Exclusive:'More people will sleep on the streets': Glasgow Council warned over unprecedented asylum pause

Glasgow City Council is poised for an unprecedented legal battle with the Home Office.

Scotland’s largest local council has been warned a controversial step to pause the city taking in asylum seekers will lead to more people sleeping on the streets.

Glasgow City Council is braced for an unprecedented legal battle with the Home Office after telling the UK government it wants to pause the city’s role as an asylum dispersal city after reaching “crisis point”.

Glasgow City Council could pause taking in asylum seekers Credit: Getty Images | Getty Images

But Scotland’s leading refugee charity has warned council leaders their decision to pause Glasgow being a dispersal city will exacerbate the city’s housing crisis.

The move comes after months of appeals for the Home Office to hand over more support to the council fell on deaf ears.

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

Glasgow takes in more asylum seekers than any other single UK local authority, currently around 4,000 people, with the costs of accommodating those fleeing war or persecution met by the Home Office. Once asylum seekers are granted refugee status, they have just 56 days to leave their accommodation - with many forced to declare themselves homeless.

But Sabir Zazai, chief executive of the Scottish Refugee Council, has warned Glasgow being paused as a dispersal city “would do more harm than good” and would “potentially lead to a rise in people sleeping on the streets”.

He said: “We don’t know how long a ‘pause’ Glasgow is seeking or what conditions the council would need to see met in order to restart welcoming people. There is currently no clarity around what the benefits of a decision like this would be.

“Hundreds of people, many of whom have been traumatised by the asylum process, are still living in unsuitable temporary accommodation, with no path to somewhere safe and settled to live.

“Any failure to protect vulnerable people at risk of homelessness is a devastating dereliction of duty for all government officials, and we hope that an alternative solution is given the attention that it is urgently required.”

It is understood that if the Home Office does not agree to a pause, as it is likely to do given the pledge to clear the backlog of cases, Glasgow City Council would be poised for an unprecedented legal showdown with the UK government.

READ MORE: Labour minister snubs Glasgow asylum seeker summit despite 'unprecedented pressure'

Speaking to The Scotsman, Allan Casey, Glasgow City Council’s homelessness convener, said: “Glasgow has repeatedly stressed to UK ministers the impact of Home Office changes to processing asylum decisions on housing supply and homelessness services. And indeed, the risks to social cohesion in the city.

“With the numbers of refugees presenting in Glasgow continuing to rise and no support from UK ministers materialising, we’ve reached crisis point and have no option but to demand that pause.”

Mr Casey added: “A pause can allow us the space to work on a plan to support those refugees and asylum seekers already here in Glasgow and manage the extreme pressures on our homeless services without a breakdown in our systems.

READ MORE: Home Office solution revealed to ease homeless refugee pressures in Scottish city

“This isn’t a step we’ve taken lightly, but if the Home Office wants Glasgow to continue being an exemplar in cohesion and integration, it needs to step up and better support that.”

A UK government spokesperson said: “Despite inheriting huge pressures on the asylum system, we are working to make sure individuals have the support they need following an asylum decision to help local authorities better plan their assistance with homelessness.

“We are working right across the UK to give councils as much notice as possible of newly recognised refugees, have doubled the move on period to 56 days and have mobilised liaison officers to support asylum seekers in Glasgow City Council area.”