More funding from Scottish Government to be allocated

CITY chiefs are set to use an extra £10million from the Scottish Government to ease budget pressures. Glasgow City Council revealed its budget on February 20, the same day as the Scottish draft budget and before the UK Government’s announcement, meaning its final settlement was unclear.

Since then, an extra £95m has been directed to local government from Holyrood, with Glasgow receiving around £10.6m. Council leaders are recommended to approve budget adjustments during a meeting on Thursday.

A council report states: “During the budget process a number of budget pressures were identified but removed from the financial forecast due to the challenging spending gap.

“It is proposed that these are re-instated and met from the additional funding.”

The extra cash will see £4.5m fund pupil roll pressures, which relates to the ratio of teachers to pupils, and £1m for pressures around commercial waste collection.

A council spokesman said: “This year’s budget process was unusual, with the majority of councils required to set spending prior to knowing the full extent of the resources they would have available for the year.

“In Glasgow’s case, that meant some key pressures could not immediately be funded – although it was widely acknowledged during the budget meeting that members hoped to be able to revise some elements in time.

“The council now has a significant additional funding,