Glasgow City Council plans to invest around £3 million in improving its gully cleaning service and repairing drains across the city. This investment, announced in the council's budget for 2026/27, is designed to tackle the causes of flooding in many Glasgow communities. According to budget papers, this will address root causes of flooding.
Blocked drains, particularly during periods of heavy rain, have previously sparked calls for more preventative action. A council spokesman said the funding will allow a more proactive approach. 'This additional funding will allow us to increase our proactive gully cleaning programme within the city’s neighbourhoods,' the council spokesman stated.
'The investment will also cover the purchase of new fleet, recruitment of additional staff and the increasing costs for waste disposal. A more proactive approach will allow issues in the gully network to be identified more quickly for repair or replacement, if necessary. ' The exact number of new staff to be recruited for the gully cleaning service has not been specified.
This additional funding will allow us to increase our proactive gully cleaning programme within the city’s neighbourhoods. The investment will also cover the purchase of new fleet, recruitment of additional staff and the increasing costs for waste disposal. A more proactive approach will allow issues in the gully network to be identified more quickly for repair or replacement, if necessary. We will take a risk-based approach to our gully programme so we prioritise the most significant issues for repair.
City treasurer Ricky Bell, of the SNP, emphasized the investment's scope, noting it aims to tackle flooding causes. Almost £3 million is being spent on improving gully cleaning and repairing drains across Glasgow. 4 million in tripling the service for gully cleaning on priority neighbourhood and arterial routes in the city.
There is a plan to spend £500,000 on two new gully wagons and £1 million on a drain repairs scheme, which will see additional gullies and replacement of broken pipes or gully pots. The specific timeline for when the new gully wagons and drain repairs will be implemented remains unclear. There are around 75,000 road gullies across Glasgow, which are cleaned by the council on a risk and cyclic basis.
Extra workers will be recruited as part of efforts to tackle the causes of flooding in many Glasgow communities. In addition to drainage improvements, the budget includes funding for neighborhood cleanliness. Six new neighbourhood clean teams are expected to be created, costing £715,000.
We are investing £3m in both revenue and capital to triple the number of gully cleaning cycles and carry out drain repairs, tackling the causes of flooding in many communities.
Ricky Bell highlighted this aspect: 'We are maintaining and increasing the £7m invested last year in frontline neighbourhood services. And we’re investing in additional neighbourhood clean teams — two more per sector — will ensure quick responses when issues emerge. ' Council chiefs had been under fire from union bosses who claimed a littering problem in the city centre and surrounding neighbourhoods was getting worse.
Whether the littering problem in Glasgow city centre has improved or worsened recently is not detailed in the announcement. GMB cleansing convenor Chris Mitchell heralded the announcement of the new cleaning teams. 'This is great news of further investment,' Mitchell said.
5 investment in street cleansing last year and cash for more drivers for the fleet’s vehicles. This is all alongside a commitment to further invest in the service in the months ahead. Mitchell said the city was becoming a mess, but it is fantastic to see the council taking seriously how Glasgow looks and presents.
' Mitchell added, 'This progress is in partly down to the hard work and campaigning of GMB and its members, who have been proactive in highlighting issues to me as them come across them on their daily routes. ' The investment packaged was revealed within the local authority’s new budget, which was unveiled earlier this week.