Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme in Scotland: statistics - March 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 a number of sources, compiled into one report and an accompanying set of tables containing data not already published elsewhere.

For more information on Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme sponsor routes please see Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme in Scotland: statistics - January 2023.

Numbers of visa applications, visas issued and arrivals

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. There is a known undercount in the Northern Ireland ‘arrivals into the UK’ data. The undercount is due to people arriving into the Republic of Ireland and entering Northern Ireland via the Common Travel Area, where travel is not covered by the methods used to record entry to other parts of the UK. Ways to understand the scale of this undercount are being explored.

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. These methodology changes are also applicable to the demographics statistics published by DLUHC from 24 November 2022. Therefore, comparisons to previous publications before 24 November 2022 should not be made.

Not everyone entering the UK through the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (including those sponsored by the Scottish Government) will need accommodation provided to them. Additionally, it is 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 Sponsorship Scheme. Therefore, arrival figures cannot be compared directly to the number of displaced people from Ukraine entering accommodation.

Figures per 100,000 population are calculated for each nation separately. Raw figures are sourced from DLUHC publication (Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme: Visa data by country, upper and lower tier local authority - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)), population rates for each country are sourced from Estimates of the population for the UK, England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland - Office for National Statistics (ons.gov.uk). The population figures underlying these graphs are based on the latest annual population estimates (mid-2021).

Welcome accommodation

There are a range of welcome accommodation across Scotland from hotels to the M/S Ambition and the M/S Victoria. Should a displaced person from Ukraine require welcome accommodation it is in the majority of cases allocated via the core welcome hub in Edinburgh. When in welcome accommodation, matching discussions will take place to secure an offer of matched accommodation. 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 the M/S Ambition and the 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 the M/S Ambition and the M/S Victoria, accurate data on the number of people in each facility is only available from the passenger ships. To estimate the number of people in hotels, we have assumed an average of 1.9 people per hotel room. This 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. Please note, welcome accommodation occupancy are dynamic data as some individuals leave, while others enter. As such any decrease or increase in occupancy over time does not indicate the total number of individuals that have left or entered welcome accommodation.

In addition to already operational the M/S Victoria in Leith, the M/S Ambassador Cruise liner Ambition in Glasgow became operational on 14 September 2022. The contract for the 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 matched or alternative welcome 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 moving to matched or alternative welcome accommodation and guests who have disembarked for other reasons.

Please note that in order to disclosure control the data, all figures have been rounded to the nearest 5.

Matched accommodation

There are multiple sources for data on completed matches. A completed match is one where the displaced people from Ukraine have arrived at their matched accommodation in Scotland, where they are expected to be able to stay between six months and two years. Please note that not everyone entering the UK through the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme (including those sponsored by the Scottish Government) will need accommodation provided to them. The matching data in this publication 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.

The Scottish Government (SG) collects summary statistics from local authorities in a fortnightly survey on the progress of the work to resettle and support displaced people from Ukraine in Scotland, specifically focusing on matches facilitated by the local authority, informal matches facilitated by hosts and guests themselves, and matches resulting from individual sponsorship. It also asks for the total number of people placed directly into social housing, but this figure may include not only visa holders sponsored by the Scottish Government and individuals, but also those arriving on the Family Visa Scheme. For more information on the types of matches, please refer to the accompanying tables.

The Convention for Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and other matching teams operating nationally provide data on the progress of matching into matched accommodation within the national matching service run jointly by COSLA and the Scottish Government (SG).

With regards to displaced people from Ukraine arriving in Scotland on a visa sponsored by an individual sponsor, these individuals will have a named individual sponsor when applying for the visa, and generally do not need to go through any matching scheme. It is assumed that all individually sponsored displaced people from Ukraine will travel directly to their matched accommodation in Scotland. Likewise, 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 as additional arrivals to their accommodation may have happened that local authorities are unaware of. Matching data will therefore differ to arrivals data published by the DLUHC on the number of displaced people from Ukraine that had arrived in the UK on a visa sponsored by named and known Individual Sponsors in Scotland.

With regards to placements into social housing, displaced people from Ukraine may be placed into social housing if Registered Social Landlords or the relevant council has offered up social or council housing for matching. People arriving on visa schemes other than sponsored by the Scottish Government or individuals (e.g. Family Visa) may be placed into social or council housing if requiring temporary homelessness accommodation. As such, some people (and cases) allocated into social housing will be included in total figures above under the respective matching type.

The report summarises these statistics from April 2022 up to and including March 2023, with specific dates being included throughout the report. Please note that in order to disclosure control the data, all figures have been rounded to the nearest 5. Data for cumulative measures may slightly decrease between returns as it is revised or corrected in retrospect. 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.