So, we will move on to item 7, a statement by the Minister for Social Justice, an update on Ukraine, and I call on the Minister, Jane Hutt.

Diolch yn fawr, Dirprwy Lywydd, for giving us another opportunity to provide an update to Members about our ongoing work to support people from Ukraine seeking sanctuary in Wales. When I last updated you almost a month ago, Wales had welcomed just over 1,120 Ukrainians under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, including under our supersponsor route, and I'm pleased to say this number has nearly doubled since then. Almost 2,200 people from Ukraine, sponsored by people from Wales, had arrived in the UK by 7 June. There have also been arrivals, of course, under the Ukraine family scheme, but the UK Government does not provide that data.

More than 5,200 visas have now been granted to people from Ukraine who have sponsors in Wales, so we can expect the number of arrivals to continue to grow quickly in the coming weeks. Our partners in local government, the NHS, the third sector, volunteers and, of course, all those people who are acting as sponsors are making phenomenal efforts to support sanctuary seekers with the services and information they need. The Minister for Finance and Local Government and I met with local authority leaders and chief executives last week to restate our shared commitment to this work following the election.

Last week, I announced that we would be temporarily pausing our supersponsor scheme for the rest of this month. The supersponsor route has been an enormous success since its launch eight weeks ago. We set out to sponsor 1,000 people and it has far exceeded our expectations. The published data for Wales, up to 7 June 2022, shows that over 3,000 supersponsor scheme visas have been granted, but operational data suggests that that could now be as much as 50 per cent higher.

We set up the supersponsor route because we wanted to reduce the safeguarding risks and reduce barriers for people from Ukraine, mostly women and children, who are fleeing this deadly conflict and seeking sanctuary. Last week I visited one of our welcome centres, alongside the Counsel General, and it was a real pleasure to see the positive impact of this work in action.

As part of marking Refugee Week next week, the First Minister and I also intend to visit another of our centres. We have set up and funded the welcome centres, with their wraparound support, to accommodate our initial commitment of 1,000 people. Our current welcome centres are at capacity, and we are urgently seeking to establish further centres and other sources of temporary accommodation. We are pleased that we can provide a route to sanctuary for so many, but it is a huge challenge for us to ensure that we can scale our offer to support everyone arriving.

It would be wholly irresponsible for us to keep this route open unless we were confident that we have everything in place to ensure everyone we sponsor has a good-quality experience when they arrive in Wales. This temporary, operational pause will provide us and our partners with a short space of time to ensure all our processes and services are in place to support everyone we have made commitments to. Being a nation of sanctuary is about ensuring that we are able to make good on the promises we have made to people who want to come to Wales. We fully expect to reopen the scheme for applications next month. I will update you again when we complete our review at the end of June.

We continue to work closely with local government and others, particularly the third sector, to ensure everyone arriving and staying in the welcome centres is supported as they begin to settle into life in Wales. Housing options for Ukrainian refugees are being planned with partners in the public and private rented sector. We do not want people to stay in the welcome centres for longer than necessary. We have contacted everyone in Wales who's expressed an interest in hosting someone from Ukraine but has not yet been matched. Local authorities are undertaking property and safeguarding checks daily.

Dirprwy Lywydd, we are working closely and relying on the third sector's expertise and experience in supporting people seeking sanctuary. People arriving from Ukraine are likely to need a range of support, including advice and advocacy, as they settle into life in Wales. Our contact centre, which I visited recently, has now made approximately 21,000 outbound calls and answered over 2,000 incoming calls, providing essential information and advice to Ukrainians and Wales-based sponsors. We will also be extending our Wales sanctuary service, led by Welsh Refugee Council, to ensure that Ukrainians have access to this vital service. Within the service we will ensure provision of peer support opportunities, immigration legal advice, casework advice services and advocacy.

We are incredibly grateful to all of those who have opened up their homes. We have regularly updated our guidance for sponsors, and we are working with Housing Justice Cymru to make information sessions, training and trauma-informed peer support more widely available.

In my regular meetings with the UK Minister for Refugees, I continue to make the case for parity of funding to support people arriving under the Ukraine family scheme. The UK Government is yet to agree to this. Here too, we are working closely with third sector partners to make wraparound support available for all those families who have been reunited via the Ukraine family scheme, and need support. We are finalising the details.

We will also ensure that 'thank you' payments are made to secondary hosts, where Ukraine family scheme accommodations break down. I urge the UK Government to properly support this work.

