Overview
- Glasgow City Council has asked the Home Office to halt new relocations, a step the First Minister called a fair and reasonable approach.
- The Home Office has been mass‑processing asylum claims to clear a backlog, increasing the number of people granted leave to remain who then move into council responsibility.
- Scotland’s homelessness law requires councils to house anyone without a home, creating broader duties than in England and intensifying pressure on Glasgow’s services.
- Latest figures show Glasgow has the highest proportion of housed asylum seekers in the UK at 59 per 10,000 residents, totaling 3,716, with the council citing a £66 million funding gap.
- There has been no public indication the Home Office has agreed to a pause, and council leaders note UK accommodation ends on grant of leave, with Mears contracted to source housing during the asylum process.