If the critical contribution of culture to a city’s fabric is to be maintained, the contributions of national governments, donors and charitable foundations may need to extend beyond capital projects, argues Magnus Linklater.
Pity Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow city council, as she tries to find ways of navigating one of its worst financial crises.
With a budget shortfall of about £129 million, she has promised to address the equal pay demands of 3,000 women working in social care, a moral case that brought thousands out on strike last week. They keep the government’s policy of free care for the elderly afloat; they support the neediest families in a city with one of the worst records of deprivation in Britain; they are every bit a part of its backbone as the road workers or drivers who earn more, and are mostly men.
How to pay for it? Giving women the increase they deserve could cost more than £500 million, which the city doesn’t have. And there is more round the corner. Audit Scotland reported this year that local authorities in Scotland will have to increase their social care budgets by between 4 and 5 per cent by 2025.
As Bridget McConnell, chief executive of Glasgow Life, which runs Glasgow’s museums and libraries, pointed out in an after dinner speech at the British Museum this month, 5 per cent is more than the total for the entire cultural services in Glasgow. “In stark terms,” she said, “that 5 per cent equals the closure of everything Glasgow Life manages: all nine museums, 32 libraries, 26 community centres, 33 sports centres, all events, all community learning services, youth clubs, concert halls, theatres, the city’s convention bureau, city marketing functions, and nearly 3,000 staff redundancies...Keep reading on The Times
Pity Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow city council, as she tries to find ways of navigating one of its worst financial crises.
With a budget shortfall of about £129 million, she has promised to address the equal pay demands of 3,000 women working in social care, a moral case that brought thousands out on strike last week. They keep the government’s policy of free care for the elderly afloat; they support the neediest families in a city with one of the worst records of deprivation in Britain; they are every bit a part of its backbone as the road workers or drivers who earn more, and are mostly men.
How to pay for it? Giving women the increase they deserve could cost more than £500 million, which the city doesn’t have. And there is more round the corner. Audit Scotland reported this year that local authorities in Scotland will have to increase their social care budgets by between 4 and 5 per cent by 2025.
As Bridget McConnell, chief executive of Glasgow Life, which runs Glasgow’s museums and libraries, pointed out in an after dinner speech at the British Museum this month, 5 per cent is more than the total for the entire cultural services in Glasgow. “In stark terms,” she said, “that 5 per cent equals the closure of everything Glasgow Life manages: all nine museums, 32 libraries, 26 community centres, 33 sports centres, all events, all community learning services, youth clubs, concert halls, theatres, the city’s convention bureau, city marketing functions, and nearly 3,000 staff redundancies...Keep reading on The Times