Finally, Dirprwy Lywydd, we are holding a series of workshops to engage third sector organisations about the challenges that Ukrainians will be experiencing across Wales. We are working as quickly as we can to ensure people can access all the services they need, from interpretation to language tuition, casework support or health services, but some of this will continue to take time to build up capacity. This is a real Team Wales effort to be proud of.

In your written statement update on the Homes for Ukraine scheme last Wednesday, you referred to the latest UK Government figures then, which stated that as of 30 May, 4,909 visas had been issued to people from Ukraine with a sponsor in Wales, which was up 1,609 in three weeks, of which 2,453 were sponsored by the Welsh Government, up 1,453 in just three weeks. You stated then that 1,961 people with sponsors had now arrived in Wales, in addition to those arriving under the Ukraine family scheme. If I repeat the question I always put to you in these statements: what therefore is your understanding of how many have arrived in Wales in total so far, under both schemes, or is that data still unavailable? And what further specific discussions have you had with the UK Minister for Refugees about the reasons for the narrowing but continuing gap between numbers of visas issued and the total arrivals, and action being taken to further address this?

As you know, I've spoken in this Chamber on several occasions of Haven of Light's work with Link International on the Ukrainian response in north Wales. I first highlighted this to you in the Chamber on 15 March, when I stated,

'They're being established by a team of local professionals and partnering third sector organisations and churches across north Wales, working from a central hub in Llandudno, to prepare for the arrival of Ukrainian nationals and others affected by the war who will come to north Wales in the weeks and months ahead.'

I asked you:

'How will the Welsh Government support these vital initiatives and facilitate local authority engagement with them?'

I was therefore pleased to receive an e-mail earlier this month from Ali Ussery, Haven of Light, stating that both she and Reverend Tim Hall, from the charity Link International, sit on the external stakeholder group with you. And Ali added,

'As you know, I always focus my work at grass-roots level, meeting with the people and letting them lead.'

She invited me to a barbecue with a focus on Ukrainian families now living in Conwy county, which I'll be attending. Will you therefore provide us with an update on the work of the external stakeholder group, particularly with people at grass-roots level across Wales? Ali told me that 100 Ukrainians came and spent the day together, informally meeting, sharing experiences, weeping, laughing and playing at their last event, adding that it was an amazing time to see so many children having fun and talking with others in their own language.

Responding to your update on Ukraine statement six weeks ago, I asked how you were 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. You responded stating,

'It's crucial in terms of education that children can obtain admission to schools, and, indeed, also, I have to say, to the health service, to their GPs, to the health checks that are under way. This is monitored on a daily basis.'

Responding to you four weeks ago, I referred to the constituent who had contacted me stating that a Ukrainian refugee family was arriving the following morning under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, who had been told by the local authority's school admissions that the family's primary school-age child could not start education until she had a medical from the GP, and by the GP they had registered the family with that they refused to do a medical, knew nothing of this requirement and did not have the capacity. I thanked you for your prompt response, in which you stated that officials were following up with the admissions officer in the local authority to confirm that, providing the child is well, they do not need to wait for a health assessment to attend the school and that, regarding the position relayed to the family from the GP practice, you had asked health officials to follow up on that with the health board as a matter of urgency. I therefore concluded by asking how you therefore are working with colleagues to ensure that this capacity issue is addressed and, finally, how you would now ensure that local authorities and health services across Wales understand your expectations of them. To what extent, therefore, is your temporary pause of the Welsh Government's supersponsor scheme dictated by a shortage of accommodation, and to what extent by restrictions to the limited availability of services, including school placements and health provision? Can this realistically be addressed and, if so, when by and how?

And my final question, given your reference to accommodation: at the St David's parliamentary prayer breakfast for Wales on 3 March, I sat next to a person who is working with the Ministry of Defence to develop temporary quality accommodation for Ukrainian refugees arriving in the UK. In the circumstances you describe, what discussions have you had or could you have with the MOD regarding Wales accessing that potential source of quality, albeit temporary, housing?

Diolch yn fawr, Mark Isherwood. Thank you very much for all your very helpful questions. Obviously, every time we meet, there are new figures—new figures to update from last week, when I issued my written statement. But, just to update you, as of 14 June, in terms of submitted applications to Wales, 4,017; confirmed applications, 3,293; visas issued, 2,699; estimated arrivals, 1,717. Now, those are for the individuals sponsored—those who are matching with a sponsor, the individual route as part of Homes for Ukraine.

