School meals hit as Glasgow scrambles for £28.9m savings

Services to be hit include school meals — to rise in price from £1.50 to £1.70 in August, then £1.90 in August 2016 — as well as slashing the number of children covered by school transport schemes.

Glasgow Life — the arms length organisation covering culture, arts and sporting events — faces £1.5m of savings and grants for voluntary organisations are down by £2m.

But the authority has pledged to maintain teacher numbers and the £100 winter fuel dividend for over 80s, as well as increase living wage to £7.85.

Members also agreed to spend £12m on potholes and continue investment providing 100 extra police officers.

GCC leader Gordon Matheson blames the Scottish Government for the shortfall, commenting: “Unfortunately, the government in Edinburgh continues to redistribute cash to other areas of Scotland which, frankly, contribute much less than Glasgow to the Scottish economy and have lower concentrations of poverty.”

However, the Glasgow SNP group slams the Labour administration for an “attack on the city’s most vulnerable”.

Opposition leader and Langside councillor Susan Aitken said: “Labour have once again taken the easy option of cutting those who cannot defend themselves.

“It is time for Labour to accept that these choices are not those of Glaswegians. Labour doesn’t know, because they haven’t asked.”