AT least 20 failed asylum seekers with dependent children will be offered support in private flats rather than being held in the Dungavel detention centre.

AT least 20 failed asylum seekers with dependent children will be offered support in private flats rather than being held in the Dungavel detention centre.

The pilot scheme, aimed at encouraging families to return home voluntarily in a more humane and dignified way, will begin in Glasgow next month.

The £125,000 project will provide flats for about five families of asylum seekers at a time, and help them plan a return to their home country.

However, it will not remove the need for what the UK Border Agency describes as "enforced returns", and dawn raids - currently taking place at a rate of one a month - will still form part of their strategy in Scotland.

The three-year pilot will be able to cater for 20 families a year, but UKBA figures suggest that 40 families may be eligible and the controversial practice of sending children to Dungavel will be reduced but not ended.

The pilot was welcomed as a "a step towards" ending the detention of children.

The scheme, which involves Glasgow City Council, the UKBA and the Scottish Government, will offer failed asylum seekers with dependent children the option of spending up to three months in a flat in Kinning Park with a dedicated social worker and package of measures to ease their return.