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| ‘I could just end up another dead homeless person under that bridge’ | ‘I could just end up another dead homeless person under that bridge’ |
| (about 5 hours later) | |
| John O’Donnell turned up unannounced at a Glasgow “homelessness hub” on a rainy Monday evening with no phone, jacket or sleeping bag. With nowhere else to go after being released from Barlinnie prison following a short sentence, rough sleepers in the city centre had pointed him towards the hub, run by homelessness charity the Simon Community. | John O’Donnell turned up unannounced at a Glasgow “homelessness hub” on a rainy Monday evening with no phone, jacket or sleeping bag. With nowhere else to go after being released from Barlinnie prison following a short sentence, rough sleepers in the city centre had pointed him towards the hub, run by homelessness charity the Simon Community. |
| Glasgow council facing court action over lack of housing for homeless people | Glasgow council facing court action over lack of housing for homeless people |
| O’Donnell, 55, was put up in a hotel by the charity that night before the council eventually found him a room in a hotel the following day. As such he is one of the thousands of homeless people in Glasgow who have been denied a bed for the night by the city council, according to homelessness charities, despite the council having a statutory duty to temporarily accommodate any unintentionally homeless person who presents to them. | O’Donnell, 55, was put up in a hotel by the charity that night before the council eventually found him a room in a hotel the following day. As such he is one of the thousands of homeless people in Glasgow who have been denied a bed for the night by the city council, according to homelessness charities, despite the council having a statutory duty to temporarily accommodate any unintentionally homeless person who presents to them. |
| Section 29 of Scotland’s Housing Act, which became law in 2001, obliges councils to put homeless people up short term. (In the rest of the UK, cases are still assessed on the basis of “priority need”.) But housing charity Shelter claims Glasgow city council broke this law 3,365 times last year by denying accommodation and returning people to the street. Most often, according to caseworkers, homeless people are told there is no availability. During this period the charity estimates that 47 homeless people died while without accommodation in the city. | Section 29 of Scotland’s Housing Act, which became law in 2001, obliges councils to put homeless people up short term. (In the rest of the UK, cases are still assessed on the basis of “priority need”.) But housing charity Shelter claims Glasgow city council broke this law 3,365 times last year by denying accommodation and returning people to the street. Most often, according to caseworkers, homeless people are told there is no availability. During this period the charity estimates that 47 homeless people died while without accommodation in the city. |
| It’s such a desperate situation that earlier this month Shelter Scotland announced it was taking legal action against the city council. “We don’t take this action lightly,” says Shelter Scotland’s director, Graeme Brown. “We’ve engaged [over five years] with senior political leaders, the executive leadership team in the council, managers, homelessness services, and with the housing regulator. And still the latest figures show the problem is getting worse.” | It’s such a desperate situation that earlier this month Shelter Scotland announced it was taking legal action against the city council. “We don’t take this action lightly,” says Shelter Scotland’s director, Graeme Brown. “We’ve engaged [over five years] with senior political leaders, the executive leadership team in the council, managers, homelessness services, and with the housing regulator. And still the latest figures show the problem is getting worse.” |
| A spokeswoman for Glasgow’s health and social care partnership says staff do everything possible to find accommodation. While not commenting on individual cases, she points out that proprietors can refuse entry to people on the basis of unacceptable behaviour and the rights of staff and residents to safety. | A spokeswoman for Glasgow’s health and social care partnership says staff do everything possible to find accommodation. While not commenting on individual cases, she points out that proprietors can refuse entry to people on the basis of unacceptable behaviour and the rights of staff and residents to safety. |
| She emphasises the “significant” pressures on homelessness accommodation in the city and the partnership work the council is engaged in. “We share a common aim with Shelter and, rather than focusing on court action, we would hope they could work with the council and its partners to ensure these challenges are met.” | She emphasises the “significant” pressures on homelessness accommodation in the city and the partnership work the council is engaged in. “We share a common aim with Shelter and, rather than focusing on court action, we would hope they could work with the council and its partners to ensure these challenges are met.” |
