Temporary Accommodation 8.038 Refugee Resettlement Programmes 6.887 Whole Family Wellbeing 5.313 Budget One-off Investment 5.289 One Workforce Grading Pressures 5.000 Unmanaged burdens within Education, Children & Families 4.507 Schools ICT Upgrades linked with Windows 11 2.675 Balances held by Schools under Devolved School Management 2.395 Pupil Equity Fund 1.941 Early Years & Childcare Expansion 1.881 Winter Reserve 1.500 Support of Restructure Realignment of Home to School Transport 1.500 Page 224 of 292
Page 225
Economic Recovery 1.400 Owner Occupier Grants 1.233 Cumbernauld Town Centre Regeneration 1.042 Unmanaged burdens within Enterprise & Communities 1.000 Property Repairs 1.000 Other Earmarked Funds 21.462 229.51 6 Contingency Fund 8.000 Future Budget Pressures 31.891 General Fund Surplus as at 31 March 2024 281.97 0 2.4 The last reported position for the year to the Business Management Team indicated a General Fund forecast surplus of £8.331m. When compared with a final outturn deficit of £1.923m there has been a movement of £10.254m. This is largely represented by the use of 2024/25 earmarked reserves of £40.493m which includes the £6.901m use of balances approved as part of the 2023/24 and 2024/25 budget setting process. This is offset by approved earmarked reserves for use in future years of £29.430m. This leaves a further movement from the provisional outturn position of £0.809m which relates to a number of smaller movements across all services. 2.5 In addition, the Housing Revenue Account (HRA) reported a £3.852m surplus position at provisional outturn. This position differs from the final outturn of £5.339m surplus which recognises the approved earmarked reserves for use in future years of £2.885m, offset by the use of earmarked reserves used in year of £1.398m. The in-year surplus has increased the balance brought forward resulting in a cumulative surplus of £22.159m. Of this surplus, £13.156m has already been approved for specific purposes including £8.501m for Loan Charges covering the repayment of Loan Debt Holiday and £1.306m for Council Ambition. Adjusting for the £1.742m contingency fund, leaves an unallocated balance of £7.261m. 3. Measures of success 3.1 The Council continues to operate within approved budgeted resources. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 No appendices Greg Telfer Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) Page 225 of 292
Page 226
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 ☐ Page 226 of 292
Page 227
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 227 of 292
Page 228
Page 228 of 292
Page 229
North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref GT/KS Date 10/09/25 Review of 2025/26 to 2027/28 Budget Savings From Greg Telfer, Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) E-mail TelferG@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07583 010692 1. Background 1.1. At its meeting of 20 February 2025, the Council approved a General Fund Revenue Budget of £1,095.241m including expenditure budgets which will be offset by ring fenced grant resources of £15.296m, resulting in a net expenditure position for monitoring purposes of £1,079.945m. Following confirmation of Scottish Government funding for financial year 2025/26, and after reflecting, for monitoring purposes, the reversal of use of balances in respect of previously approved savings now applied, the overall total budget is now £1,088.895m. 1.2. Net savings totalling £5.401m over the financial years 2025/26 to 2027/28 were agreed within the budgets set on 15 February 2024 and 20 February 2025, with £4.183m Executive Summary This report provides the Finance and Resources Committee with an update on the achievement of the three-year financial savings total of £8.326m approved as part of the 2025/26 budget setting process (£6.628m 2025/26, £1.393m 2026/27 and £0.305m in 2027/28). It is projected that £5.894m of the 2025/26 savings (89%) will be delivered within the financial year, with replacement savings identified to fully address the shortfall of £0.734m. In addition, it is currently anticipated that there will be no recurring savings gap arising from the 2025/26 to 2027/28 approved savings. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance and Resources Committee: (1) Acknowledge the contents of this report. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement (25) Ensure intelligent use of data and information to support fully evidence based decision making and future planning Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 18 Page 229 of 292
Page 230
incorporated into the 2025/26 budget and the balance £1.218m in 2026/27. In addition, Council/Committee decisions of £2.924m have also been agreed over the three-year period, £2.445m of which will be realised in 2025/26. 1.3. Services are required to monitor the delivery of their target savings to ensure they remain within approved budgets and provide periodic progress updates within individual Service revenue monitoring reports, identifying alternative solutions to any in-year shortfall envisaged. In addition, Services are required to monitor whether the original approved saving has been implemented and if not, provide an explanation along with alternative action required to ensure the recurring financial saving will be achieved going forward. 1.4. This report summarises the progress in achieving approved savings for the three-year period 2025/26 to 2027/28. 2. Report Update on Approved 2025/26 to 2027/28 Savings 2.1 A summary of the three-year approved savings is provided at appendix 1 along with the current forecast of savings achievable for each of the years. 2.2 It is currently anticipated that £5.894m (89%) of approved 2024/25 savings of £6.628m will be achieved in the current financial year, leaving an in-year savings gap of £0.734m. Replacement savings and funding has been identified to fully address the shortfall, which includes management action such as control of vacancies, curtailment of expenditure and the use of Earmarked Reserves. More information on the savings unachievable within 2025/26 are detailed at appendix 2, with more information reported to the relevant service committee. It should be noted that there is no anticipated recurring budget impact as a result of the in-year savings gap. 2.3 At this stage there is no anticipated delay or shortfall expected in relation to future year savings, however these will continue to be monitored with updates reported to Committee as appropriate. 3. Measures of success 3.1 The Council continues to operate within approved budgeted resources. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 Approved 3 Year Savings Summary 4.2 Appendix 2 Budget Savings by Exception 2025/26 Greg Telfer Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) Page 230 of 292
Page 231
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 ☐ Page 231 of 292
Page 232
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 232 of 292
Page 233
Page 233 of 292
Page 234
Page 234 of 292
Page 235
North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance & Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref GT/VR Date 10/09/25 General Debtors Write-Off 2025/26 From Greg Telfer, Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) E-mail TelferG@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07583 010692 1. Background 1.1 The Council issues invoices annually with an approximate value of £109.263m. Of this approximately £1.8m relates to Finance, which mainly consists of: - • Strategy & Corporate Resources; and • Housing Benefits Overpayments 1.2 There will continue to be an appraisal of the outstanding balances to assess those which are deemed uncollectible. This annual process conforms to Best Practice and is underpinned by a systematic approach to recovery and a realistic assessment of the expected collection of outstanding balances. Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to present to Committee a summary of outstanding debtor accounts which are deemed uncollectable following all attempts at recovery or are not economically viable to pursue. In accordance with financial guidelines a provision for expected credit losses has previously been established for the outstanding accounts highlighted in the report. The total recommended for write-off for 2025/26 is £81,104.37. Recommendations It is recommended that Finance and Resources Committee: (1) Acknowledges the decision of the Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) under delegated responsibilities to write off debts under £500.00 totalling £6,462.99. (2) Approve the write-off of all items over £500 to the value of £74,641.38. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (21) Continue to identify and access opportunities to leverage additional resources to support our ambitions Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 19 Page 235 of 292
Page 236
