The following Statement was made in the House of Commons on Monday
14 March. “With permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a Statement on
our Government’s response to help those fleeing the conflict in
Ukraine. This Government and this House—indeed, everyone in the
UK—continue to be in awe of the bravery of the people of Ukraine.
They are victims of savage, indiscriminate, unprovoked aggression.
Their courage under fire and determination to resist inspire our
total...Request free trial
The following Statement was made in the House of Commons on
Monday 14 March.
“With permission, Mr Speaker, I will make a Statement on our
Government’s response to help those fleeing the conflict in
Ukraine.
This Government and this House—indeed, everyone in the
UK—continue to be in awe of the bravery of the people of Ukraine.
They are victims of savage, indiscriminate, unprovoked
aggression. Their courage under fire and determination to resist
inspire our total admiration.
The United Kingdom stands with the Ukrainian people. My right
honourable friend the Defence Secretary has been in the vanguard
of those providing military assistance. My right honourable
friend the Foreign Secretary has been co-ordinating diplomatic
support and, with my right honourable friends the Chancellor and
the Business Secretary, implementing a new and tougher than ever
sanctions regime. The Foreign, Commonwealth and Development
Office and the Home Office have also been providing humanitarian
support on the ground to Ukraine’s neighbours, helping them to
cope with the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people—but
more can, and must, be done.
To that end, my right honourable friend the Home Secretary has
already expanded the family route. She has also confirmed that
from tomorrow Ukrainians with passports will be able to apply for
UK visas entirely online without having to visit a visa
application centre. As a result, the number of Ukrainians now
arriving in this country is rapidly increasing and numbers will
grow even faster from tomorrow.
We also know, however, that the unfailingly compassionate British
public want to help further. That is why today we are answering
that call with the announcement of a new sponsorship scheme,
Homes for Ukraine. I thank my right honourable friend the Home
Secretary and officials in the Home Office, in my own department
and across government for their work over the past days and weeks
to ensure that we can stand up this scheme as quickly as
possible. In particular, I thank my noble friend , now of Watford, whose
experience in ensuring that the Syrian refugee resettlement
programme was a success will prove invaluable in ensuring that we
do right by the people of Ukraine.
The scheme that has helped us to design
draws on the enormous good will and generosity of the British
public, and our proud history of supporting the vulnerable in
their hour of greatest need. The scheme will allow Ukrainians
with no family ties to the UK to be sponsored by individuals or
organisations who can offer them a home. There will be no limit
to the number of Ukrainians who can benefit from it.
The scheme will be open to all Ukrainian nationals and residents,
and they will be able to live and work in the United Kingdom for
up to three years. They will have full and unrestricted access to
benefits, healthcare, employment and other support. Sponsors in
the UK can be of any nationality, with any immigration status,
provided they have at least six months’ leave to remain within
the UK.
Sponsors will have to provide accommodation for a minimum of six
months. In recognition of their generosity, the Government will
provide a monthly payment of £350 to sponsors for each family
whom they look after. These payments will be tax-free. They will
not affect benefit entitlement or council tax status. Ukrainians
arriving in the United Kingdom will have access to the full range
of public services—doctors, schools, and full local authority
support. Of course, we want to minimise bureaucracy and make the
process as straightforward as possible, while doing everything we
can to ensure the safety of all involved. Sponsors will therefore
be required to undergo necessary vetting checks, and we are also
streamlining processes to security-assess the status of
Ukrainians who will be arriving in the United Kingdom.
From today, anyone who wishes to record their interest in
sponsorship can do so on GOV.UK; the webpage has gone live as I
speak. We will then send any individual who registers further
information setting out the next steps in this process. We will
outline what is required of a sponsor and set out how sponsors
can identify a named Ukrainian individual or family who can then
take up each sponsorship offer. Because we want the scheme to be
up and running as soon as possible, Homes for Ukraine will
initially facilitate sponsorship between people with known
connections, but we will rapidly expand the scheme in a phased
way, with charities, churches and community groups, to ensure
that many more prospective sponsors can be matched with
Ukrainians who need help. We are of course also working closely
with the devolved Administrations to make sure that their kind
offers of help are mobilised. I know that all concerned want to
play their part in supporting Ukrainians, who have been through
so much, to ensure that they feel at home in the United Kingdom,
and I am committed to working with everyone of good will to
achieve this.
