Ministers have announced a £252,000 funding package to organisations to help ensure asylum seekers have access to legal professionals and other services.

It comes after the Court of Session in Edinburgh ruled in November that lock-change evictions used by Home Office contractor Serco against asylum seekers were lawful, leaving about 150 people facing eviction.

A previous funding package of £150,000 helped to reduce the number of people at risk of eviction, from a peak of 330 when planned lock change evictions were first announced. Further funding proposals for longer-term strategic projects are also being developed.

Communities secretary Aileen Campbell said: “We all have a moral duty to help those most in need, and we want to provide a humanitarian response to the plight of people facing eviction and homelessness. This funding will ensure advocacy and legal support are available for those who desperately need it and ensure people’s dignity and rights are respected.

“Previous UK Governments have failed to fix their failed asylum process. This cannot continue. It is now the time for them to finally find a long-term, sustainable and humane alternative to the asylum process. I will be writing to UK ministers to remind them of their role to not make anyone who has sought safety in this country homeless and destitute.”