Glasgow takes 20 times as many refugees as Edinburgh

Largest city faces huge bill for housing newcomers

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Aitken, the SNP leader of Glasgow council, told the Record: “I would like to see other local authorities step up more.

“I would like to see the spread of asylum seekers and then subsequently refugees across Scotland more evenly.”

She has also blasted the impact of the Home Office policy of trying to empty the asylum hotels quickly. She said this approach is creating a problem of refugee homelessness in Glasgow and a £66million black hole for the council.

An Edinburgh council source said:

“Asylum accommodation is the responsibility of the Home Office and its contracted accommodation provider for Scotland, Mears Group.

“The numbers hosted in a local authority area depend entirely on how much accommodation the Home Office, via Mears, is able to procure.

“The figures in this document also don't show people accommodated under humanitarian schemes, for example Ukraine, Afghanistan and Syria.”