Budget discussions in Glasgow City Council are often fraught with arguments about how best to allocate the money received from the Scottish Government and the relatively small amount that is raised through council tax and charges for services.

This year was no different. The arguments about priorities still took place but on one thing all parties were agreed - that this was a cuts budget.

A cut of £107m over three years to be precise but when added to the £400 million that Glasgow has been denied over the last ten years the scale of the problems the city faces become very stark.

The budget proposed by the administration adds an extra 10p to the daily cost of a school meal. That doesn’t sound like much but for a family with three school age children that’s an extra £60 per year that they have to find.

Car parking charges will be increased as will charges for bulk refuse uplifts.

Glasgow Life, the organisation that provides sport and leisure facilities in Glasgow, will have to charge more for entry to its facilities. City Building will reduce the number of apprentices it takes on. The biggest package of cuts is covered in a vague statement - ‘service redesign and future income generation’ - which contains cuts of £10m in each of the next three years and includes ‘education services reform’.

The SNP City Treasurer declared that “The salami slicing has come to an end. There’s almost nothing left to cut”. He is not wrong. Unfortunately, cuts to services affect the most vulnerable in our communities most severely and when we are in the middle of a cost-of-living crisis, it is on council services they often rely. With service cuts now guaranteed for the next three years it will be a real struggle to ensure that services are there to help.

Recently, Edinburgh and Glasgow City Councils declared a housing emergency recognising the severe pressures on housing in both cities. Nevertheless, the Scottish Government has slashed £26m from the budget that helps housing associations and councils build social housing. At a time when the number of rough sleepers has increased and when the pressure on housing providers is so great this is a really bad move.

One of the many issues that is raised with me on a daily basis is the number of potholes that plague our roads. They are at best a nuisance and at worst positively dangerous to drivers, cyclists and pedestrians. At night or when it rains the situation becomes even more difficult as the potholes are less visible.

Some footpaths are also in a state of disrepair making walking around our neighbourhoods very difficult too. The cost of repairing the potholes across the city will amount to many millions of pounds and this budget goes nowhere near filling this financial blackhole.