In a Freedom of Information release published on 27 July, the Scottish Government stated that it holds no information on planned policy or funding changes for asylum-seeker accommodation or integration programmes for the 2026/27 financial year. The response clarifies that responsibility for core asylum support remains reserved to the UK Home Office, although Scotland continues to fund additional Refugee Support Service grants delivered by the Scottish Refugee Council. The disclosure follows local-authority concerns that any cut in central funding could leave councils footing higher hotel and dispersal costs. With Glasgow and Edinburgh among the UK’s busiest dispersal areas outside England, uncertainty over budgets complicates workforce planning for social services, schools and NHS boards that already face tight staffing markets. Multinational companies operating north of the border should note that employee-relocation timelines may lengthen if local housing stock is re-allocated to asylum accommodation at short notice. Equally, firms keen to tap refugee talent pools through the government’s pilot skills-matching schemes gain assurance that those programmes are not slated for reductions this fiscal year. While Holyrood’s single-year budgeting process limits forward visibility, the FOI confirms that no efficiency savings have yet been sought in the equality and human-rights directorate that oversees refugee integration. Employers can therefore proceed on the basis of continuity at least until the next Scottish Budget in February 2027.
Source: gov.scot