So, if we turn to our supersponsor route, which is the route that we are pausing just for these few weeks, we actually had 6,016 submitted applications. They transferred into 4,808 confirmed applications, and 3,435 visas have been issued under our supersponsor scheme. I've said already that the welcome centres are at capacity. The estimated arrivals, as of 14 June, under our supersponsor scheme is 759. In fact, when the Counsel General and I visited the welcome centre last week, it was virtually full then, and they said they were expecting arrivals at the weekend, and it would then be full. But by the end of weekend, all our welcome centres were full. In fact, over 100 people arrived over the weekend, and 100 more were confirmed to travel between Monday and Friday this week.

So, now we've got over 6,000 applications in the system, with around 4,700 confirmed applications, and an estimation, as we said right from the word 'go', that we would be able to provide accommodation for up to 1,000 people. So, this is where we have got to make sure that we can not only support those who are in the system, because everyone who was in the system up until Friday, we were going to progress their applications for the supersponsor route to welcome centres. Everyone else, of course, will continue. Those who are coming under the individual sponsor, Homes for Ukraine sponsor scheme, they were also arriving as well, so there has been—.

It's good, in a sense, your question about gaps between visa approvals and arrivals. That gap has narrowed. I've raised it every time I've met with Lord Harrington, and indeed my colleague from Scotland, Neil Gray, the Minister, these issues, but that has become less of an issue because that gap has reduced. So, that's just the latest update, and I will be updating you on figures as we move through.

I just want to say something about Haven of Light, and the fact that you introduced me to them very early on back in February. Their experience, their expertise, their care and commitment is just tremendous. I've met them on a number of occasions. They're absolutely committed. They're particularly concerned about safeguarding. They've got a lot of experience about sexual exploitation, trafficking. They want to ensure that people are safe and supported, and I'm very pleased to say that Reverend Tim Hall and colleagues sit on the external group that I chair.

But I have given you quite a bit of information in my statement—I won't repeat it all, but you can see—about the work we're doing with the third sector to make sure that we can have specialist support, some funding going out to some organisations like the Welsh Refugee Council. The Red Cross are playing a hugely important role. They were there at the welcome centre we visited last week. They're all playing a key role, but the wonderful events that are being held across Wales, the support that's been given to families and households.

I'll just quickly say on education, yes, we have been very clear about all children living in Wales having a right to access a school, and we have that guidance on school admissions applications on the Schools of Sanctuary website. Local authorities have all played their part to help with the difficulty in many cases where there hasn't been capacity. That has been an issue, but local authorities are looking at ways in which they can address that capacity in terms of class sizes. It has been a challenge in some areas, but I'm very pleased that, last Thursday, the Minister for Finance and Local Government and I met with all the new leaders. We met on that occasion specifically with housing cabinet members, because I will go on to your next point. 

What we need to do is make sure that people can move on from our welcome centres. Some will go to host families, and others will go into more permanent accommodation for the time that they're going to spend in Wales. We're looking at all other opportunities beyond the five centres that we've got, and we've got another one opening shortly. So, thank you again for raising that. I did feed back about the MOD contact you had from the St David's prayer breakfast, and I'll follow that up as well.

Thank you for the statement, Minister. It's concerning, of course, that the supersponsor scheme has had to be temporarily paused, because we know that this was a scheme where we can best guarantee that the needs of refugees are met, and that their safety and well-being are safeguarded. We understand and also appreciate the need to ensure that the appropriate support is available and that pausing the scheme to resolve any problems is a responsible thing to do. But from what we've heard from local authorities who have welcome centres in their areas, there is a very real problem that has arisen because there is a lack of accommodation available for those who are ready to move on from the welcome centres. This is perhaps partly because of the pressures on local authority housing stock. We know that the number of homeless people in temporary accommodation is increasing and the lack of permanent housing available for them is a barrier in reducing the number of people in temporary accommodation.

So, can the Minister confirm that a shortage of permanent accommodation is partially responsible for the pause in the supersponsor scheme, and what solutions are being proposed? And how will the Government ensure that local authorities—those who have welcome centres and those who don't—do work together to solve this problem? The aim, of course, is to restart the supersponsor scheme. So, what's the Government doing now in order to ensure that what is provided in the future in the scheme is adequate, and practically possible? Is the Minister confident that the scheme will not need to be paused again? You’ve mentioned that capacity is a cause of concern in the welcome centres, and given these difficulties in finding permanent accommodation for families, what will happen if those who have received a visa under the supersponsor scheme do arrive whilst the scheme is paused? Where will they go?

