Opposition councillors back homeless hotel shame campaign

We launched the campaign, with Govan Law Centre to highlight the unacceptable conditions in a number of the 30 hotels used by Glasgow City Council to house homeless people.

People have told of filthy rooms, stained bedding, mice and rats, rancid smells and thefts from rooms.

READ NEXT: Glasgow Times new campaign: End the Homeless Hotel Shame

The campaign calls for hotel owners to be forced to improve the conditions of their properties and for the council to ensure a rigorous inspection regime is in place to give people a decent basic standard of accommodation.

The Scottish Government can provide more cash to Glasgow to ensure there is enough housing available to allow the council to deal with rising homelessness.

And the UK Government can compensate the city properly for the high number of asylum seekers the city is home to, as many of them end up homeless.

We asked the three opposition groups on the council for their opinion of the hotels and what action is needed.

The Scottish Greens said there needs to be tougher inspections.

Martha Wardrop, Co-leader of Glasgow's Green councillors group, said: “A human rights approach to tackling homelessness must include ensuring that temporary accommodation is fit for purpose.

“No one should ever have to live in unsafe and squalid environments and it’s vital that private providers are held to account when they fail people they are housing.

"Green councillors fully support the Glasgow Times’ important campaign on this issue and agree that existing inspection regimes should be strengthened.”

The Greens, who have 11 councillors, said the council needs more support from Holyrood and Westminster to help it cope with the declared housing emergency.

(Image: Newsquest)

Wardrop added: “Glasgow City Council has declared a housing and homelessness emergency and we continue to face unprecedented pressure on our homelessness services, yet we have received no additional funding to deal with that and have seen our social housing budget cut.

“We need all levels of government – both Westminster and Holyrood – to work together and provide the Council with the resources we need, not just to deal with the immediate crisis, but also to ensure everyone’s human right to a warm, safe place they can call home is met.”  

READ NEXT: How much owners of homeless hotels in Glasgow were paid

The Labour councillors said the owners must be held accountable.

Elaine McDougall, Labour Councillor for Dennistoun said: “We believe there must be stricter oversight and enforcement of contract conditions to ensure that the accommodation provided is safe and suitable for all residents.

“Considering these establishments received £27 million last year, they must be held accountable for maintaining proper standards. 

“The Labour group fully supports the Glasgow Times' campaign to 'End the Homeless Hotel Shame' and we call for the introduction of a robust inspection regime to ensure that accommodations meet the necessary standards.”

(Image: GCC)

The Labour group said the city needs more cash to provide enough social housing.

McDougall added: “We also call on the Scottish Government to provide greater support to increase the city's social housing supply.”

“The Labour group is gravely concerned about the substantial cut in the housing budget by the Scottish Government, which risks worsening the homelessness crisis in Glasgow. 

“The Scottish Government needs to make progress on implementing compulsory sales orders and prioritise sustainable, long-term solutions for temporary accommodation.

“Glasgow City Council should explore innovative alternatives, such as acquiring and refurbishing empty buildings or investing in high-quality relocatable structures. Councillor Soryia Siddique and I recently presented a motion to the full council proposing these potential solutions, but unfortunately, it was voted down by the SNP and Green.”

READ NEXT: B&B use for homeless in Glasgow doubled in under a year

The Conservatives said the homeless situation in Glasgow was a “scandal”.

Thomas Kerr, leader of the Glasgow Conservative Group, said: “Glasgow is facing a housing emergency and the thousands of people either sleeping rough on the streets or in temporary accommodation is an utter scandal.

(Image: newsquest)

“The misery suffered by those living in temporary accommodation is often compounded by the shocking state of the hotels they are forced to reside in.

“While nobody should be living in temporary accommodation, it is imperative that while this remains the case that these providers have the resources to provide stays that are suitable.

“A lack of housing is one of the biggest issues facing this city and savage SNP cuts to both the housing and council budgets has resulted in an ever-growing crisis.

“The Glasgow Times campaign to end the homeless hotel scandal is to be welcomed and I will continue to push for any measures that ensure everyone has access to have a roof over their head.”

The SNP-run administration said the council has to use hotels to meet demand.

(Image: Colin Mearns)

Allan Casey, City Convener for Homelessness, said: “We are duty bound to find and provide emergency accommodation to those affected by homelessness.  To do this means the council has no option other than using a range of B&B and hotels in the city.

“The pressures the city is facing right now in relation to housing and homelessness is no secret. We are having to spend more and more on hotel and bed & breakfast use in our attempts to meet demand and avoid people having to sleep rough.

"If we receive complaints from service users about the accommodation, we will take these up with the operators of those premises.

"The hotels we use are privately run, commercial businesses and therefore our health and social care partnership has no statutory authority to impose inspections on them. Hotels do co-operate well when we request an inspection however, they are not bound by law.

“We are in continual dialogue with both Governments about these challenges and we continue to seek the additional resources necessary to address the challenges we are facing.”