More Ukrainian refugees due to arrive in Falkirk

More refugees due to stay with hosts in Falkirk have arrived in the UK in the last month, figures show.

Since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in March, refugees from the war have been invited to stay in the UK under the Ukrainian Sponsorship and Family schemes.

The former sets up refugees with hosts in the UK for an initial six months, who receive support from their local council and a stipend of £350.

New figures from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) show 57 Ukrainian refugee households due in Falkirk – from 69 successful applications – had arrived in the UK by October 4 under the sponsorship scheme.

This was up from 54 arrivals on September 6, when 66 visas had been issued.

The Scottish government has further sponsored individuals directly through its 'super-sponsor' scheme, which has seen 30,520 visas issued to individuals without a named sponsor in Scotland, of which 16,369 had arrived by October 4.

In July the government announced a 'temporary operational pause' on new applications to the scheme.

In the month to October 4 96,800 refugees had arrived in the UK, with 136,600 visas approved under the scheme.

Some charities have expressed concern that mounting pressure on host families due to the cost-of-living crisis, and the initial six-month hosting period coming to an end, could lead to refugees becoming homeless this winter

While data has not yet been published for Scotland, new figures show the number of homeless refugee households in England increased by 22 per cent to 1915 in the month to September 23, across both schemes.

In September, First Minister Nicola Sturgeon announced an additional £50 million fund to help house refugees.

A spokesperson for DLUHC said: “We are grateful to the British public for opening up their communities to the people of Ukraine and the generosity they have shown.

“The majority of sponsors want to continue hosting for longer than six months. Where guests do move on they have a number of options, including to enter private rental or find a new host to sponsor them."

"Councils have a duty to ensure families are not left without a roof over their heads,” they added.