North Lanarkshire Council planning to close up to 18 offices to save £1.2m

North Lanarkshire Council currently has 24 offices in operation, but could close as many as 18 of them as it seeks to save £1.2 million.

The six remaining would be Fleming House in Cumbernauld, Civic Centre and Dalziel Building in Mothwerwell, Coats House in Airdrie, the Buchanan Centre in Coatbridge and the Houldsworth Centre in Wishaw.

Staff in offices which close would be based at “community campus” facilities in schools and other community buildings – travel expenses would be paid for those forced to relocate

Touchscreen devices in town centres would also be used as a means of providing access to services.

The Policy and Strategy committee will meet on Thursday, February 28, to decide whether to proceed with the proposed closures.

A report by the head of asset and procurement solutions James McKinstry states: “Whilst it is planned to rationalise our office portfolio it is recognised we will still require to maintain access locations for both staff working locally, and for communities and residents to access services.

“We will be developing community campus locations in each of our towns, based as close to the point of service delivery as possible and where practicable designed around our school/community estate, as this is where we will be prioritising investment in development and provision of new, accessible built assets.”

Neil McGrory - Local Democracy Reporting Service