AN accommodation provider that already works with the public sector providing “good quality, safe places for people to live” could mount a bid take over Mears Group’s contract for housing for asylum seekers and refugees in Glasgow.
The Housing Network is exploring the possibility a year after six people were hurt when Badreddin Abadlla Adam attacked fellow asylum seekers with a knife in a rampage at the city’s Park Inn hotel, before being shot dead by police.
Anne McLaughlin MP, the SNP’s opposition spokesperson on immigration, asylum and border control, plans to meet the company to discuss their plans, along with immigration lawyer Usman Aslam, who has already been in touch with them.
READ MORE: Tories accused of 'total failure' to protect refugees as backlog revealed
Marc Goodkind founded The Housing Network in 2014 as a specialist social housing provider after working for 15 years in the residential property sector.
They already work with Edinburgh City Council and say their experience there and elsewhere across the UK could help with accommodating asylum seekers in Glasgow.
He said: “We partner exclusively with the public sector to provide good quality, safe places for people to live, no matter the type of tenure. We also provide practical support which gives residents a better chance to become independent and therefore rely less on third parties.”
The Housing Network is contracted to supply almost 300 bed spaces in 215 properties to the Ministry of Justice in the east of England, and has worked with asylum seekers in Portsmouth.
They are currently housing young migrants with no recourse to public funds and have just implemented a new maintenance platform called Fixflo, which operates in more than 40 languages.
Goodkind added: “We know that being proactive, doing things well and offering more works, because by looking after our residents, we look after the organisation we work with.”
McLaughlin told The National the current accommodation contract was clearly not working and all options should be explored.
“The argument was made at the time that when the contract was up for tender that Glasgow City Council should have been able to bid for it but this was blocked by the Tory government in favour of it going to their friends in the private sector,” she said.
“I am happy to look at any options that will improve the lives of people who come here seeking refuge and will continue to fight the hostile environment that the UK Government seem determined to create against the will of the people of Glasgow and Scotland.”
Gary Christie, head of policy for the Scottish Refugee Council, said: “Providing accommodation in communities to people fleeing persecution is a public service and should be delivered in a way that respects people’s rights, needs and dignity.”
Aslam, from the Glasgow firm Rea Law, said there comes a point when enough is enough.
He added: “The company appears to have a solid reputation and I see no reason why the Home Office cannot use them.
“I would urge organisations that regularly encounter accommodation issues that asylum seekers face to step up and show their support as this is a great opportunity.
“We need to seriously change our perception of asylum seekers. They are human beings, not numbers.”
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