Our country has a long and proud history of supporting the most
vulnerable during their darkest hour. We took in refugees fleeing
Hitler’s Germany, those fleeing repression in Idi Amin’s Uganda,
and those who fled the atrocities of the Balkan wars. More
recently, we have offered support to those fleeing persecution in
Syria, Afghanistan and Hong Kong. We are doing so again with
Homes for Ukraine. We are a proud democracy. All of us in this
House wish to see us defend and uphold our values, stand shoulder
to shoulder with our allies, and offer a safe haven to people who
have been forced to flee war and persecution. The British people
have already opened their hearts in so many ways. I am hopeful
that many will also be ready to open their homes and help those
fleeing persecution to find peace, healing and the prospect of a
brighter future. That is why I commend this Statement to the
House.”
8.32pm
of Ullock (Lab)
My Lords, I begin by warmly welcoming the noble Lord to his
place; it is good to see him in this Chamber. He was an excellent
Member of the other place and he is very welcome here.
Moving on to the Statement, any scheme that will help Ukrainians
reach safety is welcome. However, we feel we need more
information as to how this will work in practice to give
desperate Ukrainian families the help and support they need at
this truly terrible time. Since the Statement was made, we have
had a letter from the Secretary of State, the right honourable
MP, in which I was pleased to
see that he says:
“Our aim, through this route, is to offer a safe, warm welcome to
as many arrivals as possible, based on the number of
sponsors.”
The announcement introduces a new website, which allows UK
households to say that they would host refugees, but there is no
way to connect these households to refugees in search of homes.
It seems that only households that have details of a specific
refugee are able to host them, leaving families unable to flee to
Britain unless they have somehow found hosts.
In addition to this, there is still no material change to the
process, which means that refugees will still need to apply for
visas by completing a 50-page—I understand—online form and
uploading a number of documents. Yet the letter from the
Secretary of State, in follow up, says that
“we want to minimise bureaucracy and make the process as
straightforward as possible while ensuring the safety of all
involved.”
I also draw attention to concerns raised about how refugees will
actually get here if it is agreed—who will cover the costs and
how will that be managed? We have concerns that individuals will
not be able to properly sponsor a Ukrainian national’s visa until
Friday.
I am pleased to see that there is promised financial support for
local authorities. This will be an awful lot of work for them, so
I thank the Government for that. However, we would appreciate
further details on broader resettlement matters such as how
healthcare, education, social care and so on will be managed and
provided for those who will need them.
If the Minister will indulge me, I have a number of questions.
Can the Minister confirm who exactly is eligible to sponsor a
Ukrainian as part of the scheme? Do people have to be British
nationals, or is someone with indefinite leave to remain also
able to do so? Can the Minister confirm whether the £350 a month
will be treated as income that could potentially affect
recipients’ benefits?
I do not understand why the Government are not playing more of a
proactive role in matching sponsors and refugees. Could they not
match some of the cases with those who wish to help but perhaps
do not know how to navigate social media? Can the Minister
confirm who will be responsible for undertaking any safeguarding
checks on sponsors? Will this be done by the Government or will
it be part of the local authorities’ responsibilities? Will data
about arrivals via the route be shared with local councils ahead
of time? As much access as possible to data ahead of time will
help local councils to provide proper healthcare and education,
particularly for the children who are coming.
We also have a worry that there are still 12,000 Afghan refugees
living in hotel accommodation, and clearly we do not want to find
Ukrainian refugees in the same situation and the situation being
exacerbated. So, again, a little more information about that
would be helpful.
I have mentioned children. We know that a large number of the
people requiring settlement will be, sadly, women and children
who have escaped, often leaving their menfolk behind. We will
have specific issues around nursery provision, childcare and
education. Can the Minister confirm who will be responsible for
ensuring that these needs are met? Will it be the Department for
Education or local authorities?
I think we are looking for more clarity from the Government about
their expectations of local authorities. It is great that there
is financial support, but what are the expectations for delivery
by local councils? Will there be support for, say, voluntary or
faith groups, which will also have an important role to play? My
final question is: what provision will be made for unaccompanied
children? Will there be a specific scheme for them?
The main thing is that refugees arriving into the UK are treated
with dignity, and provided with the accommodation and further
support they are going to need to cope with this terrible crisis,
until Ukraine is safe once again and they are able to return home
and work to rebuild their country. I look forward the Minister’s
response, which will be his maiden speech, and I wish him
well.
(LD)
My Lords, I too welcome the Minister to the House and to the
Front Bench.