| Shelter’s action comes as Glasgow finds itself under increasing scrutiny over a persistent homelessness problem. Recent figures show an 8% increase in the number of homelessness applications in the city and a rise in rough sleeping. | Shelter’s action comes as Glasgow finds itself under increasing scrutiny over a persistent homelessness problem. Recent figures show an 8% increase in the number of homelessness applications in the city and a rise in rough sleeping. |
| O’Donnell is representative of much of Glasgow’s rough sleeper population, many of whom have complex lives and difficult pasts, often involving abuse, drugs, alcohol, violence, and criminality. Not all, however, use drugs or alcohol. Annie McLeod, 24, became homeless a few years ago after escaping an abusive relationship, and initially slept rough because she didn’t know she was entitled to a place to stay. The streets were highly contested territories, she says, with people competing for spaces to sleep and beg. The experience was terrifying: “I couldn’t go to sleep at night in case someone came up to me or wanted to do something to me,” she says. When she did present to the council after an intervention from volunteer street workers, she was told there was a problem with the room available and was not allocated one until days later. | O’Donnell is representative of much of Glasgow’s rough sleeper population, many of whom have complex lives and difficult pasts, often involving abuse, drugs, alcohol, violence, and criminality. Not all, however, use drugs or alcohol. Annie McLeod, 24, became homeless a few years ago after escaping an abusive relationship, and initially slept rough because she didn’t know she was entitled to a place to stay. The streets were highly contested territories, she says, with people competing for spaces to sleep and beg. The experience was terrifying: “I couldn’t go to sleep at night in case someone came up to me or wanted to do something to me,” she says. When she did present to the council after an intervention from volunteer street workers, she was told there was a problem with the room available and was not allocated one until days later. |
| David Wisher, who is in his 40s and has been street homeless for over a year, says he has been turned away by housing services on multiple occasions when no accommodation has been available. Instead he relies on volunteer groups and homelessness street teams. “I’ve always worked and I never dreamed of ending up here,” he says. “But sometimes things go wrong and there’s nothing you can do to prepare for it.” He is proactive about seeking help and engaging with services and would like to rejoin the workforce but, he says, “I can’t see a way out of the situation until someone can help me get off the streets.” | David Wisher, who is in his 40s and has been street homeless for over a year, says he has been turned away by housing services on multiple occasions when no accommodation has been available. Instead he relies on volunteer groups and homelessness street teams. “I’ve always worked and I never dreamed of ending up here,” he says. “But sometimes things go wrong and there’s nothing you can do to prepare for it.” He is proactive about seeking help and engaging with services and would like to rejoin the workforce but, he says, “I can’t see a way out of the situation until someone can help me get off the streets.” |
| Brown points out this is the first time Shelter has taken action against a local authority in this way. “But we see no other option than to bring the whole of the country’s attention to the fact that one of our major city councils, with one of the biggest housing problems in the country, is failing dismally at their duty,” he says. For O’Donnell, the urgency of solving Glasgow’s homelessness crisis couldn’t be clearer. “I’ve sat under the railway bridge myself over the years,” he says, referencing a busy city centre spot crowded with sleeping bags and people begging, which has seen a number of homeless people die on the street in recent years. “I could just end up another one of them dead under that bridge.” | Brown points out this is the first time Shelter has taken action against a local authority in this way. “But we see no other option than to bring the whole of the country’s attention to the fact that one of our major city councils, with one of the biggest housing problems in the country, is failing dismally at their duty,” he says. For O’Donnell, the urgency of solving Glasgow’s homelessness crisis couldn’t be clearer. “I’ve sat under the railway bridge myself over the years,” he says, referencing a busy city centre spot crowded with sleeping bags and people begging, which has seen a number of homeless people die on the street in recent years. “I could just end up another one of them dead under that bridge.” |
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| Poverty | Poverty |
| Glasgow | Glasgow |
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