Youth to the fore

Other moves passed at the city council’s budget meeting include £11 million for care, including two new care homes for children.

The council are also going head-to-head with the problem of potholes, which is blighting the city.

But it is the city’s youth who are gaining much attention from the City Fathers with this budget.

Councillor Gordon Matheson, the leader of the council, said: “Our budgets are under huge pressure; but we can’t afford to let that limit our ambition and our commitment to communities.

“We are focussing on our priorities, which we share with our fellow Glaswegians — investing in education and in care, in jobs and in roads and transport.”

The commitment to the primary school sector will see £250 million spent on rebuilding or refurbishing every primary school in the city in the next five years to 2018.

This will entail a commitment of £40 million over the next two years, adding to the more than £550 million already invested in the estate in recent years.

Elsewhere, the city council is introducing a package of investment in child care which will include more than £750,000 to support kinship care and nearly £1 million to recruit additional staff to support young people and their families.

More than £5 million is being allocated to the building and running of new, residential care homes for youngster over the next two years.

Plans are also in place to free up £4 million to boost the number of foster carers and adoptive parents.

There was also a pledge from councillors to continue funding for the £25 million Glasgow Guarantee, which seeks to provide support for all 16 to 24-year-olds looking for work in terms of an apprenticeship, training or employment.

Councillor Matheson said: “Glasgow’s children will be educated in 21st century buildings that provide and environment in which every child can achieve their potential.

“Our investment will not only benefit children in every community across the city, but also provide a significant boost to the local economy.

“Education and jobs are both priorities for the council and we are committed to delivering on them.

“Savings have to be made, but they do not have to come at the expense of the opportunities we create for Glasgow’s young people.”