2. Report 2.1 An analysis of the outstanding balances has been conducted and £81,104.37 has been identified as uncollectable. The write-off can be analysed and compared to the prior year as shown in the table below: 2025/26 2024/25 Benefit Overpayment £80,924.37 £107,117.79 Other Services £180.00 £0.00 Total £81,104.37 £107,117.79 2.2 The Chief Officer (Finance & Technology) has exercised powers under the Scheme of Delegation to write-off those balances which are under £500, which represents £6,462.99 of the sum identified in paragraph 2.1. 2.2 The write off figure for 2025/26 has decreased slightly from the value in 2024/25, which may be indicative of the general reduction in the count and value of invoices being raised for Housing Benefit Overpayments, as well as the effective debt recovery strategies adopted by the service. 2.3 There are several reasons why the outstanding balances are being written off and these are summarised below: - a) Deceased. The debtor is deceased and there have been insufficient funds within the estate to meet the sum due. b) Liquidation/Sequestration. The debtor/business has been liquidated/sequestrated etc., and there is no prospect of recovery of funds. c) No Trace/Gone Away. The debtor has been unable to be located and there is no prospect of recovery of funds. d) Small Balances/Uneconomical to pursue. There are insufficient funds or no realisable assets that are available to meet the debt, and it is uneconomical to continue to seek recovery of the sum due. e) Recovery Exhausted. There are insufficient funds or no realisable assets that are available to meet the debt and all appropriate recovery opportunities have been exhausted. 2.4 Table 1 categorises the value of debt recommended for write off by cause and value: Table 1 Cause Analysis Total £ Number of Accounts Deceased 986.43 4 Liquidation/Sequestration etc. 8,412.23 7 Gone Away/No Trace 1,330.34 4 Small Balance/Uneconomic to pursue 858.04 17 Recovery Exhausted 69,517.33 39 Total 81,104.37 71 Value Analysis Total (£) Number of Accounts <£500.00 6,462.99 40 >£500.00 74,641.38 31 Total 81,104.37 71 Page 236 of 292
Page 237
2.5 Whilst approval is sought to write-off the sums within our financial systems the Council will continue to monitor the situation and if circumstances change then recovery of the sums due will be reassessed. 3. Measures of success 3.1 Debt recovery will remain a priority for the service however where necessary adequate provisions will be made for uncollectable debt to ensure there is no budgetary impact. 4. Supporting documentation Not applicable Greg Telfer Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) Page 237 of 292
Page 238
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 are no additional financial implications linked to this report for the current financial year because a corresponding provision for expected credit losses has been included in the previous year’s annual accounts. 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 ☐ Page 238 of 292
Page 239
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 239 of 292
Page 240
Page 240 of 292
Page 241
North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref FW / LB Date 10/09/25 General Debtors Write-Off 2025-26 – People Resources From Fiona Whittaker, Chief Officer (People Resources) E-mail WhittakerF@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01698 520629 Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to present to Committee a summary of outstanding debtor accounts which are deemed uncollectible following all attempts at recovery or are not economically viable to pursue for the People Resources service. The total value of these accounts is £47,470.80. In accordance with financial guidelines a provision for expected credit losses has previously been established for the outstanding accounts highlighted in the report so there are no additional financial implications for the service. In addition, the report also considers the issue of duplicate overtime payments. As outlined in paragraph 2.6 there were historically a number of weaknesses within the payroll system that allowed these overpayments to materialise and given the difficulties current and former employees had in properly understanding payslip information, the technical difficulties associated with properly calculating recoveries (particularly in relation to tax implications)- and the nature of much of the employment of affected staff (casual staff) then it is recommended that these overpayments are not pursued. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance and Resources Committee: (1) Acknowledges the decision of the Chief Officer (People Resources) write-off debts totalling £14,102.92 under delegated responsibility for debts under £500.00. (2) Approves the write-off of £33,367.88 which includes debts greater than £500.00. (3) Agrees that historical duplicate overtime payments totalling £154,775.01 are not recovered for the reasons outlined in paragraph 2.10. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (21) Continue to identify and access opportunities to leverage additional resources to support our ambitions Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 20 Page 241 of 292
Page 242
1. Background 1.1 During 2024/25, the council issued invoices with an approximate value of £109 million. 1.2 The Employee Service Centre previously processed employee transactions on behalf of all services. They create debtors accounts for payments outstanding for employees that are leavers. However, following a review during 2024/25 the responsibility for raising these debts and pursuing their recovery was de-centralised back to services to reflect that salary overpayments are largely as a result of delays in completing employee leaver tasks. Therefore, this report largely relates to those debts previously raised by the Employee Service Centre prior to the de-centralisation to services. 1.3 In conjunction with the corporate debt recovery team, every effort is made to recover any unpaid debt including reminder letters, the use of collection agents and legal action. 1.4 However, despite these steps there are several debts that are deemed uncollectable or are considered not economically viable to engage further collection activities and costs. The annual process of assessing the likelihood of debt non recovery conforms to accepted best accounting practice and is a reasonable assessment of expected income. 1.5 The Council will continue to seek collection of the outstanding balance if the circumstances of the debtor alter, and recovery is deemed practical. 2. Report 2.1 Analysis of the outstanding balances has been conducted and £47,470.80 has been identified as uncollectable. 2.2 There are several reasons why the outstanding balances are being written off and these are summarised below: - a. Recovery exhausted. There are insufficient funds or no realisable assets that are available to meet the debt and all appropriate recovery opportunities have been exhausted. b. Small Balances/Uneconomic to pursue. There are insufficient funds or no realisable assets that are available to meet the debt, and it is uneconomic to continue to seek recovery of the sum due. c. No Trace / Gone Away. The debtor has been unable to be located and there is no prospect of recovery of funds. 2.3 The following table categorises the value of the debt recommended for write-off by cause and value: Page 242 of 292
Page 243
Cause Analysis Total £ Number of Accounts Recovery exhausted 15,261.67 5 Uneconomical to pursue 29,088.57 68 Gone away 3,120.56 5 Totals 47,470.80 78 Value Analysis Under £500.00 14,102.92 55 Over £500.00 33,367.88 23 Totals 47,470.80 80 2.4 The value of accounts identified for write-off represents a small proportion of the accounts raised annually by the Employee Service Centre. 2.5 The total accounts identified for write-off represents a small proportion of the accounts raised annually by the Council (less than 1%). Duplicate Overtime Payments 2.6 In April 2023, Internal Audit produced a report highlighting weaknesses in the Council’s control environment designed to prevent duplicate overtime transactions being authorised and paid. The report highlighted that the absence of effective controls meant that there was a risk of error and the potential for fraud. The issue is largely as a result of a weakness in the Council’s payroll system, iTrent, where the version of the system used by the Council does not currently prevent a duplicate claim being made by an employee or approved by a manager. 2.7 Since the Internal Audit report the Employee Service Centre has introduced secondary control measures that identify duplicate claims submitted in error and work is ongoing with the payroll system provider to test and implement a new paid time module which will be designed to prevent duplicate claims being made. 2.8 This new paid time module would also resolve a significant issue employees currently have in relation to making overtime or additional hours claims in that their payslips do not specify the hours already claimed. As a result, it has been difficult for staff (and largely casual staff) to be fully aware of the hours they have already claimed, been approved by managers and paid which has resulted in inadvertent duplicate claims. 2.9 The duplicate claims identified through work with Internal Audit relate to 2021, 2022 and 2023 and apply to 869 employees and total £154,775.01 representing an average of £178 per employee. 2.10 There are a number of reasons why the service recommends that these debts are not pursued, and these are detailed as follows: • Limitations of the current iTrent module mean that payslips do not detail the dates, hours worked and amount paid for each period of overtime / additional pay making it difficult for staff to reconcile hours worked and paid. This is particularly difficult for casual employees who may not work consistent shift patterns. Therefore, it is acknowledged that the service is unable to confirm that the employee was aware of a duplicate payment. In addition, affected employees with an overpayment are Page 243 of 292
Page 244
