Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme in Scotland: statistics - November 2022

Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and longer term accommodation

The Scottish Government local authority survey gathers information on property checks and disclosure checks carried out on properties offered to those sponsored by the Scottish Government and individuals to clear them for hosting. It is important to note that the number of active hosts continues to change. New hosts get added while others might remove themselves from the system. For example, two hosts might withdraw and two new hosts might become available. This would show as no change in the data, however the change is ongoing with hosts moving through the system.

The survey also collects data on how many displaced people from Ukraine have been matched into and arrived at their longer term accommodation. In order to assess these numbers, it asks for the number of volunteer hosts who expressed an interest in hosting someone arriving and being sponsored by either Scottish Government or Individual Sponsor in each local authority.

The types of matches the survey collect information on include those through the national matching service (run by COSLA and the Scottish Government), local matches facilitated by the local authority, informal matches facilitated by hosts and guests themselves, and matches resulting from individual sponsors. It also asks for the total number of people placed directly into social housing, but this figure may include not only those displaced people from Ukraine being sponsored by the Scottish Government and individuals but also those arriving on Family Visa Scheme.

Volunteer hosts who expressed an interest in hosting someone sponsored by the Scottish Government: property and disclosure checks

Between 26 October and 3 November 2022, local authority teams reported to have received contact information to initiate property and disclosure checks for a cumulative total of around 10,150 potential volunteer hosts who expressed an interest in hosting someone being sponsored by the Scottish Government. These potential hosts had put in an Expression of Interest (EOI) to host through the UK Government portal, and confirmed availability and contact details to the Scottish Government. Out of these potential hosts, local authorities reported around 5,355 currently active volunteer hosts in Scotland who expressed an interest in hosting someone sponsored by the Scottish Government (Super Sponsor Scheme) (Figure 2). Please note that the number of active hosts will fluctuate over time due to some withdrawing and new potential volunteer hosts expressing an interest to host.

Active volunteer hosts are potential or current hosts who local authority teams are currently actively engaged with; hosts might be waiting for property and disclosure checks, waiting to be matched with a displaced person from Ukraine, or already be hosting. This number excludes all potential hosts that submitted an Expression of Interest who have withdrawn due to a variety of reasons, or have been unreachable. Usually, one volunteer host offers one property.

Figure 2: Distribution of active volunteer hosts who expressed an interest in hosting someone sponsored by the Scottish Government, as reported by local authorities. Data reported between 26 October and 3 November 2022.

Before a displaced person from Ukraine can be matched to a property by the COSLA/SG national matching service or the relevant local authority, local authority teams must first carry out a property check to ensure its suitability for hosting, and organise disclosure checks for all adults with access to the property over the age of 16. There are also local authority system checks which include a social work and local authority record check for child and adult protection risk or concerns.

Since the start of the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, it is estimated that local authorities have needed to check around 6,040 properties as a result of an offer to host those sponsored by the Scottish Government through the Super Sponsor Scheme (referred to as the baseline number of properties to check). As reported by local authority teams between 26 October and 3 November 2022, property checks had been completed for around 4,115 properties offered to host those sponsored by the Scottish Government, representing around 70% of the estimated number of properties needing to be checked under Super Sponsor Scheme (sponsored by the Scottish Government) across Scotland. In the same time period, disclosure checks on hosts were reported to be completed for 3,425 properties, representing around 55% of the estimated number of volunteer host properties who expressed an interest in hosting someone sponsored by the Scottish Government that need disclosure checks carried out. These percentages are calculated against the estimated number of baseline properties under Super Sponsor Scheme requiring checks (6,040). Please note that the estimated number of properties needing checks is a cumulative number that is calculated by summing up all properties offered by active sponsors and all withdrawn properties where checks were completed prior to their withdrawal.

As a result of completed and successful checks, local authorities reported that 2,860 properties have been cleared for hosting across Scotland. Please note that some of these properties may already be used for hosting, or may have withdrawn since passing both checks. This means that the number of cleared properties does not represent the total number of properties currently available for matching.

