The First Minister backed up SNP-led Glasgow council over calls for a temporary suspension.
Homelessness in Buchanan Street Glasgow.
John Swinney has backed calls for a pause on more asylum seekers coming to Glasgow as “fair”.
The First Minister echoed the local council’s request for a temporary halt but defended the country’s liberal homelessness laws.
Glasgow is home to over 90% of asylum seekers in Scotland as a result of the city’s long-standing policy of helping people fleeing persecution.
The policy is operated by the Home Office which tasks private sector firm Mears with finding accommodation.
But the council is facing a £66m black hole due to a rise in homelessness applications from refugees granted leave to remain.
Council chiefs blame the UK Government policy of trying to empty asylum seeker hotels which they say has created a refugee homeless crisis.
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In an interview with Sky News ahead of the SNP conference in Aberdeen, the First Minister said a pause for Glasgow would be a “fair and reasonable approach”.
Pushed on whether he supports a pause, he said “that’s not what the Home Office are proposing, and I think that has got to be put in place”.
Scotland’s generous homelessness laws are also under scrutiny for their impact on Glasgow.
Refugees have had a long-standing right to apply for homeless assistance in Scotland even if they have been granted leave to remain in England.
The SNP Government also changed the rules so that people who are homeless in one part of Scotland can apply for help in another council area.
First Minister John Swinney
Local authorities in England house people in ‘priority need’, but Scottish rules cover anyone who is unintentionally homeless, including single me
On whether the law is making the problem worse, Swinney said Scotland has long had a “sympathetic” approach, adding: “I think our homelessness approach is the right approach”.
Figures obtained by the Record showed that Glasgow continues to help asylum seekers more than any area north of the border.
For every 10,000 people, Glasgow is housing 58 asylum seekers, while the figure for Edinburgh is three.
Meanwhile, Swinney repeated claims that Prime Minister Keir Starmer will quit if the SNP wins a majority at Holyrood next year.
The SNP conference will today be dominated by Swinney trying to get his party to back his new position on independence.
He believes the SNP returning 65 MSPs in May will be a mandate for indyref2.
Asked if he thinks Starmer would grant a referendum in these circumstances, Swinney told LBC:
“If you look at the comments that Keir Starmer has made in the past, he’s recognised that Scotland has a right to decide her own future, and he’s taken a slight different tack now that he’s become Prime Minister, but I think if I win a majority in the Scottish Parliament next year, I think Keir Starmer won’t be the Prime Minister, and I’ll be negotiating with somebody else.
“So the impact of the SNP having been so successful, will have an effect that will resonate throughout United Kingdom politics. But crucially, for Scotland, it will give us a pathway to independence.”
He said: “Keir Starmer is in real difficulties in his leadership in the Labour Party, and if the Labour Party are unsuccessful in Scotland next May, then I think that will be something that’ll tip the issues against him.”
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