Therefore, item 4 is a statement by the Minister for Social Justice—an update on Ukraine. I call on the Minister, Jane Hutt.

Dirprwy Lywydd, thank you for the opportunity to provide an update to Members today about our ongoing work to support people from Ukraine who are fleeing the devastating conflict in their country. The war and violence in Ukraine shows little sign of abating, and, just over a week ago, Putin launched a new large-scale assault on the Donbas region. And meanwhile, there's been little progress in establishing humanitarian corridors to enable people to leave the country or move to safer areas away from the fighting.

More than 5 million people have now fled Ukraine since the end of February, when Putin's troops began the invasion, and this is around 10 per cent of the population. The latest data from the UK Government shows just over 107,000 visas have been issued to people fleeing the violence, and more than half of these have been issued to people from Ukraine applying to come to the UK via the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme. They also show that 21,600 people from Ukraine have so far arrived in the UK. Of these, the overwhelming majority—some 15,000 people—have come via the Ukraine family scheme route to live with members of their extended family in the UK.

To date, 1,500 visas have been issued to people via the Homes for Ukraine scheme who have a sponsor in Wales. A total of 390 of these are via the Welsh Government supersponsor route. The number of visas being approved continues to increase every day. However, not everyone is travelling as soon as visas are issued, and this may be for a number of reasons. It may be because their permission-to-travel documents are not yet available or because they are not available for everyone in their party. People may also have arranged to travel at a slightly later date, but we know that families who have not had their visas and documents approved at the same time are frustrated by the bureaucracy they face. I continue to raise these issues in my meetings with the UK Government to help improve the system and to make it as safe as possible for people travelling to the UK.

The Welsh Government's supersponsor route was set up to reduce the complexity and bureaucracy for people who wanted to come to Wales and to reduce the risk of being exposed to such exploitation. Everyone who is sponsored by us will be contacted directly by us to help make their arrival in Wales as easy as possible. We've set up arrival hubs at all the major ports and stations to help people from Ukraine with their onward journeys to their host accommodation or welfare centre. And I want to put on record once again my thanks to local authorities, the NHS, the third sector and voluntary links. Together, we've worked tirelessly to ensure the support people from Ukraine need is available throughout Wales.

I also want to thank the businesses, organisations and many individual sponsors who have offered to help, opening their homes and offering practical support with donations of clothing and other goods, offers of jobs and of translation help. We continue to be overwhelmed by the public response to this humanitarian crisis, especially at a time when we are facing our own cost-of-living crisis. There are a great many ways people can help, from offering to sponsor someone from Ukraine, to donating money or goods, or volunteering to help. As a Government we've donated £1 million to the Nation of Sanctuary Croeso fund, and £4 million to the Disasters Emergency Committee Ukraine appeal.

The first people are now being accommodated in our network of welcome centres, where they're receiving wraparound support to help them settle into life in Wales. This includes health checks, support with language skills if needed, help opening a bank account and accessing benefits, education for children and support finding a job. Everyone arriving in Wales, whether at welcome centres or living with an individual sponsor, will have access to health services. This includes mental health and trauma specialists.

Deputy Llywydd, since I last updated Members, we've issued further guidance, updated guidance, to local authorities and to individual sponsors, to help support them with their many responsibilities. The updated guidance to sponsors covers further advice and information about accommodation, including the voluntary use of model tenancy and licensing agreements, what checks need to be carried out, advice about modern slavery and the range of support available from the voluntary sector. We've also issued detailed safeguarding guidance for local authorities and other public bodies, and guidance to childcare providers.

I have regular meetings with the Scottish Government Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, Neil Gray, and UK Government refugees Minister, Lord Harrington. These are important opportunities to press for improvements to the visa process to reduce delays. Together with my Scottish counterpart, we continue to call for the UK Government to fund the Ukraine family scheme, and to make funding available for public services, so everyone arriving from Ukraine is properly supported. It's only right that the same level of funding that was available for the Afghan resettlement scheme is available to support people from Ukraine. The Counsel General has also been meeting the UK law officers to discuss a range of issues, including the International Criminal Court investigation into war crimes committed in Ukraine.

