Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd, and thank you for the opportunity, once again, to provide an update to Members on our ongoing work to support people from Ukraine who continue to flee this most cruel war in the hope of finding sanctuary. With each day that passes, we hear more and more harrowing stories including, at the weekend, when a small number of civilians were evacuated from the besieged steelworks in Mariupol through joint efforts of the United Nations and Red Cross. Putin is gradually increasing the intensity of his offensive in eastern Ukraine, bringing more innocent people into the line of fire, but they are being met by the fiercest resistance of Ukrainian forces.

We know that over 5.5 million people have fled this conflict, and I am encouraged to note that we have seen some progress in the visa approvals from the Home Office. Across the United Kingdom we have seen almost 120,000 visa applications submitted, with 86,100 issued and 27,100 arrivals. Of these arrivals, 16,000 have come as part of the Ukraine family scheme, and 11,100 as part of the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Data published on 27 April shows that 2,300 visas have been issued to people via the Homes for Ukraine scheme who have a sponsor in Wales. A total of 670 of these are via the Welsh Government supersponsor route. We are seeing a steady increase in the amount of people arriving in Wales, including to our own welcome centres, and we expect that these numbers will increase as more visas are approved and more people make plans to travel.

And while we've seen progress on the approval of visas, there are ongoing concerns that the way these visas are processed is leading to confusion and delays for those fleeing. This is particularly true for families who are unable to travel until everyone in their party has been individually granted a visa, instead of visas being considered together. For those who've been able to seek sanctuary here, it is of course crucial that we ensure the highest levels of safeguarding protections are in place. This is a concern I have raised on multiple occasions with the UK Government. It's crucial that the Homes for Ukraine scheme, though commendable in many ways—. We recognise that it includes design flaws that expose those needing sanctuary to harm. We are working tirelessly across Welsh public bodies to reduce and mitigate these risks, but we can't eliminate them entirely. We continue to raise concerns with the UK Government and intervene where possible to prevent harm, but we will not be successful in every instance.

Previous schemes, such as those to support people fleeing Afghanistan, were administered and monitored by Government, much like our supersponsor scheme in Wales. This allowed for people to be supported from the moment of arrival and for proper safeguarding procedures to be put in place. On 5 April we published guidance on how public bodies can help protect people living in households from Ukraine. We are also providing local authorities with details of people arriving from Ukraine via the Homes for Ukraine scheme, so that property and safeguarding checks can be undertaken and support services can be offered.

Our online advice is encouraging potential hosts or sanctuary seekers to use the Reset matching system, rather than more informal systems. Reset have years of experience working with refugees and sponsors in Wales and understand how to ensure some level of consistency, and to ensure safeguarding considerations are addressed. I am particularly concerned about the vulnerability of Ukrainian refugees, the majority of whom are women and children, to acts of unscrupulous people seeking to exploit and abuse.

We have also published separate guidance on safeguarding and modern slavery for local authorities and sponsors, and provided advice to welcome centre and contact centre staff. A third version of the safeguarding and modern slavery guidance is due to be published next week. I have urged the UK Government to continually review the procedures that are in place, and they have offered assurances that their helpdesk has been expanded to respond to safeguarding concerns. We are working with local authorities to explain how referrals can be made, and I continue to press the UK Government to ensure the best procedures are in place. You will also be aware that a Welsh Government helpline was launched on 28 March for people arriving in Wales from Ukraine, as well as for people who are acting as sponsors. The helpline seeks to provide advice and guidance, and it has now been expanded to a 24/7 operation to ensure there is always support available when it is needed.

I met with Lord Harrington, Minister for Refugees, and Neil Gray MSP, the Scottish Government Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, last week, where we raised issues regarding delays, safeguarding and funding. Financial support is still not being provided for the operation of our supersponsor welcome centres, despite this offering the safest route and most comprehensive wraparound support. There will be significant unmet costs arising from the Ukraine visa schemes. In other resettlement programmes, there have been essential separate funds for healthcare and English language tuition, as well as integration funding for year 2 and year 3, none of which has yet been announced by UK Government Ministers. Unfortunately, the UK Government is not currently providing Welsh Government or Welsh local authorities with the funding necessary to be able to properly support people arriving under the family scheme. We are urging the UK Government to provide Ukrainian families with the same level of support as sponsors and Ukrainians under the Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Finally, I would once again like to thank the businesses, organisations, individuals and families across Wales who, through their generosity and efforts, continue to reflect the spirit of our country. I will close, as before, 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 24/7 free helpline for advice. There is a warm welcome waiting in this our nation of sanctuary. Diolch.