Stephen Curran
Balancing the Books
A member of Scottish Labour Party and Councillor for Newlands/Auldburn, Stephen Curran is City Treasurer. He has the unenviable task of running a council with a £1.3billion debt which pays £90million in interest every year. Added to this, the council is facing the huge expenses of hosting the Commonwealth Games 2014 (expected to cost £373m, with the stadium alone estimated at £98m and the Scottish Parliament only meeting 80% of costs),[1] and the M74 extension which, in February 2008, look set to cost £657m.[2] Both projects are integral to the city's event-led tourist strategy. The Commonwealth Games do not have a good track-record though. According to reports, they led to 'financial meltdown in Edinburgh when it hosted the Games in 1986 [which] led to the city reporting a £ 3 million deficit on a £ 27 billion budget. South of the Border, the experience of Manchester is similarly worrying. The company behind the 2002 Games came within hours of insolvency until the Government rode to the rescue with an extra £ 105 million in public subsidies.'[3]
Stephen Curran is standing for election to the Scottish Parliament in the 2011 Scottish elections. He is standing for Glasgow Central and hoping to challenge Nicola Sturgen the SNP Health Minister.
Other Interests
In the Register of Councillors' Interests, Stephen Curran declares the following:
- Director of Culture and Sport Glasgow
- Director of Culture and Sport Glasgow (Trading) CIC
- Director of Streetwatch South CCTV Trust
- Chair of Pollokshaws Settlement & Integration Network
- Co-opted Member of New Shaws Housing Organisation Committee
- Member of GMB Trade Union, The Fabian Society, Christian Socialist Movement, Labour Campaign for Electoral Reform, Electoral Reform Society, Make Votes Count and Charter 88
Notes
- ↑ Gerry Braiden, Finance experts sign up for 2014 Games: Ernst and Young recruited to keep project on budget, The Herald, 17 March 2008, p.4.
- ↑ Magnus Gardham, 'M74 Go-ahead signals end to city snarl-ups: 60 year wait over for link road but final bill may reach £657m', Daily Record, 15 February 2008, p.2.
- ↑ Gabriel Rozenberg, 'City's resurgence has been built on arts, leisure and tourism', The Times, 10 November 2007, p.7.
