Glasgow council’s SNP leader has warned the soaring cost of refugee homelessness is an “untenable threat” to “community cohesion”. Susan Aitken sounded the alarm to Finance Secretary Jenny Gilruth over concerns about the impact on city services and finances.
The local authority has struggled in recent years to fund the growing cost of helping refugees. A spate of racist protests has also taken place as a backlash to the spending.
Home Office policy blamed for surge
SNP bosses on the council blame the surge in demand on the Home Office policy of clearing the asylum backlog. Refugees have been made homeless after having their asylum applications approved and many have applied for temporary housing in Glasgow.
Homelessness costs in Glasgow are set to hit £75m next year, with a big part of the spend linked to refugees.
Aitken's plea to Gilruth
Aitken, who is standing down soon as council leader, issued a plea for help to Gilruth after the election in May.
“I am seeking an early meeting with you to discuss what is not only the most pressing and urgent issue facing the city of Glasgow, but also one of the most challenging public finance issues for Scotland as a whole: that is homelessness, and specifically refugee homelessness.
“This is an issue that is not of Glasgow’s making and which is significantly beyond our control, but which poses an immediate and untenable threat to financial sustainability, public services and community cohesion in our city.”
Aitken also referred to help provided by the SNP Government in February to combat the council’s budget problems. But she added: “There was collective understanding and agreement that this could only be a temporary fix, however, and that long-term, permanent policy and financial solutions still require to be found.
“Glasgow City Council officers continued to engage with Scottish Government officials throughout the pre-election period to continue to explore potential options and now that you and your colleagues are appointed in Government, we would very much welcome a renewed political focus to these discussions.”
Talks and budget shortfall
It is understood constructive talks have since been held with Gilruth, who is also John Swinney’s Deputy First Minister, about the crisis.
At a council meeting last week, city treasurer Ricky Bell said a letter had been received which confirmed a “meaningful contribution” will be made. He added that negotiations are ongoing over the details of “what a meaningful contribution is in terms of pounds and pence”.
Glasgow City Council faces a potential budget shortfall of over £111m next year. Homelessness spending and the roll-out of a new pay and grading structure are major contributors to the funding gap.
Critics say liberal SNP Government homeless laws have also created additional pressures for Glasgow. The abolition of the ‘priority need’ test means male asylum seekers in Glasgow who become refugees can access homeless assistance in the city.
It comes after the Record revealed the Home Office was still relying heavily on Glasgow in relation to housing asylum seekers.
Glasgow was for years the only council area north of the border to house asylum seekers, but dispersal has been extended amid concerns about the burden placed on one city.
However, official figures for the end of March show that no asylum seekers are housed in Argyll and Bute, Highland, Moray, Na h-Eileanan Siar, Orkney, East Renfrewshire and Shetland.
The number of asylum seekers in “dispersed” (community) accommodation in Glasgow stood at 3,489 while for the Edinburgh council area it was 49 and in Dundee 38.
The numbers also show how many asylum seekers are housed by the Home Office for every 10,000 people in each council area. In Glasgow, the figure was 57.3, while in the Capital it was 2.6 and 2.5 in Dundee. The number per 10,000 people is fewer than 10 in over twenty nine local authority areas.
