GLASGOW City Council has “lost contact” with hundreds of homeless people over the last 12 months.

Council sources have said that the local authority did not manage to keep in touch with at least 585 people who were registered as homeless.

The council has confirmed they receive around 6000 homeless applications a year and that the figure is close to the number of households they would expect to lose contact with as some people resolve their situation without any help.

A spokeswoman for Glasgow’s Health and Social Care Partnership said: “We receive almost 6000 homelessness applications a year.

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“Each case goes through an initial assessment. A proportion of these applications are from people who fear they are about to become homeless, for example, due to a relationship breakdown, rent arrears or a dispute with their landlord.”

The most recent report by the Scottish Housing Regulator (SHR) states that the local authority “continues to fail to meet its duties to provide temporary and emergency accommodation to a significant number of people who approach it for help.”

The SHR claims the council lost contact with around a quarter of people who were homeless while they waited for a home. They believe the length and complexity of the process is a significant factor in this.

Community campaigner Sean Clerkin said it was “disgraceful the biggest local authority in Scotland cannot give the homeless accommodation and are leaving people on the streets.”

The local authority says it has plans to reduce the level of “lost contacts” as part of their Rapid Rehousing Transition Plan by preventing homelessness and moving people into a settled tenancy more quickly.

Glasgow’s Health and Social Care Partnership spokeswoman added: “Staff give people advice on urgent steps they can take to avert homelessness and during the assessment period, their circumstances may change.

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“Delayed benefits may come through to pay their rent, they may find a new private let, decide to flat-share with a friend, reconcile with their partner or move to another area.

“Then, as they no longer require our services, they may not respond to our follow-up letters. These cases are recorded as ‘lost contacts’ – this can contribute to the figures.”