likely to argue that their manager approved the payment, albeit in error so there is a significant risk of challenge. • As already described many of the staff are casual employees without consistent and regular pay so the recovery process becomes more complicated i.e. we wouldn’t want to be in a situation where a member of staff had a significant deduction to their gross pay because of a wage deduction to support the recovery. This would be likely to have an impact on availability of casual staff to undertake duties in areas such as Active and Creative Communities. • Given the volume of employees involved and the need to consider the tax, Pension and National Insurance implications for three tax years the small Payroll and Pensions team would be required to carry out individual and complex calculations for each employee. This would be both time consuming and costly given the ongoing business-as-usual requirement to process regular payruns and provide returns to HMRC and other bodies. • Finally, a significant number of employees have now left the Council and prospects of recovery are small, particularly with the relatively low value of payments to individuals. Pursuing current employees when former employees are unlikely to be pursued creates potential issues of fairness. 2.11 The following table provides a summary of the overpayments including the service area these relate to, the value of overpayment and number of employees affected: Service Amount Outstanding £ Service % Total Employees Active and Creative Communities 68,677.09 44.37 332 Chief Executives 1,381.48 0.89 9 FSS – Janitors 7,535.33 4.87 56 Health & Social Care 28,701.40 18.54 92 Infrastructure 2,804.45 1.81 17 Active Schools 4,234.81 2.74 31 Invigilators 29.7 0.02 1 Catering & Cleaning 23,760.23 15.35 242 Enterprise and Housing 12,098.9 7.82 37 Education and families 5,551.62 3.59 52 Total 154,775.01 100.00 869 3. Measures of success 3.1 Debt recovery will remain a priority for the service however where necessary adequate provisions will be made for uncollectable debt to ensure there is no budgetary impact. 4. Supporting documentation Not applicable Fiona Whittaker Chief Officer (People Resources) Page 244 of 292
Page 245
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 are no additional financial implications for the current year because a corresponding provision for expected credit losses has been included in previous year’s accounts. Costs of duplicate payments have already been recognised in previous years so there are no new financial implications associated with the recommendation not to recovery payments. 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 ☐ Page 245 of 292
Page 246
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 246 of 292
Page 247
North Lanarkshire Council Report Adult Care and Social Work Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref DF/PMcA/ES Date 02/09/25 Sundry Debt Write Off 2025 From Diane Fraser, Head of Adult Social Work, Health & Social Care E-mail fraserdi@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 01698 332001 1. Background 1.1 During 2024/25 the Council issued invoices with the approximate value of £108m. 1.2 Within Adult Health & Social Care there are a number of chargeable services mainly in the following areas: • Home Care Charges Executive Summary The purpose of this report is to present to Committee a summary of outstanding debtor accounts which are deemed uncollectable following all attempts at recovery or are considered uneconomically viable to continue pursuing. In accordance with financial guidelines a bad debt provision has previously been established for the outstanding accounts highlighted below. Recommendations It is recommended that Adult Care and Social Work Committee: (1) Notes the decision of the Chief Accountable Officer and the Head of Financial Solutions under delegated responsibilities to write off £107,825.60 for debts under £500. (2) Approve the write off of £55,409.02 which includes debts greater than £500. (3) Remit this report to Finance & Resources Committee. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (21) Continue to identify and access opportunities to leverage additional resources to support our ambitions Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 21 Page 247 of 292
Page 248
• Nursing Home and Residential Home Accommodation Charges • Community Alarms • As well as chargeable services, invoices are raised to other local authorities, health, and universities. 1.3 The value of Adult Health & Social Care invoices raised during 2024/25 was £62m. This figure includes invoices raised to other local authorities, health, and universities £59m). 1.4 In conjunction with the corporate debt recovery team, every effort is made to recover any unpaid debt including reminder letters, the use of collection agents and legal action. However, despite these steps there are a number of debts that are deemed uncollectible or are considered not economically viable to engage further collection activities and costs. This annual process of assessing the likelihood of debt non- recovery conforms to accepted best accounting practice and is a realistic assessment of expected income. 1.5 The Council will continue to seek collection of the outstanding balance if the circumstances of the debtor alter, and recovery is deemed practical. 2. Report 2.1 Analysis of the outstanding balances has been conducted and £163,234.62 has been identified as uncollectable. 2.2 There are a number of reasons why the outstanding balances are being written off and these are summarised below: • Deceased. The debtor is deceased and there have been insufficient funds within the estate to meet the sum due. • Small Balances/Uneconomic to Pursue. There are insufficient funds or no realisable assets that are available to meet the debt and it is uneconomic to continue to seek recovery of the sum due. • Gone Away. The debtor has moved address and cannot be located. • Recovery exhausted. Despite all efforts the service has now been informed that these accounts will not be recovered. • Sequestration/Liquidation. 2.3 The following tables categorise the value of debt recommended for write off by cause and value: Deceased 1059 55,244.10 Small Balances/Uneconomic to Pursue 112 1,573.48 Gone Away 333 4,413.24 Recovery Exhausted 6215 101,266.00 Sequestration/Liquidation 55 737.80 Total 7774 163,234.62 Value Analysis < £500 7764 107,825.60 > £500 10 55,409.02 Total 7774 163,234.62 Page 248 of 292
Page 249
2.4 The value of accounts identified for write off represents a very small proportion of the accounts raised annually by Adult Health & Social Care. This is reflective of a number of activities aimed at improving collection rates, reducing debt arising and streamlining the recovery process. 3. Measures of success 3.1 The Service continues to engage in a number of activities aimed at improving collection rates, reducing debt arising and streaming the recovery process. 3.2 These include: • Implementation of Debt Recovery Procedures • Performance Management Reports • Payment Arrangements • Payment by Direct Debit 3.3 The Council will continue to seek collection of the outstanding balance if the circumstances of the debtor alter, and recovery is deemed practical. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 n/a Diane Fraser Chief Officer (Adult Social Work Services) Page 249 of 292
Page 250
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 250 of 292
Page 251
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 251 of 292
Page 252
Page 252 of 292
Page 253
North Lanarkshire Council Report Education, Children and Families Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref: BS / SMcC Date 09/09/25 Annual Bad Debt Write-Off Exercise From: Barry Smedley Chief Officer (Education North) E-mail: smedleybar@northlan.gov.uk Telephone: 01698 812269 Executive Summary This report provides a summary of outstanding debtor accounts relating to previous financial years which are deemed either to be uncollectible following all attempts at recovery or are not economically viable to continue pursuing. In accordance with the Council’s Financial Regulations, a provision for expected credit losses has previously been established for the outstanding accounts. The total recommended for write-off for 2025/26 is £5,523.26 Recommendations It is recommended that the Education, Children and Families Committee: 1) Acknowledge the decision of the Chief Officer (Education North) and Chief Officer (Finance & Technology) under delegated responsibilities, to write-off a total of £422.86 for outstanding debtors accounts under £500. 2) Approve the write-off of £5,100.40 for outstanding debtors accounts over £500. 3) Remit the content of this report to the Finance and Resources Committee. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (25) Ensure intelligent use of data and information to support fully evidence based decision making and future planning Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 22 Page 253 of 292
Page 254
1. Background 1.1. Under delegated responsibilities, North Lanarkshire Council’s approved Financial Regulations require Chief Officers and the Chief Officer (Finance & Technology) to approve the write-off of outstanding accounts of less than £500. In addition, the aligned parent Committee is required to approve the write-off of outstanding accounts due to the Council which are greater than £500. 2. Report Chargeable Activities and Recovery Actions 2.1.1. The Education & Families Service provide a range of chargeable activities such as, but not limited to, cross boundary and/or inter-authority charges for service provision within educational sectors; early years additional nursery hours and educational leadership and training courses etc. 2.1.2. For context, during the 2024/25 financial year, the Education & Families Service raised 585 invoices which had an aggregate total value of £2.348m. In conjunction with the Corporate Debt Recovery Team, every effort has been made by the Service to fully recover outstanding accounts including reminder correspondence, use of collection agents, and legal action. The value of the accounts identified for write-off in this report represent a small proportion (less than 1%) of the total value of invoices raised each year by the Service. 2.1.3. Despite these proactive actions, there are several accounts that have been deemed uncollectible and/or are considered not economically viable to engage in further collection initiatives. The annual process of assessing the likelihood of the non- recovery of debt conforms to accepted accounting best practice and is a realistic assessment of expected levels of future income recovery. Analysis of Write-Off 2.1.4. A critical and in-depth analysis of the outstanding balances was conducted resulting in a write-off total of £5,100.40 represented by £422.86 (accounts < £500) and £5,100.40 (accounts > £500) respectively. 2.1.5. There are several reasons why the outstanding balances have been identified and included in the annual write-off process. Individual balances typically fall into one of the following categories: 1) Recovery Exhausted All available avenues have been pursued and there is no prospect of recovery of funds. 2) Uneconomic to Pursue There are insufficient funds and/or no realisable assets that are available to meet the debt and it is uneconomic to continue to seek the outstanding sum due. 3) Sequestration/Liquidation The debtor has entered a Trust Deed or the debtor has liquidated their assets. Page 254 of 292