A number of press reports over recent weeks have mentioned refugees facing major difficulties and some now having been made homeless as arrangements break down, either because of a failure in the relationship between the host and the individual, or issues around inappropriate accommodation being offered, and then local authorities having to step into the breach to support these people. Are such cases monitored by Government, and if so, what's the picture here in Wales? And what plans are in place to find permanent accommodation for those refugees that have been sponsored by families once their six-month period of accommodation comes to an end, and those who have offered their homes are unable or don't want to extend that period? Bearing in mind that funding isn't provided, as you mentioned, by the Westminster Government to support the Welsh Government's supersponsor scheme, can the Minister tell us what the impact of this is on the programme, now that many weeks have passed?

I've raised in the past concerns about the lack of mental health support and specialist trauma services for those who have fled Ukraine. Charities report that needs are getting worse, given how the conflict has developed. So, what additional specialist provision is in place for those seeking sanctuary here in Wales under the various sponsorship schemes? Given that the numbers of people are increasing, as you've noted, has the Government reviewed the adequacy of the services available? And has it responded to any gaps or issues around capacity in order to ensure that the refugees arriving in Wales, and who need such support, are properly supported? Thank you.

Diolch yn fawr, Sioned Williams. Thank you for acknowledging the huge challenge, but also the responsibilities that we have to get this right in terms of the way in which we provide our support. As I said in my statement on the supersponsor scheme, we developed it as the safest route for our refugees from Ukraine, but, as you will appreciate, even from the latest figures, we now have, in fact, 3,435 visas issued under that supersponsor scheme, and we want to make sure that we can accommodate. They won't necessarily all come anyway in terms of turning into arrivals, as outlined in the earlier question, because some of them have ticked more than one box in terms of which route they come through. But, clearly, we have a commitment to meet that need. Anyone who was actually in the system by Friday, when the scheme was paused, those are all progressing, those applications. It's just that you couldn't tick that box from Friday in terms of the supersponsor route. So, that would apply to new applicants, but they might well have ticked the other box in terms of being able to come through the individual sponsor scheme. But we will reopen that as quickly as possible—I've said this month. We will reopen that, and I will come back to the Senedd to update you on this. 

I just want to particularly look at the issues for local authorities that you've raised, because this has been a real challenge for them in terms of housing and how we can support them. In terms of homelessness, the use of temporary accommodation at the moment is quite considerable, and so meeting with the local authority leaders on Thursday was very important. That's why we also met with cabinet members—new cabinet members, new leaders, as well as existing ones coming back into their roles. We agreed a pan-Wales response. All local authorities have to play their part. That includes those who haven't got welcome centres, as you say, Sioned. We've got a framework for accommodation, which sets out expectations for all local authorities, and it provides information on the formula for that responsibility. We're working very closely with the WLGA, monitoring where people have been rehoused, and also making sure that there's a mixture of accommodation available—individual hosting, private rented sector, RSLs are now involved, and social housing. 

I've mentioned pressures on local authorities, and this is part of our nation of sanctuary. We already have some Afghan families not yet settled into long-term accommodation. We have over 7,300 people in Wales in temporary accommodation. We do need to be flexible and creative about how we can help local authorities. On Thursday, we were able to tell local authorities that we've got a new transitional accommodation capital programme. Local authorities can apply to that to increase their accommodation to support existing housing pressures, alongside the Ukrainian response. And, obviously, we have homelessness prevention work ongoing—it's the 'everyone in' approach—as well as the resettlement programme. I hope that gives you some reassurance that we're seeking to support this the best we can in terms of the needs that we've got.

There are breakdowns of placements. For the family scheme, which we don't have the data on, and we have no funding for, we still do not know how many we have in Wales unless they come forward, but they are actually contacting local authorities when there's a breakdown, and they are incorporated into this framework for accommodation guidance, and then making sure that there is a rematching arrangement. Of course, we do have our Welsh Government helpline. As I said, I visited it. It's 24/7. They're working very hard to meet some of these needs that emerge as a result of the pressures on local authorities and their arrangements.

Finally, I would say, in terms of the funding situation, that the Welsh Government is putting our money into this. We are a nation of sanctuary, and we're very concerned that the UK Government isn't providing Welsh Government with the funds needed to operate our welcome centres. But we are working with them to try and establish a memorandum of understanding to get funding towards the support needed for Ukrainian families via the supersponsor programme, and I can update you on that. I think it is important that we continue to press on this, as I meet on a regular basis. I hope that this has given you some indication of what the task is for local authorities, communities, sponsors—all the new sponsors coming forward—and the third sector. We're looking at new opportunities for more welcome centres, but even with more welcome centres, there needs to be a move-on arrangement.