So, Deputy Llywydd, I will close this statement today by repeating that help, advice and support is available via our free helpline for sponsors and people coming from Ukraine. Sponsors in Wales can call the free helpline on 0808 175 1508 for advice. For Ukrainian nationals and their families, if they're outside the UK, they can call free on +44 808 164 8810, or if they are in the UK, they can call 0808 164 8810. There is a warm welcome waiting in Wales, which is a nation of sanctuary. Diolch.

I thank you very much for the statement. I'm just trying to reconcile—there are so many figures flying around from different people and different places. If I make some mistakes in consequence, no doubt you'll pick me up on those. But your written statement update about the Homes for Ukraine scheme on 21 April said the latest figures published by the UK Government then showed that 1,500 visas had been issued to date where the sponsor was from Wales, 1,100 sponsored by individuals in Wales and 390 sponsored by the Welsh Government as a supersponsor. Yesterday, the Home Secretary stated that 40,000 visas had been issued under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, but your party's shadow Home Office Minister stated that only 6,600 Ukrainians had actually arrived in the UK, although you refer to the latest data showing that 21,600 people from Ukraine have so far arrived in the UK. Is it therefore your understanding that that difference is because the 21,600 includes all schemes, including the family scheme? And what is your understanding of how many people have actually arrived in Wales, not just received or been awarded visas?

Responding to claims that families who need to travel together cannot do so because just one family member, often a child, will have their visas delayed, the Home Secretary stated yesterday that the refugees Minister, the honourable Member Lord Harrington, went to the region just 10 days ago to find out why and what more could be done to bring families that have been granted their visas over. First and foremost, as we've heard repeatedly from the Ukrainian Government, she said, and from Governments in the region as well, those families want to stay in the region, which I find a bit confusing. I presume that that also means people who perhaps didn't apply for a visa in the first place, but I don't know. So, I thank you again for your call to me yesterday. During this, you stated that you were in regular contact with the UK Minister for Refugees, Lord Harrington, which, again, you referred to in your statement today, and that more visas were being approved but there were still delays and you were pressing for simpler forms and more support for families.

Well, following my introduction of Link International to you a few weeks ago, I'm pleased that the charity, under its Ukrainian link programme, is now working with north Wales's local authorities in collaboration with other statutory agencies and Welsh Government and bringing together community and faith groups and third sector organisations to support Ukrainians arriving in north Wales. When I attended their north Wales Ukrainian response Zoom meeting yesterday, we heard that, although 256 visas had been issued for north Wales, applications had only been received for 60 Ukrainians in 30 host homes and 150 in the region's welcome centre. What, therefore, is your understanding of the reason for the gap between the number of visas issued, the number of applications received and numbers then arriving? And do you have any evidence regarding this that you're able to share with us, or do your comments in your statement otherwise cover that, indicating that you're still trying to get to the bottom of it yourself in your engagement with the UK Government?

Further, what discussions are you having with Lord Harrington regarding this and the ways to address this? And again, you made some reference to that, but I wonder if there are any further specific points that you could share with us.

During yesterday's north Wales Ukrainian response Zoom meeting, we also heard from an anti-human trafficking organisation in Romania that over 5 million Ukrainians are estimated to have now left Ukraine, with approximately half going to Poland and 700,000 directly to Romania, plus more arriving in Romania via adjoining Moldova. We also heard from them that the most vulnerable people are displaced people and therefore the focus is now on safeguarding. During our call yesterday, you told me that the four UK Governments are now working together on safeguarding. How, therefore, are you engaging with anti-human trafficking organisations such as the one we heard from yesterday, working on the ground with Ukrainian refugees in the countries that they have crossed into? 

