THE SNP have written to the Presiding Officer accusing Malcolm Offord of “misleading” the Scottish Parliament.
The party’s MSP Steven Bonnar has complained to Kenneth Gibson about what the Reform UK’s leader in Scotland has said in the Holyrood chamber over recent weeks concerning local connection rules within Scotland’s homelessness system.
The party have repeatedly claimed that the end of the rule in 2022 has seen migrants presenting as homeless travel from England to be housed north of the Border.
The party said the ending of the rule, which meant people applying as homeless could be required to demonstrate a connection to the local authority area, has led to migrants, whom they have consistently labelled “strangers”, being prioritised on housing waiting lists.
For example, during FMQs two weeks ago, Offord said “thousands of the immigrants who arrive illegally in the UK” who are then granted leave to remain “then come specifically to Scotland” before presenting as homeless “because local authorities here have less discretion than in England about how they allocate accommodation”.
In the letter to Gibson, Bonnar said Offord has also claimed that the local connection were introduced by the Scottish Government to provide preferential housing treatment to refugees and asylum seekers.
The Scottish Government, along with housing charity Shelter, have also previously said the claim that certain groups are prioritised over others is wrong.
Bonnar said: “This assertion is incorrect and does not reflect the operation of the homelessness system. “The 2022 amendments to local connection rules did not create any separate or preferential route to housing for refugees.
"All homeless households are assessed by local authorities under the same legal framework and eligibility criteria, with decisions based on individual circumstances and statutory duties.”
The SNP MSP went on to say that he is concerned that repeating these claims “risks creating confusion” about how Scotland’s homelessness system operates and “may contribute to unnecessary division”.
Bonnar went on: “I believe it is important that public debate, particularly on sensitive matters such as housing and migration, is grounded in factual accuracy, and that members take care to ensure statements made in Parliament do not mislead or unfairly target vulnerable groups.”
The letter concludes by asking the Presiding Officer to review the remarks and “consider what steps are appropriate to ensure that the official record accurately reflects the position of the law” as well as that “misleading assertions are addressed”.
Responding, Offord said: “Steven Bonnar can write as many letters as he likes but he cannot explain away the facts.
"Glasgow City council was providing temporary accommodation for 9337 homeless people as at 12th February 2026, of whom 5948 (64%) have refugee status, having originally come to the UK as asylum seekers.
"Of these, 2781 (of whom 2,056, or 74%, are those with refugee status) are having to be hosted in hotels and B&B accommodation, at an extraordinary cost of £55m since April (figure is 1st April 2025 to 12th February 2026).
"To give an idea of how much the council has been inundated with homeless applications, in addition to those 9337 they are accommodating, a further 2,622 homeless were refused accommodation since April.”
"Instead of trying to shut down debate, SNP politicians should be explaining these figures to the hard working Scots waiting for housing in their own communities.”
