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Author: Karin Goodwin in The Ferret
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| Charities have called on the Scottish Government to declare a national housing emergency, claiming Scotland’s homeless system is at breaking point due to a worsening cost of living crisis and a new Home Office policy that puts refugees on the streets. |
| Campaigners said the Home Office should also urgently slow its current fast-tracked eviction of refugees from asylum accommodation. Local councils should reverse budget cuts and bring empty buildings back into use, they urged. |
| On Wednesday night 33 people slept rough in Edinburgh, where the city council declared a housing emergency on 2 November, despite the fact that the city’s Welcome Centre, offering emergency accommodation to prevent rough sleeping, was already open. |
| In Glasgow, 41 people slept rough on the same night, including 16 people who had been given refugee status, according to exclusive figures shared with The Ferret by Simon Community Scotland. By Friday lunchtime only three of these refugees and a handful of Scots had been provided with accommodation, the charity said. |
| Last week Glasgow City Council became the third Scottish council to declare a local housing emergency. It hopes the move will help it make the case for more funding and assist its negotiations with the Home Office, which is working on an accelerated plan to clear the backlog of asylum cases.
Dumbarton MSP and Labour deputy leader Dame Jackie Baillie is one of the leading politicians at the Scottish Parliament calling for a national housing emergency to be declared.
The full story is on The Ferret website
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