TENSIONS between the SNP Government and SNP-run Glasgow City Council over budget cuts to homeless services have been exposed by newly released correspondence.

The letters reveal a spat between Housing Minister, Kevin Stewart and the city’s health and social care convener, Mhairi Hunter.

It followed the Glasgow City Integration Joint Board, which Ms Hunter co-chairs, unanimously agreeing in May to cut £2.6m from third sector organisations providing homeless beds.

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As part of plans to end homelessness, Glasgow city is moving away from emergency hostel accommodation to community-based support services, axing 68 of 974 beds from October.

The move will see thousands of pounds in funding cut from third sector groups such as the Simon Community, Aspire, Talbot Association and YPeople.

Letters released under Freedom of Information to the Scottish Tenants Organisation (STO) show the cut led to immediate concern within government.

Glasgow Times:

Mr Stewart told Ms Hunter he was “concerned” at the decision and he expected the city to meet its “statutory and moral duties” to meet housing and support needs for the vulnerable.

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Get tough on the causes of homelessness

He also said he expected Glasgow to heed the advice of the Scottish Housing Regulator to deliver on its “duties to provide temporary and emergency accommodation”.

In response, Ms Hunter defended the cut, but admitted it was “inevitable” that some third sector services would close as a result.

Glasgow Times:

Ms Hunter said: “While a difficult decision, it is the right one for the service and the vulnerable people that we support day to day.

“Glasgow needs to reduce the amount of emergency/supported accommodation in the city.

“If we do not do that our transition to [the new model of] Rapid Rehousing and Housing First will not be as effective as it needs to be.”

She then criticised the government for failing to provide “clarity” on funding “either this financial year, or in the years to come”.

She also said she was “concerned” that a £21m government fund to improve homeless services across Scotland was “massively oversubscribed and may not be able to support the scale of Glasgow’s need”.

She added pointedly: “As you aware, Glasgow has a higher than average population of people at risk of homelessness and with multiple and complex needs.

“You are also aware that the method used to allocate funding through the local government settlement does not reflect this.

“I would therefore welcome a discussion of what further support the Scottish Government can provide which matches the scale of our ambition - and investment - to end homelessness in this city.”

Homeless applications rose to 100 a day across Scotland last year after the biggest increase since the SNP came to power in 2007.

Despite a legal duty on councils to provide temporary accommodation, Glasgow was responsible for 95 per cent of the cases where this was refused in 2018/19.

The Scottish Government last month said it was “concerned” at the failure to meet the duty, and had agreed a “voluntary review” with Glasgow to tackle the issue.

Sean Clerkin, campaign coordinator for the STO, which wants the £2.6m cut reversed and more homeless funding across Scotland, said the correspondence showed Mr Stewart and Ms Hunter “at each other’s throats”.

He said: “They’re trying to blame each other for the homelessness crisis. Kevin Stewart is trying to take the moral high ground, but the Scottish Government have not allocated enough money to Glasgow, which has a terrible housing problem, turning away 95% of those refused temporary accommodation in Scotland.

“Glasgow City Council is not fit for purpose for handling homelessness, and the Scottish Government don’t come out of it well either because they’re not putting enough money resources into tackling the homelessness catastrophe in Scotland.”

Glasgow City Council and the Scottish Government have been asked for comment.