Dundee councillors have been urged to keep public service cuts to a minimum as the city’s budget day looms.
Trade unionists rallied outside council chambers in City Square on Monday night to protest against the potential cuts which could be decided in next week’s budget.
Among the money saving options previously put forward by council officers are reducing the frequency of bin collections and closing school swimming pools.
Dundee City Council’s SNP administration is yet to publicly publish their own budget proposals.
Protesters rally outside council chambers
However, protesters argued any cuts would have a detrimental impact on the city’s most vulnerable communities.
Speaking to the crowd, Unison Dundee branch secretary Jim McFarlane said: “They are balancing the books on the poor of this city.
“It’s about time more effort was put into fighting the cuts.”
Maggie Chapman, North East Scotland MSP for the Scottish Greens, added: “We need a completely different story for Dundee.
“We can’t keep coming back here year after year to fight the cuts that are being imposed on some of the poorest communities across Dundee.
“We need a very different conversation on how we fund public services.”
Budget to be set next week
Dundee City Council will set its budget at a special full council meeting next week.
But the local authority is staring down the barrel of a £10m deficit and council leader Mark Flynn has warned it faces a “challenging situation”.
“I welcome open speech and protest and it’s within people’s right to do that”, he said.
“I take on board what they are saying but we have got a challenging budget situation.
“We’ve got to address that budget as it’s been placed before us with the funding we have and the unknowns that have been thrown at us by the UK government.
“For example, employers’ national insurance has added an extra burden of six to seven million pounds to the council and has put undue pressure on our budget.
“But everyone is entitled to protest, that’s the whole point of living in a free county.”
Conversation