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<p>It is Home Office policy to move people into suitable Dispersed Accommodation (DA)
once their claim for support has been assessed</p><p>The current global pandemic has
presented significant challenges in relation to the provision of asylum accommodation.
To mitigate these challenges, we have had to source sufficient accommodation to meet
demand, including hotels.</p><p>Hotels are utilised as contingency accommodation on
a temporary basis, whilst pressures in the system are addressed and hotel use will
be discontinued as soon as the Home Office is able to do so.There are currently 5,168
asylum seekers accommodated in Glasgow, of which a peak of 405 were in hotels at one
point, but this has now been reduced to 237 and we are aiming to get to zero as soon
as practicable.</p><p>Availability of DA is crucial to plans and timelines for reductions
in hotel use. A comprehensive plan for the cessation of asylum support for ineligible
cases has been established with input from Local Authorities, Other Government Departments
and Stakeholders to assist in this regard.</p><p>180 Local Authorities out of 414
across the United Kingdom currently allow asylum seekers to be dispersed in their
area. In Scotland, only Glasgow City Council has agreed to allow the dispersal of
asylum seekers within their Local Authority area. We would encourage Local Authorities
across the United Kingdom, including Scotland to participate so that we can reduce
the number of people accommodated in hotels and create an equitable system of asylum
dispersal.</p><p>We will continue to work with Local Authorities across the UK to
increase the number of DA properties available to our accommodation service providers.
In Glasgow we attend fortnight partnership boards with Glasgow City Council and Scottish
Goverment to discuss DA procurement and hotel reduction.</p>
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