MORE than £37 million has been slashed from Glasgow City Council’s budget for vulnerable adults in the past seven years.

The services affected include elderly care, day services and accommodation for the most vulnerable people in the city.

Since 2008 a total of £37.1m has been axed from the budget for vulnerable adults.

Among those affected by the cuts are older people, those with learning or physical disabilities, as well as people with mental health problems.

A council spokesman said the figures reflected “enormous financial pressure.” But campaigners spoke of their shock, saying they feel let down.

Paul Anderson, co-chairman of Glasgow Care Crisis, said: “I knew it was substantial but these figures are just too much to comprehend.

“You do feel let down, absolutely.

“You look at what the council are spending money on and it seems like their priorities are all wrong.”

The year the axe fell hardest was 2011/12 when £10.5m was made in savings. The following year council chiefs slashed £8m.

In 2013/14 and 2014/15, a total of £7.7m was cut from the provision of services to vulnerable adults.

Mr Anderson was a member of the Charlie Reid Centre, which supported people with mental health problems, until it closed last year.

He said it would “make all the difference” if the council stopped cutting budgets. He said: “Peoples’ lives are at stake on some level.

“You witness your friends’ lives deteriorating without the support they need.

“Some of them are in hospital, some of them are in jail. It’s heartbreaking.”

Ian Hood, from Learning Disability Alliance Scotland, said: “I am very concerned, I don’t see how the cuts can keep on coming at this rate and at this pace.”

Carol Ball, chairman of Glasgow City Branch of Unison, said she was not shocked by the amount of money being taken away from services.

She said: “That’s not surprising given the level of cuts that are happening.

“I can’t remember a time when services weren’t being cut. It appears that services like social work and education are two which seem to be taking the brunt of it.

“I think because they are chipping away at the budgets, the general public are not aware of the impact until the services are gone.”

A council spokesman said in the last seven years, “overall spending on local government in Scotland has reduced and Glasgow’s share of that spending has also reduced.”

He added: “Despite this extremely difficult financial picture, the council has sought to protect Social Work’s budget as far as possible It is anticipated that the net expenditure on social work services in the next financial year will be just under £400m.

“It must also be stressed that care and support needs continue to be meet in an appropriate manner.

“There has also been significant reform to the way support services are delivered with the use of personal budgets being increasingly welcomed by service users.

“But there is also far more focus on early intervention and prevention as well as encouraging recovery and reablement for individuals, which is helping to ensure tax payers is being spent as efficiently as possible.”