THE Scottish Tenants Organisation has called for the closure of a South Side homeless shelter to be halted after the new Scottish Budget promised extra funding for local authorities.

Quarriers’ James Shields Homeless Service was set to be shut down on February 10 due to cuts to the service, with Glasgow City Council – who run the service in partnership with Quarriers – deeming the facility “no longer appropriate”.

The Scottish Tenants Organisation has now called on the council to cancel the planned closure of the Pollokshaws Road facility after the Scottish Parliament announced an extra £95 million for local authorities.

Sean Clerkin, campaign co-ordinator of Scottish Tenants Organisation, said: “There’s £95 million been given to local government in Scotland which removes the cuts.

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“The James Shields Homeless Service, with its superb track record, has been a community for homeless youngsters from broken backgrounds.”

The facility houses 37 self-contained flats for 17 to 25-year-olds, with 16 of these flats specifically for young people with drug and alcohol addictions.

Those with addictions also received one-to-one counselling to help with rehabilitation, as well as attending a group work programme while housed in the James Shields centre.

Mr Clerkin added: “It gives them social support, employment support, training support, and a lot of those kids that ended up going on to live independently and becoming employed couldn’t have done so without the James Shields service.”

The Scottish Tenants Organisation also told of the “frustration” of seeing two drug summits come to Glasgow within the space of a day, claiming that the politicians attending were ignoring the solutions to the problem that were already working.

Mr Clerkin said: “The service has been going on for 25 years and it’s always had a good reputation, and what we’re saying to Susan Aiken and all councillors is to look at what the James Shields homeless unit service has achieved.

“This is the system letting them down if they close down this unit, it should be kept open. It’s for the good of society and the good of young people.”

The service has since stopped taking referrals after the closure date was moved from January 23 to February 10, with Glasgow City Council confirming that the unit will not be entirely shut until those in residence have found appropriate alternatives.

Speaking previously on the closure of the unit, Andy Williamson, Quarriers’ deputy chief executive and service director, said: “Quarriers’ priority throughout is for the young people at the service and is supporting Glasgow City Health and Social Care Partnership, whose role it is to find suitable alternative accommodation.”

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Glasgow City Council has stated that the decision was made due to the fact that the building was no longer fit for purpose.

A council spokesman said: “The service was no longer appropriate for the young people that use it, both in terms of its scale and the very dated environment it provided.

“We are, instead, committed to supporting people experiencing homelessness or at risk of homelessness, in their own tenancies or in more appropriate, smaller scale supported living arrangements.

“For some young people, more appropriate accommodation will be either tenancy of their own – with support – or smaller scale, supported accommodation in buildings that are fit for purpose.”