Page 255
2.1.6. For additional information, the tables below provide an analysis of the proposed write- off by value (Table 1) and cause (Table 2) in line with the categories described previously. Table 1 VALUE £ No of Accounts < £500 422.86 10 > £500 5,100.40 1 TOTAL 5,523.26 11 Table 2 CAUSE £ No of Accounts Recovery Exhausted 5,309.23 5 Uneconomic to Pursue 2.35 5 Sequestration/Liquidation 211.86 1 TOTAL 5,523.26 11 2.1.7. There are no new financial implications linked to this report in relation to the current financial year. The write off costs will be supported via the relevant financial provision outlined in the Council’s Annual Accounts. 3. Measures of success 3.1. The Corporate Debt Recovery Team and the Service will continue to monitor and review the volume and value of outstanding debts and seek recovery of all sums owed to the Council. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1. Not Applicable. Barry Smedley Chief Officer (Education North) Page 255 of 292
Page 256
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? As stated within the main body of the 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 ☐ Page 256 of 292
Page 257
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? 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? The approach outlined in this report supports the Council’s actions in managing financial sustainability and financial management risks. Financial pressures and risks are reviewed on a regular basis by the Service Management Team (SMT), Business Management Team (BMT), Corporate Management Team (CMT) and Committee. 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? Page 257 of 292
Page 258
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 258 of 292
Page 259
North Lanarkshire Council Report Housing Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☒ Yes ☐ No Ref VR Date 27/08/25 Enterprise & Communities General Debtors Write-Off 2025 From Andrew McPherson, Depute Chief Executive E-mail robertsv@northlan.gov.uk Executive Summary This report presents a summary of outstanding debtor accounts which are deemed uncollectable following all attempts at recovery or are considered uneconomically viable to continue pursuing. In accordance with financial guidelines a provision for expected credit losses has previously been established for the outstanding accounts. The total recommended for write-off for 2024/25 is £366,973.35. In addition, it is recommended that Cumbernauld Town and Shopping Centre debt with a value of £126,638.74 and school meal debt with a value of £149,117.84 is written off. Recommendations It is recommended that the Housing Committee: (1) Acknowledges the decision of the Depute Chief Executive and Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) to write-off debts under £500.00 totalling £210,676.65 under delegated responsibility; (2) Approves the write-off of all items over £500.00 to the value of £156,296.70; (3) Approves the write-off of Cumbernauld Town and Shopping Centre debt of £126,638.74 as set out in paragraphs 2.6 to 2.8; and (4) Approves the write-off of school meal debt of £149,117.84 for both 2023/24 and 2024/25 as set out in paragraph 2.9; and (5) Remits this report to the Finance and Resources Committee. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base Ambition statement (25) Ensure intelligent use of data and information to support fully evidence based decision making and future planning Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 23 Page 259 of 292
Page 260
1. Background 1.1 During 2024/25 the Council issued invoices with an approximate value of £109.263m. 1.2 Within Enterprise and Communities there are a number of chargeable services including: • Building cleaning • Fleet • Waste Collection and Disposal • Burials • Land rental charges • Rechargeable property repairs, and • Owner / occupier recharges 1.3 The value of Enterprise and Communities invoices raised during the 2024/25 financial year was £41.590m. 1.4 Finance and Resource Committee, on 10 March 2022, approved the acquisition of The Centre Cumbernauld’ (TCC) which concluded in June 2023. As at 8 July 2025, arrears of £1.203m were due to North Lanarkshire Council for outstanding rent and service charges raised to June 2025. This is attributable over the following aged debt profile: Period £ Pre-acquisition (Assigned) 245,886 2023/24 365,196 2024/25 458,805 2025/26 Q1 133,385 Total Outstanding Debt to June 2025 1,203,273 1.5 In conjunction with corporate debt recovery team, every effort is made to recover any unpaid debt including reminder letters, the use of collection agents and legal action. However, despite these steps there are a number of debts that are deemed uncollectible or are considered not economically viable to engage further collection activities and costs. This annual process of assessing the likelihood of debt nonrecovery conforms to accepted best accounting practice and is a reasonable assessment of expected income. 1.6 The Council continue to seek collection of the outstanding balance if the circumstances of the debtor alter and recovery is deemed practical. 2. Report 2.1 An analysis of the outstanding balances held within the ASH debtors system has identified a total of £366,973.35 to be uncollectable. 2.2 There are a number of reasons why the outstanding balances are being written off and these are summarised below: a) Deceased. The debtor is deceased and there have been insufficient funds within the estate to meet the sum due. b) Liquidation/Sequestration. The debtor/business has been c) liquidated/sequestrated etc, and there is no prospect of recovery of funds. d) No Trace/Gone Away. The debtor has been unable to be located and there is no prospect of recovery of funds. Page 260 of 292
Page 261
e) Small Balances/Uneconomic to Pursue. There are insufficient funds or no realisable assets that are available to meet the debt, and it is uneconomic to continue to seek recovery of the sum due. 2.3 The following tables categorise the value of debt recommended for write-off by cause and value Cause Analysis Total (£) Number of Accounts Deceased 6,553.94 19 Liquidation 2,222.13 12 Gone Away /No Trace 12,573.99 36 Small Balances/Uneconomical to Pursue 149,880.13 1,021 Recovery Exhausted 195,743.16 513 Total 366,973.35 1,601 Value Analysis Total (£) Number of Accounts < £500.00 210,676.65 1,522 > £500.00 156,296.70 79 Total 366,973.34 1,601 2.4 The value of accounts identified for write-off represents a small proportion of the accounts raised annually by Enterprise and Communities (approximately 0.91%). This is reflective of a number of strategies adopted by the service including payment in advance for services, where possible, withdrawal of services for non-paying debtors, facilitating payment by direct debit and, where appropriate, payment arrangements. 2.5 For comparison purposes, the total write-off approved for Enterprise and Communities over the last three years were £462,352.29 for 2022, £504,654.30 for 2023 and £381,584.74 for 2024. Other Debt 2.6 An analysis of the outstanding Cumbernauld Town and Shopping Centre balances has been conducted and £126,638.74 has been identified as uncollectible. Debt Type £ Rental 92,345.24 Service Charge 34,293.50 Total 126,638.74 2.7 There are a number of reasons why the outstanding balances are being written off and these are summarised below: • Liquidation/Company Dissolved. The debtor/business has been liquidated/dissolved etc., and there is no prospect of recovery of funds. • Small Balances/Uneconomical to pursue. There are insufficient funds or no realisable assets that are available to meet the debt, and it is uneconomical to continue to seek recovery of the sum due. Page 261 of 292
Page 262
Reason for proposed write off £ No of tenants Company Dissolved 70,965.09 5 Liquidation 46,134.83 1 Uneconomical to pursue 9,538.82 4 Total 126,638.74 10 2.8 In addition, following advice and funding from the Scottish Government, an analysis of school meal debt has identified a further £149,117.84 to be written off. This covers both 2023/24 and 2024/25 debt of £126,263.39 and £22,854.45 respectively. The Scottish Government directed funding for the full 2023/24 outstanding debt balance with the 2024/25 balance fully provided for within the Expected Credit Loss calculation during the 2024/25 year end close down 3. Measures of success 3.1 The Service continues to engage in a number of activities aimed at improving collection rates, reducing debt arising and streamlining the recovery process. These include • Application of the approved Debtors Policy and associated debt recovery procedures • Performance management reports • Payment arrangements • Payment by direct Debit • Payment in advance, and • Cessation of service provision 3.2 The Council will continue to seek collection of the outstanding balance if the circumstances of the debtor alter and recovery is deemed practical. 4. Supporting documentation Not applicable Andrew McPherson Depute Chief Executive Page 262 of 292
