New Scots Core Group minutes: December 2025

Attendees and apologies

•  University of Glasgow (Chair)
•  British Red Cross (online)
•  COSLA (online)
• Glasgow Clyde College
• Mental Health Foundation
• Public Health Scotland
• Scottish Faiths Action for Refugees
• 3 representatives from Scottish Government
•  2 representatives from Scottish Refugee Council
• Police Scotland
• 3 NSCGA
• Scottish Refugee Council (Secretariat - Minutes)
• Scottish Government (Secretariat)

 

Guests

• COSLA
• Scottish Refugee Council

 

Apologies

• Scottish Government
• 2 representatives from UNHCR UK (observer)
• Police Scotland
•  Bridges Programmes
• SLAED
• 3 New Scots Core Group Advisers

Items and actions

WELCOME AND APOLOGIES

 

• Chair welcomed guests to the meeting.
• Chair highlighted changes to group membership, including:

 

• 4 new members of the New Scots Core Group Advisers, taking their total number to 10, although from this meeting onwards there will be 6 advisers at each meeting, attending on rotation.
  • Another representative from SRC will be supporting the Advisers.
  •  Police Scotland’s Equality & Diversity unit, has a new representative. 
  • The departure of LB from UNHCR and the Core Group. The chair paid tribute to LB’s contribution to the Core Group and long-time champion of the Refugee Convention.

 

 

MINUTES/ACTION POINTS FROM MEETING ON 18 SEPTEMBER 2025

 

• Minor changes were suggested to the minutes and then agreed as an accurate record of the meeting on 11 June 2025.
• Chair confirmed that a number of actions have been closed since the last Core Group meeting.

 

ACTIONS:

• Action 1 - SRC Secreteriat to make suggested changes to September draft minutes identified at December meeting

 

DELIVERY PLAN ACTION UPDATES

 

•  SRC noted they had held a roundtable on a not-for-profit model for asylum accommodation contracts and are looking to produce a follow up report. They also provided a brief overview of the issues raised in the regional integration networks paper.
• SG highlighted the launch of the free bus travel pilot and encouraged any organisation who wished to be a trusted verifier in Glasgow to sign up. Questions were raised on sustainability and impact measurement, and noted Transport Scotland will conduct an evaluation and emphasised the importance of evidencing demand as well as outcomes
• Chair gave a brief update on multilingualism work and the UNESCO Chair summit at University of Glasgow, including the forthcoming report on the importance of multilingualism to social cohesion and community empowerment

 

UK GOVERNMENT’S PROPOSED CHANGES TO THE ASYLUM SYSTEM

 

• SG raised the Scottish Government’s significant concerns about UK asylum reforms, noting risks to a fair and humane system and impacts on devolved services. They warned the proposals do not take a whole-system approach and could increase destitution, homelessness and poverty, undermine integration, and place pressure on local authorities. Scottish Government will continue engagement with UK ministers and raise consultation accessibility concerns, noting the timing alongside the upcoming election.
• COSLA noted local authority leaders will write to the Home Secretary expressing strong concerns about the proposals’ impact on people seeking sanctuary and migrant workers. While recognising the need for reform, COSLA believes the plans diverge from Scotland’s approach, risk increased vulnerability, NRPF pressures and financial burdens on local authorities, and move away from the successful resettlement model. COSLA highlighted similar concerns raised by the Local Government Association in England and Wales, including the need for clarity on timelines.
• UNHCR outlined the scope of the proposed reforms, including the review of the application of Articles 3 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights; the creation of a “one-stop-shop” for appeals; new legislation on Modern Slavery; and the changes to long-term settlement, which SRC will be opposing in their entirety.
• Addressing their statement on the proposals, the NSCGAs raised concerns that the changes would make the asylum system slower and more expensive, fail to meet stated goals, and signal that people will never fully belong, contrasting with Scotland’s approach to inclusion. They highlighted impacts on children’s rights, mental and physical health, life planning, and the essential role of migrants in key sectors, describing the proposals as harmful to families and potentially in breach of human rights, and encouraged engagement with the consultation.

ACTIONS

• Action 2 -  SRC to distribute slides from SRC’s presentation 
• Action 3 - SRC to provide consultation deadlines for UK Government proposals and arrange meeting with advisers to discuss response.  

 

ESOL: TACKLING THE WAITING LIST AND MAPPING LEARNING

 

• Glasgow Clyde College presented findings from COSLA’s ESOL survey (issued July, responses received September), with a 94% response rate providing qualitative and quantitative insight across Scotland and echoing concerns from the CLD review. Five key themes were identified: inequity of ESOL offering across different local authority areas; fragility of funding; impact of relationship, or lack thereof, with local college(s); learner demographics and barriers to learning; and impact of lack of ESOL strategy, which has meant not being able to plan strategically beyond immediate needs, with a reliance on short-term external funding.
• SG provided an updated on the work of the ESOL expert group (Delivery Plan Action 2.2), which has now met for its third and final time. The group considered identifying learners, language assessment, and mapping delivery and addressing barriers.SG said that COSLA’s survey, the thematic inspection by His Majesty’s Inspectorate of Education in Scotland, and the work of the expert group would feed Into the work of the CLD SLG.
• Glasgow Clyde College highlighted significant pressures on college funding, limiting viability of work with local authorities. They outlined Glasgow Clyde College’s work in school and community-based ESOL, prison provision and employment pathways, but stressed resource constraints, noted 7,000 people were in waiting lists in Glasgow, and highlighted challenges such as protests outside schools.
• The Chair reflected that the system was under strain, partly due to the absence of strategic framework and funding, and that this was exacerbated by community tensions.

 

ACTIONS

• Action 4 - SG to update on progress of outcomes from ESOL expert group including plans for the conference.  

 

MENTAL HEALTH NEEDS AND PSYCHOLOGICAL SUPPORT

 

• Mental Health Foundation raised a question of whether mental health assessments are conducted in hotels and immigration detention centres across Scotland and responsibility for these. The Chair said that Core Group was not best placed to answer this, because the facilities are contracted by the Home Office, but that we could try to clarify this information. Mental Health Foundation offered to send information on mental health support for refugees and people seeking asylum.
• NSCGA  highlighted a survey on “Psychological Support and Stress Levels Among Ukrainians in Scotland” by the Health and Wellbeing Working Group of the Cross-Party Group on Ukraine. They noted it gathered 375 responses and outlined its key findings, including uncertainty over visa and long-term status as the biggest factor contributing to poor mental health. 

 

ACTIONS

 

• Action 5 - PPG to try to find out what if any mental health assessments are undertaken in asylum hotels, who is responsible for these and what is made public.
• Action 6 – Mental Helath Foundation to send information on mental health support for refugees and people seeking asylum.

 

INDICATORS

• The Chair updated members on the development of indicators given the working group’s significant input. The draft indicators were a useful starting point to test ideas and assess feasibility, though some could not be progressed due to data gaps, resource constraints and challenges measuring outcomes. The work has identified indicators for some actions and provided a starting point for researchers, with Scottish Government, COSLA and SRC refining proposals where drafts were not workable.

 

ANY OTHER BUSINESS

 

• Mental Health Foundation informed members that the Mental Health Foundation is going through a restructuring and that the current project would end in March, meaning their membership of the Core Group would end after this.
• The Chair thanked all members for their contributions and noted that the next meeting would take place in February or March with an exact date to follow in due course.