Finally, I received an e-mail from a constituent last week asking for assistance for Ukrainians and their UK hosts in Flintshire. This states, and I'm quoting:

'The Homes for Ukraine scheme is classifying Ukrainians as guests. The guidance is clear. Asking a newborn 53 questions for security reasons is clearly stating how above and beyond this all is. Now having a local authority claiming to apply foster care checks and full privacy waivers from UK hosts and their Ukrainian guests, for GP documentation, for social media and search engine history, including storage, for 10 years, is a disaster. I urge you to stop this immediately, where hosts have been feeling threatened and overrun with not being approved as hosts if they do not comply'.

So, I wonder if you could tell us whether the process for host applicants and their Ukrainian guests, is, as described by my constituent, determined by the UK Government, by the Welsh Government or by individual local authorities? And how will you ensure that the need for safeguarding, which is critical, of course, is balanced against the need to support legitimate hosts in their genuine desire to provide sanctuary for Ukrainian refugees in their homes?

Thank you very much, Mark, and thank you for those important questions, which is very much, as we spoke yesterday, about how the Homes for Ukraine scheme, the supersponsor scheme, is now bedding in in terms of delivery and implementation. There is no doubt there is a delay, a clear delay, recognised by the Minister, Lord Richard Harrington, who I met on Wednesday last week, alongside the Scottish Government Minister, Neil Gray. There is a clear delay in arrivals, a delay between, actually, the approval of visas and actually then being able to get the approval to travel. So, that approval to travel is required in order to be able to then take the next step in order to be able to come to either one of our welcome centres in terms of the Homes for Ukraine supersponsor route, or, indeed, to then be able to travel to meet the sponsor family, the household, so many who are anxiously waiting and communicating with those who they've been matched with and made contact with.

It is right in terms of the figures, and yesterday, obviously, there was a debate and a statement in the House of Commons, but we get our figures, which are shared on a four-nation basis, on a Thursday, and that's when I gave my written statement. So, of the 1,500 visas allocated, 390 are supersponsored, which would be people who could come to our welcome centres, and the rest would be through not just the Homes for Ukraine scheme, but there are also many coming through the Ukraine family scheme. And I think the numbers that you're enquiring about actually relate to the family scheme as well. In fact, as of 20 April, the Ukraine family scheme had received visa applications for 41,200, and then issued 32,500. One of the problems we've got in Wales is that we're not actually given the numbers of people who have come through the family scheme. That's a huge disadvantage. They can't, actually, the UK Government, admit they cannot give us those figures. And we really do need them because, of course, the most successful route through for Ukrainian refugees has been through the family scheme. They were so many of the ones who came here, who managed to come here so early on when they fled the Russian invasion. But it is the family scheme. We have no figures for Wales; they're the overall UK numbers.

So, it is a real problem in terms of the gap between not only application, the whole household or family getting the visas—. I mean, I'm not the only one, I'm sure, in the Senedd today, who has cases in my constituency of people where one person hasn't got a visa. There may be even—. I have a case where the whole family, apart from the father, have got visas, but not the father. In other cases it might be a child who hasn't got the visa. These are real issues. And I did speak to the refugees Minister about his visit to Poland. He also told me about the situation there, the frustration and, of course, the horror that people have experienced. Coming and getting even to Poland has been—you know, it's the trauma and leaving behind their menfolk. Some of them are in temporary accommodation, but still the overwhelming bureaucracy and barriers to getting from there to us here, to our nation of sanctuary, I have to say, is real, and many will have heard that. And, indeed, our contact centre have heard those accounts as well, and we have to deal with them. So, I am raising those issues with the UK Government. Tomorrow I'm meeting with the Scottish Minister as well, and we work as much as possible on a four-nations basis to grasp these issues.

Just very quickly, I'm very grateful again for the update from Link International in north Wales. I've been meeting with them regularly, along with other third sector links across Wales like that, and also there are increasingly now Ukrainian groups who are meeting together. In fact, we are looking to ways in which we can support the voices of Ukraine, the people who are coming into our welcome centres and also to sponsored homes, because they want to work together, they want to volunteer, they want to co-ordinate their experiences, lessons learned and also share the experience that they have had of the warm welcome in Wales that they've had from their sponsor families, but also some of the difficulties as well, and, of course, you do raise a couple of really important issues: the anti-human trafficking work, which is so important, and I've learnt about the work they've done in north Wales—. Of course, we're very closely linked, I can assure you, to those organisations, and I just want to say that this is very linked to what we're doing in terms of safeguarding and the checks.