Of course, we welcome in principle an unlimited scheme where UK
residents can sponsor Ukrainian refugees, but Homes for Ukraine
is limited by other schemes. First, the Government still insist
that all Ukrainian refugees must have a visa, while all member
states of the European Union are allowing visa-free entry. These
refugees are in desperate need now, and a fast response is
required. Countries bordering Ukraine are being overwhelmed and
they need us to take some of the pressure off them. Why is the
Government restricting the flow of refugees into the UK?
The Government cite security concerns for slowing things down,
but the Irish Prime Minister was interviewed on the BBC’s “Sunday
Morning” programme, where he said that the need for a
humanitarian response to Europe’s biggest refugee crisis since
World War II
“trumps anything as far as we’re concerned.”
Mr Martin said the view within the EU is that all borders should
be open to Ukrainians for as long as Russian bombs and missiles
are being targeted at civilian populations inside Ukraine. He
went on to say:
“We can all see the humanitarian crisis, we do know that that can
be exploited by certain bad actors, but our security personnel
will keep an eye on that in a more general way.”
If Ireland can keep an eye on security issues once refugees
arrive in Ireland, why can the UK not adopt the same approach?
Bearing in mind that there are no passport checks between the
Irish Republic and Northern Ireland and between Northern Ireland
and Great Britain, how does the UK and Ireland having a different
approach make any sense? The Minister in the other place talked
about putting humanity first; the UK is clearly putting visas
first.
Another bottleneck in the process is caused by sponsoring
families in the UK having to identify Ukrainian nationals or
families by name in order to sponsor them. How are older people
without IT skills who are fleeing Ukraine supposed to identify
themselves to British sponsors, let alone complete a 50-page
online form to get a visa? I know that the Minister is trying to
cut that form down, but is it not a fact that the most in need
are the least likely to get to the UK quickly?
Another barrier to accessing the heartwarming generosity of
British families is that the programme is initially open only to
refugees who have known connections to the UK sponsor. The
Minister in the other place said that
“we will … expand the scheme in a phased way”.—[Official Report,
Commons, 14/3/21; col. 620.]
Can the Minister explain what the various phases are and when
they will be in operation?
Another potential bottleneck are DBS checks for sponsors. There
are already backlogs. What additional resources are the
Government providing to ensure that necessary safeguarding checks
are done in good time? Some of those volunteering to sponsor will
already have been DBS checked. What are the Government doing to
match unaccompanied child refugees, in particular, with those who
have already been safeguarding checked, rather than expecting
these sponsors to identify the most vulnerable?
What consultation has taken place with local authorities on
whether the £10,500 per refugee is enough to provide additional
school places and child mental health support, which is often
assessed by child psychologists working in schools, and the other
range of services that refugees are likely need? The Minister in
the other place said that the payment to sponsors of £350 a month
would not affect benefit entitlement or council tax status, but
would a single-person sponsor lose their single-person council
tax discount? In short, where is the detailed plan for how this
nice idea is going to work in practice? I know that the Minister
wants to do his best, but we believe that the constraints within
which he is being asked to operate are too restrictive.
The Minister of State, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and
Communities and Home Office ( of Watford) (Con)
I thank the noble Baroness and the noble Lord for their comments.
I should point out that this is technically not my maiden speech;
I am told that it is my first speech but not my maiden speech. I
leave it to noble Lords to work out what that means, because I am
not sure.
As many might know, I was offered this job because of my
experience from the programme that we did for Syria. At the time,
I was the first person to be a Minister in three different
government departments at the same time. On my return to this
hugely enhanced job—the two are not the same—I am doing my best,
in the few days available, to get the team who successfully did
the Syrian programme back into action. It is a bit like one of
those bands from my childhood that, 10 years later, completely
reforms with some different artists and some of the main ones.
And if I slip into Commons terminology, I apologise. I realise
that I may have just one excuse for doing that tonight, so I will
try not to.
I will deal first with the subjects brought up by the noble
Baroness, Lady Hayman. Basically, she requested more information
about the scheme. I understand that. The questions raised by both
the speakers are perfectly proper. No one is playing politics
with this and I know that no one is trying to take advantage. We
are learning quickly. I will explain the visa, because both the
contributions come down to whether we need visas, why we need
visas, why it is taking such a long time and what a bureaucratic
performance this is when people are dying, suffering and living
in appalling conditions.
