Diolch yn fawr, Lywydd, and thank you for the opportunity to provide an update to Members on our ongoing work to support Ukrainians hoping to find sanctuary in Wales. In the two weeks since I last provided an oral statement on this matter, we've welcomed many new neighbours and friends from Ukraine. The UK Government has begun to publish Homes for Ukraine scheme arrivals data for the first time and, as of 10 May, Wales had welcomed 1,126 Ukrainians, in addition to those arriving under the Ukraine family scheme, and it is our privilege to be able to provide sanctuary to each and every one of those arriving.

I want to thank local government for the truly outstanding work they're doing to prepare for and support these arrivals. The sheer scale of property inspections, safeguarding checks and resolution of novel issues that they have undertaken has been remarkable. And we are seeing improvements in the average time the UK Government takes to consider and approve visas, but there are still problems with the way the system operates, not least the inability for grouped family applications to be submitted, meaning that sometimes large groups are prevented from travelling because only one visa is missing. I've raised this with the UK Minister for Refugees and have been assured that this will also be improved shortly.

We are pleased to see over 1,000 Ukrainians arrive in Wales, but three times that number have had visas approved. We're monitoring this closely and seeking to understand the reasons why people are not arriving in greater numbers and if there are other barriers preventing travel that we may be able to address.

We remain concerned about the safeguarding risks presented by informal social media matching for the Homes for Ukraine scheme. We're continuing to urge Welsh households who wish to be sponsors to be matched via reputable organisations such as Reset or to approach their local authority, and we continue to work closely with local authorities and across UK nations on these crucial issues.

Last week we contacted all Welsh households who'd expressed an interest in the Homes for Ukraine scheme to ask if they were still interested in taking part but had not yet found a match. We've had a very positive response so far, and we'll be working with local government to ensure those offers can be checked to form a source of safe accommodation offers. These can be used where initial placements come to an end and as secondary destinations once each family is ready to move on from a welcome centre.

For those who've already arrived in Wales, we recently announced the extension of our free public transport offer. Initially, we were able to offer free rail travel to Ukrainians and newly granted refugees; however, last week we were able to announce the free bus travel welcome ticket, where participating bus companies will also provide this offer. The list of participating bus companies can be found by searching for 'welcome ticket' at gov.wales. And I want to thank every bus company that's joined this scheme, and I also encourage others to do so, so that we can ensure Ukrainians and refugees in all parts of Wales can benefit.

In addition, we've been able to announce Cadw’s free entry scheme to their sites across Wales. Cadw had already been supporting our nation of sanctuary vision for a number of years through free supported visits for asylum seekers. However, a free entry offer has now been expanded to ensure any sanctuary seeker in Wales can benefit.

We have encountered some difficult challenges since we started to welcome people fleeing the conflict and we're working through these as quickly and carefully as we can. I'm aware that some children arriving have not yet been able to join their new classmates in school. We're attempting to minimise risks of multi-drug-resistant TB, which remains a public health threat in Ukraine, by providing TB screening for all arrivals. The chief medical officer has published revised advice, recommending that primary school age children can start school prior to screening due to the low risk. The advice remains that secondary school age children should be screened before starting school, and this is being kept under review as we gather more data about prevalence through the screening programme.

We're working closely with universities and colleges to ensure English language tuition is made available as broadly as possible. We're seeking to utilise the regional ESOL assessment central hub, or REACH model in conjunction with other agencies at the welcome centres to ensure individuals can be assessed and the right level of intervention provided. I know that the University of South Wales and Rhondda Cynon Taf council have already started informal ESOL classes to run through the summer period, and we're bringing together local authorities and universities across Wales to widen this approach.

Finally, we are working closely with third sector organisations to ensure that as people arrive we have avenues for advice and support available to them. I'm now chairing a working group to co-ordinate efforts with the third sector, including violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence services, and we're working to secure partners who can provide advice and advocacy services soon. Over the weekend we saw a very positive example of this partnership working with the third sector, as I was delighted that we could work closely with Citizens UK Cymru to bring 18 Ukrainians into Wales together. Further work will take place in the coming days and weeks.