Page 263
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 are no additional financial implications linked to this report for the current financial year because a corresponding provision for expected credit losses has been included in the previous year’s annual accounts. 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 ☐ Page 263 of 292
Page 264
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 264 of 292
Page 265
North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref: NLC-CPT-24-038 Date: 10 September 2025 Contract Award for Provision of Merchant Acquiring Services (2025- 2029) From Greg Telfer, Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) E-mail McNameeR@northlan.gov.uk Telephone: Ryan McNamee, Finance Manager Executive Summary In accordance with the Council’s General Contract Standing Orders (GCSOs), Committee is asked to acknowledge the award of a contract for the Provision of Merchant Acquiring Services as detailed within the report. In accordance with GCSO 21.3.2, the Agreement was awarded outwith Committee to expedite its award due to the procurement timescales with the current contract expiring on 30 June 2025 and the requirement to ensure on-going service delivery and the Council’s ability to accept payments for local taxation and services. The Agreement was approved for award in accordance with GCSO 21.3.2 by the Depute Chief Executive on 25 June 2025 and the Agreement formally awarded on 30 June 2025. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance and Resources Committee: (1) Acknowledges the award of the Agreement in accordance with GCSO 21.3.2 to Lloyds Bank plc t/a Cardnet (the “Contractor”) at the maximum value of One Million, Three Hundred and Forty-One Thousand Pounds Sterling (£1,341,000) exclusive of VAT for a period of 48 months that commenced on 1 July 2025. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority Improve North Lanarkshire's resource base 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 Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 24 Page 265 of 292
Page 266
1. Background 1.1 The contract is for the provision of merchant acquiring services to the Council, which incorporates an electronic card merchant acquiring solution to process debit and credit card transactions and manage the Council’s relationship with card schemes (ie Visa, Mastercard) and card issuers (ie Lloyds, Barclays, RBS). These services enable the Council to receive card payments across its various services via e-commerce, online or telephone transactions. 1.2 The requirements within the Agreement are currently under contract with Lloyds Cardnet. This arrangement was due to expire on 30 June 2025 with the Agreement detailed within this report due to supersede it. 1.3 To enable appropriate development and execution of the procedure required to form the Agreement, a panel of technical and procurement representatives (the “User Intelligence Group (UIG)”) was formed. 1.4 The UIG were responsible for developing the required internal contract strategy (the “Contract Strategy“) for the Agreement. The Contract Strategy set out the parameters and approaches the council would apply within the procurement, tendering, contracting and end of life stages of the Agreement following appropriate analysis, research and investigation to ensure the council achieves maximum benefit where possible. In accordance with GCSO 4.4, the Contract Strategy for the Agreement was approved on 25 March 2025. 2. Report 2.1 The procurement procedure was undertaken as a “Direct Award”. A Direct Award is a procurement procedure where an overarching framework agreement allows the council to directly engage and contract with an appointed contractor that has already gone through a full competitive procurement procedure in a more efficient manner as per the framework agreements terms and conditions. 2.2 Within the associated Contract Strategy for the Agreement, the overarching framework agreement and determination of whether Best Value was achievable via the Direct Award procurement, the recommended Contractor was identified, engaged and issued an invitation to tender to formalise the Agreement. 2.3 The tender received from the recommended Contractor underwent appropriate appraisal to ensure it was complete / compliant with the council’s requirements and demonstrated Best Value. 2.4 Appendix 1 provides a summary of the procurement procedure undertaken including the key considerations and outcomes. Financial / Budget Consideration 2.5 The pre-tender wholelife estimate budget for the Agreement was £1,400,000. The costs associated with delivery of the Agreement will be managed within existing revenue budgets across the Council. 2.6 The new contract provides estimated annual savings in comparison to the current contract agreement of c.8%, based on current transaction volumes. However total costs are projected to increase over the contract term as current trend of increasing transaction volumes due to increased card payments and strategic direction towards increased cashless premises. Page 266 of 292
Page 267
Price Stability 2.7 The framework provides a pricing schedule which includes fixed prices for merchant acquiring transaction costs based on actual transaction level, along with market-wide scheme and interchange fees. Community Benefits 2.8 The procurement did not include a community benefit requirement as national framework utilised. Fair Work First and Payment of the Living Wage 2.9 Within their tender submission to obtain appointment to the overarching framework agreement the recommended Contractor intimated that they would commit to the following areas which incorporates requirements of the Scottish Governments “Fair Work First” initiative. • Social Value requirements that supplier shall facilitate and promote social value, complying with Corporate Social Responsibility. Social value priorities include fighting climate change, equal opportunity, wellbeing, COVID-19 recovery and tackling economic inequality. CSR elements include modern slavery, child labour & inhumane treatment; income security and working hours requirements. 2.10 Further information on the Living Wage status of the Contractor is detailed in Appendix 1. Contract Management 2.11 Officers from the Treasury, Capital & Controls team within Finance and Technology will be responsible for managing the Agreement which will be undertaken in accordance with the contract and supplier management conditions applied within the Agreement. 3. Measures of success The Agreement will deliver the following outcomes; 3.1 Best Value will be demonstrated as outlined in Appendix 1; 3.2 Conclusion of a procurement procedure that is compliant with procurement legislation and internal procedures 4. Supporting documents Appendix 1 Summary of Procurement Procedure Greg Telfer Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) Page 267 of 292
Page 268
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? Financial impacts are outlined within the 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 ☐ Page 268 of 292
Page 269
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? All risks are contained in a project risk register managed inline by standard council processes. 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 269 of 292
Page 270
Appendix 1 – Summary of Procurement Procedure Overview Reference NLC-CPT-24-038 Title Provision of Merchant Acquiring Services (2025-2029) Classification Services - Standard Responsible Chief Officer and Position Greg Telfer, Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) Competition Governance by Value Overarching Framework Agreements terms and condition in accordance with the Councils General Contract Standing Orders Route to Market Direct Award from a Third-Party Framework Agreement Framework Agreement Title, Ref and Lot Info Crown Commercial Services, RM6325 (Payment Acceptance 2), Lot 2 – Acquiring and Merchant Equipment Services Interest No. of Lot / Framework Agreement Appointments 4 Date Invitation to Tender Package Issued 03 April 2025 Tenders Received Total No. of Tenders Received 1 No. of Tenders From SME’s 0 No. Tenders from NLC Based Businesses 0 No. of Tenders from Supported Businesses 0 Direct Award Basis Best Value Assessment of Framework Contractors in Accordance with the Framework Agreement How Has “Best Value” Been Demonstrated? The scope of the merchant acquiring services are covered within the CCS framework, suppliers have already gone through a full procurement process and terms and conditions are already in place. The suitable suppliers are flexible to Council needs and provide a suitable service. The pricing model is a transaction charge for each card payment type utilised plus scheme and interchange fees. This is common practice within the industry as evidenced in the CCS framework. Prices will be fixed for the duration of the contract offering stability to the Council. Additional Comments A desktop exercise was carried out reviewing framework information including pricing matrices and quality responses from the framework approved suppliers with the Council utilising a Quality/Pricing weighting. This review identified Cardnet as providing the most economically advantageous tendered for this direct award as per the process stated within the buyer guide for the CCS Payment Acceptance 2 framework agreement. Page 270 of 292
Page 271
Award Details General Overview Total / Maximum Value £1,341,000 Contract Duration (Months) 48 Contractor Registered Name(s) Lloyds Bank plc trading as Cardnet Contractor Overview Registered Local Authority Area London Contractor(s) Size Large Living Wage Paying the Living Wage Yes Living Wage Accredited Yes Overview of Community Benefits n/a Additional Comments Impacts Summary, Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty ☐ HR Policy Impact ☐ Data Protection Impact ☐ Environment / Carbon Impact ☐ Risk Impact ☒ Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact ☐ Financial Impact ☒ Legal Impact ☐ Technology / Digital Impact ☐ Comms impact ☐ Armed Forces Covenant Duty ☐ Page 271 of 292