When I was offered the job by the Prime Minister, the only
criterion that I was given, as alluded to by the noble Lord, was
a security one. It is my job to make sure that this is done as
quickly and as humanely as possible. I know that no one in this
Chamber or in the other place would question the fact that
national security comes first, but that does not mean that we are
obsessed by it.
The current situation is that people fill out a form. It is
unacceptable that it is 50 pages and I have been through every
page of it with the Home Secretary. By the way, I do not think
that anyone is trying to mislead, but it is slightly misleading
to say that it is 50 pages because, on most of them, if you click
yes, the page after does not come through. Quite why anyone
historically, never mind a refugee, has to do the whole lot I do
not know, but there will be a lot less of it by Friday and, shall
we say, far more obstacles removed after that.
Nevertheless, a form has to be filled in on a mobile phone,
tablet or laptop. This is for Ukrainian passport holders, who
will download their passport. This is not in a visa centre, by
the way; it can be done everywhere. Then it will be sent
electronically to the Home Office, where we have a team that we
are gearing up all the time. It is in excess of 100 people now
and will be gearing up to be double that by the weekend. Very
soon afterwards, the refugees will receive a response. I have to
be a bit of a politician and waffly by saying “very soon
afterwards”; I have set a target of 24 hours and it may be more
if the team is so overwhelmed, but I expect it to come down and
down. The only reason for that delay—it really boils down to
this—is so that criminal record checks can be done from all the
databases that the team has. It is no more complex than that.
The passport holders then get a PDF back, which gives them the
right to get on a plane and come here. It is not as cumbersome as
it was and they do not have to go to a visa centre. The visa
centres are being kept open with enhanced hours for people who do
not have documentation—vulnerable children and groups that we can
spend a lot more time dealing with. I hope that I have briefly
covered the visa point brought up by both speakers tonight. The
noble Lord, , summed it up as “fast
response required” and I hope that I have gone some way towards
that.
This is not being used as a tool to restrict the number of
refugees who we are taking in. This is not like the Syrian
programme, where the Prime Minister at the time, , said, “This is the number of
people we are taking in through a humanitarian vulnerability
scheme”. By the way, there is nothing wrong with vulnerability
schemes—please do not think that I am saying that—but this scheme
is open to everyone who is Ukrainian to come in. It is not
restricted in number.
I return to the points brought up by the noble Baroness, some of
which were duplicated. There is some concern about the matching
process: “But what if I don’t know anybody?” I understand that
and it is perfectly right, but I will give a bit of background to
the matching process. When I was involved in the Syrian scheme,
the model for community sponsorship was Canadian. Ironically,
with politics being what it was, the day I was due to go to
Canada to see it was the day I was reshuffled to the Department
for Work and Pensions. Luckily, the Civil Service correctly
fought back and officials went and this is very much the scheme
used. The community sponsorship scheme for Syrians and others
worked in small numbers but this is nothing like that. This is a
way of fast-tracking it.
The reason why the scheme worked slowly is that it was a proper,
boilerplate exercise. Every single detail was known about the
refugee before they took off to come to this country. Everything
was preplaced, not just the accommodation but employment and
everything else. This is a mass-type operation. No one has come
up with a better word than matching, but it does not mean that
someone who has been forced to flee Ukraine will think, “I have
to look on a list, but is anybody suitable?” We have been
speaking extensively to NGOs in the last two or three days which
will do that for them. They will have tablets, laptops and all
that sort of thing to do it. It is not just one individual having
to find another individual.
On the points made about safeguarding and related issues, perhaps
I could combine my reply to the two questions. However, if noble
Lords feel that the answers are not adequate, I would be happy to
follow up by taking questions either here or elsewhere. If any
noble Lord or noble Baroness would like to meet with me, I would
be happy to talk them through this because we are learning as we
go. A lot of the comments I have had from MPs and Members of this
House have been useful in our thinking on this—particularly MPs
because their constituents speak directly to them about it.
I will make a general point about local authorities, if I may,
which leads into safeguarding. They are being paid £10,500 per
refugee. I was asked by the noble Lord, , how that was calculated. Was
it done like this? For the sake of Hansard, let me say that I put
my finger in the air, meaning “Was it just a wild guess?” It was
done on the basis that we used for the Syrian programme. It is
for all the wraparound services except education, which is done
on a per capita basis. I do not have the figures to hand—well, I
am sure I do in the file I have been given—but, basically, it is
an amount per child depending on their age, a bit like with
academies generally.
The local authority will be responsible for all the wraparound
services, meaning the things that they would normally deal with.
