“It’s an absolute disgrace that after more than five and half years of Labour rule from Edinburgh, Glasgow is still topping the charts when it comes to poverty levels.

“According to the respected Joseph Rowntree Foundation more than a third of the city’s council wards are experiencing levels of family poverty below the accepted deprivation threshold.

“This is despite repeated announcements by Ministers that they are ‘committed to tackling the issue of poverty’. The evidence, as most Glaswegians know, is that too little has been done to reverse the growing trend in poverty throughout the city. And too little has been done to target more effectively the meagre resources which the Executive has so far made available.

“It is painfully obvious that the Executive’s recent efforts are quite simply failing.

“I am calling on Labour Ministers to establish a specific anti-poverty task force for Glasgow which will concentrate on identifying the real needs of these communities and act as a platform to enable greater funds to go towards eliminating poverty in the city once and for all.

“The JRF report makes it clear there is a link between poverty and other social problems in our communities, such as drug use and crime. By eradicating poverty then money could potentially be saved in the long term by not having to wipe up the related problems of crime, disorder and drug use which can result from it.

“Its that kind of long term approach which is needed and one that I believe a special anti-poverty task force would be able to deliver.”