Why UK and Scottish Governments must 'step up' on devolution

Her response comes after Scottish Secretary Ian Murray urged her to work with Westminster to reverse First Minister John Swinney’s policies of “centralisation”.

In a long-running devolution row, the SNP councillor said she was “disappointed” by the letter, accusing the Scottish Secretary of suggesting the “UK Government has no role in delivering deals for Scottish cities”.

“This is a misguided regression from what, up until now, had been a shared commitment to successful tripartite collaboration between two governments and the collective democratic leadership of the City Region,” Ms Aitken said.

However, she said: “Glasgow – and Edinburgh, for that matter – needs both of our governments to step up on devolution.”

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The back and forth comes after Ms Aitken raised concerns that Scotland's largest city had been sidelined by the Chancellor's spending review in June.

The Treasury confirmed a £160 million Investment Zone in the Glasgow Region and £20m for Trailblazer Communities, but Ms Aitken argued it fell short of the funding offered to English counterparts.

Ms Aitken said Rachel Reeves took a "retrograde" step for devolution by expanding a scheme that allowed city regions in England to bypass applying for individual grants through competitive bidding processes.

The designated areas instead will receive long-term funding to make their own investment decisions.

Glasgow, meanwhile, must bid for funding alongside other parts of the UK.

Mr Murray had argued that devolution in Scotland was entirely "a matter for the Scottish Government".

However, he said the UK Government wanted to work together to "unlock the same levels of growth as your English counterparts in Greater Manchester" and offered to draft a joint letter to Mr Swinney.

The Glasgow City Council leader said she was “happy” to take up the Scottish Secretary’s offer to write jointly to the First Minister.

However, she said any letter must also be addressed to Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer and the Chancellor, Ms Reeves.

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Writing for The Herald, Ms Aitken said: “The vast majority of the powers to be devolved are, indeed, in the gift of the Scottish Government – and I’ve made no secret of my view that they need to put more pace behind commitments to empower Scotland’s city regions.

“However, the devolution of powers without funding would still leave city regions in all of our devolved nations without the economic tools available to our English counterparts.”

Ms Aitken said that equivalent funding outlined for English regions has not resulted in any additional cash for Scotland, adding: “Therefore, it is clear that the resourcing of any devolution deal remains the responsibility of the UK Government.”

In his letter to the council leader, Mr Murray said: “We are always open to constructive discussions with the Scottish Government to reverse its centralisation policy and devolve powers to our cities and regions.”

The announcement from last month’s spending review means that almost 40% of England’s population will now have local control over the integrated settlement funding.

London, the North East, West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Liverpool City region were added to the scheme, joining the original arrangements in Greater Manchester and West Midlands.

In her response to Mr Murray, Ms Aitken said that leaders of the UK Core Cities have combined to urge the UK Government to provide “parity” in funding for Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast and Edinburgh.

“They agree that we are being disadvantaged and that the recent UK Spending Review was a missed opportunity to begin to address that inequity,” she said.

The Scottish Government previously told The Herald it was looking at ways to devolve further powers to cities including Glasgow. But Secretary Shona Robison said the spending review ‘short-changed’ Scotland.

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Councils play a crucial role in our communities which is why we jointly launched the Local Governance Review with COSLA to ensure communities have greater control and influence over decisions that affect them most.

“We are also committed to working with local authorities to deliver greater regional empowerment on decision making and investment and are working with partners to explore ways of devolving further powers to Regional Economic Partnerships, including Glasgow City Region.

“The Scottish Government has delivered a wide range of fiscal powers for local councils including greater powers within planning, parking charges, workplace parking and in Council Tax, being able to charge up to 100% on second and long term empty homes. In addition, the two-year local government pay offer, accepted by trade unions last week, will see all workers getting the pay they deserve over the summer.”

A UK Government spokesperson said: "The UK government has delivered record funding for the Scottish government with an additional £9.1 billion in Barnett consequentials over the next four years, this includes an additional £380m as a result of plans for housing, communities and local government in England.

"On top of this the UK Government is also investing £1.7 billion in local projects across Scotland. We are pleased Councillor Aitken recognises that the powers that need to be devolved to city regions sit with Holyrood, and the Secretary of State for Scotland is looking forward to working with her to reverse an agenda of centralisation of both power and funding which has unfortunately been a hallmark of recent Scottish Government policy."