Mental health support is crucially important. I'll just say that, in the welcome centre that I visited, the local authority and the health board met with us, and they had a team of four nurses who were there providing support, including a mental health, trauma-informed approach to psychological first aid. They were engaging and they had translators and interpreters, so there was a clear commitment with that welcome centre. But this is also for all the families who are sponsors; they also need access to psychological services as well. This is an enormous new ask of all our services, particularly in relation to mental health and support.

The Llywydd took the Chair.

Thank you, Minister, for that important update. The experiences of those surviving and fighting within the worst-hit regions in Ukraine are really harrowing and traumatising. I just want to raise the issue around mental health, because, with so many of their relatives now residing here in Wales, it's sadly inevitable that the brutal realities of war are going to impact those who are now safe in our country. I have had correspondence from one constituent who is hosting a refugee from Ukraine. Last month, her son was horrifically injured due to a land mine, and if he survives, he'll be scarred for life. She's distraught about this; she's so distraught that she's so far away and unable to help the one she loves. Her host family are doing everything they can to console and help her and have even arranged for money to be sent over to help pay for his surgery. The longer the war goes on, the more refugees will be impacted, as their friends and family who remain in Ukraine are caught up in the brutality of the events. So, what emotional and mental health support are we able to give to Ukrainians and their host families—you mentioned in particular the welcome centre—so that when that worst news does arrive, we're ensuring that help is there in all forms when people need it the most?

Thank you very much, Jayne Bryant. I think we'll all be profoundly moved by the report of that experience from a sponsor family and how desperate they must feel, and the distance, the loss, the fear and isolation of not being able to be there for their family. This is what the war is about; it's not in the headlines all the time, but this is happening now, as we speak here today. When we visited the welcome centre last week, we realised the trauma that people had suffered. You can't just wipe that and say it's about a housing solution or education. I mean, obviously, all of these things help provide a support system, which we want to do for everyone. You know that every family, as they come, are encouraged to register with a GP—that can include mental health services. This is actually, also, about the importance, as I've said, of providing emotional and mental health support, because this has been given parity, as we've seen from the experiences of people coming under the supersponsor scheme and those arriving through the family sponsor route.

Particularly for welcome centres, I've mentioned that we're looking at this in terms of our approach. We're getting support from people like Traumatic Stress Wales, the Royal College of Psychiatrists, and Public Health Wales are developing materials. There's a guidance document focusing on support for displaced people in Wales in private accommodation. They've all been translated into Ukrainian and Russian. But we've also got the CALL mental health helpline, which is able to use LanguageLine. As I said, there's guidance for health boards anyway on the health and well-being of asylum seekers and refugees, but there's Mind Cymru and all those local support schemes as well.

I'll just show Members; this is the pack that is given to everyone in our welcome centres, and I was just asking my colleague who came with me, Mick Antoniw, what the translation was: 'Laskavo prosymo, pryvit', which is 'welcome'. And this is a pack full of information, translated into Ukrainian and Russian, because that is what they need when they come to our welcome centres and to the families, like the wonderful host family that are supporting the Ukrainian refugee.

Minister, thank you very much for this important update. In the Homes for Ukraine guidance—I think that is what you were referring to—little has been mentioned about the long-term protection offered, despite the Welsh Government's willingness to be a supersponsor. The Welsh Government has already recognised the problem of modern slavery here in Wales. Vulnerable people can be exploited by criminal networks and forced into modern slavery. In 2021 there were 479 Welsh referrals for victims of modern slavery—over half were children and around half were from countries like Sudan. As the circumstances for Ukraine refugees arriving in Wales will be similar to those from Sudan, what is the Welsh Government doing to ensure the safety of the Ukrainian refugees under the Modern Slavery Act 2015, once they have been placed? And what information are you providing refugees to ensure they know their rights and how they are protected? Thank you.

Thank you very much, Altaf Hussain. Well, we have published dedicated safeguarding and modern slavery guidance. It's on the website, but it's also provided in packs like the ones I've just shown you. And also, guidance to our Welsh public bodies. We've referred to the Ukraine visa schemes, and we've got advice, also, in terms of violence against women, domestic abuse and sexual violence and online safety. The welcome centres also are crucial in terms of their opportunities to provide information and raise awareness. Welcome centres are displaying gangmaster and labour abuse authority posters as well, to alert Ukrainians to risk of unscrupulous employers and traffickers and providing advice about how Ukrainians can stay safe. And we've set up concerns about modern slavery risks with the UK Government. We've co-ordinated meetings with partner organisations in Wales, such as Safe Haven in north Wales, as well. So, this is very key to the support we're giving to our Ukrainian refugees.

Thank you, Minister.