7. Will the Minister provide an update on the Welsh Government's Homes for Ukraine scheme? OQ58136

Around 2,000 Ukrainians have now arrived in Wales under the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Around 500 of these have been sponsored by the Welsh Government. Guidance for local authorities and sponsors as well as our Sanctuary website for Ukrainians are available. Our 24/7 contact centre and third sector partners are also providing support.

Diolch yn fawr, Weinidog. I appreciate your update and your earlier written statement on this as well, however I do wish to draw your attention to the support and assistance offered to individuals who have provided their properties as part of the Welsh Government's Homes for Ukraine programme. Having spoken to several Pembrokeshire and Carmarthenshire families who've participated in this programme, it's very clear that there is a brief support framework available for those hosting Ukrainian families. Day-to-day task such as assisting with opening bank accounts, taxying families back and forth for hospital appointments and taking the time to support with the school run all involve sacrificing time off work. In fact, the reality is that those participating in the Homes for Ukraine programme are not just offering a spare bedroom, they are offering the chance to become an integrated member of their family. Given this and your written statement today outlining a pause to new applications, can the Minister outline what support beyond the existing £350 'thank you' payment the Welsh Government is giving to families who are hosting and supporting Ukrainian refugees? Diolch.

Thank you very much for that question and key points, which I'm sure would be shared across this Chamber in terms of the huge commitment—and I made this point in my statement—the huge commitment of those sponsor families, opening up their homes, as I said, and helping people find their feet as they start lives in Wales. Extraordinary acts of kindness, which we're fully grateful for. And also, I have to say, there's the key role of local authorities as well, in supporting the sponsors and engaging with them as well. So, Welsh citizens are really playing a fantastic role in terms of supporting refugees from Ukraine. We have got also a network of third sector organisations and voluntary groups who are also assisting and assisting families with these schemes, and I'm sure across the Chamber as well people are engaging and putting people into contact with each other to provide that kind of support.

I do think that our website, the Sanctuary Wales website, is very helpful. It provides advice and guidance for sponsors as well as local authorities, and it does actually also steer people to any funding opportunities. I think it's very unfortunate that the UK Government is not providing Welsh Government or local authorities with the funding that they really need to properly support people arriving under the family scheme. So, we are urging, I have to say—. When I meet with the Minister, Lord Harrington, my colleague Neil Gray, from Scotland, the Minister, and I urge the UK Government to provide to those families, many who've come, in addition to the figures I've given, under the family scheme—. We urge that they should also get support because they are being supported by their family members with no support at all. But I will say that any family that's coming can access public funds, universal credit, homelessness support, free school meals, and also English to speakers of other languages and all of the other services that they need.

And finally, question 8, Mabon ap Gwynfor.