Jacqueline McLaren: A breakdown of Glasgow's budget

A city like ours faces many long-standing social challenges whilst at the same time is an exciting 21st-century city.

Setting the budget is never an easy task, with tough decisions needing to be made about what the priorities are.

That’s even more so two years into a global pandemic but I believe this budget helps find a way through to a full recovery. 

The full force of Brexit is already contributing to the increased the cost of living. I’d say that by now all of us who do the weekly big shop at the local supermarket will have noticed the price rises, so too the increase in energy bills.

Working with colleagues in the Green Party, our budget supports those most affected by the rise in our cost of living.

It provides £1 million to help vulnerable residents struggling to heat their homes, targeting those who need it most, with another £2m assisting one-parent families, disabled citizens and other residents facing financial difficulties.

There are of course benefits to all those living in the Canal Ward, for example the continuation of our flagship Holiday Food Programme for schoolkids during the school holidays.

What was disappointing was seeing Labour wanting to cut hundreds of thousands of pounds from this, throwing this tremendous initiative into jeopardy. Not even the Tories wanted to do that.

The inclusion of  almost £85,000 for parks and green spaces in our ward is really welcome and adds to plans already in place for improvements in Ruchill and Milton Park following last year’s allocation.

Proposed green spaces for Hamiltonhill

Proposed green spaces for Hamiltonhill

Planting season is nearly upon us and you should soon see a hive of activity of tree planting around the ward. In addition, we have replaced the Ruchill Park boundary with improved railings and signage as we continue to give residents the open spaces they deserve.

And we’ve committed £2million to creating 13 new and permanent teams to carry out rolling deep cleaning programmes for each ward in the city.  Based in local depots and working with local neighbourhood coordinators, the new teams are in addition to our wider street cleaning operations.  

Working with our communities and local organisations, the new teams will identify specific problem areas in Canal Ward.

These new jobs are permanent and will help to drive forward these changes. For nearly two years now, our communities have noticed the reduction in some council services due to staff absences, not least how their areas look and feel and how generally clean their communities are.

So, they’ve told us that this is a priority and it’s one we’ve responded to.  The teams will help make sure our communities see what recovery looks like in their own streets and neighbourhoods.

I often speak in this column about communities having the power and the resources to change lives and their neighbourhoods. They know their areas and its needs best. It’s something I’m very passionate about.

So I was delighted that one of the biggest investments in our budgets was the introduction of £1million per ward for all 23 wards in the city. 

Directed through the Canal Area Partnership, the £1million will be driven by local people to identify specific issues and bring forward their proposals to the partnerships in their areas.

That might be improvements to pavements, road repairs, lighting and other local issues which arise. 

This can be a game changer for our Canal communities, driving and delivering in partnership with the City Council the changes they need and want in their areas. 

In addition to our city budget, this week we saw the Scottish Government’s Place Fund programme, in partnership with Glasgow City Council, award an incredible £304,845 to Queens Cross Housing to deliver new routes for walking, cycling and wheeling between new green spaces in Hamiltonhill as part of their new housing development plans. 

This is even more serious investment in Canal Ward. 

Our Communities are the beating heart of Glasgow and we in the SNP understand the importance of local, meaningful engagement which leads to transformation in every part of the city, delivered by the people who live and work here. We’re committed to putting community empowerment into action

May 5th is the date for our local council elections.

You have a chance to vote for a local champion in the SNP in your area 

You can join us as we continue our journey in the transformation of this wonderful amazing city we call home.