Glasgow City Council spent £10.3 million on taxis and private hire in 2025/26. Of that, £8.9 million was education. The figures are the council's reply to a freedom of information request, reported on 16 October by Catherine Hunter.
The same reply puts the five years at £7.4 million in 2021/22, £7.9 million in 2022/23, £7.8 million in 2023/24, £9.2 million in 2024/25 and £10.3 million in 2025/26. Each figure is to the nearest £100,000. Added together they come to £42.6 million. The reports call the total more than £42.5 million. It did not rise every year: 2023/24 was £100,000 below the year before.
Schools
Education taxis and private hire came to £38.1 million over the five years. The published reply gives only two of those years on their own: £8.3 million in 2024/25 and £8.9 million in 2025/26. It does not split 2021/22, 2022/23 or 2023/24.
That £8.9 million is not the whole school-transport budget. A council spokeswoman said home-to-school transport cost £17.7 million in 2025/26. She said 16 per cent of that was mainstream and 84 per cent was additional support for learning. The £17.7 million also covers buses and other transport. She did not say it was all taxis.
A Sunday Mail request, reported in December 2025, also put the 2024/25 taxi and private hire total at £9.2 million. That reply said £7.8 million was school runs. The new reply says education services were £8.3 million in the same year. The two questions are not the same.
The council says staff are teaching some additional-support pupils to travel independently, and that this has worked in some cases. It says officers recently won a national transport award. It did not name the award.
Councillors
The councillors' own taxi bill is a separate line, and it is in the thousands. It was £954.17 in 2021/22, £2,110.33 in 2022/23, £3,229.44 in 2023/24, £3,403.46 in 2024/25 and £3,598.43 in 2025/26. That is £13,295.83 over five years. The average councillor journey in 2025/26 cost £18.55.
Paul Carey, Scottish Labour, Drumchapel/Anniesland, said some residents depend on accessible transport and some services need a taxi. He asked the council to publish a breakdown of the five years, and to say whether it has looked at cheaper arrangements that would still be safe. He also asked why thousands of pounds were being spent on taxi journeys. The only line in this reply that is in the thousands is the councillors' own bill.
The duty
The spokeswoman said the council has a statutory duty to provide home-to-school transport where a child qualifies because of distance, additional support needs, or the school they attend.
Scottish Government guidance says section 51 of the Education (Scotland) Act 1980 requires a council to make the school-transport arrangements it considers necessary. Councils have a wide discretion. The guidance treats two miles as walking distance for a child under eight, and three miles after that. A taxi is one of the options where walking or a bus does not meet a child's needs. The guidance does not require a taxi.
The budget gap
On 3 September the Accounts Commission said Glasgow faces a budget gap of at least £110 million across 2026/27 and 2027/28. The Best Value report puts it at £109.7 million, taken from the council's own outlook in August 2025, and before the cost of a new pay and grading structure. The annual audit splits that into £90.4 million in 2026/27 and £19.3 million in 2027/28. It assumed no council tax increase. The taxi reply is not part of that calculation.