Labour: Ministers wasting “amazing generosity” of public towards Ukrainians

Lisa Nandy has accused ministers of “wasting the amazing generosity” of the British people as official figures show that only 2,700 visas have been granted under the ‘Home for Ukraine’ scheme out of a total of 28,300 applications.

Commenting on Home Office data, the Shadow Levelling Up Secretary said it is “scandalous that only one in 100 of the offers by people to open their homes has been taken up because of the way the government is running the scheme”.

More than 200,000 people have signed up to offer housing to refugees under the programme since its launch. Applicants have complained that there is no way to track their applications, which has left refugees uncertain about whether to begin travelling to the UK.

“Ministers gave no thought to key details before the scheme was announced. They need to cut out unnecessary bureaucracy and speed up the processing of visas,” Nandy said this morning.

“Instead of a DIY scheme where sponsors and refugees have to find each other on social media, the government needs to take charge of matching people. This is a serious humanitarian crisis, not online dating.”

Ministers have been criticised for the lack of an official mechanism or portal under the scheme by which refugees and prospective hosts can be linked up, with refugees instead ‘advertising’ themselves on social media platforms in a bid to find hosts.

Nandy added: “People have stepped up in Ukraine’s hour of need. These figures show that the government needs to urgently do the same.”

Michael Gove set out the details of the scheme on March 14th, saying that the plan “draws on the enormous goodwill and generosity of the British public and our proud history of supporting the vulnerable in their hour of greatest need”.

The programme allows Ukrainians with no family ties to the UK to be sponsored by individuals or organisations who can offer them a home. There is no limit on the number who can benefit, and all Ukrainian nationals and residents are eligible.

Sponsors in UK can be of any nationality, with any immigration status, providing that they have at least six months leave to remain in the UK and are able to provide accommodation for a minimum of six months. The government has said it will pay sponsors £350 per month for each Ukrainian family they house.

Over 3.9 million refugees have left Ukraine since Russian forces invaded the country earlier this year. The majority of them have settled in Poland, according to the UNHCR. Around 6.5 million people have been displaced within the country.

Yvette Cooper has accused ministers of making “shamefully slow progress” in offering help to refugees fleeing Ukraine. The Shadow Home Secretary added: “British people [have] shown strong support but shambolic Home Office bureaucracy [is] letting everyone down.”

Lord Harrington told a parliamentary committee this morning that progress was starting to be seen thanks to changes the department made to “streamline” the visa process. The minister for refugees confirmed that the application form had been reduced from an initial 50-page document to “around 30” pages.

He said the government hopes to be processing 15,000 applications a week in the next few weeks with the backlog beginning to clear. Boris Johnson told MPs in Prime Minister’s Questions today that 1,000 applications are being processed per day.

The Home Office also released figures for the Ukraine Family Scheme, where refugees apply to stay with relatives resident in the UK. The department reported that it has issued 22,800 visas out of a total of 31,200 applications.

A Local Government Association survey of 190 councils between March 23rd and 29th found that 57 have seen Ukrainian nationals present as homeless since the start of the crisis. Almost one third (44) came through the Ukraine Family Scheme.