The SNP will today (Tuesday) move an amendment to Labour’s budget for Glasgow. Council Tax would still be frozen but extra expenditure would be targeted on:

• £2 million on reducing class sizes
• Campus Cops in every secondary school
• £600,000 more investment in community centres
• £2.5 million for a visitor centre in the Botanic Gardens

Other SNP changes would see free bus travel to schools continuing as at present, improved quality of school food, a trial of cheap bike hire in the City Centre, and more spent on consultations after the failure at Pollok Park.

Whereas Labour are only planning to spend £3.5 million on improved services, the SNP would raise this to £7.5 million. Money would still be added to reserves but not to the same extent as Labour plan.

SNP Finance Spokesperson, Councillor Khalil Malik, said today: "The Labour budget lacks imagination with hardly any service improvements at all. We in the SNP believe the people of Glasgow deserve better. In particular we want to invest in our schools by way of a better teacher/pupil ratio plus an expansion of the successful Campus Cop scheme.

"Rather than having a privately run nightclub in the Botanic Gardens, there is no reason why the Council should not be building a proper visitor centre. We also want to see more bike use in the City Centre and propose a trial along the lines of the system in Paris."

Notes:

1. The key figures in the Glasgow City Council budget are:
   • Service Investment: Labour £3.566m, SNP £7.536m
   • Savings: Labour £35.043m, SNP £35.759m
   • Transfers to Reserves: Labour £5m, SNP £1.746m
   • Capital Spend: Labour £1.321m, SNP £3.821m
   
2. Full details of the SNP amendment are available here and here.