Publication - FOI/EIR release

Support provided to asylum, refugees and displaced people in Scotland: FOI release

Published: 23 January 2024
Directorate: Equality, Inclusion and Human Rights Directorate
Topic: Public sector
FOI reference: FOI/202300384658
Date received: 13 November 2023
Date responded: 12 December 2023

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002

Information requested

1. I request information on the amount received in the financial year 2022-23 from UK Government Departments and the purpose(s) of the financial allocation. It would also be helpful to distinguish which allocations were for dispersal to public, private and third sector agencies and those funds retained to enable the Scottish Government to deliver its own services.

2. I request information on the amount spent by the Scottish Government in the financial year 2022-23 on:
(a) asylum accommodation (spanning its initial, dispersal, and “contingency” forms).
(b) refugee resettlement.
(c) Afghan relocation and resettlement programmes.
(d) unaccompanied children and young people (both those as spontaneous arrivals and through the National Transfer Scheme)
(e) the Ukraine schemes: (i) Homes for Ukraine (including Scottish super-sponsor route), (ii) Family Scheme and (iii) Extension Scheme.
(f) Refugee integration support (for those recognised by the Home office as refugees).

3. I request a breakdown of who receives the public money which may cover the public, private and third sectors. I appreciate the allocation/award may be in the form of a contract, grant or other.

4. I request access to the reporting requirements set by the Scottish Government and/or the Home Office and UK Government Departments: for recipients accounting for expenditure; the frequency of recipient reports and what matters they cover; details/list of key performance indicators.

Response

Name	Purpose	UK Government Source	Amount (£)	For SG use or for Dispersal
Education Tariff (Ukraine)	Fund education needs of displaced Ukrainians aged 2- 18	Department for Education	£18.6 million	Dispersed to local authorities
SG Thank You Payments	Payment recognising SG as the host of super sponsor arrivals	Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities	£5.5 million	Retained to partially offset the accommodation costs of displaced Ukrainians
AMIF –Scotland's New Scots Strategy project	Reimbursements for spending incurred on the project between January - December 2022 (Q6 – Q9 claims)	AMIF UK Responsible Authority	£1,172.703.17	To reimburse costs incurred by all four partners on the project (Scottish Government, COSLA, Scottish Refugee Council and the University of Glasgow). Scottish Government dispersed funds to partners in line with their claims.

In 2020 the New Scots partnership secured funding from the EU’s Asylum, Migration and Integration Fund for a project titled ‘Scotland’s New Scots Strategy’ to support refugee integration in line with the New Scots refugee integration strategy. The total funding for the project between October 2020 and December 2023 is £6.6M, with 90% of this funding provided by the EU through the UK Responsible Authority (UKRA) and the Scottish Government required to provide the remaining 10% match funding. Reimbursements from UKRA represent 90% of the funds spent during the period and are paid quarterly in arrears. This EU funding will end in December 2023, following the UK’s withdrawal from the EU. This project is also known as the New Scots Refugee Integration Delivery Project (NSRIDP).

2a. The Scottish Government does not procure asylum accommodation. Asylum is reserved to the UK Parliament and is handled by the Home Office – asylum accommodation, including initial, dispersal and “contingency” forms are procured by the Home Office or through their contracts.

b.

Name	Purpose	Amount (£)	Type of Award	Type of Organisation	Reporting Requirements
COSLA Refugee Resettlement Policy Officer	The post supports the resettlement of refugees across Scottish local authorities and works closely with councils to help to integrate these New Scots into Scotland’s communities.	60,000	Grant	Representative body for Scottish Local Authorities	Quarterly progress reports and quarterly financial reports, plus a final report.

Name	Purpose	Amount (£)	Type of Award	Type of Organisation	Reporting Requirements
Scottish Refugee Council	Engagement with Afghan Women	4,100.00	Grant	Third Sector	Bi-annual progress reports, quarterly financial reports and final report.

Name

Amount (£)

Type of

Award

Type of

Organisation

Reporting Requirements

Age Assessment Training

9,440.00.00

Non- competitive action

Third and private sector organisations

Survey of participants to gather feedback on the training provided Following the training participants are asked to complete 2 evaluation forms. The trainers then compile the feedback and share these with the Scottish Government.

Independent child trafficking guardianship Service (ICTG)

989,961.00

Contract

SRC and Aberlour Children’s Charity

Annual performance reports. Performance reports must include a detailed written analysis of the performance of all Services undertaken in the time period which the Performance Report covers. The Service Provider must also undertake trend analyses across these time periods and this must be presented in the form of a written report and tables. It must also include an executive summary, a summary of overall yearly performance, and compliance with any administrative, quality assurance, ethical, sustainability and financial requirements of the Contract. Quarterly monitoring reports. These must include statistical information demonstrating the delivery of the service; the demand for the service and emerging trends; information on the ongoing needs of young people using the service and how these change over time; and any risks and mitigating actions. Monthly contract meeting to review high level data trends and discuss the wider policy landscape

e. The Scottish Government does not distinguish between spending on the different Ukraine schemes, but spending can be broken down as follows:

