Message from our Chief Executive: Glasgow City Council budget update, Friday 21 February

Dear colleagues

You may have seen that Glasgow City Council set its budget for 2025-26 at yesterday's full council meeting.

It is likely you will also read or hear more about these measures as they relate to Glasgow Life and the wider council family in the media over the coming days and weeks.

Glasgow Life is directly impacted by the budget-setting process. As our core funder, Glasgow City Council provides us with a service fee to operate venues and deliver programmes and activities on their behalf. This represents a significant majority of our income every year.

It's important to remember this is in the context of Glasgow City Council having already set a three-year budget in the last financial year (2023/24), which established spending plans across the Council Family for 2024-27.

However, because local authorities receive their financial settlement from the Scottish Government annually, the council must approve a balanced budget each year, which includes setting Council Tax.

This year the budget includes a welcome £500,000 of additional funding to extend the opening hours at some of our swimming pools that currently operate on a single shift and to open Elder Park Library on Sundays.

I want to thank all of you for your resilience and hard work. Every day, more than 2,000 of you, helped by Glasgow Life's volunteers, deliver our much-loved and highly valued programmes, events and experiences across Glasgow to the people who need them most.

We remain committed to our mission of enhancing the city's mental, physical and economic wellbeing through the power of culture and sport, and I am confident we are doing all that we can to forge a positive future for our charity.

Should you have any questions regarding the budget, please raise these with your Line Manager or Head of Service.

Best regards

Susan

Susan Deighan

Chief Executive