The chancellor has been warned that local council budgets are under extreme pressure and need to be considered a priority ahead of his first Autumn Statement.

Jeremy Hunt will deliver his statement on Thursday and is widely expected to cut public spending and increase taxes to plug a reported ‘black hole’ after huge spending during the Covid pandemic.

Glasgow City Council has already stated it faces a spending gap of £120m, the biggest ever, as a result of rising inflation and pay increases.

READ MORE: Glasgow City Council facing massive cuts with deficit ten times higher than last year

Glasgow, together with 10 other UK local authorities in the UK Core Cities Group, has sent a letter to the chancellor urging him to increase spending for councils to allow them to deliver vital services that many vulnerable people rely on.

While Glasgow, like all 32 Scottish councils, gets its cash from the Scottish Government, the Core Cities Group has said the bloc grant from the UK for the devolved administrations in Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales should be similarly protected to allow individual finance ministers to give enough cash to councils.

The letter stated: “The cost-of-living crisis will raise the level of hardship across our core city populations to hitherto unprecedented levels in modern times.

"City leaders must step up to meet those needs while the very same drivers are giving rise to a cost of operating crisis for each and every council within the core cities network.

"Soaring energy costs, broader inflationary pressures and higher than predicted wage costs are putting our budgets under real strain, coupled with falling income from tax receipts and charges as demand falls and defaults increase.”

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Susan Aitken, leader of Glasgow City Council, signed the letter together with leaders and mayors of councils in Birmingham, Belfast, Bristol, Cardiff, Liverpool, Leeds, Manchester, Newcastle, Nottingham and Sheffield.

The letter continued: “If these gaps aren’t addressed and our finances are not put on a sustainable footing, it will put at risk our cities’ unique role in delivering for the UK’s economy, our cultural standing on the world’s stage and we face a future in which a less skilled and more unwell population costs more to service."

The group recognised that the NHS and schools will be the main focus, but added: “We saw during the Covid pandemic the vital lifeline that local authorities were able to provide to the most vulnerable in society.

“We therefore need to look systematically at these public services together and ensure that all elements are adequately funded.”

The Scottish Government will set its budget on December 15 once the settlement for the UK is known.

The letter stated: “For our members in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland who face equivalent inflationary pressures we need equivalent funding adjustments to the Devolved Administrations bloc grant that can enable local authorities in these nations to receive the funding needed.”