They include safeguarding issues. I will come on to DBS checks
separately because they were brought up separately but, on other
safeguarding issues, the eyes and ears have always been education
for children, for example, as the first way of doing it. However,
the question of social services, mental health services and
primary care was brought up. Through its networks, the Department
of Health has been in touch with GPs and other people to make
sure that primary care places are available.
Turning to DBS, basically, the question is: do we have to do full
DBS checks on people who will be offering sponsorship and people
with accommodation? We took the decision that it has to be a
two-phase thing. If we must wait for full DBS checks, it may be
that we can speed them up. When I left the House of Commons, I
decided to become a school governor. It took two months. I hope
that it was not because I am on any naughty list, but that is the
way the system works. Before allowing people into homes, we will
do criminal record checks and get all the things that are easily
obtainable online as part of the process before people are
approved as sponsors. After that, it will be the local
authority’s responsibility to do the full DBS checks. Related to
that will be its duty to inspect properties as well. Obviously,
this is all very new to us, so we do not really know much. I am
sure that the vast majority of people mean well in offering
accommodation, but we have to have the back-up system of property
inspection and everything else that we would normally have.
It takes care of some of the other questions if I say that the
local authorities have been extremely co-operative. I started off
over the weekend talking to organisations such as the LGA and
other council groups but, today, we had a call with 200 council
leaders and chief executives; at least, that is what I was told,
but you can only get so many people on Teams. There were a lot of
them; it was a call to arms for them. My second cliché is that
they have stepped up to the plate—at least, they have told us
that they have stepped up to plate. In my department,
particularly regarding the Syrian refugee scheme, we were used to
dealing with local authorities. They were our main conduit for
the resettlement of people. The only difference in this case is
that the full burden of providing accommodation will not be on
them.
By the way, let me add this because it answers one of the noble
Baroness’s points: we have spent a lot of time with faith groups,
voluntary groups and others—for example, World Jewish Relief and
Church organisations —because they will, we hope, be able to
facilitate a big supply of accommodation through their members
and their associated people.
On the subject of unaccompanied children, I have a problem. I
have been discussing it today with a group of Ukrainian MPs, and
I am seeing the Ukrainian ambassador tomorrow on this subject. It
is the Ukrainian Government’s position—far be it for me to
criticise them; the meeting with the Ukrainian MPs was very
emotional—that we need their permission before bringing children
here. They do not want children removed far away because of what
may happen in the future when they are settled. They want them
back with their families. I am working through these things.
I am trying to make sure I have answered everything in the brief
time available. Will the single parent discount disappear? I can
confirm to the noble Lord, , that it will not. This is not
being treated as income for benefits, or regarding school and
university fees, by HMRC or anyone else. I believe my time is up.
I hope I have answered the questions. If not, I am happy to
answer them either formally or informally.
8.56pm
The Lord
My Lords, I hope the House will forgive me; Bishops do not
usually go first. I declare my interest as a trustee of Reset. I
offer the Minister welcome. I loved working with him with Syrians
and we did loads of work together. Please will he pass our thanks
to Paul Morrison and the team, who I know have worked almost
without sleep over the last four or five days? It is great that
that team is being brought back together.
The big thrust from churches and the voluntary sector as a whole
is about when the next phase is coming in. We believe that
individual sponsors are inadequate because people cannot do this
on their own. They will need the support of their neighbours,
family, friends and local clubs. Can the Minister comment on when
phase two will move through? Noble Lords might like to know that
there is a matching system on the website Homes for Ukraine run
by Reset tonight.
of Watford (Con)
One of the other things I have to adjust to in this House is that
I cannot call him Paul anymore and I have to refer to him as the
right reverend Prelate the . I thank him for his
comments on Paul Morrison. I hope he will be Lord Morrison one
day; he deserves it because he has given up his new career to
come back to this. The serious point is: when are we going to get
to the next phase? It will be very soon, but I cannot say when
because we are launching this phase on Friday. It will certainly
be done in communication with the Church. The was one of the
first people to come forward for the Syrian refugee scheme.
(CB)
My Lords, I congratulate the Minister on his new position and
welcome him to the very difficult job he now has. I declare an
interest as we are trying to sponsor a family ourselves and work
through this with them. Can he tell me what will happen to those
who have had to flee and do not have their documents with
them—whatever those documents are—even though they may be known
to the people wanting to sponsor them?