Volunteer hosts who expressed an interest in hosting someone sponsored by individuals: property and disclosure checks

Between 26 October and 3 November, local authority teams reported to have received contact information from the Scottish Government to initiate property and disclosure checks for a cumulative total of 2,030 volunteer hosts who expressed an interest in hosting someone sponsored by individuals. These are hosts who were named and known through the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme visa applications of the people they would be hosting. Out of these volunteer hosts offers, local authorities reported 1,700 currently active volunteer hosts who expressed an interest in hosting someone sponsored by individuals across Scotland, representing around 85% of all individual sponsors for whom details have been forwarded to local authorities are currently active (Figure 3). Please note that the number of active hosts will fluctuate over time due to some withdrawing and new potential volunteer hosts expressing an interest to host.

Active volunteer hosts for Individual Sponsor Visa holders are those where the host has responded to local authority outreach, and therefore excludes hosts who have withdrawn or are unreachable. Please note that volunteer hosts may be hosting someone even if they are not in touch with local authorities, and these volunteer hosts and properties would not be counted in the survey.

Figure 3: Distribution of active volunteer hosts who expressed an interest in hosting someone sponsored by individuals across Scotland, as reported by local authorities. Data reported between 26 October and 3 November 2022.

Local authorities seek to carry out the same property and person checks for offers received to host those sponsored by individuals. While a guest may choose to live with a host regardless of whether they have passed the checks, the £350 ‘thank you’ payment will not be released unless checks are passed.

Since the start of the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, it is estimated that local authorities have needed to check around 1,875 properties as a result of an offer to host those sponsored by individuals (referred to as the baseline number of properties to check). As reported by local authority teams between 26 October and 3 November 2022, property checks had been completed for around 1,725 properties offered to host those sponsored by individuals across Scotland, representing around 90% of the estimated number of properties needing checks carried out. In the same time period, disclosure checks on hosts had been completed for around 1,640 properties offered to host those sponsored by individuals, representing around 90% of the estimated number of properties that need disclosure checks. Please note that the estimated number of properties needing checks is a cumulative number that is calculated by summing up all properties offered by active volunteer hosts and all withdrawn properties where checks were completed prior to their withdrawal. Percentages are calculated against the baseline number of estimated number of properties offered to host those sponsored by individuals needing to be checked (1,875).

As a result of completed and successful checks, local authorities have reported that around 1,475 properties have been cleared for hosting across Scotland. Please note that Individual Sponsors may be hosting someone even if they are not in touch with local authorities or have had their property cleared.

Progress on matching displaced people from Ukraine into longer term accommodation

For displaced people from Ukraine arriving that are sponsored by the Scottish Government, matching services to find appropriate longer term accommodation are available through the national matching service (run jointly by COSLA and SG), local matching facilitated by local authority teams and informal matching. A completed match is one where the displaced people from Ukraine have arrived at their longer term accommodation in Scotland, where they are expected to be able to stay between six and twelve months.

According to data reported by COSLA, around 360 cases (for examples families) had been matched with a host by the national matching service and arrived at their longer term accommodation as at 9 November 2022. Through the Scottish Government local authority survey, local authorities reported that around 950 cases had been matched with a host locally, and around 345 cases had found an informal match by their own means after arriving in Scotland. Please note that this number may be an undercount due to lack of formal reporting on this type of match. Around 2,185 cases are still in progress of being matched by the national matching service.

Combining the outcomes from the different types of matches available for displaced people from Ukraine sponsored by the Scottish Government, it can be assumed that around 1,655 cases, covering around 3,330 individuals have arrived at their longer term accommodation (Figure 4). A breakdown of completed matches by local authority can be found in the accompanying set of tables.

Displaced people from Ukraine arriving in Scotland on a visa sponsored by an Individual Sponsor 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 longer term accommodation in Scotland. Cumulative figures reported by local authorities between 26 October and 3 November indicate that local authority teams are aware of at least 2,405 individuals (985 cases – e.g. families) arriving on visas sponsored by Individual Sponsor that have arrived at their longer term accommodation in Scotland (Figure 4). Please note that additional arrivals to their accommodation may have happened that local authorities are unaware of.

Local authority teams have reported that around 1,170 people (around 480 cases) have been matched into social housing. Displaced people from Ukraine may be matched 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) matched into social housing will be included in total figures above under the respective matching type.

Figure 4: Breakdown of completed matches for longer term accommodation for displaced people from Ukraine arriving on a Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme visa, by sponsor. Scottish Government data reported between 26 October and 3 November 2022, COSLA data as at 9 November.