Page 272
Page 272 of 292
Page 273
North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resource Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref: NLC-CPT-25-052 Date: 10/09/25 Contract Award for the Provision of Utilities (Electricity, Gas, and Water) From James McKinstry, Chief Officer (Assets and Procurement) E-mail MckinstryJ@northlan.gov.uk Telephone: Chris Sullivan, Strategic Asset Manager – 07939 280579 Executive Summary In accordance with the councils General Contract Standing Orders (GCSOs), the Committee is asked to acknowledge the Councils continued participation in utility arrangements procured by Scottish Procurement (a division of the Scottish Government) as detailed within this report below. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance and Resources Committee: (1) Acknowledge the Councils continued participation in the following framework agreements procured by Scottish Procurement: (2) Supply of Electricity Framework Agreement (SP-21-052) awarded to EDF Energy Customers Limited as a sole supplier from 01 April 2024 to a maximum of 31 March 2029. This framework agreement was awarded at value of £3,500,000,000 with the councils anticipated spend over the full five year being approximately £110,000,000 (£22,000,000 per annum); (3) Supply of Natural Gas Framework Agreement (SP-23-03) awarded to TotalEnergies Gas & Power Limited.as a sole supplier from 01 April 2024 to a maximum of 31 March 2029. This framework agreement was awarded at value of £1,200,000,000 with the councils anticipated spend over the full four year being approximately £30,000,000 (£7,500,000 per annum); and (4) Water and Waste Water Billing Services Framework Agreement (SP-23-07) awarded to Scottish Water Business Stream Limited as a sole supplier from 01 April 2024 to a maximum of 31 March 2028. This framework agreement was awarded at value of £320,000,000 with the councils anticipated spend over the full four year being approximately £10,000,000 (£2,500,000 per annum). The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition Statement All ambition statements Programme of Work One Service Item 25 Page 273 of 292
Page 274
1. Background 1.1 The council, along with its Arm's Length External Organisations (ALEOs), needs to ensure the supply of electricity, gas, and water management services to its operational properties including offices, schools, leisure facilities, warehouses /depots etc. Utility provision is critical within these operation properties to enable lighting, technology / communication, cooking, heating etc. 1.2 Scottish Procurement, a division of the Scottish Government, has historically been responsible for developing and implementing procurement strategies for major national commodities and contracts on behalf of the entire Scottish Public Sector, these include strategic arrangements for utility provision with the following three framework agreements currently in situ: Framework Agreement Title Start Date Initial End Date Max End Date Award Value Supply of Electricity (SP-21-052) 01/04/24 31/03/26 31/05/29 £3.5b Supply of Natural Gas (SP-23-03) 01/04/25 31/03/27 31/03/30 £1.2b Water and Waste Water Billing Services (SP-23-07) 01/04/24 31/03/27 31/03/28 £320m 1.3 Historically, the council has participated in previous generations of the above stated framework agreements implemented by Scottish Procurement for nearly two decades. Through the procurement and implementation of the current framework agreements by Scottish Procurement, the council again has a direct route to market for its utility needs that aligns with the rest of the Scottish Public Sector therefore continuing shared benefits and economies of scale. 1.4 Based on financial data available for the previous five years, the council spent on average approximately £24 million annually on utilities, with around £15.5m on electricity, £7.5m on gas, and £2.5m on water. 1.5 However, due to the well-publicised increased wholesale costs in electricity and gas, cost for this utility provision has increased significantly over the past two to three years. Accordingly, it is anticipated that the council will spend approximately £150m combined on utility provision across the three framework agreements (as detailed above) and as summarised below: • Supply of Electricity – approx. £110m over five years (£22m per annum); • Supply of Natural Gas – approx. £30m over four years (£7.5m per annum); • Water and Waste Water Billing Services – approx. £10m (£2.5m per annum). 1.6 To enable appropriate development and execution of the procedures required to continue participation in the three framework agreements, a panel of technical and procurement representatives (the “User Intelligence Group (UIG)”) was formed. 1.7 The UIG were responsible for developing the required internal contract strategy (the “Contract Strategy“) for the Agreement. The Contract Strategy sets out the parameters and approaches the council would apply within the procurement, tendering, contracting and end of life stages of the Agreement following appropriate analysis, research and investigation to ensure the council achieves maximum benefit where possible. In accordance with GCSO 4.4, the Contract Strategy for the Agreement was approved on 18 July 2025. Page 274 of 292
Page 275
2. Report 2.1 Each of the three frameworks were procured via an independent “Open Procedure”. However, for the council to access and utilise each framework agreement, this can only be done via the “Direct Award” procurement procedure as each framework agreement only has a single supplier appointed. 2.2 Appendix 1 provides a summary for each of the three framework agreements. Financial / Budget Consideration 2.3 Electricity is closely monitored by both the contractor and the council. All council properties fall under the single electricity Agreement, having one single supplier allows council to monitor consumption and costs more effectively, via PDF and statement billing spreadsheet method. 2.4 Gas is also utilised in the same manner as above, all council properties fall under the single gas Agreement and the council to monitor consumption and costs more effectively, also using the PDF and statement billing method. 2.5 Water is billed via the rateable value of a property in two separate charges, water usage and the other wastewater, or drainage charges. All council properties also fall under the single water Agreement and allows the council to effectively monitor charges and costs. 2.6 Asset Management within Assets and Procurement are responsible for managing and reviewing the council utilities approach, this includes payment of invoices etc. the Agreements are billed to the council (as detailed below in section 2.7) via a statement billing method resulting in a single invoice being received per utility per billing period. This results in an efficiency to the council given the reduction in invoice transactions with costs for each property recharged internally to the corresponding cost code. Price Stability 2.7 Given the volatility of energy prices since the end of the COVID-19 lockdowns, the ongoing war in Ukraine, and the surge in demand due to colder-than-expected winters, forecasting energy prices has become increasingly challenging. Therefore, each framework agreement incorporates its own processes and procedures to ensure that market rates remain acceptable and align with the commercial approaches and strategies agreed as detailed below: Framework Agreement Title Brief Overview of Commercial Approach Supply of Electricity (SP-21-052) Scottish Procurement purchase wholesale electricity on the futures markets up to two-and-a-half years in advance. Their flexible trading strategy smooths-out the peaks and troughs of market fluctuations while avoiding payment of the ‘risk- premium’ which would be applied to fixed rate tariffs. Flexible purchasing is popular in the public sector as it improves budget predictability while keeping costs down. Supply of Natural Gas (SP-23-03) Scottish Procurement purchase wholesale gas on the futures markets up to two-and-a-half years in advance. This flexible trading strategy smooths-out the peaks and troughs of market fluctuations while avoiding payment of the ‘risk-premium’ which would be applied to fixed rate tariffs. Flexible purchasing is popular in the public sector as it improves budget Page 275 of 292
Page 276
predictability, through a fixed cost of gas, which is reconciled on an annual basis. Water and Waste Water Billing Services (SP-23-07) Scottish Water wholesale rates are subject to annual price rises in line with the Scottish Water Wholesale Determination. Rates of increase to apply for Wholesale Determination periods are set to ensure sufficient funding to maintain/develop infrastructure during that period. The next Wholesale Determination period is due to last from 2024 - 2028 Community Benefits 2.8 The three identified framework agreements all include a community benefit requirement; this approach is designed to deliver community benefits to Scotland as a whole however may result in community benefits being delivered to North Lanarkshire if possible. An overview of Community Benefits for each of the three framework agreements are detailed within Appendix 1 of this report: Fair Work First and Payment of the Living Wage 2.9 Further information on the Living Wage status of each contractor is detailed in Appendix 1. Contract Management 2.10 Officers from the Asset Management team within Assets and Procurement will be responsible for managing the Agreement which will be undertaken in accordance with the contract and supplier management conditions applied within the Agreement. 3. Measures of success 3.1 The Agreement will deliver the following outcomes; 3.2 Best Value will be demonstrated as outlined in Appendix 1; 3.3 A collaborative approach to the procurement of the requirement, minimising the burden on internal resource and leveraging the economies of scale; 3.4 The procurement procedures undertaken by Scottish Procurement were compliant with the procurement legislation and internal procedures; and 3.5 The appointment of suppliers who have the experience and capability to deliver key utility provision to the council 4. Supporting documents 4.1 Appendix 1 Summary of Framework Agreements James McKinstry, Chief Officer (Assets and Procurement) Page 276 of 292
