‘Cramped and unsafe’ Glasgow housing unit forced to suspend mother and baby services

The mother and baby unit in Glasgow and stills from a video made by a resident. ‘There were mice in the room,’ said one woman. ‘But they did nothing. They just told me to cover up the food.’ Photograph: Twitter/GoogleMaps

A housing unit has been forced to close its services to mothers and babies after a damning report found that the “cramped and unsafe” accommodation breached their human rights.

In its report, the Children and Young People’s Commissioner Scotland said the unit, which housed asylum-seeking mothers and their children, had radiators and gas cookers dangerously close to babies’ cots, a lack of natural light and little ventilation, and no space for babies to crawl, play or walk.