Ukraine visa scheme flaws could lead to ‘homelessness crisis’, warns Labour

MPs call on minister to issue urgent guidance to councils after figures show 150 Ukrainian families homeless

Labour has warned that shortcomings in the government’s Ukraine visa schemes could lead to a “homelessness crisis” in the UK.

MPs have called on ministers to urgently issue guidance to local authorities after it emerged on Wednesday that nearly 150 newly arrived Ukrainian households have presented as homeless to councils.

Figures published by the Local Government Association (LGA) revealed that at least 144 households have registered as homeless since the Russian invasion started, of whom 44 arrived under the family scheme, 36 under the Homes for Ukraine scheme and 64 whose status was unknown.

In the House of Commons on Thursday, Mike Amesbury, shadow minister for the department for levelling up, housing and communities (DLUHC), cited the figures, and warned that there were “real fears of a homelessness crisis if sponsorships break down”.

Addressing the minister for homelessness Eddie Hughes, he added: “What urgent guidance and support is his department giving councils on these cases?”

In response, Mr Hughes said that given his role he had a “very keen interest” in the matter, adding: “We will be investigating to ensure that we completely understand what has led to that situation.”

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Local authorities are given £10,500 in central government funding for each Ukrainian refugee under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, a route that allows Ukrainians without family members in the UK to be hosted by members of the British public.

But councils receive no money for those arriving under the family scheme, which allows Ukrainian refugees to join UK-based relatives.

Clive Betts, Labour MP and vice-president of the LGA, questioned why councils were not being given funding for those arriving under the family scheme.

“It can’t be justified that councils are getting £10,500 on the sponsorship scheme, but when refugees come under the family scheme, apart from the housing checks, they have to do everything else as a council to support those refugees,” he said.

Mr Betts called on the government to grant councils access to the database of sponsors so they can match up those presenting as homeless with those who want to house them.

“The whole reason we’ve got the sponsorship scheme is that councils don’t have enough readily available homes to house people,” he said.

“The choice is putting these people up in temporary accommodation or hotels, or matching them up with the generous offers sponsors want to make in those communities […] Can the government just get on with it?”

It comes as mounting anger among MPs from all parties about visa delays facing Ukrainians applying to both the family scheme and the Homes for Ukraine route grows.

Tory MP and former housing secretary Robert Jenrick told ITV’s Peston show on Wednesday night that he had applied to sponsor a Ukrainian family 10 days ago but was yet to receive any response.

“We filled in ours within a couple of hours of them going live on Friday before last, 10 days later we haven’t heard anything. And so I’ve got a very anxious family,” he said.

"We’ve heard absolutely nothing and that is frustrating. It was frustrating for us, but more importantly, we now have a family who are in Kyiv, extremely worried, about to leave their home [...] try to make a new life if only temporarily in the UK, and they’re on tenterhooks waiting for the Home Office to let them know if we can make it happen.

“So I do think it’s been a bumpy start, that is often the case with these schemes and it sounds like it’s ramping up now quickly, but I certainly hope that’s the case. We just don’t want to let these families down."

Shadow home secretary Yvette Cooper said in the House of Commons on Thursday: “The visa system is simply not working. It is leaving thousands of families in limbo because of Home Office bureaucracy.

“This is Kafkaesque. What on earth is going on? And why is the home secretary so totally incapable of getting any grip on this despite repeated questions we have asked?”

Official figures show 31,200 visa applications have so far been received under the family scheme, of which 22,800 have been issued, and 28,300 have applied to the Homes for Ukraine scheme, of which 2,700 have been granted.

The government has continued to refuse to reveal how many Ukrainians have so far arrived in the UK under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, promoting Ms Cooper to ask: “Why on earth is it too early to tell us? They should be able to give the basic facts.”

The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered. To find out more about our Refugees Welcome campaign, click here. To sign the petition click here. If you would like to donate then please click here for our GoFundMe page.