Glasgow City Council's financial safety net is set to run dry within months after the local authority recorded its worst overspend in six years and burned through millions of pounds of reserves to cope with spiralling homelessness costs.
In its annual report, EY, the council's external auditors, have rated the SNP-run authority's financial sustainability as "Red," the most serious category.
The auditors also revealed that Scotland's largest local authority is facing a projected £109.7 million funding gap over the next two years.
Councillor Ricky Bell, the city treasurer, said many of the issues raised were already known to the council and were being actively addressed.
He argued that the audit largely covered a period before councillors approved Glasgow's new pay and grading settlement and before the council published updated long-term financial forecasts.
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But the Accounts Commission said the council was "at a critical point as it tries to tackle financial pressures, rising homelessness, growing demand for services, persistent high poverty levels and unresolved equal pay claims".
It described the challenges faced by the authority as "significant" and said councillors and officials needed "to show sustained leadership".
According to the report, during the 2024/25 financial year, Glasgow City Council spent £45.7m more on running its day-to-day public services than it had planned to.
The biggest single driver was the Neighbourhood, Regeneration and Sustainability directorate, which overspent by £33.1m.
The report said the department spent heavily on overtime and agency staff, fuel and transport costs, and rising utility bills, rent and building repairs.
Schools and Education was £15.6m over budget, stretched by a growing number of pupils, alongside general inflation and bringing in less income than expected.
Glasgow Life, the council's culture and leisure partner, overspent by £5m to cover its surging utility bills and venue costs.
