Glasgow could pause its role as an asylum dispersal city without a bespoke package of support from the Home Office.

Glasgow City Council has threatened to pause taking in thousands of asylum seekers unless the Home Office draws up a “funded bespoke solution” for the city.

The city is one of several dispersal cities across the UK, but takes in more people seeking a decision on their asylum claim than any other local authority.

Glasgow City Council could pause its role as a dispersal city Credit: Getty Images | Getty Images

But in a letter to UK asylum minister Dame Angela Eagle seen by The Scotsman, city council leader Susan Aitken has threatened to pause the programme amid a warning the situation could lead to “increased levels of community tension” and a “breakdown of the public support”.

Glasgow was accommodating 4,075 asylum seekers as of September, the latest available statistics showed.

In Manchester, Andy Burnham has accused his party colleagues in the Home Office of having “thrown the problem at local authorities”, with similar concerns raised in the North West of England.

The incoming Labour government at Westminster has focused on working through the asylum backlog at pace. But once those seeking asylum have been granted leave to remain status, they have just 56 days to exit their accommodation and find somewhere to live - with many left with no choice, but to declare themselves homeless.

Once the 56 days are up, the Home Office withdraws accommodation for refugees, which has piled pressure on Glasgow’s homelessness services.

In her letter to Dame Angela, the council leader has warned the authority has “overspent in our homelessness budget to the tune of £26.5m”, which she said is “primarily driven by the additional costs placed on us as a consequence of the significantly higher numbers of refugees who are now seeking accommodation in Glasgow”.

Leader of Glasgow City Council, Susan Aitken

Ms Aitken has warned the cost of B&B accommodation in Glasgow is £30,000 a year, while a temporary furnished flat is £9,000.

The council leader suggested that Labour’s decision to accelerate determining asylum cases “was not widely supported by local government”, adding “those concerns have now come to pass”.

She said: “Many have received their decisions in other parts of the UK, but are travelling to Glasgow to be accommodated here, in part we believe because of the differences in legislation, which mean that we have a duty to accommodate single males.

“Glasgow takes more than our fair share of asylum seekers, with the highest proportion of people beyond the quota in dispersed accommodation across the UK - and we have been happy to do so. But we need the UK government to understand that this comes at a cost.”

But Ms Aitken has suggested that “if the trends that we are seeing this year continue, next year Glasgow will have 2,239 additional cases”, adding that “with limited accommodation provision, this will continue to place unacceptable pressure on [the] homelessness system as a whole”.

“If additional funding is not made available to us, we would need to pause our involvement in the programme until a more sustainable method of dispersal is found,” she said.

“We hope that this regrettable step will not be necessary.”

A leading charity has called for the city council and the Home Office to work together to better support people seeking asylum.

The Scottish Refugee Council’s refugee integration service manager, Rebecca Menzies, said: “People who are granted refugee protection need to be able to focus on rebuilding their lives.

“It’s a moment that many have looked forward to for years. Being recognised as a refugee means an end to the uncertainty of the asylum system but a whole new, complicated and challenging journey begins.

"There are a lot of significant changes to navigate in a very short space of time and most people face an immediate housing emergency when their asylum accommodation is withdrawn. Very few people have savings for a rental deposit or the up-front costs required for moving, and moving at such short notice can be extremely difficult for people without family or friends in Scotland to rely on for support.”

Ms Menzies added: "No one in Scotland should ever be without a safe roof over their head.

“We recognise that there is significant pressure on local authorities and hope that the Home Office will take this opportunity to engage with councils constructively, so they can work together to ensure that new refugees are able to forge positive new futures here."

Labour MSP for Glasgow, Paul Sweeney, said action to fix Glasgow’s housing crisis “will require government action at all levels to fix”.

"The new UK government has inherited an asylum system that is broken, and it has committed to addressing the backlog,” he said. “The government at a city, Scottish and UK level has to get around the table to find a way through the housing crisis instead of trying to deflect blame.

"The Home Office should step up to bolster resources for the asylum dispersal programme in Glasgow, particularly transitional support for the increasing numbers of people who are being granted refugee status as the asylum backlog is cleared, but are then presenting as homeless to the council.”

Mr Sweeney also pointed the finger at the Scottish Government over funding for housing.

He said: “The housing supply crisis in Glasgow was exacerbated by the Scottish Government imposing a 26 per cent cut of £200m to its affordable housing supply programme last year, which resulted in the construction of more than 1,800 new affordable homes stalling across the country.

“We also have 2,696 long-term empty homes in Glasgow, as well as enough empty commercial floorspace in the city centre alone to create nearly 10,000 new homes through residential conversions.

“Glasgow is a city with an ambition to grow its population after a long decline from its post-war peak of over one million.

“We therefore need coherent planning from the council and both governments to manage the city's growth by rapidly scaling up the supply of housing through new-build projects, acquisitions and conversions."

A Home Office spokesperson said: “The government is determined to restore order to the asylum system so that it operates swiftly, firmly and fairly.

“We are committed to speeding up the asylum process and have taken urgent action to restart processing and clear the backlog, which will save an estimated £7 billion for the taxpayer over the next ten years.“

Exclusive:Glasgow threatens to 'pause' role as asylum dispersal city without Home Office support

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