So, the local authorities have a critical role to play in making sure that we can not just support the people arriving, but also make sure that they are safeguarded. So, we've published separate guidance on safeguarding and modern slavery for local authorities and sponsors. You'll see it on the sanctuary website. We provided advice to welcome centre and contact centre staff and, in fact, there's a third version of safeguarding and modern slavery guidance due to be published next week, and I'll make sure that you have this.

It is vital that local authorities do conduct these local checks. We meet with local authorities' chief executives, at the moment, regularly, and it is up to local authorities themselves to undertake these checks regarding property standards, but, crucially, safeguarding. We have to recognise that, actually, we have got experiences that I can recount to you where there are serious issues that would not have been uncovered unless we had those checks, so I do want to assure people, our Senedd Members today, that the Disclosure and Barring Service process that is happening alongside these checks is vitally important. Of course, the majority of the welcome from households and sponsors is wonderful and it's great that they're working closely together with local authorities and many of these support groups as well, but it's vital that we do undertake these.

Now, we are developing our own guidance, but very much working on a four-nation basis, developing policy and guidance, working through operational issues and, of course, that does include officials working very closely with the Home Office and department for levelling up and housing and representatives from local resilience fora, the third sector and local authority leaders.

I thank the Minister for the statement. Last Saturday morning, I was at an event in Resolven to mark the support of the community for Ukraine. The event was on the local primary school yard at Ynysfach school, and people of all ages had turned out to stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. Money was raised for the support fund of the local branch of the Women's Institute who had baked lovely cakes, and a number of residents asked me about the sponsorship scheme, and a number of them stated their wish to be part of that scheme.

Whilst we see the devastation in Ukraine increasing on a daily basis, the war intensifying and the human cost as a result of the illegal and inhumane assault by Putin, the willingness and efforts of the people of Wales to try to extend a welcome to those who have fled for their lives does offer us hope in a very dark time.

The Welsh Government plans to ensure more certainty, more security and more support for refugees from Ukraine through the supersponsorship scheme are entirely in contrast with the lack of organisation and the inefficiency that is characteristic of the UK Government's response. The number of visas that have been awarded to refugees from Ukraine under the scheme is still very disappointingly low. It's appalling that, almost a month after we discussed the visa situation in the Siambr with you last time, Minister, we're still facing the same barriers, the same frustration, in trying to extend a welcome and a home to people who have lost everything, who have had to leave their property, their communities, their nation and, very often, those they love.

We've read press reports over the past few days from staff working on the support line of the UK Government for visas, saying that the scheme is designed to fail, that staff haven't received adequate training and that any suggestion to improve the system is ignored. You mentioned the promise by the UK Government that the visa process would be accelerated in your last written statement, but press reports on a daily basis tell us about people waiting for weeks to hear about their cases, and hundreds have been lost entirely. So, what is the most recent information that the Welsh Government has received about the visa process? Is the Westminster Government going to keep to its word and improve that process?

Also, can you confirm that funding is being provided by the UK Government to support every aspect of the visa scheme? Is every family that sponsors a family directly receiving payments in the same way as those who sponsor refugees through the Homes for Ukraine scheme? Is the Welsh Government scheme to be a supersponsor receiving financial support, and adequate support by the UK Government? And, if so, what impact is the lack of funding having on the visa schemes?

I've asked you in the Siambr previously about how Welsh Government could support our universities to create and co-ordinate a scheme for students and academics who are fleeing Ukraine. I wrote to you a few weeks ago about the case of a student who wanted to come to Swansea University to continue her studies, but she received a response that she had to make an application like everyone else from a foreign country, and there was no specific support or special consideration given to her situation. Could you give us an update on any plans to change this, bearing in mind the benefit for these individuals and for our organisations and institutions as a nation of having them be a part of our academic community? Thank you.

