The budget also included £0.5m to fund a 25% increase in Kinship Care payments, £0.8m for outdoor school play equipment and attainment initiatives, and £300,000 for new community bus routes.

The extra £2m to tackle youth unemployment will be allocated to the existing Commonwealth Jobs Fund to extend it to 16 and 17-year-olds. It will provide employers with a 50% wage subsidy and would also include targeted training support for under-18s.

Training would range from basic literacy and numeracy to more complex support and could include other transferable skills for young people, such as driving lessons.

The new £25m Glasgow Guarantee will include the following existing initiatives:

·         Commonwealth Apprenticeship Scheme (CAI) – a guaranteed apprenticeship for all school leavers who qualify

·         Commonwealth Jobs Fund (CJF) - £6m fund which offers employers 50% wage subsidy for each unemployed 18-24 year old they recruit

·         Commonwealth Graduate Fund (CGF) - £10m scheme which offers employers 50% wage subsidy for each unemployed graduate they recruit.

Councillor Gordon Matheson, Leader of Glasgow City Council, said: “This £2m investment in Glasgow’s 16 and 17-year-olds is an investment in this city’s future and the future of our young people.

“As this administration has proved with its UK-leading jobs and apprenticeship initiatives we are determined that no one will be left behind.

“The Glasgow Guarantee does just that. By extending the Commonwealth Jobs Fund to provide a 50% subsidy to employers, this council is providing many of our school leavers with an opportunity for a bright future in very difficult times.

“There is no doubt that our commitment to the young people of this city is paying off. Throughout last year, the rate of increase of those between 18 and 24 claiming Jobseekers’ Allowance in Glasgow was significantly lower than elsewhere in Scotland.”

Councillor Matheson added: “This is the fourth budget we have set in the shadow of a global economic crisis – and in a term that has seen £210m removed from our budgets.

“With the proportion of our revenues controlled by government rising and our funding falling harder and faster than the national average, we have had to struggle to protect frontline services.

“We have had to be bold, we have had to be innovative and we have only succeeded because years of effective and prudent stewardship have put Glasgow in the best possible shape to meet these challenges.

“This year alone, we need to bridge a funding gap of £42.9m.

“But, despite that enormous pressure on our spending, we remain committed to our key priorities, which we share with the people of this city – education, jobs and targeted support for our most vulnerable citizens.

“And we are determined to build on the success we have had over the last five years; for the benefit of every community and every Glaswegian.”

Glasgow City Council has now approved measures to save a total of £42.9m in 2012/13. The majority of these savings - £34.9m – were approved a year ago. Today, councillors approved a further £8m in savings for 2012/13.

The council has already taken bold and radical steps over the last few years to reduce spending and deliver services more efficiently.

These steps include:

• Setting up a series of Arm's-Length External Organisations (ALEOs) to run a range of council services including sport and leisure, community safety and IT and property services. This has delivered one off income of £160 million and recurring annual savings of £23 million
• Agreeing to allow more than 2600 staff to leave the council through voluntary redundancy and early retirement over a three-year period
• Freezing staff pay
• Reducing the number of city centre offices we occupy from 19 down to six

The budget details are available here.