What is being done on the transferability of DBS checks? Many of
us working in the health service or schools have been DBS
checked. Are those going to be automatically transferred? Are the
Government going to require every adult in the household to have
been checked or will one be adequate as an interim to take things
forward?
Have the Government issued a template to local authorities of
issues they need to address, such as the ways of managing
bereaved children? Many of these children will have left their
fathers behind; many will not know what has happened to their
fathers even if they have come with their mothers. Managing
bereaved children has to be done right and it is not a question
of just going “There, there”. They really need to be understood.
Is that guidance going to local authorities at a national level
as to resources, or is each local authority having to find it out
for itself?
of Watford (Con)
The noble Baroness, Lady Finlay, is very experienced in this
field and has asked some very detailed questions. I cannot answer
in detail the question about the transferability of DBS checks. I
would much rather answer properly in writing. I hope she
understands that just fobbing her off with a letter is not
normally my way but this is not high level; this is a very
detailed conversation. As far as issuing guidance to local
authorities is concerned, we will be doing that. It cannot be
left to a situation where some are better than others. On dealing
with traumatised children, that will be part of the local
authority’s duty.
(Con)
My Lords, I join others in welcoming my noble friend to this
House and to his new post. I also commend him on his very
well-informed and sympathetic response to the questions he has
been asked so far after only a few days in the job. Can I press
him on primary care? Many of those coming under Homes for Ukraine
will be in poor health. How confident is my noble friend that
they will have ready access to GPs and primary care services,
many of which are already under some pressure?
of Watford (Con)
My noble friend has not changed since the first time I was in the
Commons, as he always makes a good point in such a kind way. The
primary care thing is very important. As I explained before, we
have been in communication with the doctors’ organisations. It is
true that his former constituents and mine are finding it
difficult to get appointments with GPs, given Covid and
everything else, but on this—this is not a very House of Lords
type of expression—we have to muck in. I know the GPs know that,
and they will be given the financial resource to enable them to
do that.
(PC)
My Lords, I congratulate the Minister on a delightful non-maiden
speech. I have three quick questions. First, will those who come
and who want to work be able to do so immediately? Will they be
given a national insurance number in order to do that? Secondly,
in how many languages have the forms been made available?
Thirdly, what will be the long-term position of the devolved
Governments in Edinburgh and Cardiff? Will they be in charge of
this indefinitely?
of Watford (Con)
The noble Lord, , has referred again to my
non-maiden maiden speech. I just say to him to wait for the
maiden speech and think what he wants. The forms are in English
only but there will be translation guidelines for all of them. We
are not asking for translations for the documents that need to be
downloaded—for example, birth certificates and the other things
that would be provided in a normal situation. As far as the
devolved Administrations are concerned, the first meeting I had
was with , Mark Drakeford’s
representative and the head of the Northern Ireland Civil
Service. As with the Syrian refugees, they have really stepped up
to the plate. Although the conduit for this will be their local
authorities—like any other local authority in terms of
payment—the Scottish and Welsh Governments may well choose to be
sponsors themselves. I am pleased with their response and have
always found them an absolute pleasure to work with on the
refugee front.
(Lab)
My Lords, the Minister will have gathered that this is quite a
friendly place. The start he has made in the Chamber has been
exceptional, and I look forward to many more exchanges in
future.
I want to draw his attention to a letter that the vice-chancellor
of the University of Worcester, David Green, has written to our
Member of Parliament in Worcester, Robin Walker—who, of course
the Minister will know—and to the Further Education Minister,
local authority leaders and the right reverend Prelate the . The vice-chancellor
says:
“At the University, we have readied ourselves to be a reception
centre for Ukrainian refugees. This is in addition to doing what
we can to raise money, send goods and help the Ukrainian people
in every way at our disposal. We have accommodation and all
necessary supporting facilities other than medical, which we are
sure can be arranged in co-operation with NHS colleagues.”
The Bishop and the Dean
“have made plain that there are many who will willingly welcome
refugees into their homes.”
I wonder whether he will agree to a meeting, when he has a
moment, with the right reverend Prelate , the vice-chancellor
and me.
of Watford (Con)
I thank the noble Lord for his comments; I would be delighted to
meet with him and them. I should say that we have been in touch
with the various university organisations and I am seeing the
relevant Minister, , to discuss this, but I am
happy to have that meeting.
(Con)
My Lords, I welcome my noble friend to his new role. I cannot
think of a better person to get to grips with one of the
important jobs we are facing. I want to build on the question
from my noble friend and ask about
refugees who come here who will need to access public services.
