Homeless Project Scotland (HPS), which runs the Glassford Street shelter, offers overnight accommodation for around 30 people on mattresses and serves meals to about 350 people a day. The organisation has been operating from the premises since November 2023 and says it provides a vital service for those with nowhere else to turn.

At a tense meeting of Glasgow City Council’s Planning Local Review Committee, members voted seven to five to reject HPS’s appeal against an earlier refusal of planning permission. The six SNP and one Green councillor on the committee voted to reject the appeal, while five Labour councillors voted in favour, proposing a temporary six-month consent with conditions including a full management plan.

Despite the decision, council officials confirmed the charity will not have to close immediately, provided it submits a more comprehensive planning application within three months — one that covers both the night shelter and its adjoining soup kitchen.

Committee chair Councillor Ken Andrew (SNP) led the motion to reject the appeal, citing “too many failings” with the current setup. Pointing out concerns, he listed mattresses on the floor, lack of showers, toilet facilities not being gender segregated, as well as the management plan for the facility being thin.

Councillor Eva Bolander (SNP) seconded the motion, stressing that the committee had to focus on planning policy, not social services.

Labour members on the committee took a different view, arguing that the shelter, while imperfect, meets urgent humanitarian needs amid the city’s housing crisis.

Councillor Cecilia O’Lone said: “It is not an ideal situation. It is not what we want in 2025.”

She added: “At that moment in time – it meets their needs – they have somewhere safe and warm and they have a bed. They might not be perfect but that is where we are.”

After a private session, the councillors then came back and Councillor Andrew proposed that the appeal be rejected, but with a recommendation that the charity come back with a new application.

Following the decision, Colin McInnes, chief executive of Homeless Project Scotland, issued a strongly worded statement condemning the outcome as “deeply disappointing and disgusting”.

“This decision has left the homeless and vulnerable once again facing uncertainty and fear about their future,” he said. “It is not enough that they have already endured sleepless nights worrying about where they will go now they must wait yet another year or more for the next planning application.

“It is clear where the priorities of the SNP and Greens lie. On the second day of Challenge Poverty Week a week meant to highlight the fight against hardship those in power have chosen to reject a shelter and hot food service that exists to protect people from poverty, hunger, and cold.

“I want to extend my heartfelt thanks to the Labour councillors who stood up for what is right today, who supported our facility fully and voted to approve. Your compassion and integrity shine through on a day when others turned their backs on the people of Glasgow.”