Council bosses have revealed wide-ranging plans to improve services and support families with the cost of living.
The Labour-led partnership which runs South Lanarkshire Council, with support from Liberal Democrat and independent councillors, announced a series of measures to make the area a better place to live.
The administration has pledged initiatives to tackle the cost of living, including additional funded school meals and extra support towards uniforms and other expenses faced by parents.
Key commitments also include the creation of a Frontline First Fund which aims to improve important local services while helping to recruit and keep the staff needed to deliver them.
Council chiefs will also launch a new Safe Routes for Communities programme to improve pavements and paths and encourage cycling and walking by making journeys easier and safer.
Council Leader Joe Fagan, who is also the Labour Group leader, said: “The new administration has hit the ground running. We promised to bring new leadership to South Lanarkshire Council and that’s exactly what we are doing.
“There are huge issues to confront, from climate change to the cost-of-living crisis, to economy-wide recruitment challenges hitting the frontline – and we are forced to confront those issues with budgets that have been diminished for years by the Scottish Government.
“This will be a tough five-year term but we don’t stay silent when our council is getting a raw deal. We’ll fight South Lanarkshire’s corner and work to secure the investment our communities need.”
The new partnership agenda builds on a Priorities and Work Programme that was passed by the full council in June.
Councillor Robert Brown, the Liberal Democrat Group leader and chairman of community and enterprise, said: “This is a strong and focused administration with a clear agenda. Our core aim is to deliver the best possible council services within the resources available to us.
“But our partnership programme is designed to sharpen up the council’s work to help build South Lanarkshire’s economy, tackle climate change and support local communities and town centres.
“In these difficult times, we will only succeed if we can harness the ideas and dynamism of local people across the council area.”
Councillor Margaret Cooper, the Independent Group leader, said: “Everybody knows these are some of the toughest times in living memory.
“Many people are more and more worried how they will get by. People depend on council services, so councillors need to work together and find new ways to protect our communities.
“We all want to see South Lanarkshire thrive – to really be a place that people want to make their home and base their businesses, with a council that is truly focused on what the public need us to deliver.”
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