Glasgow Times

Concern over cuts to emergency services

- By CAROLINE WILSON

SOCIAL workers and charity leaders have raised fears about cuts to emergency out-of-hours services for homeless people in Glasgow.

From October 24, the Hamish Allan Centre, where people are assessed for a bed, will no longer be open through the night on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Homeless people who turn up at the Tradeston-based centre will be expected to go to Glasgow City Mission, in Crimea Street, if it is before 11pm, where they will have access to social work staff.

However, after this time, homeless people will be asked to call a free, emergency number.

An email seen by the Evening Times states that, “the user will be contacted and their needs assessed.”

The council is gradually decommissi­oning services at the Hamish Allan Centre as part of an eventual move to a new ‘multi-agency hub.’

The City Mission say it will be of benefit to have council staff on site who can assess people who turn up looking for a bed for the night.

However union leaders fear the loss of face-to-face contact after 11pm could create a barrier to emergency help and lead to more people sleeping on the city’s streets.

Shelter Scotland said it was “deeply concerned” about the provision of services for homeless people in Glasgow.

The Hamish Allan Centre is open between 4pm and 9am from Monday to Friday and 24 hours on Saturday, Sunday.

A social work source said: “If someone turns up, they will be asked to call a number and contacted.

“I don’t know many homeless persons who have a mobile phone.

“There could be a crisis of people wandering the streets.

“They have dressed it up as a multi-disciplina­ry hub but it’s j ust another cut i n services.”

Chris Sermanni, Social Work Convenor for Unison Glasgow, said: “They have modelled this as a pilot, saying Tuesday and Wednesdays aren’t particular­ly busy.

“We are certainly not convinced by this.

“We are concerned that this is Glasgow City Council moving services outwith council responsibi­lity to the third sector or private sector.

“It’s a scaling back of the service between 5pm and 11pm there’s a local hub. It means there is no one in out of hours services.

“This model is used in other local authoritie­s but Glasgow isn’t like other local authoritie­s. It’s Scotland biggest city and this sends out the wrong message.

“We have raised this with management and politician­s and will continue to do that because we are not buying into it. Asking people to call a number is almost putting a barrier in place for some people.

“One of the beauties of the Hamish Allen Centre is that you can simply walk in and be assessed.”

On March 21, a homeless man was discovered dead in freezing conditions, outside the store TJ Hughes on Argyle Street, prompting calls for more to be done to stop further fatalities.

Graham Steven, Partnershi­p and Communicat­ions Manager at Glasgow City Mission, said: “They are putting a member of staff in our building. From our perspectiv­e it’s a positive thing as we will have people in our building who require to go to Hamish Allen Centre to be assessed.

“It cuts out one step of the journey for those people.”

A spokesman for Glasgow City Council said: “The move to a multi-agency hub will help us and a growing number of partners to deliver the right services, where and when they are most needed.”

Graeme Brown, Director of Shelter Scotland, said: “We have been deeply concerned about the provision of services to homeless people in Glasgow for a long time.While we agree there needs to be change some of the planned changes are raising alarm bells for us.

“Winter is almost upon us and there is an urgent need for Glasgow City Council to put in place workable plans that ensure people can get emergency accommodat­ion whether they have a working phone or not.”

 ??  ?? Homeless people sleeping on streets of Glasgow. A person lies sleeping in a doorway on Hope Street, Glasgow
Homeless people sleeping on streets of Glasgow. A person lies sleeping in a doorway on Hope Street, Glasgow

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