The death of any homeless person is a tragedy and something that we want to avoid. We understand some of the complexities for people who have complex needs, which we need to address in the round. That is why our housing first approach is not just about getting people into accommodation but is about providing wraparound support to address addiction and mental health issues. We are providing funding through local authorities to do that, and we will continue to provide that because of its importance.

The rules on local connection were recognised as a barrier to accessing homelessness services, which is why we chose to remove them. That move was welcomed by people with lived experience of homelessness.

Most people who are homeless want to live in a community where they are already settled, but the new legislation allows people who are experiencing homelessness to move somewhere new if they want to. That puts homeless households’ rights on a par with those of people who own or rent their homes and ensures that they have access to consistent services wherever they are in Scotland.

Scotland has some of the strongest homelessness legislation in the world, and local authorities have a legal duty to provide accommodation to anyone who is at risk of homelessness. It is particularly important that people can access accommodation immediately during cold weather. That is why we have provided over £907,000 of funding since 2020 to support the operation of rapid rehousing welcome centres in Glasgow and Edinburgh through the winter. Those centres provide people who are at risk of rough sleeping with 24/7 immediate access to accommodation alongside wraparound support to move on to settled accommodation.

I thank Bob Doris for bringing this important and timely debate to the chamber. A number of thoughtful speeches have been made, and I thank members for that.

When the British Red Cross and the Refugee Survival Trust commissioned research on behalf of the destitute asylum seeker service in Glasgow, they knew that people seeking asylum were impacted by recurring issues of poverty and destitution. As members have noted, the “How will we survive?” report found that experiences of destitution were widespread among people seeking asylum. Sadly, that situation has not changed. Increasingly, people who have been forced to flee war, persecution and violence find that they must endure prolonged periods of uncertainty and destitution before they can feel properly safe and begin to rebuild their lives.

In speaking about the report, members have highlighted that the key causes of destitution for people seeking asylum include delays in receiving asylum support, the inadequacy of support when it is received and the long waiting times for asylum decisions. That tells us that the fundamental cause of asylum destitution is Home Office policy.

Home Office statistics show that more than 147,000 asylum applications were awaiting an initial decision at the end of September this year and that almost 100,000 of those had been waiting for more than six months. That is shocking. We should all be appalled that people who live in our communities have been waiting in limbo for years for a decision.

That significant backlog is a symptom of years of underinvestment in the fundamentals of the UK Government’s asylum system and a lack of recognition of the importance of our international obligations to recognise refugees. Changes must be made so that the UK has a fair and effective asylum system that protects people who seek safety. I have repeatedly called on the UK Government to make improvements to ensure that people are treated with dignity at all stages of the asylum process.

UK Government policy means that people who are seeking asylum have no recourse to public funds. That prevents them from accessing safety nets, such as the Scottish welfare fund, in times of crisis. Instead, if they would otherwise be destitute, the Home Office provides basic accommodation—increasingly, in a hotel or other institutional setting—and only £40.85 per week for food, clothing, travel and other essentials.

It is also Home Office policy to restrict the right to work for people seeking asylum, which members have touched on during the debate. That policy prevents people from supporting themselves, using their skills and contributing to our economy. They are also prevented from accessing the opportunities for social networking, wellbeing and integration that are found in workplaces. As others have noted, there are skills shortages in many parts of Scotland’s economy, and people who come here with skills could contribute in that regard.

Unless the underlying causes of destitution are addressed, that will continue to be the reality for too many people in our communities. Through the new Scots refugee integration strategy and the ending destitution together strategy, the Scottish Government is working with partners to do what we can, within our devolved powers, to make a difference for people in our communities who are seeking asylum. I am always interested to hear more about peer support projects, because I recognise the benefits that those can bring people. The third sector provides fantastic initiatives including integration networks, refugee-led community groups and the Voices Network, all of which enable people to meet, share their experiences and support one another. Bob Doris mentioned the work of the Maryhill Integration Network, and others have pointed to other projects.

I am pleased to be able to inform members that, for the rest of this financial year, the Scottish Government will continue to fund two important projects that deliver on ending destitution. The diagnostic legal advice project, led by the Scottish Refugee Council as part of the fair way Scotland partnership, will continue to provide direct advocacy support and triage and will link people to qualified legal advice to ensure that they can resolve underlying status issues and make informed choices about their future. I am also pleased to be able to inform the Parliament that the Scottish Government will continue to fund the Scottish crisis fund project, which is delivered by the British Red Cross in collaboration with a number of third sector partners. That project will continue to provide crisis grants to people who are experiencing, or at risk of, destitution, including people who face challenges in accessing mainstream support and those who have no recourse to public funds.