Page 277
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 agreement is through a Scottish Procurements framework agreements which all public c sector bides are opted into. The power of collective purchasing ensures the maximisation of savings in what is a volatile market. 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 ☐ Page 277 of 292
Page 278
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? No Environment / Carbon Impacts are anticipated however the result of the agreement is to provide utilities and it is the billing information that will provide the council with its details for its building emissions. 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? There is a risk to supply in terms of the UK’s potential to meet its demand. Risk increases with the reliance on other countries such as Norway to meet our energy demand and the depletion of the UK’s own gas reserves. Political unrest abroad can also impact such as the Strait of Homuz (tensions between Iran and U.S.) 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. Page 278 of 292
Page 279
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 279 of 292
Page 280
Appendix 1 – Summary of Procurement Procedure Overview Reference NLC-CPT-25-052 Title Provision of Utilities (Electricity, Gas, and Water) Classification Supplies Responsible Chief Officer and Position James McKinstry, Chief Officer (Assets and Procurement) Direct Award Basis Single Contractor Framework Where Direct Award is the Only Available Call-off Procedure Framework Agreement Overview Scottish Procurement Supply of Electricity Framework Agreement (SP-21-052) Has “Best Value” Been Demonstrated? Utilising the Scottish Procurement Supply of Electricity Framework Agreement shall provide the following best value considerations: • Continued benefit of Scottish Procurement’s flexible purchasing of wholesale electricity; • Provision of assistance to public sector organisations to work towards their net zero targets such as energy efficiency services and options to sleeve Power Purchase Agreements; • Options to purchase Renewable Energy Guarantees of Origin Certificates (REGOs); and • Commitment to a range of Sustainability and Community Benefits Award Details General Overview Approximate Council Spend: £110,000,000 Contract Duration (Months) 60 (24 + 12 + 12 + 12) Contractor Registered Name(s) EDF Energy Customers Limited Contractor Overview Registered Local Authority Area London Contractor(s) Size Large Living Wage Paying the Living Wage Yes Living Wage Accredited Yes Overview of Community Benefits EDF made a commitment to a range of Community Benefits which includes the creation of a Social Value Engagement Hub: Working to create Social Value Action Plans with customers to ensure core health , wellbeing and energy priorities are being understood and addressed, this will be led by a Social Value Specialist that shall Page 280 of 292
Page 281
also include mentoring with charities focussed on combatting climate change or providing expert advice to customers or suppliers via the Social Value Engagement Hub Framework Agreement Overview Scottish Procurement Supply of Natural Gas Framework Agreement (SP-23-03) Has “Best Value” Been Demonstrated? Utilising the Scottish Procurement Supply of Natural Gas Framework Agreement shall provide the following best value considerations: • Estimated savings of £7.9 million per annum; • Improved customer service; • Web portal upgrade; and; • Commitment to a range of Sustainability and Community Benefits Award Details General Overview Approximate Council Spend: £30,000,000 Contract Duration (Months) 60 (24 + 12 + 12 + 12) Contractor Registered Name(s) Total Gas and Power Limited Contractor Overview Registered Local Authority Area Surrey Contractor(s) Size Large Living Wage Paying the Living Wage Yes Living Wage Accredited No Overview of Community Benefits TotalEnergies have committed to a Community Investment Fund of £10K per annum for charities and social and environmental investment projects, two employees to be allocated two days per annum to volunteering in key projects recommended by Scottish Procurement and Key Stakeholders; and commitment to work with local secondary schools in Aberdeen and Shetland on STEM subjects Framework Agreement Overview Scottish Procurement Water and Waste Water Billing Services Framework Agreement (SP-23-07) Has “Best Value” Been Demonstrated? Utilising the Scottish Procurement Supply of Water and Waste Water Billing Services Framework Agreement shall provide the following best value considerations: • Annual cost avoidance savings for the duration of the contract; • Automated meter reading (AMR) offering, including free AMR loggers on 30mm, 40mm and 50mm meters or larger; • Intelligent water management programme for reducing water usage; Page 281 of 292
Page 282
• Dedicated customer service team and account management; and • commitment to a range of Sustainability and Community Benefits Award Details General Overview Approximate Council Spend: £10,000,000 Contract Duration (Months) 48 (36 + 12) Contractor Registered Name(s) Scottish Water Business Stream Limited Contractor Overview Registered Local Authority Area City of Edinburgh Contractor(s) Size Large Living Wage Paying the Living Wage Yes Living Wage Accredited Yes Overview of Community Benefits Business Stream have committed to a variety of community benefits including but not limited to: Developing the Young Workforce, Career Ready Initiative, Apprenticeships, Foundation Apprenticeship Programme, Support for Jobseekers (coaching programme), Green Skills Training, Development of Green Jobs to gain a SCQF Level 6 Qualification, and Schools Outreach Page 282 of 292
Page 283
North Lanarkshire Council Report Finance and Resources Committee Does this report require to be approved? ☐ Yes ☒ No Ref JMcK/CPT Date 10/09/25 Contracts awarded below Committee approval threshold From James McKinstry, Chief Officer (Assets and Procurement) E-mail McKinstryJ@northlan.gov.uk Telephone 07939 281102 1. Background 1.1 The Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 section 81 requires local authorities to “…make standing orders with respect to the making by them or on their behalf of contracts for the supply of goods or materials or for the execution of works.”. 1.2 The Council’s General Contract Standing Orders (“GCSOs”) set out the council’s specific procurement procedures and responsibilities at all spend levels, and include the reporting requirements of procurement activity, including contracts awards, to committee for either approval or acknowledgement. 2. Report 2.1 In accordance with GCSO 21.10, this report summarises the contract awards since last committee, specifically for the spend range: Executive Summary In accordance with the Council’s General Contract Standing Orders (“GCSOs”), GCSO 21.10 requires a summary report be presented to members with details of contracts awarded since last committee, specifically for the spend range: • over £50,000 but below £500,000 for supplies or services; and, • over £500,000 but below £2,000,000 for works. Recommendations It is recommended that the Finance and Resources Committee: (1) Acknowledge the contract awards made since last committee reporting cycle. The Plan for North Lanarkshire Priority All priorities Ambition statement All ambition statements Programme of Work Statutory / corporate / service requirement Item 26 Page 283 of 292
Page 284
• over £50,000 but below £500,000 for supplies or services; and, • over £500,000 but below £2,000,000 for works. 2.2 If you require further information regards the contract awards reported, please refer to the lead service area / Chief Officer detailed in the appendix. 3. Measures of success 3.1 All requirements contracted contribute to either the council’s programme of work and/or fulfil a statutory requirement. 3.2 All contract awards secure best value for the council in accordance with their evaluation criteria. 3.3 All necessary diligence has been undertaken in the evaluation and appointment of contractors. 3.4 All contract awards are logged in the council’s contract register. 4. Supporting documentation 4.1 Appendix 1 – Summary of contracts awarded. James McKinstry Chief Officer (Assets and Procurement) 5. Impacts 5.1 Impacts considered as part of the contract award procedures are recorded in the individual contract award reports held by the lead service area. Page 284 of 292
Page 285