Diolch, Sioned. Diolch. It's great to hear of that welcome that was given today that you witnessed, and the fact that the community and the school yard, that parents, the community, want to engage and have engaged in such a positive way. Approximately 10,000 individuals in Wales have registered their interest in participating in the Homes for Ukraine scheme since the register opened on 14 March and 800 households have now submitted applications. That aims to support a combined 1,800 Ukrainians in Wales, and still that option is open in terms of the route through the Ukraine family scheme—the route through the Homes for Ukraine scheme. The Ukraine family scheme, of course, as I said, has already perhaps been the most successful way to get a visa, through the Ukraine family scheme, and it's important just to recognise that that Ukraine family scheme is not funded at all. There is no funding available for those extended families all over Wales—and we know them—who have not got any funding, compared with the funding that is given for the Homes for Ukraine scheme, because the Homes for Ukraine scheme is funded and it's important that we recognise that the supersponsor scheme is not funded to the same extent as the Homes for Ukraine funding is supported. I think that's where we need to get the support of the Senedd today in my discussions and my negotiations with the UK Government, because it's vital that those who are supporting their families get proper funding and support, and indeed the supersponsor route.

Just to remind people, the UK Government has made £10,500 per person available for local authorities to provide services, because it's public services that they need to support Ukrainians arriving in their area under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. It's not the same, as I said in my statement—the funding that we're getting for the Ukrainian refugee schemes is not at the same level as we had for the Afghan refugee scheme. It doesn't include the £850 payment for English and Welsh language tuition or the £2,600 payment for health services. They were made available under the recent Afghan resettlement scheme. So, even the Homes for Ukraine sponsorship scheme isn't funded at that level, but the fact is that in terms of the supersponsor scheme we are not getting that funding.

We need the £350 per month payment that is being made available under the Homes for Ukraine scheme to be made available to the Welsh Government for every Ukrainian family that's accommodated under the supersponsor programme. And I just want to say something in support of the supersponsor programme, because it is involving a commitment for us in Wales to support 1,000 people. It skips the need to identify a UK-based individual sponsor. It means they're sponsored directly by the Welsh Government; it makes it easier for people from Ukraine who don't have family ties to seek safety here in Wales. But also, importantly, it skips the delay and safeguarding concerns that we have seen arising associated with Ukrainians needing to identify UK-based sponsors. It ensures that proper welcome services can be put in place. And we are funding this, the Welsh Government is funding this, in terms of access to the public services that are needed in the welcome centres—translation services available, health services available, children starting lessons, advice to people on how they find their way in a new country, help with money and welfare benefits, and advice about finding work.

I will, again, look at the issues around the access to university, because it's crucial in terms of education. We're particularly concerned about ensuring children and young people have the right access to school, and we've issued guidance on school admission applications for children, which is on our sanctuary website. But we also have had very positive responses from universities and further education, so I will provide an update on that as well.

But it is crucial that we do get this message over that there are—. And I'm sure, as you said, there are many delays, unacceptable delays, between getting the visa, the whole family or household getting the visa, and then approval to travel. So, we are looking at issues like transport as well, but it is the UK Government who have got to take responsibility for making this a simpler process in order to get people, refugees, to flee the horror of their experience and their lives in Ukraine at the moment.

Thank you, Minister. I welcome your statement today. My constituent, Amy, has recently shared a video of the arrival of her Ukrainian guests at Bristol Airport, which has actually now had over 3.2 million views on social media, and she did this to show the people of Ukraine and people across the world that Wales truly is a nation of sanctuary. It's very sad, actually, that Amy's guest was meant to travel with her friend and their eight-year-old son, and decided not to come because they were actually worried about the reception that they would get here, but that is why Amy has shared this video, and I am really proud of how far it has gone, and I think it has done a lot of good.