Those who take them in will need help to help them access those
services. They will need signposting. The Government have a very
good Government Communication Service. Can the noble Lord say a
little about what help will be available to those hosts to make
sure that they do justice to the role they take on?
of Watford (Con)
I thank my noble friend Lady Wyld—my noble friend both personally
and professionally—for her comments. On the authorities that are
being involved in this, as I have explained before, it is a
wraparound service and it will be done in different ways. For
example, we are organising welcome centres, so that when people
arrive at the airports and, for example, Victoria Coach Station,
there are those who can help with the first stage of the services
that she mentioned, so it is not forgotten. I hope it will be
part of an integrated process. Obviously, it needs the
involvement of all the different organisations. This is not
central government saying, “This is what we are doing, and we are
controlling it centrally.” We cannot; this is happening on an
unprecedented scale. We have a lot to learn and there will be
problems. I am not claiming that it is all perfect, but we are
getting there. I found that comment extremely helpful and I will
bear it in mind for everything we do.
(CB)
My Lords, I join others in welcoming the noble Lord, , to his post. He comes with
a very high reputation for the way in which he dealt with the
Syrian refugee programme. I know that everyone in the House, from
all sides, welcomes him to his new responsibilities.
I will ask him two things. The first builds on something that the
noble Lord, , asked about. He may have seen
comments by over the past few days and by
the Local Government Association this morning about the dangers
that young people, children and unaccompanied minors could face
from people trying to traffic them or exploit them. I declare an
interest as a trustee of a charity which works in that field.
Secondly, I want to ask him about sponsorship for programmes not
in this country but in countries such as Moldova. Moldova has a
population of 2.4 million and in just over two weeks it has
already taken 300,000 Ukrainians—the equivalent of 2.4 million in
the United Kingdom if they came here. Some 200,000 have gone to
Romania and, of course, millions have now gone to Poland. Last
week his noble friend Lady Williams was good enough to have a
short discussion about the ways in which we can help charities
based in the UK but which do not receive match funding; they are
not covered by the DEC programme. Will he have a conversation
with her about how sponsorship can work, so that people do not
have to travel too far away from the region if they want to stay
in those neighbouring countries, and can they be enabled to do
so?
of Watford (Con)
The noble Lord, , characteristically
makes very good comments on this issue. On his point about
sponsorship overseas, I must confess that I had not thought of
that. All our overseas efforts have been put into providing money
and resources, and we can be quite proud of what we have done. I
know life is not down to money; this is about human misery. Last
weekend, when I looked at the numbers, we were, I think, the
largest single country in that regard. That does not answer his
question, but it does mean that we have resources on the ground
to help with that sort of thing. But I will consider the point he
makes because it is very valid.
On the fear of the child exploiters, people traffickers and
general predators that appear in these situations, as they do in
every situation, we are relying a lot here on the local
authorities. We are relying on electronic methods initially but
on the local authorities and all the services—medical services,
schools and so on—to provide the eyes and ears we need. But I am
worried about it.
(Lab)
My Lords, like every other Member, I welcome the noble Lord to
the House and to the Dispatch Box. My question is not so much
about the money that will be paid to families who take in
refugees. Rather, do the Government intend to provide for those
refugees something in their own language that will set out for
them what we in Britain are going to provide, so that they know
and can expect the type of help that the Minister has so
helpfully outlined?
of Watford (Con)
I thank the noble Viscount, Lord Stansgate, for his comments. For
the Syrian programme we did a one or two-day induction programme
before people got on aircraft to come here. We do not have the
time and facilities to do that because of the scale. However,
when people arrive at the airports and other ports they will be
given a welcome pack in Ukrainian which will explain why they are
here, how they are here and what services are available to help
them. These people will be terrified, tired and exhausted and
will need to know those things, and that will be in their own
language. I hope to expand on that but that is what this
situation is immediately.
(LD)
My Lords, first, if Ukrainians who are already here are students
or have a work visa, their visas will expire at some point. Have
the Government thought about their position? One does not want
them to fall into illegality and they could be subject to
exploitation, as the noble Lord just said. However, they could
also be helpful with the integration of the people coming here.
