SUSAN AITKEN wants to meet John Swinney to argue Glasgow should be funded differently to reflect the problems faced by a large city.

The council leader said there are a number of issues she wants to talk about with the new first minister.

She said: “I want to talk about local government funding both in general and also specifically for Glasgow and our role as the city at the heart of Scotland’s metro region.

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“I have argued many times that the particular challenges and additional costs of serving a dense urban and metropolitan population, whether it is on housing, or culture or roads maintenance, or any other area you care to name, need to be acknowledged and compensated in the same way that remote and rural areas have long been when it comes to funding allocations.

“I also want to emphasise the need for local authorities to be able to invest resources in the ways that we determine best suit our local circumstances.”

Aitken was responding to a question by Martha Wardrop, Greens councillor, asking about what matters would be raised with Swinney by the council leadership.

The council leader outlined four issues she needs to discuss with Swinney.

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She wants the city to be a priority for climate emergency funding as it could be “part of the solution” to avoid missing targets.

Aitken also intends to discuss Glasgow having a choice on how to invest resources will also be on the agenda.

She would also talk to Swinney about making sure the city’s efforts to tackle poverty receive enough investment.

Explaining Glasgow’s potential role in tackling the climate emergency, Aitken said: ” I want to make the offer to the first minister that Glasgow is part of the solution to the challenges that are impeding delivery of national targets”

She said she would make “the case for a more targeted approach to frontloading national funding for climate interventions towards areas like Glasgow”.

Aitken added Glasgow “will not only deliver the biggest bang for our buck when it comes to emissions reductions but also have the ability to multiply that public sector contribution potentially many times over.”

 She said the city would leverage institutional and private sector investment needed to deliver climate action “at the necessary pace and scale”.

On work to reduce poverty, she said potential discussions would involve seeking to “expand on game changing national policies like the Scottish Child Payment by ensuring that the equally transformational work that we do here in Glasgow is funded and supported.”

Councillor Aitken told councillors she is “very keen” to meet with Swinney in a “formal capacity as soon as possible.”