Protesters from a homeless charity were asked to turn down their music by the police following complaints that it was disrupting a council meeting.
Homeless Project Scotland is urging the council to provide a building to support its work, and held a demonstration outside the city chambers during a full council meeting today.
Volunteers set up a soup kitchen and played loud music outside the chambers, which meant councillors sometimes struggled to hear others speak.
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Lord Provost Jacqueline McLaren told the meeting that the police had been called, and a council spokesman later confirmed staff had asked officers to talk to the protesters.
Colin McInnes, from Homeless Project Scotland, said the police had asked for the music to be turned down as it could disrupt nearby offices.
He had earlier said: “We are only trying to get a warm, hot space for our homeless and vulnerable.
“The council has not offered anything that is suitable,” he said, adding: "All we are asking for is something that is wind and watertight and it's got a heating system in it, and it's in the centre of Glasgow so we can then support people in the centre.”
The charity currently runs a food kitchen under Heilanman’s Umbrella but wants to move inside as temperatures drop. A council spokeswoman insisted it had offered “suitable” accommodation but the charity had turned it down.
The spokeswoman said: “Most recently, the renovated St Francis Centre in Gorbals was offered to HPS to deliver their evening soup kitchen. The centre has capacity for 200 people and opens until 9pm with the offer of flexibility around opening times to suit their operation.
“This offer has been rejected with HPS indicating it now wants a building with 24/7 availability and a capacity exceeding 200 people. Unfortunately, we do not have a suitable building that matches the change in requirements set out by the charity.
“We know the charity has reached out to other property holders and it is right that they take the broadest possible approach with their search for a venue.”
Mr McInnes said his message to councillors was “if you can’t step up and help people then you need to step down and let somebody step in.”
"185 people last night stood out in -2 conditions for two hours waiting on hot food. If that's not a message to elected members that have power then I don't know what will be."
He said the charity had also contacted private landlords and is “trying to do everything we can to bring people indoors”.
During the council meeting, Labour group leader Councillor George Redmond asked for an update on the latest progress with the search for a building.
"We all have a responsibility to resolve this to make sure homeless people get the support they need to get off the street and into warm accommodation,” he said.
Councillor Allan Casey, the council’s homelessness convener, said the charity’s requirements had changed and he did “not think the council can satisfy these demands” as it can’t facilitate 24 hour opening and it has a “limited property portfolio” in the city centre.
He agreed to meet with Councillor Redmond and the charity to discuss finding a premises, but said the Labour leader hadn’t responded to an earlier request to meet.
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