THIS time last week councillors across the city were preparing for the biggest annual meeting, the Full Council where we set the budget for the year ahead and this being the final one of the current session.

Glasgow Labour’s budget was one full of positive ideas. One that was built on the priorities of our constituents, and one which addressed the concerns of local residents across our city with a long-term plan – not simply sound bytes or one-off spends in an election year.

Our budget acknowledged the challenges Glasgow faces and committed to dealing with them. Whether that is the growing cost of living crisis, the waste crisis or the constant threat to our community facilities.
We would have increased the school clothing grant for both secondary and primary school pupils – this would have supported over 30,000 families. 

We would have invested £6 million over three years to help 400 back into long-term work with, training and vocational opportunities. Those opportunities would have helped tackle our City’s cleansing crisis by helping clean up neighbourhoods, perform maintenance and help deliver interventions to climate-proof our communities. We would have scrapped the bulk uplift charge outright, re-opened every community centre across the city and freeze unfair bereavement charges.

Glasgow Labour’s budget stood in contrast to that which was being put forward by other parties. We entered the virtual chamber last Thursday knowing that the current SNP administration had already done a deal with the Greens to pass a budget that had no long-term ambition for our city. The note “This is a one-off investment” printed throughout the document, meaning that departments or projects would have no certainty or ability to plan ahead. 

We also saw the SNP and Greens for the second year in a row scrap the £100 Affordable Warmth Payment for our over-80s, this initiative supported 15,000 older people across our communities. It was Glasgow Labour who introduced the Affordable Warmth Payment, Glasgow Labour who defended it, Glasgow Labour who saved it last year and our budget would have ensured it continued for years to come.

These cuts to Glasgow the SNP want to justify by citing the cost of equal pay – a process that has not yet concluded. The Equal Pay women themselves are the most outraged at Susan Aitken’s petty attempts to pass the buck into these hard-working women.

And as for the Tories, all you need to know about their priorities was choosing to cut almost £3m from the English as an Additional Language service in our schools. The brilliant work benefits almost 20,000 pupils in education across Glasgow and we know it can truly be life-changing to those who use it.

Our budget may not have gained the support we had hoped for on Thursday. But as we come into the final few weeks before May’s local council election: the issues we debated, spoke passionately about and included in our budget will remain our priorities throughout the campaign. Because we know Glasgow deserves better than the current administration.