Amy and other sponsors continue to go above and beyond to ensure that their guests arrive here safely. However, she and many others have shared with me their experience with the UK Government's sponsorship scheme. There is a misconception that the UK Government is linking sponsors with Ukraine nationals. This is not the case. People are relying on Facebook groups to do this. Ukrainian people are posting their personal information and circumstances, and then sponsors are replying in the comments offering their homes. Whilst there are many well-meaning people offering help, this unregulated and unmonitored process raises a number of potential safeguarding concerns for people fleeing Ukraine, as well as sponsors. I have heard a number of absolutely horrific, nightmare stories already.

There is also a misconception that arrangements will be made for them to travel here. Again, this is not the case. My constituent called on friends living in Poland to drive to the Ukrainian border to collect a mother and child, then drive them to the airport so that they could get the flight to the UK. My constituent used her savings to pay for the cost of the flights to get them here because all of the free ones are now gone.

There is also no tracking process to see if they arrive here. The Home Office approves the visa application and that is it. So, what if they arrived here and then went missing? Who would know? Who is checking?

You will need to ask your question now.

My question then to the Minister—. I just want to say a huge thank you, because you really have engaged with all of the issues and queries that I've put to you. You truly are listening to the sponsors and the guests. And my question is, to the Minister: please, can you continue to work with the UK Government and local authorities to address these safeguarding issues that I'm very concerned about? And, ideally, I do believe that we need funding specifically for community co-ordinators, so that they can wrap around all these services with the Ukrainian guests and they can become independent as soon as possible.

Diolch yn fawr, Sarah Murphy, and can we also thank Amy for the work that she's done and what she's shared? Hopefully, people will have a look at that video and congratulate her. So, please give our congratulationsto her for her commitment, her support and, indeed, for sharing these crucial experiences that we need to learn from.

I think you've raised points that I've commented on before, particularly in relation to improving and speeding up the approval of visas, and making sure that the communication with those who are fleeing and often, now, are over the border in countries waiting—sometimes in temporary accommodation, being sponsored, being funded for their travel and, indeed, their accommodation by sponsors from Wales who want to give that warm welcome—we would again ensure that we look at those issues. I'll be raising those issues with the Minister for Refugees again at our next meeting, about the dangers that exist where there are informal sponsorship arrangements and matching, which is dangerous. Until a local authority—which has to do the checks of proper, formal sponsors for Homes for Ukraine—until they get engaged, then we know that there are some dangerous situations already happening. So, I would say that the safeguarding information that we provide is crucial.

Just finally I'll say we've got significant concerns about the lack of safeguards in place through the UK Government's Homes for Ukraine scheme. It does provide greater opportunities, but there are some who, I'm afraid, have got intent to prey upon the vulnerability of refugees who need to find sanctuary. We know the vast majority of Homes for Ukraine sponsors are so supportive and well intentioned, but we do have to make sure that we are checking and we are supporting and stopping criminals from engaging in this. So, I would say that's why we're so keen to support not just the links that you've described today, but also the supersponsor route, because that will quicken up the visa access and also safeguard those who are fleeing that horror and the violent experiences that we hear about and we want to address. We have the means to do it here in Wales.

Good afternoon, Minister. Can I thank you and your officials once again for your hard work on this programme, and also for keeping me updated? I'm very grateful.

As you know, there is a resident, Sarah, in my region, who, with a team in Poland, has worked in applying for over 400 visas for Ukrainian people who have fled to Poland. This was in response to the slow, complicated and over-bureaucratic process to match willing hosts here in Wales with desperate Ukrainian refugees. But visas should not be required. These are desperate people fleeing war. Many refugees would be here, right now, if it were not for the insistence of the UK Government on the requirement for visas. It is shameful.

My question is whether you could kindly update us on how local authorities are able to carry out safeguarding checks. We've heard a lot this afternoon in relation to that, and I'm interested particularly in their capacity, and whether this can be increased, and has been increased, to allow them to carry out the checks quickly, safely and efficiently. Diolch.

