Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme in Scotland: statistics - January 2023

Method and main sources

This report accompanies the experimental statistics tables on the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme in Scotland. This statistical release has been designated as new experimental statistics which has not been assessed by the UK Statistics Authority. Experimental statistics are official statistics that are newly developed or innovative, and are undergoing evaluation. While checks have been completed before publication, this data is not subject to the full range of processes and quality assurance that would be required for Official Statistics. However the data is being released given high public interest. This is in line with guidance from the Office for Statistics Regulation on the production and use of experimental statistics. Work to improve data quality and data streams is ongoing and will be reflected in any future publications. The report is based on four main sources, compiled into one report and an accompanying set of tables containing data not already published elsewhere.

Numbers of visa applications, visas issued and arrivals

Firstly, the Department for Levelling up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) publish statistics on the numbers of visa applications, visas issued and arrivals to the UK where the sponsor location is Scotland on a weekly basis, and provide a local authority breakdown of sponsor location. The full data set and methodology can be found here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/ukraine-sponsorship-scheme-visa-data-by-country-upper-and-lower-tier-local-authority. It is important to note that the number of arrivals into the UK is not necessarily reflective of the persons having arrived at the sponsors’ location. An individual, arriving on a visa sponsored by a Scottish Sponsor, may arrive elsewhere in the UK and decide to remain there. Please note, that from 22 November 2022, visa applications confirmed figures were amended to include applications which have since been withdrawn or refused, in order to align with Home Office reporting. In addition, from 22 November 2022, the analytical methodology to deduplicate the arrival figures at the local authority level was amended in order to align with Home Office Reporting.

Welcome accommodation

Secondly, there are a range of welcome accommodation across Scotland from hotels to M/S Ambition and M/S Victoria. Our contracted partner who procures welcome accommodation on behalf of the Scottish Government (SG) provides an overview of the number of welcome accommodation rooms occupied by displaced people from Ukraine and the number of individuals residing on M/S Ambition and M/S Victoria.

Please note that the data are provisional management information from live operational systems and are subject to change. This data are provided both by our accommodation procurement partner and by direct contact with the facilities used for welcome accommodation. There may be delays in reporting from welcome accommodations and facilities used for welcome accommodation that affect the reliability and accuracy of the data. While data is available on the total number of occupied rooms in hotels and on M/S Ambition and M/S Victoria, accurate data on the number of people in each room is not fully available. The total number of people on each ship is available and we adopt an average of 1.9 people per hotel room to estimate how many people are in hotels. The estimate of an average 1.9 people per room was based on partial data between August and September 2022 from the Edinburgh Welcome Hub on the number of displaced people entering welcome accommodation and the number of rooms they took up. The figure was calculated as an average of the number of people divided by the number of rooms they occupy.

Additionally, the contract for M/S Ambition ends on 31 March 2023. Any embarkations since 19 December 2022 will be new guests only with family already on board, or cabins used for contingency accommodation. This will affect the occupancy totals. Joint efforts to match guests into temporary or longer term accommodation by Scottish Government and Glasgow City Council Resettlement teams started on 5 January 2023 to meet the deadline for the end of the ship’s contract. Please note, figures for total disembarkations include both guests disembarking when matched to temporary or longer term accommodation and guests who have disembarked for other reasons.

Longer term accommodation

Thirdly, the Scottish Government (SG) collects summary statistics from local authorities in a survey on the progress of the work to resettle and support displaced people from Ukraine in Scotland. This survey is the source for data on matching displaced people from Ukraine into longer term accommodation through local or informal matching. This is matching that is facilitated by local authorities or by sponsors and guests themselves.

Please note that in order to disclosure control the data, all figures have been rounded to the nearest 5, with calculated proportions being rounded to the nearest 0.05 (5%). Data for cumulative measures may slightly decrease between returns as it is revised or corrected in retrospect.

Additionally, the data represents a snapshot of information available on the reporting date and cannot be compared to previously published data as a comparison over time.

Not everyone entering the UK through the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (including those sponsored by the Scottish Government) will need accommodation provided to them. Matching data will only represent those that require these services in Scotland. It is also important to note that one volunteer can host more than one displaced person (for example they could host a whole family). This might result in a larger number of arrivals sponsored by individuals than there are matches under the Individual Sponsor Scheme. Volunteer hosts who expressed an interest in hosting someone arriving on a visa sponsored by individuals do not need to be in touch with local authority teams in order to host (they are already "matched" prior to their guest arriving), as a result, local authority survey numbers are likely to be an undercount.

Lastly, the Convention for Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) provides operational data on the progress of matching into longer term accommodation within the national matching service run jointly by COSLA and the Scottish Government (SG).

The report summarises these statistics from April 2022 up to January 2023, with specific dates being included throughout the report.