Communities will be left on "the brink of destitution" if Jeremy Hunt carries out plans to slash billions of pounds in public spending, the deputy leader of Scotland's largest council has warned.
Councillor Ricky Bell said local authority budgets were already "beyond stretched" as a result of record inflation and soaring energy prices.
Glasgow City Council faces a funding shortfall of almost £120 million and the SNP administration must make a series of tough spending choices in the coming months.
It comes as Hunt, the UK Chancellor, prepares to deliver his Autumn Statement tomorrow which is expected to contain a raft of tax rises and spending cuts.
Bell told the Record: "The consequences of what looks likely to be passed on to Scotland’s public services will be catastrophic and communities, already reeling from 12 years of Tory austerity, are being pushed to the brink of destitution.
"Budgets which are already beyond stretched will simply be unable to cope. I fear that Mr Hunt’s remedy for sorting the consequences of the Tory’s failure to get to grips with soaring inflation and the energy market will be a critical blow to many services Glaswegians rely on.
"It’s difficult to see how we can function as our citizens expect with the pressures already created by the UK’s economic environment without another hammer blow."
Glasgow City Council receives around 80 per cent of its budget direct from the Scottish Government and officials are working under the assumption local authorities will get a flat cash settlement - meaning a funding cut in real terms.
It comes just weeks after the Record revealed how council chiefs will sell Kelvingrove Art Gallery and the City Chambers to meet its outstanding equal pay claims.
Bell, who holds the role of City Treasurer, said around one-third of the funding shortfall facing Glasgow was caused by inflation.
He added: "Given the size of our city and the scale of our challenges we’ve consistently made the case for a better funding deal for Glasgow.
"But what’s coming down the line - even before the Chancellor makes his Autumn Statement - already dwarves anything in our recent history. The responsibility for these extraordinary economic circumstances and the catastrophe they threaten do not lie within Scotland. Nor do the solutions.
"But rather than protect our most vulnerable by ensuring benefits rise with inflation and that employers can help low-paid public sector workers through the cost-of-living crisis with decent pay deals, I fear Mr Hunt will ensure our communities and vital services pay the price for Tory chaos and mismanagement."
In a recent statement on GDP, Hunt said: "We are not immune from the global challenge of high inflation and slow growth largely driven by Putin’s illegal war in Ukraine and his weaponisation of gas supplies.
"I am under no illusion that there is a tough road ahead – one which will require extremely difficult decisions to restore confidence and economic stability. But to achieve long-term, sustainable growth, we need to grip inflation, balance the books and get debt falling. There is no other way.
"While the world economy faces extreme turbulence, the fundamental resilience of the British economy is cause for optimism in the long run."
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