Emergency support for homeless people in hotels in Glasgow will remain in place until they are found suitable homes, the Scottish Government has said.

In a letter that states the intention to end rough sleeping in the city, a government housing official said the aim is to find homes for all those in emergency accommodation.

Around 300 people who were identified as sleeping rough by the Simon Community where put into hotels, working with Glasgow City Council with cash provided by the Scottish Government.

The move was separate to the hundreds of asylum seekers moved out of homes and into hotels by housing provider Mears.

In a letter to housing campaigner Sean Clerkin of the Scottish Tenants Association, a Government official from the Housing and Social Justice Directorate, said the emergency support will not be withdrawn until homes are found.

It said “Our ambition is to capitalise on the unique opportunity we have and secure our goal of ending homelessness in Scotland. We want to secure settled homes for those currently in emergency accommodation and want to prevent increases in homelessness among those who may, for example, experience a drop in household income or loss of employment following the pandemic.”

It continues: “It may be worth highlighting that over £1.5 million has been provided so far to third sector organisations to acquire emergency hotel accommodation for people experiencing, or at risk of experiencing, homelessness. This support will not be removed until we have a safe way of moving people on from this accommodation in to a home that suits their needs.

A spokeswoman for Glasgow’s Health & Social Care Partnership said: “We are working with the hotel owners to ensure a phased withdrawal from this form of accommodation while also liaising with a range of stakeholders to ensure we can provide alternative accommodation for people we have a statutory duty towards.”

Mr Clerkin, said: “I am delighted that the Scottish Government have given us an absolute assurance that all those homeless people will continue living in self contained accommodation and will not be put back on the streets with a firm commitment to getting them all permanent accommodation. ”