GLASGOW’S 7 MPs – Chris Stephens, Alison Thewliss, Carol Monaghan, Anne McLaughlin, Stewart McDonald, Patrick Grady and David Linden – have condemned the Home Office for its proposed “evaluation” into the impact of Covid-19 on asylum-seekers, with the group walking out of a meeting with government officials, citing “no confidence” and supporting calls for a full independent inquiry , which has been signed by over 1500 organisations across Scottish civic society.
The group previously walked out of a meeting with John Taylor of Mears Group on June 26, citing “trust issues”, a few hours before the Park Inn Incident.
Home Office civil servants told the MPs that they would carry out an internal “evaluation.” Yet MPs had expected to contribute the experiences of their constituents as part of a report, but the Home Office reportedly refused to confirm if MPs would see the report, let alone discuss it publicly, leading the group to walk out.
This follows the death of 30-year-old Adnan Olbeh while under the care of the Home Office, and the Park Inn Incident where one man was shot dead and six people were severely injured following a knife attack in the city centre hotel.
Concerns have repeatedly been raised about the welfare of hundreds of asylum-seekers who were forced from their homes and moved to hotels earlier in the pandemic, including survivors of persecution, children and victims of human trafficking.
Positive Action in Housing will not be cooperating with the Home Office “evaluation”, following the Glasgow MPs’ 2nd walkout in less than 2 months. The evaluation lacked credibility, independence, without any framework or explanation. It was ill thought out. After two major catastrophes in the city concerning hotels and the mental health of Glasgow asylum seekers, we reiterate our demand for a full independent inquiry. 1500 eminent organisations and individuals from across civic society now support this. We need an investigation into this deadly accommodation crisis and for all the questions that need answering to be addressed. Nothing less will do.
We are also concerned about multiple reports of people being placed inappropriately in Glasgow’s Housing. As more people are being transferred into private accommodation from hotels into homes, we are seeing some people being taken back to hotels because they are fearful of their flatmate’s mental health. As The Ferret first highlighted weeks ago, we have to one again question what form of vulnerability assessment was done prior to organising these placements. It is our belief that no formal assessment is undertaken in terms of cleanliness, Covid 19 or mental health. We are aware of multiple reports of bed bugs and people being housed in accommodation where they fear for their lives. It’s as if Mears staff have no clue about vulnerability assessments, health and safety or just basic risk assessment. There is no Covid 19 risk assessment before someone is placed in accommodation. Certainly we would like to see copies of such documentation , but we suspect none exists. In many cases, people are signing documents without interpreters.
There also appears to be no regulation by any Scottish regulatory authority, environmental health, or social housing regulator. While private landlords must register with the landlord registration scheme, there is no such expectation of Mears. Yet Mears is sub letting hundreds of private flats in Glasgow and appears to be dumping people left vulnerable by the asylum system into dirty and unsuitable accommodation with no proper scrutiny or accountability.
By not being registered Mears escapes all the checks that ordinary private landlords have to go through. For example, it does not have to undergo a “fit and proper person test” with Glasgow City Council. Nor is there any enforcement action due by Glasgow City Council. Housing is a devolved matter yet Mears practices are not being scrutinised because asylum is reserved to Westminster. We would argue that they should be subjected to the same checks as other Glasgow landlords.
Robina Qureshi