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

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 4:47 pm on 25 October 2022.

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Photo of Mark Isherwood Mark Isherwood Conservative 4:47, 25 October 2022

Thank you for your statement and for our short meeting earlier, which was very helpful.

Responding to your update on Ukraine statement here four weeks ago, I referred to your constructive relationship, which you've referred to again, with the former UK Government Minister for refugees, Lord Harrington, and asked how, based upon practical inter-governmental working relationships in Wales, you responded to his statement on resignation last month that the role was always meant to be temporary and that his work was essentially complete. I also asked what discussions you had had or were planning to have with the UK Government regarding a possible uplift to the monthly £350 payment to people hosting Ukrainians in their own homes, and again you've referred to that in your statement today. In your response then, you said that the job certainly wasn't done. Referring to the joint letter regarding these matters you had sent with your Scottish ministerial counterpart to the then new Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and the then new Home Secretary, you stated that you would be, and I quote,

'very interested to see what reply we get'.

Thank you for subsequently copying me into that letter. What, if any, reply did you receive? And if, given events elsewhere, you've not yet received a reply, how will you be following up on this once Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announces his Cabinet?

In your reply to me, you stated that local leadership is crucially important in the provision of devolved service for which the Welsh Government is responsible. Following my reference to, for example, the need for English for speakers of other languages, or ESOL, lessons in person and online and for action to support skill and qualification transferability, something we also discussed earlier, what update can you provide on these matters, given your response then that you have fortnightly meetings on Ukraine, chaired by the Minister for Finance and Local Government? 

I refer to the document that I sent to you, produced by the Polish Integration Support Centre, or PISC, in Wrexham, detailing their humanitarian efforts to help Ukrainian refugees and the proposal for consolidated and sustainable support for Ukrainian people, including the construction of temporary housing. What engagement have you or your officials therefore subsequently had with them regarding this? 

More broadly, given that the latest figures show that 4,833 visa applications by people from Ukraine have been submitted with the Welsh Government as a supersponsor, that 4,564 have been issued with the Welsh Government as a supersponsor, and that 2,904 of the people who've arrived in the UK had the Welsh Government as a supersponsor, what is the current position regarding the pause to new applications for the Welsh Government supersponsor scheme announced in June?

Both my colleague Russell George and I have received an e-mail saying, and I quote, 'I ask for Welsh Government help with a pilot project to use long-term empty housing units to provide short-term accommodation for Ukrainian refugees, using a short-life housing model of the kind implemented elsewhere since the 1980s.' Who is the best person to refer the sender to regarding this?

Finally, I've previously referred you to the role played by faith groups in the Ukrainian link programme to support Ukrainians arriving in north Wales. In this context, what engagement have you had with the Catholic community regarding its response to the illegal and inhumane invasion of Ukraine, including the Catholic international development charity CAFOD's Ukrainian humanitarian appeal and dedicated emergency response team to reach people most in need, and the bishops’ conference domestic social action agency, Caritas Social Action Network, or CSAN, which, with its partners, is supporting the relocation of refugees across the UK with the diocese and agencies of the church assisting the co-ordination efforts? Diolch.