Turning Point Scotland's 16-bed residential stabilisation service in Commerce Street, Glasgow, is set to close after a dispute over rent increases, with the service moving to a nearby crisis centre on West Street. The charity claims "commercially aggressive" tactics by City Property, which manages Glasgow City Council's commercial properties, forced the decision.
Rent doubled and repair bills
The charity said its rent doubled from £65,000 to £131,000 a year, and it faced an £806,000 bill after leaving another site. The closure follows a 14-month dispute over rent increases and repair bills with City Property. Staff were informed last Friday, affecting 87 people.
Service transition and concerns
The crisis service is expected to switch in early October, while the stabilisation service contract ends on 24 October. Neil Richardson, chief executive of Turning Point Scotland, said replacing the residential service with a community-based model "will remove 16 beds from Glasgow's alcohol and drug support system" and raised questions about access to intensive residential support.
Richardson added: "Changes of this scale would ordinarily require significantly longer to plan and implement safely. Only days before this decision, we were told bringing the services in-house wasn't considered a viable option because of the cost, disruption and lack of specialist expertise. We have yet to receive a clear explanation of what changed."
Blame and response
Both Turning Point Scotland and Glasgow City HSCP have blamed each other. Glasgow HSCP said Turning Point had "indicated that they are not able to continue with contract on the basis of financial risk" and that the crisis centre "remains a priority" with "no intended gap in service". City Property cited lease terms as the primary factor and declined to discuss details.
Scotland's Alcohol and Drugs Minister Maree Todd said she was "very concerned" but the Scottish government could not intervene in a contractual dispute. She added: "We have been clear that we value the work done by these services and that every reasonable opportunity to explore resolution should have been taken."
