4. Statement by the Minister for Social Justice: Update on Ukraine

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 3:19 pm on 3 May 2022.

Alert me about debates like this

Photo of Mark Isherwood Mark Isherwood Conservative 3:19, 3 May 2022

Diolch. Thank you for your statement, which is obviously becoming a weekly occurrence at the moment. Questioning you last Tuesday, I referred to your written statement update about the Homes for Ukraine scheme on 21 April. In your subsequent update on support for Ukraine last Thursday 28 April, you referred to the latest UK Government figures and stated that, as of 27 April, 2,300 visas have been issued to people from Ukraine to come to Wales via the Homes for Ukraine scheme, of which the Welsh Government is a supersponsor for 670. Overall, a total of 117,600 UK Ukraine scheme visa applications have been received, with, as you state in your statement, 86,100 visas issued and 27,100 total arrivals of visa holders in the UK.

What, therefore, is your understanding of how many have arrived in Wales so far, either in total or under the supersponsor scheme, or more broadly under the Homes for Ukraine scheme? You state that you met with Lord Harrington, UK Minister for Refugees, and with Neil Gray MSP, Scottish Government Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, last week, where you

'raised issues regarding delays, safeguarding and funding.'

Following on from my questions relating to this last week, what further specific discussions did you therefore have with Lord Richard Harrington about reasons for the gap between growing numbers of visas issued and the increase in total arrivals and about what is being done to identify and address this?

In your update last Thursday, you also stated that a breakdown of local authorities is also available. However, this shows a huge variation in the number of visas issued, ranging from 162 in Cardiff and 153 in Monmouthshire, to an average of 63 across the six north Wales counties, to 18 in Merthyr Tydfil and just five in Blaenau Gwent. Notwithstanding the obvious difference in population size, what is your understanding of the reasons for this range, and how are you targeting support at a local level accordingly?

Questioning you last week, I noted that an anti-human trafficking organisation in Romania had told the previous day's north Wales Ukrainian response Zoom meeting that the most vulnerable people are displaced people, and that therefore the focus now is on safeguarding. In your response, you stated that you were very closely linked to those organisations doing the anti-human trafficking work. You also restated that you are developing your own safeguarding guidance, but very much working on a four-nation basis. What specific work are you therefore doing with anti-human trafficking organisations working on the ground with Ukrainian refugees in the countries they have crossed into, and what position have the four UK Governments, working together, now reached on safeguarding?

As you'll be aware, the Prime Minister addressed the Ukrainian Parliament via video link today, hailing the country's finest hour, as he put it, as it battles the ongoing Russian invasion, and unveiling a new £300 million support package, including new specialised Toyota Land Cruisers to help protect civilian officials in eastern Ukraine and evacuate civilians from front-line areas, following a request from the Ukraine Government. To what extent was the Welsh Government, if at all, aware of this request, and how might this provision assist you in your programme to evacuate civilians in front-line areas and bring them to Wales?

Finally, how are you working with ministerial colleagues to ensure that school places and local GP and NHS services are available to Ukrainian refugees when they arrive in Wales?