Council tax to rise as SNP and Greens agree Glasgow budget-deal

Council tax will rise by between 5% and 6%, expected to be 5.9%.

That would take a Band D property to £2358, including the Scottish Water charges.

The agreement will see a free school meal for every primary school pupil, additional cleansing work in the city centre and protection for holiday hunger programmes.

Councillors meet today and the different parties will have the opportunity to present their budget proposals.

The SNP and Greens have agreed on a budget and together they have enough votes to get it passed.

Ricky Bell, the City Treasurer, said the budget will not require big cuts, like those seen in previous years.

He said: “There are no real service reductions and no reduction in headcount.  There are some savings in the budget which are pre-approved from previous years, which were over two or three years that have fallen this year.”

Bell said local government funding is not sustainable and the council needs more to deliver what citizens expect.

However, he said: “The Scottish Government gave us more, but it’s nowhere near enough to meet the demands for our services.”

He added: “The Scottish Government is very keen to tell everybody they gave us more money this year, they did.

“But the problem is, it's nowhere near the amount of money we need.

“Our services are under huge pressure in terms of demand.

“We've got an ageing population. We've got more and more people who don't want to go into care homes and want to stay at home. That's absolutely understandable.

That's more expensive for us to deliver.

“We've got a massive increase in young people at school who have been diagnosed with ADHD. And we don't really understand fully yet.”

Bell said: “One of the big complaints we get from people all the time is about gullies and flooding.

“There'll be a significant investment around gullies.”

The budget includes a borrowing deal agreed with the Scottish government to deal with a £56m homelessness bill.

Councillor Bell said the deal on homelessness was only sustainable for one year and the Holyrood and Westminster governments need to help.

He said: “The key to this is help and support from the UK Government.

“We can’t solve this on our own, both need to come to the table.”

The agreement sees the council able to use capital grant money to pay the cost of borrowing to fund the shortfall estimated at £2.5m.

It will be repaid over 30 years.

However, with the homeless bill expected to top £70m in 2027/28 and then as much as £90m the year after, borrowing to fund the bill in future years is not sustainable.

Councillor Bell said talks with the Scottish Government for the future funding were planned to start next week.

The Greens said the budget will respond to the city's housing emergency by doubling the Council Tax premiums on homes that are left sitting empty, and by taking action to improve Glasgow's tenements.

Jon Molyneux, group co-leader said: “The background to this budget was soaring homelessness costs and it’s vital that this is now being recognised as a national priority thanks to Green pressure. It’s clear though this needs more than a one year fix and both national governments must work with us on this.

“The budget deal agreed by Green councillors uses the powers we do have locally to respond to our city’s biggest challenges - child poverty and the housing crisis.

“That includes starting work on rent controls to protect Glasgow’s tenants and doubling the penalty charges on those who leave homes sitting empty or hardly used. We will also make Glasgow the first area in Scotland to deliver free school meals for every primary-aged child, and we’ll guarantee the best childcare offer in Scotland.”