Budget breakdown: North Lanarkshire Council awarded £660m in 'biggest ever' distribution of funds - here's the full breakdown of where the money's going

North Lanarkshire Council have been awarded a massive investment from the Scottish Government with a budget of £660 million - over half a billion pounds.

The latest five-year capital investment programme which will be distributing the funds is now at its biggest ever - a total of nearly £1.5 billion will be spent 'improving towns and communities' across North Lanarkshire.

Areas and schemes set to benefit from regeneration programmes the most include:

• Town & Community Hub - £250m
• City Deal investment (including East Airdrie Link Road) - £91m
• Town centre regeneration (including Cumbernauld town centre) - £39m
• Infrastructure such as bridges, flood defences, and road safety - £34m
• Investment in parks including Strathclyde Park Watersports Centre - £11m
• Updating digital technology within council - £20m
• System progression for handling community asset transfers - £10m

As members of the policy and strategy committee considered the new programme, it was noted that some road building projects including the East Airdrie Link Road, which is vitally important to plans to replace Monklands Hospital, are expected to double in cost from £91 million to more than £180 million due to inflation and other cost pressures. This will be discussed in greater detail at future meetings.

Council chief executive Des Murray reminded members that in December a report on this issue had been considered and that funding originally intended for the Glasgow Airport Rail Link project would be released to councils within the City Region.

The council remains committed to completing the East Airdrie Link Road project and it is still therefore an important part of local investment plans.

The largest section of the investment programme is the Town and Community Hub programme at over £250m, more than a third of the total amount. This is largely for the completion of projects which have already been approved, while any new projects will be assessed by the management board. This will include consideration of new community hubs in Glenboig, Ravenscraig and Abronhill - although it may not be possible to achieve these within the five year period.

After further discussion the committee agreed to several recommendations including the approval of the five-year capital investment programme and also the updated Capital Strategy.