, Labour Shadow Levelling Up
Secretary, responding to the publication of figures on
the performance of the ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme, said:
“These figures show that the government are wasting the amazing
generosity that British people have shown. It’s 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.
“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. And 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.
“People have stepped up in Ukraine’s hour of need. These figures
show that the government needs to urgently do the same.”
Ends
Notes
Home Office figures just published
show that only 2,700 visas have been granted under the ‘Homes for
Ukraine’ scheme, out of 28,300 applications received.
Over 200,000 people in Britain are reported to have signed up as
willing sponsors under the scheme, since it was launched
two-and-a-half weeks ago.
The Department for Levelling Up has still not confirmed if any
refugees have actually arrived in the UK, despite saying when he launched the
scheme on 13 March that refugees would begin arriving in the UK
“in a weeks’ time”.
Refugees Minister Lord Harrington has told the Levelling Up
Select Committee today that it takes “too long” to fill out the
visa application form.
He was also unable to say whether any Ukrainian individuals had
actually arrived in the UK under ‘Homes for Ukraine’ yet.
