New SANE Reports!

The SANE Collective is pleased to present three new reports; Glasgow’s Money, Glasgow Strife, and Glasgow’s Alchemy – our closer look into the state of the city’s finances and economic strategies. We are pleased to have worked with Ben Wray to investigate, analyse and evaluate these issues. Ben was formerly Head of Policy at the national think tank Common Weal where he published reports about the work of SANE. He is now working as a freelance investigative reporter and was commissioned by us in May 2021 to produce this initial set of three reports.

Glasgow’s Money focuses on three main areas: the implications of the reduction in Scottish Government funding to Glasgow City Council over the past decade; a critical assessment of the Council’s neoliberal strategy for managing its assets and; the Council’s debt portfolio. The report concludes with proposals for systemic reform

Glasgow Strife examines the reasons that lie behind the decision by Glasgow Life to not reopen many of the libraries, community centres and sports facilities that it runs on behalf of Glasgow City Council after the Covid 19 pandemic. The report reveals that the continued closures is a cost-cutting choice by Glasgow City Council and is not a necessity. Alternatives are proposed whereby the Council commits to investing in its existing assets as part of an industrial strategy.

Glasgow’s Alchemy investigates the public financing of private developments, which cuts across all areas of Glasgow’s public sector. The report examines how this neoliberal model of regional development is being applied in the post-pandemic context, and identifies  £662 million in public money which has gone towards business subsidies or investments in infrastructure which directly benefit corporations.