Glasgow Council facing £103m budget shortfall

The local authority governing Scotland’s largest city will have to trim 7 per cent from its budget in order to tackle “the unprecedented financial challenge of the next two years”.

The council plans not to replace 3,000 members of staff who it expects to leave naturally over the next two years, which it says means it will not have to resort to compulsory redundancies.

The Transforming Glasgow programme was launched to staff on Friday, and a report on the council’s strategic plan refresh will be considered by the Executive Committee on Thursday.

Cllr Gordon Matheson, leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “Glasgow has faced significant budget pressure over the last six years, and we’ve risen to the challenge during that time.

“It’s clear that we are already a world-class city, we’re improving educational attainment, we’re creating jobs and apprenticeship places for our citizens and we’re looking after our vulnerable residents.

“But the pressures that will be coming in the next two years go beyond anything we’ve had to deal with before. This will come from cuts to our grant, along with other unavoidable cost pressures such as wage inflation and the introduction of domestic food waste collection.

“Dealing with this may well involve difficult decisions, but I am not prepared to consider cutting services unless far greater savings are made from operating the organisation more efficiently.

“I am also still committed to delivering all of our promises to the people of Glasgow – most importantly on tackling poverty and inequality while growing the city’s economy.

“Our experience of reforming our back office over the last five years, the evolving working relationships with our community planning partners, and the levels of staff attrition, give us confidence that we can meet this challenge.”