LEADERS of Scotland's breakaway group of Labour-run councils are to meet with ministers next week as part of their demands for recognition.

The Scottish Local Government Partnership (SLGP) will sit down with Angela Constance on September 21, weeks after it threatened to launch a judicial review writ at the Court of Session over the Government's refusal to enter financial negotiations with them.

Ministers have repeatedly said that while they will discuss the next local government settlement with the SLGP, which includes Aberdeen, Glasgow, Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire, they will only have formal negotiations with Cosla, which represents the 28 other councils.

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SLGP convener, Aberdeen City Council leader Jenny Laing, said: “The Scottish Government's refusal to meet is causing huge difficulties for large parts of the country in terms of the budget cuts being handed down without any discussion.

“Everybody needs to be working together as we battle to overcome record levels of poverty, attainment in our schools, social care and the diversification of our economies.

“The local authorities of Aberdeen, Glasgow, Renfrewshire and South Lanarkshire want to work with the First Minister and her team in solving these problems. We cannot do it without them and they won’t do it without us.”

Read more: Scottish state schools face biggest shake-up in half a century

When the four councils broke away in 2014 to form the SLGP, it was claimed the new group would have the freedom to negotiate a better deal on funding for council tax payers.

But since then, councils have been hit with around £500m in cuts, the harshest financial settlement in a generation.