Appendix 1 – Summary of Contracts Awarded Contract Ref NLC-SLP-24-105 Title Continuation of ESRI GIS Contract Classification Services Chief Officer, Service Area Greg Telfer, Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) Competition Governance by Value The Framework terms & conditions, with adherence to the council’s GCSO 13 on 3rd party frameworks Procurement Route Call-off following Direct Award using Third Party Framework No. of Framework Contractors 29 Award Criteria Best Value assessment, in accordance with the Framework Information Comments This has been procured via Direct Award approach, considering the relevant information on Framework Contractors technical and commercial proposals available through the Crown Commercial Services - Vertical Applications Solutions Framework, Reference: RM6259, Lot 3: Housing, Environmental and Planning Solutions. Award Details Value £91,905 Contract Duration 12 months Contractor Name ESRI (UK) Limited Contractor Size Large Contractor Location Buckinghamshire Status - Payment of Living Wage? Yes Status - Living Wage Accredited? No Impacts this section highlights which impacts were considered for this contract award procedure Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty ☐ HR Policy Impact ☐ Data Protection Impact ☐ Environment / Carbon Impact ☐ Risk Impact ☐ Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact ☐ Financial Impact ☒ Legal Impact ☐ Technology / Digital Impact ☒ Communications Impact ☐ Armed Forces Covenant Duty ☐ Further details regarding these impacts can be obtained from the Lead Service Area / Chief Officer Page 285 of 292
Page 286
Contract Ref NLC-CPT-24-091 Title AP Export Interface Development & Support 2024-28 (ELCOM Integration Service) Classification Services Chief Officer, Service Area Pamela Humphries, Chief Officer (Place) Competition Governance by Value The Framework terms & conditions, with adherence to the council’s GCSO 13 on 3rd party frameworks Procurement Route Call-off following Direct Award using Third Party Framework No. of Framework Contractors Over 4,000 suppliers on G-Cloud 14 framework Award Criteria Best Value assessment, in accordance with the Framework Information Comments This has been procured via Direct Award approach, considering the relevant information on Framework Contractors technical and commercial proposals available through the Crown Commercial Services Framework – G-Cloud 14, Reference: RM1557.14, Lot 3: Cloud Support. Award Details Value £89,102 Contract Duration 36 months with option to extend for 12 months (36 + 12) Contractor Name Integrella Limited Contractor Size Small Contractor Location London Status - Payment of Living Wage? Yes Status - Living Wage Accredited? No Impacts this section highlights which impacts were considered for this contract award procedure Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty ☐ HR Policy Impact ☐ Data Protection Impact ☐ Environment / Carbon Impact ☐ Risk Impact ☒ Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact ☐ Financial Impact ☒ Legal Impact ☐ Technology / Digital Impact ☒ Communications Impact ☐ Armed Forces Covenant Duty ☐ Further details regarding these impacts can be obtained from the Lead Service Area / Chief Officer Page 286 of 292
Page 287
Contract Ref NLC-SLP-24-087 Title Enterprise Project - External Advisor Appointment (3rd gen) Classification Services Chief Officer, Service Area James McKinstry, Chief Officer (Assets and Procurement) Competition Governance by Value The Framework terms & conditions, with adherence to the council’s GCSO 13 on 3rd party frameworks Procurement Route Call-off following Direct Award using Third Party Framework No. of Framework Contractors 30 Award Criteria Best Value assessment, in accordance with the Framework Information Comments This has been procured via Direct Award approach, considering the relevant information on Framework Contractors technical and commercial proposals available through the Crown Commercial Services – Management Consultancy Framework Three (MCF3), Reference: RM6187, Lot 3: Complex and Transformation. Award Details Value £450,000 Contract Duration 12 months with option to extend up to 24 months (12 + 12 + 12) Contractor Name Turner & Townsend Cost Management Limited Contractor Size Large Contractor Location Leeds Status - Payment of Living Wage? Yes Status - Living Wage Accredited? No Impacts this section highlights which impacts were considered for this contract award procedure Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty ☐ HR Policy Impact ☐ Data Protection Impact ☐ Environment / Carbon Impact ☐ Risk Impact ☐ Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact ☐ Financial Impact ☒ Legal Impact ☒ Technology / Digital Impact ☐ Communications Impact ☐ Armed Forces Covenant Duty ☐ Further details regarding these impacts can be obtained from the Lead Service Area / Chief Officer Page 287 of 292
Page 288
Contract Ref NLC-CPT-24-050 Title Corporate Scanning Classification Services Chief Officer, Service Area Greg Telfer, Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) Competition Governance by Value Higher Threshold Regulated Procurement – The Public Contracts (Scotland) Regulations 2015 Procurement Route Open Procedure No. of Expressions of interest 28 No. of Bids Received 11 Award Criteria Most Economically Advantageous Tender Evaluation Scores – Successful 89.20% Evaluation Scores – Unsuccessful 88.43% - 35.73% Award Details Value £450,000 Contract Duration 36 months Contractor Name Storetec Services Ltd Contractor Size Small Contractor Location Hull Status - Payment of Living Wage? Yes Status - Living Wage Accredited? No Impacts this section highlights which impacts were considered for this contract award procedure Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty ☐ HR Policy Impact ☐ Data Protection Impact ☒ Environment / Carbon Impact ☐ Risk Impact ☐ Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact ☐ Financial Impact ☒ Legal Impact ☐ Technology / Digital Impact ☐ Communications Impact ☐ Armed Forces Covenant Duty ☐ Further details regarding these impacts can be obtained from the Lead Service Area / Chief Officer Page 288 of 292
Page 289
Contract Ref NLC-SLP-24-045 Title Aitkenhead Primary School; Rewire, Fire Stopping and Redecoration Classification Works Chief Officer, Service Area James McKinstry, Chief Officer (Assets and Procurement) Competition Governance by Value Non-Regulated; procured in accordance with the council’s General Contract Standing Orders Procurement Route Quick Quote No. of Expressions of interest 17 No. of Bids Received 4 Award Criteria Most Economically Advantageous Tender Evaluation Scores – Successful 94.80% Evaluation Scores – Unsuccessful 85.70% - 80.37% Award Details Value £663,653 Contract Duration 6 months Contractor Name Emtec Property Services Ltd Contractor Size Medium Contractor Location East Ayrshire Status - Payment of Living Wage? Yes Status - Living Wage Accredited? Yes Impacts this section highlights which impacts were considered for this contract award procedure Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty ☐ HR Policy Impact ☐ Data Protection Impact ☐ Environment / Carbon Impact ☒ Risk Impact ☒ Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact ☐ Financial Impact ☒ Legal Impact ☐ Technology / Digital Impact ☐ Communications Impact ☐ Armed Forces Covenant Duty ☐ Further details regarding these impacts can be obtained from the Lead Service Area / Chief Officer Page 289 of 292
Page 290
Contract Ref NLC-SLP-25-016 Title Education Web Filtering Solution Classification Supplies Chief Officer, Service Area Greg Telfer, Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) Competition Governance by Value The Framework terms & conditions, with adherence to the council’s GCSO 13 on 3rd party frameworks Procurement Route Call-off following Direct Award using Third Party Framework No. of Framework Contractors 27 Award Criteria Best Value assessment, in accordance with the Framework Information Comments This has been procured via Direct Award approach, considering the relevant information on Framework Contractors technical and commercial proposals available through the NHS Digital Workplace Solutions Framework, Reference: SBS/19/AB/WAB/9411, Lot 1: Cloud Solutions. Award Details Value £493,710 Contract Duration 36 months Contractor Name Softcat PLC Contractor Size Large Contractor Location Buckinghamshire Status - Payment of Living Wage? Yes Status - Living Wage Accredited? Yes Impacts this section highlights which impacts were considered for this contract award procedure Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty ☐ HR Policy Impact ☐ Data Protection Impact ☒ Environment / Carbon Impact ☐ Risk Impact ☒ Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact ☒ Financial Impact ☒ Legal Impact ☐ Technology / Digital Impact ☒ Communications Impact ☐ Armed Forces Covenant Duty ☐ Further details regarding these impacts can be obtained from the Lead Service Area / Chief Officer Page 290 of 292
Page 291
Contract Ref NLC-SLP-25-044 Title Netcall Telephony System Annual Support & Maintenance Classification Supplies Chief Officer, Service Area Greg Telfer, Chief Officer (Finance and Technology) Competition Governance by Value The Framework terms & conditions, with adherence to the council’s GCSO 13 on 3rd party frameworks Procurement Route Call-off following Direct Award using Third Party Framework No. of Framework Contractors 92 Award Criteria Best Value assessment, in accordance with the Framework Information Comments This has been procured via Direct Award approach, considering the relevant information on Framework Contractors technical and commercial proposals available through the Crown Commercial Services - Back Office Software 2 Framework, Reference: RM6285, Lot 2 Specialist Software Solutions. Award Details Value £119,000 Contract Duration 12 months Contractor Name Netcall Technology Limited Contractor Size Medium Contractor Location Bedfordshire Status - Payment of Living Wage? Yes Status - Living Wage Accredited? Yes Impacts this section highlights which impacts were considered for this contract award procedure Public Sector Equality Duty and Fairer Scotland Duty ☐ HR Policy Impact ☐ Data Protection Impact ☐ Environment / Carbon Impact ☐ Risk Impact ☐ Children’s Rights and Wellbeing Impact ☐ Financial Impact ☒ Legal Impact ☐ Technology / Digital Impact ☒ Communications Impact ☐ Armed Forces Covenant Duty ☐ Further details regarding these impacts can be obtained from the Lead Service Area / Chief Officer Page 291 of 292
Page 292
Page 292 of 292