Around half a billion pounds has been wiped from Glasgow City Council’s budget in the last 10 years.

As councillors meet this week to set the budget for the next year, they face having to make cuts of as much as £100 million to balance the books.

There is a shortfall of £61m in council departments and another estimated £40m worth of spending pressures on health and social care services delivered by the council.

READ MORE: John Swinney invited to emergency summit on council cuts in Glasgow

In a new Spotlight series, the Glasgow Times will look into the impact these cuts have had and what the future for local government is unless there is a massive turnaround in local government funding.

The level of cuts required over the last 10 years has fluctuated from, £19.7m last year to £83m in 2016/17.

Council documents show the scale of what has been lost to the council budget.

In 2013/14 the spending gap was £20.4m

In 2014/15 it was £28.4m.

2015/16, £28.4m

2016/17, £83m

2017/18, £53m

2018/19, 41.3m

2019/20, £42.2m

2020/21, £42.4m

2021/22, £37.3m

2022/23, £19.7m

2023/24 £100m (approx.)   

READ MORE:'It's time to make a stand': Quotes about Glasgow's budget crisis

This year inflation, energy costs and pay increases, on top of the £30m a year to pay for the equal pay settlement have led to the biggest budget deficit the council has ever faced.

Every year for a decade and more the council has had to cut services to balance the budget as required by law.

Successive cuts have led to serious concerns about the viability and sustainability of local government services.

This year job losses are being mooted, facilities could be closed and services cut even further.

Cuts under consideration have included cuts to bin collections and recycling, closing some council venues and job losses in the neighbourhood and grass-cutting teams.

Social work could see £30m cut with centres in Glasgow for adults with a learning disability closed and a children’s home shut.

Cuts in teacher numbers have also been considered to make savings.

And council tax is expected to increase to bring in some extra income but the level that can be palatable by taxpayers is nowhere near enough to plug the gap.

Susan Aitken, council leader, said that it would need a 25% rise to meet the deficit but added that will not be considered.

Trade unions in Glasgow say the very existence of vital council-run services is at risk unless emergency funding is found.

Sean Baillie, GMB Scotland Organiser, said: “We have warned for years; the council cannot cut its way out of a crisis and expect to deliver statutory and key services.

"It is simply not possible and if left unchallenged the council is leaving the door wide open for the privatisation of services in the years to come. There needs to be political honesty about this.

“Glasgow can’t confront the sheer scale of its problems and the cumulative impact of UK government austerity - cuts that have been meekly passed through Holyrood and into councils - by lifting ring-fences on existing levels of funding. That’s a sticking plaster policy at best and a diversion from reality at worst.

“It looks like decline management politics, devoid of the big thinking and political bravery that’s needed if Glasgow’s fortunes are to be turned around.

“More cuts will only cement this city’s decline so the solution is obvious: Scotland’s biggest city needs emergency investment from the government to start a recovery of our broken services and communities. So, campaign for recovery or business as usual? This Thursday, councillors of all political colours must pick a side.”

Brian Smith, Glasgow unison branch secretary, said services have been suffering from underfunding for years.

He said: “The salami slicing of cuts in the last decade has meant services getting poorer and poorer.

“The council demand just now is that the government lifts the ring-fencing of funds but all that means is the council makes cuts in another area. It doesn’t take us forward any.”

In recent years services levels have suffered as department budgets are cut.

He added: “Access to homeless support is terrible and addiction support has been battered.

“Parks have suffered because parks staff are lifting bins.”

Despite local politicians and unions stating there have been devastating cuts, the Scottish Government insists it is giving more money to councils.

A spokesperson said: “The Scottish Government recognises the crucial role councils and their employees play in our communities across Scotland and the challenging financial circumstances they face.

“The Scottish Government’s settlements from the UK Government have suffered a decade of austerity with average real terms cuts of over 5%, equating to a loss of £18 billion.

“Despite this, Scottish Ministers have listened to councils and are increasing the resources available to local government in 2023-24 by over £570m, a real terms increase of £160.6m or 1.3%, compared to the 2022-23 Budget figures.”

A spokesperson for Glasgow City Council said: “As part of its financial management, the council maintains a series of financial forecasts – which look at everything from rates of inflation and spending requirements to likely levels of income and funding.

“As the setting of the council’s own budget draws closer, officers will also look for other ways to narrow any forecast spending gap, before political groups make their proposals – making technical adjustments and taking account of decisions already made and their impact on the next year’s budget.”