Glasgow City Council will cut some 1,500 posts in the next year to plug a budget shortfall of £130m…
A new budget approved by Glasgow City Council will see some 1,500 jobs cut in the next year in an attempt to meet a shortfall of £130m.
Leader of the city council Frank McAveety said the scale of cuts was due to “Scottish government budget cuts”, while a government spokesperson said the council accepted “our fair funding deal”.
The council said it would need to find some £83m of the £130m shortfall it is facing in the next year and would use reserves and other measures to reduce that to £58m. To save more money, some 1,500 posts would be cut through “natural wastage”, saving around £25m.
A further £10m will be saved through renegotiating procurement contracts, and community grants will be slashed by £6.15m. A total of £1.6m will also be cut from Police Scotland.
The council also said it could save £1.5m by reducing the amount of times grass is cut and hedges trimmed, and schools, museums, libraries, and office buildings could be cleaned less often to save £700,000.
Additionally, support could be removed for the Theatre Royal, and grants reduced by 10 per cent for the King’s Theatre and Pollock House to save £208,000.
McAveety said: “The £130m cuts we face over the next two years are not just cuts from Westminster.
“Glasgow has had a double-whammy of Holyrood cuts piled on top of those from Westminster.
“When I became leader the city faced a cuts bill of £103m. Now its £130m. Make no mistake this is a direct result of the Scottish government’s budget cuts.”
He added: “Despite facing a huge budget shortfall, Glasgow City Council has committed to investing £100m in our schools and community facilities over the next five years with an increased capital investment fund.
“This fund will ensure that these vital facilities across the city continue to operate and don’t suffer from the cuts being imposed on us – a real example of the council delivering for the communities of Glasgow.”
A Scottish government spokesperson said: “Glasgow City Council remains the highest funded per head of any wholly mainland council, and has accepted our fair funding deal, securing their share of a £10.3bn package – they will continue to receive their allocation which amounts to £1.344bn next year.
“In addition, updated independent analysis published today by the Scottish Parliament Information Centre (Spice) has found that when it comes to the council tax freeze and the funding of local government, the freeze has been ‘over-funded’ by the Scottish government, which ‘has resulted in an estimated £180m extra going to local government’.”