Diolch, Jane, and thank you also for introducing me to Sarah, who is yet another—like Amy—amazing Welsh citizen playing that crucial part in making those links, not just in Wales, with all the volunteers and sponsor families, but in Ukraine and in Europe. Thank you for enabling us. They're now linking, Sarah's linking up with the north Wales links, with all of the groups who are active in Wales together. I do think that the point that's been made—. I think Sarah made the point about how we can now co-ordinate, perhaps, better at a regional level. We are looking at that, and particularly in terms of Ukrainian links as well for those who've come. There are many who've come who now want to volunteer, want to get into work and jobs, who actually want to support each other, and there is of course Voices for Ukraine, an already existing organisation that we are linked into.

It's crucial that we give support as well as guidance to local authorities in terms of their safeguarding role. Those checks are important. It's about safeguarding, data sharing, accommodation, wraparound support in terms of actually accessing third sector services as well. But, can I also please remind people of our contact centre? I've given the numbers, you've seen it on the written statement today, and the advice given at our welcome centres as well. We are actually supporting our social workers, our housing officers, in local authorities. They're used to, of course, arranging checks, particularly DBS checks, but it's more work, it's additional work that they're having to take on board. Again, I go back to the fact that we haven't got the funding that we should have from the UK Government to make sure that we can support our local authorities. Yes, in terms of Homes for Ukraine, they are getting support for public services, but that has not been applied to the family scheme, as I said, as well, and we have a shortfall of funding to support us in providing those services for the supersponsor scheme. So, today's statement is important, to put on record the needs that we have and for me, again, to discuss this and make sure that the UK Government is aware of what's happening on the ground in our nation of sanctuary.

And finally, Heledd Fychan.

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. Minister, similarly, sharing experiences from constituents of mine, in terms of not receiving visas for last members in the family, hence the delay in coming here, and also receiving calls from across the region about difficulties in securing school places for those coming to Wales, with not all local authorities being consistent in terms of ensuring that they're responding to queries about school admissions, nor confirming arrangements in terms of transport. And I wondered how we can ensure consistency across every local authority in applying the guidelines that are set out clearly by Welsh Government.

Similarly, I think it would be remiss of me not to raise today something that came up during the recess period, of course, from the UK Government, in terms of Rwanda immigration plans. I know the focus is on Ukraine, but, similarly, as a nation of sanctuary, I know we are condemning that approach, with Mark Drakeford describing the plans as cruel and inhumane and not the way to treat people seeking safety and sanctuary. Therefore, during your discussions with the UK Government, have you had any conversations around this specifically, and is there scope for us to support potential legal action, working with other Governments—such as the Scottish Government—to stop these cruel plans, when they stand in such contradiction to the remarkable public support for those fleeing Ukraine?

Diolch yn fawr, Heledd Fychan. And, again, I'm grateful for the examples that you're giving in terms of constituents and sponsor families, and the ones who they want to sponsor—the refugees—having these barriers and difficulties; that's more evidence that is important for me. But we need to address it, the UK Government needs to address it. We have responsibility for ensuring that children can have access to schools—that is our responsibility. And we've issued guidance, as you know, on school admission applications for children. Obviously, we need to look at the admission arrangements for the school, in terms of the school admissions code, but I think that—. And there will be some issues about vacancies in local schools, we know that, so local authorities have to look at all those issues and look at keeping learners safe. But, again, this is for the local authorities and the guidance is there very clearly on the sanctuary website, but I'm very happy to receive any examples of where these issues are difficult.

Now, I absolutely understand why you have raised the issue, what I feel are the horrors of the announcement that came through during this time of crisis about the situation of Rwanda, being among the 25 poorest countries in the world, from one of the richest countries, our country, being put in this position. I just have to say that the UN Refugee Agency completely supports the view that the measures in the Bill—this comes from the Nationality and Borders Bill—are off-shoring asylum seeker processing, at odds with the refugee convention, to which the UK is a signatory. It's a callous approach and it undermines our standing in the world. We are a nation of sanctuary.

I thank the Minister.