NORTH LANARKSHIRE is the most “broken” of all Scottish councils, according to new research.

This dubious distinction was conferred by the New Britain Project, compilers of the Broken Britain Index.

The think tank looked at 29 of Scotland’s 32 councils, examining 13 different indicators grouped into three themes across health, education, policing, transport and local infrastructure.

It said that the kind of regional inequalities it had found mirrored those revealed by earlier research on England’s local authorities, which showed that so-called red wall areas in the north fared worst.

Of the bottom three performers, Falkirk was joint worst on the “health emergency,” along with with neighbouring Clackmannanshire and Stirling; North Lanarkshire performed worst in the “forgotten generation” category, which looked at education and young people’s services; and Glasgow found itself in last place in the infrastructure theme of “crumbling communities.”

The study was published on the day that the SNP-Green administration published its draft Budget, after warning that it would be the tightest since devolution and lead to public-sector cuts, despite warnings from the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (Cosla) that some councils could be “effectively bankrupt” next year.

New Britain Project’s Anna McShane said: “As Scotland faces a crucial Budget announcement, our Broken Britain Index sheds light on the urgent need for transparent and comparable data.

“With public services varying greatly across Scotland and the UK, it’s vital the Scottish government provide clear and comprehensive information.

“This is crucial for addressing the challenges in essential services, which are now more critical than ever.

“Transparency shouldn’t be an option, it’s a necessity for a Scotland striving for accountability and genuine progress.”

Dismissing the index, the Scottish government said that it did not reflect “the fact that the functions of local authorities here differ widely from other parts of the UK.”