Serco is set to assume control of a £221 million Home Office contract to provide homes for asylum seekers in Scotland and Northern Ireland, The Herald reports.

Orchard & Shipman (Glasgow) Ltd has managed the contract on Serco’s behalf since September 2012.

Under plans being discussed by both companies, sixty O&S staff members would become Serco employees and Serco would take over the provision of accommodation for nearly 5,000 asylum seekers.

O&S has said the move is a “business decision”.

Graham O’Neill, policy officer at the Scottish Refugee Council, told The Herald: “We welcome any move that simplifies the complex housing supply chain for asylum accommodation in Scotland. If the result of this transfer is to provide greater clarity and accountability around who is responsible for this essential public service then that can only be a positive step.”

He added: “The situation with asylum accommodation in Glasgow can’t go on as it is.

“We’ve heard too many horror stories of people being treated unfairly and put up in substandard flats.

“These are people who have lived through terrible experiences in their home countries and who have had to flee their own homes in fear for their lives.”