Extra funding handed to Glasgow City Council amid an influx of migrants

See more Daily Mail on Google - save us as a Preferred Source Published: 14:40 EDT, 28 August 2026 | Updated: 14:40 EDT, 28 August 2026 Extra funding is being given to Glasgow City Council to deal with an influx of migrants amid fears the situation is driving community tensions.Council leader Susan Aitken has warned the soaring cost of housing refugees is an ‘untenable threat’ to ‘community cohesion’ in Scotland’s biggest city and demanded urgent action from Holyrood.Now, the Scottish Government has agreed to increase funding following talks between the two sides, as it promised a ‘meaningful contribution’ towards tackling the crisis.However, the amount of additional funding has yet to be confirmed, with the council not expected to receive the cash until after the Scottish Budget is announced later this year.The council has struggled to cope with the rising cost of providing accommodation and support to refugees, with homelessness costs in Glasgow forecast to reach £75million next year.The city has also seen a series of protests linked to tensions over immigration and asylum.The Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council blamed Westminster for the pressures, arguing that changes to the asylum system have left councils dealing with a growing number of refugees becoming homeless after being granted leave to remain.Glasgow has traditionally carried a disproportionate share of asylum accommodation in Scotland.Official figures for the end of March show there were 3,489 asylum seekers living in dispersed accommodation in Glasgow, compared with 49 in Edinburgh and 38 in Dundee. Glasgow City Council leader Susan Aitken has sounded a warning over the costs of housing migrants in the cityThe figures equate to 57.3 asylum seekers per 10,000 people in Glasgow, compared with 2.6 in Edinburgh and 2.5 in Dundee.Despite efforts to extend asylum dispersal across Scotland, no asylum seekers were recorded in several council areas, including Argyll and Bute, Highland, Moray, Na h-Eileanan Siar, Orkney, East Renfrewshire and Shetland.Ms Aitken has said the situation is placing additional pressure on already scarce housing resources and costing the council tens of millions of pounds in emergency accommodation.She said: ‘Home Office decisions have created a nationwide homelessness crisis among refugees newly given leave to remain in the UK.‘The council has been very clear about the added pressure this puts on already scarce housing resources.’She added that the situation was ‘not sustainable’ and claimed the council had received no meaningful response from UK ministers.The Scottish government has also blamed Westminster, with Social Justice and Housing Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville accusing the Home Office of ‘mismanagement of asylum policy’.She said the legal responsibility for dealing with homelessness remained with councils, but said Holyrood had provided £123million to Glasgow this year through the Affordable Housing Supply Programme, with £302,000 in this financial year to support refugee resettlement. Anti-immigrant protesters are met by police in Glasgow during a demonstration in JulyMs Somerville said funding for 2027-28 would be decided through the Scottish Budget.Glasgow City Council is currently facing a potential budget shortfall of more than £111million next year.Critics have also questioned whether Scotland’s homelessness laws are adding to the burden, particularly following the abolition of the so-called ‘priority need’ test, which has expanded access to homelessness assistance.The latest funding pledge comes as Glasgow faces growing political pressure over how it will cope with the financial and social impact of refugee homelessness.A UK government spokesman said: ‘We are committed to successfully transitioning refugees from asylum accommodation and mitigating the risk of homelessness. That is why we extended the grace period from 28 days to 42.‘We are closing every asylum hotel and moving asylum seekers into alternative accommodation, including former military sites.‘We are working to fairly house asylum seekers across the country, engaging with local authorities to reduce the impact on communities.’