Dispersal is the process by which the Home Office moves destitute asylum seekers to specified local authority areas across the UK. They are first moved to initial accommodation while their application for asylum support is processed. Once the application has been processed and approved they are moved on to dispersal accommodation. Asylum accommodation is offered on a no-choice basis.
Glasgow is the largest dispersal area in Scotland and currently supports c.4,500 people seeking asylum. COSLA has worked closely with Glasgow City Council to support their approach to dispersal over a number of years. There is also a number of Contingency Accommodation sites, ordinarily hotels across Scotland which are managed by Mears, the Home Office’s contracted provider in Scotland. People seeking asylum are now being supported in many of Scotland’s local authority areas.
COSLA works with the councils and other statutory services on a day to day basis to seek to manage the impacts of initial, dispersal and contingency accommodation in the local authority areas and is also heavily involved in more strategic work that takes place with a range of partners, including the Home Office and their contractors, both at a Scottish and UK level.
There are a number of structures in place that COSLA run and contribute to that oversee asylum dispersal in Scotland, including a tripartite Partnership Board, chaired by Glasgow City Council and involving the Home Office, their contractors and all Scottish LAs. COSLA actively supports the work of the Partnership Board.
People seeking asylum do not have recourse to public funds and in general are not allowed to work (there are a few exceptions to this). Destitute asylum seekers should receive support from the Home Office whilst their claim is being processed. For guidance on local authorities responsibilities for those with no recourse to public funds please see COSLA guidance here.
The Asylum Support Appeals Project provides useful resources on the asylum process: asaproject.org
Scottish Refugee Council provide services for destitute asylum seekers and asylum seeking families.