Secondly—I realise that neither point may have crossed the
Minister’s desk or his mind yet, although clearly he is bringing
a lot of imagination to this—I have a question on Syrians who
have been recognised as refugees in Ukraine. I have heard—this
may or may not be right—that they are being told that they need
to make an asylum claim from the very start. That seems illogical
and unhelpful. If the Minister cannot comment on it, perhaps he
could take it away.
of Watford (Con)
I cannot comment on the second point that the noble Baroness made
because I do not know the answer. However, I will give it some
thought and drop her a line, or perhaps meet with her if she
prefers to do it that way. On the first point about Ukrainians
who would normally lose their right to stay here because they are
on a work permit that has run out, I assure the noble Baroness
that nobody will have to leave this country because of that. That
permission will be extended so that they will get the same
benefits as all other Ukrainian citizens. I am not sure about the
actual detail, but I can assure the noble Baroness that that will
be the case.
(GP)
My Lords, I join other noble Lords in welcoming the Minister to
his place. The Statement says, “The British people have already
opened their hearts” to the Ukrainians. That is something that
comes as no surprise to me, as someone who sees the hashtag
#RefugeesWelcome fill my Twitter feed very often. However, there
are of course also refugees from Afghanistan, Yemen, Syria—which
the Minister referred to—and many other places who are in need of
a safe haven from war and persecution. I appreciate that we are
at the very early stages of an enormous rush situation now, but
there are people in the UK who know refugees and asylum seekers
from other parts of the world and who would desperately like to
sponsor them to come here. Would the Minister agree that it is
very hard for the Government to say to them, “No, you can’t do
that for this person you know who’s desperately in need of haven”
when people are so keen to do that?
of Watford (Con)
No one would disagree with the points the noble Baroness, Lady
Bennett, makes. However, this is a new community sponsorship
scheme for us. We have our work cut out with Ukrainians but that
is in no way to disrespect people or to claim that people who are
not Ukrainians and who are in a terrible situation do not deserve
the support this country gives. My own grandparents were
beneficiaries of this country’s attitude towards refugees.
Ironically, they fled the Russians as well, in different
circumstances.
(CB)
My Lords, I congratulate the noble Lord on his maiden speech. It
is maiden because it is his first in the House, otherwise he is
illegal and should not be speaking. I congratulate him on the way
he dealt with a number of questions. I declare an interest as
chair of Christian Aid. We are one of the beneficiaries of the
public money that has been raised—£120 million. We are getting
some of that because we already have people working in Ukraine as
part of our NGOs. My second interest is as president of the YMCA,
which is already working, particularly in Germany and in Hungary.
By the way, the YMCA is bigger in Europe than in the United
Kingdom and Wales. It is already working and trying to work out
how to help.
The question that both organisations ask is: why have the
Government called those community activities “sponsorships”? Why
are they not welcoming people? I speak as someone who caused
trouble for Idi Amin by opposing him for expelling Ugandan Asians
who were citizens. I got into trouble and that is why I am here.
When they were all expelled, the British Government provided
aeroplanes to bring them over. There was no question of
sponsorship. Then they asked in the communities where they were,
“Can you help?”. Why do the Government not get the refugees in
first and then we will be able to sponsor them?
of Watford (Con)
I thank the noble and right reverend Lord, , for his comments. I know that
he spends his life dealing with precisely this kind of thing. On
the semantics of the word “sponsorship”, if we had had time to
think about it perhaps we would have thought of something else,
but I think most people know what it is. People are sponsoring
people and are responsible for them. The Government are paying
some money towards that—£350 per month—but people are effectively
offering because they are kind and decent. However, if we have
time to breathe and to change the name, after people much more
creative than me have thought of something a bit more
user-friendly, I should be delighted to do so.
of Newnham (LD)
My Lords, I welcome the Minister to his place and congratulate
him on his quick command of everybody’s titles. I cannot imagine
where he is getting the information from. However, I should like
to press him on his answers about language to the noble Lord,
, and the noble Viscount, Lord
Stansgate. The Minister said that on arrival people will be given
information in Ukrainian. He has kindly said that documents will
not have to be translated any more but can the Government not
work with Ukrainians based here to translate the forms so that
people in Ukraine can fill in the form in their own language to
make it as easy as possible for them?
of Watford (Con)
I thank the noble Baroness for her comments on people’s names.
Indeed, some days I cannot remember my own name but I seem to be
good at remembering the names of people in this House. Yes,
people should have a form in Ukrainian. It is not, in my opinion,
best for them to have it by the side of the form that they fill
in but, in the short time available, it is the best I can do.
Ideally, I should like the form to be in Ukrainian. Also,
although the Russian language is horrific to many Ukrainians, for
many or some it is their first language.
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