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

Part of the debate – in the Senedd at 6:26 pm on 24 January 2023.

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Photo of Sioned Williams Sioned Williams Plaid Cymru 6:26, 24 January 2023

(Translated)

Thank you for your statement, Minister. Although the UK Government has unveiled a new package of British military aid for Ukraine, the help, as you've mentioned, that they have provided for those who have had to flee the war—mainly women and children—looking for sanctuary here, is woefully inadequate, and the levels for next year are also concerning, and the Welsh Government has been trying to fill those funding gaps for local authorities, for language lessons, free transport and so on and so forth. So, during the ministerial scrutiny session at the Equality and Social Justice Committee last week, you mentioned, Minister, how you hoped to have a meeting with the Westminster Government regarding this aid, and you've just mentioned in your response to Mark Isherwood that that will happen next week. So, may I ask what exactly you hope to raise in this meeting, and what gaps are there in the support that undermine our desire in Wales to be a nation of sanctuary?

Minister, you were also questioned in committee on your funding ability to provide support if everyone from Ukraine who got a visa under the auspices of the Welsh Government came over. As I understand it, the budget has been allocated for the number of Ukrainian refugees that are expected to turn up, and not for the number with visas, and of course this is subject, as we've heard, to any further deterioration or major change in the progress or nature of the war. So, can you provide us with more clarity as to how you will deal with that funding pressure if the Welsh Government finds that its calculations were wrong? What exactly is this figure? Will funding be available if more people than expected arrive?

And finally, before Christmas, you made a statement expressing your intention to encourage refugees from Ukraine to move on from their initial temporary accommodation—the welcome centres, of course, sponsored by Welsh Government. And in your statement today you mentioned that 1,200 had moved on; 800 are now in private accommodation or with sponsors in Wales. So, what is the situation of the other 400? Are we monitoring where they have gone? And also, what progress is being made in terms of the other refugees who are still in the welcome centres and who haven't been able to move on? What are the barriers to them from moving on? Thank you.