Name

Purpose

Amount (£)

Type of

Award

Type of

Organisation

Reporting Requirements

Provision of Accommodation

Ukraine Resettlement – Warm Scots Welcome

196.9 million

Contract

Private Sector

Contract and grant management with wider programme and performance oversight by the Ukraine Programme and

Delivery Boards

Third Sector Grants

Ukraine Resettlement – Warm Scots Welcome

2.6 million

Grant

Third Sector

Contract and grant management with wider programme and performance oversight by the Ukraine Programme and

Delivery Boards

Local Authority

Ukraine Resettlement – Warm Scots Welcome

24.4 million

Grants

Public Sector

Contract and grant management with wider programme and performance oversight by

the Ukraine Programme and Delivery Boards

Running Costs (Direct Staffing, Digital and Misc.)

Ukraine Resettlement – Warm Scots Welcome

£7.2 million

Various

Contract and grant management with wider programme and performance oversight by the Ukraine Programme and

Delivery Boards

Total

Ukraine Resettlement – Warm Scots

Welcome

£231 million

Name	Purpose	Amount (£)	Type of Award	Type of Organisation	Reporting Requirements
Scottish Refugee Council	Strategic Grant	388,000.00	Grant	Third Sector	Bi-annual progress reports, quarterly financial reports and final report.
Bridges Programmes	Bridges to Employment and Training (BEAT) Project	106,558.00	Grant	Third Sector	Bi-annual progress reports, quarterly financial reports and final report.
British Red Cross	Short term Asylum Response (STAR) Project	35,000.00	Grant	Third Sector	Bi-annual progress reports, quarterly financial reports and final report.
Community InfoSource	Women Asylum Seeker Housing (WASH)	10,000.00	Grant	Third Sector	Bi-annual progress reports, quarterly financial reports and final report.
Forth Valley Welcome	Volunteer and Project Coordinator	9,500.00	Grant	Third Sector	Bi-annual progress reports, quarterly financial reports and final report.
Freedom from Torture	Helping Survivors of Torture to Recover and Integrate in Society	40,000.00	Grant	Third Sector	Bi-annual progress reports, quarterly financial reports and final report.
Govan Community Project	Govan Community Project Groups	25,000.00	Grant	Third Sector	Bi-annual progress reports, quarterly financial reports and final report.
Maryhill Integration Network	Support for community Group Activities	60,000.00	Grant	Third Sector	Bi-annual progress reports, quarterly financial reports and final report.
Mental Health Foundation	Refugee Health Policy and Strategy Action Group	60,000.00	Grant	Third Sector	Bi-annual progress reports, quarterly financial reports and final report.
The Welcoming Association	Skills for New Scots Project	60,000.00	Grant	Third Sector	Bi-annual progress reports, quarterly financial reports and final report.
Family Reunion Crisis Grants	To support the integration of refugee families arriving in Scotland under family reunion rules, who would otherwise be destitute.	45,000.00	Grants	Local Authorities	This funding is demand-led and requires evidence of spend by the local authority which is then reimbursed.

On the AMIF-funded Scotland's New Scots Strategy project, the Scottish Government spent the following amounts on staff costs between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023:

Name	Amount (£)
Staff Salaries	250,512.59
Staff Travel Costs	402.36

Additionally, the following amounts were paid out to other organisations on the project between 1 April 2022 and 31 March 2023:

Name

Purpose

Amount (£)

Type of

Award

Type of

Organisation

Reporting

Requirements

Reimbursements to partners on Scotland's New Scots Strategy project

Reimbursements for spending incurred on the project between January - December 2022 (Q6 – Q9 claims)

742,952.77

Grant

Project Partners: Scottish Refugee Council, COSLA and University of Glasgow

monthly and quarterly financial reporting; and
quarterly progress reporting

NSRIDP funded projects

Reimbursement of finalised claims for grant-funded projects

934,339.93

Grants

Third Sector, Local Authorities and Colleges

quarterly financial reporting;
quarterly progress monitoring; and
end of project evaluation.

Scottish Centre for Social Research (ScotCen)

Independent Evaluation of the New Scots Refugee Integration Strategy (2018-2022)

59,080.80

Tendered Contract

Third Sector

Inception report
Formal Monthly updates
Interim Progress report at 6 month intervals
Presentation of progress report findings

Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO)

Online application portal to support delivery and management of New Scots Project - additional work and licences

10,839.50

Grant

Third Sector

Bi-annual progress reports, quarterly financial reports and final report.

Institute for Public Policy Research (IPPR)

Commissioned research on the role of local authorities in refugee integration in Scotland

37,802.16

Tendered Contract

Third Sector

Inception report
Interim progress report
Workshops
Presentation of key findings
Final full report

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

Contact

Please quote the FOI reference
Central Enquiry Unit
Email: ceu@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000

The Scottish Government
St Andrews House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG

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