I will certainly ask my relevant colleague—it will probably be Shirley-Anne Somerville—to respond to Bob Doris on that important point.

I want to mention another issue that Bob Doris and other members have taken a keen interest in, which is concessionary travel. I understand that there was a constructive meeting with the Minister for Transport recently, and I hope that members found that useful. As was discussed at that meeting, work is now under way on a travel support pilot that will inform the work that is taking place in parallel on how we can provide travel support for people who are seeking asylum in the longer term.

We continue to press the Home Office on reserved issues that impact people who are living in our communities, and to push for positive change. Since I came into my role, I have written to Home Office ministers numerous times about many of the issues that have been highlighted in today’s debate, as my predecessors did. The UK Government must invest in the asylum system in order to increase the quality and speed of asylum decisions. That is the only way to uphold the UK’s international responsibilities to recognise and protect people who have been forced to flee persecution. It would reduce the uncertainty and the risk of destitution for people who just want and need to rebuild their lives in a place of safety, and it would also reduce the number of people the UK asylum system has to accommodate and support by allowing people to get on with their lives and play a full part in their communities.

The UK needs an effective and efficient asylum system that delivers for people who might be highly vulnerable, as well as our communities. We need a system that treats people with dignity and respect at all stages of the process and does not subject them to destitution.

I again thank Bob Doris and the other members who contributed to the debate for highlighting this important issue. Home Secretaries and Home Office ministers have repeatedly referred to the UK asylum system as being broken. It is clear that we all agree on that, as we heard in members’ contributions today, but there is no use in saying that it needs fixed and then not taking action. The UK Government must now fix its failed and inhumane system or provide this Parliament with the powers to do so. Meanwhile, of course, we will use our devolved powers to do what we can to support some of the most vulnerable people in our communities.

We very much welcome the trial, and we support technological innovations that will help social landlords to improve the condition of their homes. The pilot will see sensors in homes sharing real-time data through the internet of things Scotland network, to help local authorities and housing associations to intervene proactively and to minimise issues including damp and mould. The development was supported by funding of £2.7 million from the Scottish Government, £150,000 from Scottish Enterprise and £30,000 from Highlands and Islands Enterprise. We will take a close interest in the outcomes of the trial.

First, I say to Jackie Baillie that we, too, are concerned about people queuing up in the street for food, particularly in the winter. We all want the outcome of appropriate premises being found.

Jackie Baillie will also understand that it is not for the Scottish Government to find and procure a building; that is for Glasgow City Council. What we can do, though, is encourage both parties to continue to discuss. Jackie Baillie will be aware of some of the issues around the properties that were offered; however, we need to see some solutions here. Glasgow City Council is best placed to find the properties that could meet Homeless Project Scotland’s needs, but there will need to be discussion, dialogue and perhaps compromise from both parties.

The safety of residents and home owners is our absolute priority. We are taking forward a robust programme of comprehensive and technical assessments through our single building assessment programme, which, in the past six months, has been expanded to more than 100 buildings.

Assessments are being completed and discussions on remediation are under way and although we expect that the vast majority of buildings will be found to be safe, if immediate action is needed to safeguard residents, we will take action. Through Homes for Scotland, we are also working with housing developers on our safer buildings accord.

Of course I will meet them and if Annie Wells, in advance of that meeting, could send me some detail on that, I will ask officials to look into it, because communication with home owners in relation to those matters is very important.

I said in my initial answer that we would take immediate action to safeguard residents if it is needed; we have already taken such action, including some waking watches, which the Scottish Government is helping to fund.

There are also issues here around responsibility. We have committed £400 million to this programme of work and we have spent almost £1 million so far on assessments. However, where a developer can be found in connection with the property, the remediation needs to be the responsibility of the developer. It is when there is no developer to be found or they no longer exist that the Scottish Government will step in to fund any remediation work. I am not sure what the details are around this case but I am happy to look into it if Annie Wells can furnish me with those details.

These figures serve to remind us of the human stories behind the statistics, and drive our commitment to do all that we can to prevent homelessness from happening in the first place.

We know that experience of multiple forms of extreme disadvantage is linked to higher rates of ill health and premature death. The national mission on reducing drug-related deaths includes work to strengthen partnerships between health and homelessness services to improve outcomes for people experiencing homelessness with complex needs. An independent evaluation showed that Scotland’s housing first programme can transform the lives of people with difficult experiences of homelessness.