Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme in Scotland: statistics - September 2022

Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme and longer term accommodation

The weekly Scottish Government Local Authority Survey gathers information on property checks and disclosure checks carried out on Scottish Super Sponsor Scheme properties and Individual Sponsor Scheme properties to clear them for hosting. It also collects data how many displaced people from Ukraine have been matched into and arrived at their longer term accommodation. In order to assess these numbers properly, it also asks for the number of potential Scottish Super Sponsors and Individual Sponsors 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 (SG)), local matches facilitated by the Local Authority, informal matches facilitated by hosts and guests themselves, and Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme matches (Individual Sponsorship). It also asks for the total number of people placed directly into social housing, but this figure may include displaced people from Ukraine arriving on other visa schemes than the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme or Scottish Super Sponsor Scheme.

Scottish Super Sponsors and Checks

Between 13 and 16 September 2022, Local Authority Teams reported to have received contact information to initiate property and disclosure checks for a cumulative total of around 9,975 potential super sponsors. These potential sponsors 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. In the same time period, Local Authorities reported around 5,600 currently active Super Sponsors across Scotland (Figure 3). Scottish Super Sponsor are those sponsored by the Scottish Government.

Active Scottish Super Sponsors 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 This number excludes all potential Scottish Super Sponsors that submitted an Expression of Interest who have withdrawn due to a variety of reasons, or have been unreachable. Usually, one sponsor offers one property.

Figure 3: Distribution of Active Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme Super Sponsors across Scotland, as reported by Local Authorities. Data reported between 13 and 16 September 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).

As reported by Local Authority teams between 13 and 16 September 2022, property checks had been completed for around 3,850 super sponsor properties, representing around 65% of the estimated number of super sponsor properties needing to be checked across Scotland. In the same time period, disclosure checks on hosts were reported to be completed for 3,115 properties, representing around 50% of the estimated number of super sponsor properties that need disclosure checks carried out. These percentages are calculated against the estimated number of baseline Scottish Super Sponsor properties requiring checks (6,125). 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 2,670 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.

Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme Individual Sponsors: Property and Person Checks

Between 13 and 16 September, Local Authority Teams reported to have received contact information from the Scottish Government to initiate property and disclosure checks for a cumulative total of 2,005 individual sponsors. These are sponsors who were named and known through the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme visa applications of the people they would be hosting. In the same time period, Local Authorities reported 1,750 currently active Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme Individual Sponsors across Scotland, representing around 85% of all private sponsors for whom details have been forwarded to Local Authorities are currently active (Figure 4).

Active Individual sponsors under the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme are those where the host has responded to Local Authority outreach, and therefore excludes individual sponsors who have withdrawn or are unreachable. Please note that Ukraine Sponsorship Individual Sponsors may be hosting someone even if they are not in touch with Local Authorities, and these sponsors and properties would not be counted in the survey.

Figure 4: Distribution of Active Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme Individual Sponsors across Scotland, as reported by Local Authorities. Data reported between 13 and 16 September 2022.

Local Authorities seek to carry out the same property and person checks for individual sponsors. 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.

As reported by Local Authority teams between 13 and 16 September 2022, property checks  had been completed for around 1,590 individual sponsor properties across Scotland, representing around 85% of the estimated number of individual sponsor properties needing checks carried out. In the same time period, disclosure checks on hosts had been completed for around 1,660 individual sponsor properties, representing around 90% of the estimated number of individual sponsor 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 sponsors and all withdrawn properties where checks were completed prior to their withdrawal. Percentages are calculated against the baseline number of estimated number of Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme Individual Sponsor Properties needing to be checked (1,900).

As a result of completed and successful checks, Local Authorities have reported that around 1,420 properties have been cleared for hosting across Scotland. Please note that Ukraine Sponsorship 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 on the Scottish Super Sponsor scheme, 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 were the displaced people from Ukraine have arrived at their new hosted accommodation in Scotland, where they are expected to be able to stay between six and twelve months.

According to data reported by COSLA, around 260 cases (for examples families) had been matched with a host by the national matching service and arrived at their new accommodation as at 14 September 2022. Through the Scottish Government Local Authority survey, Local Authorities reported that around 525 cases had been completely matched with a host locally, and around 295 cases had found an informal sponsor 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.

Combining the outcomes from the different types of matches available for displaced people from Ukraine arriving on a Scottish Super Sponsor visa, it can be assumed that around 1,080 cases, covering around 2,145 individuals have arrived at their new accommodation (Figure 5). A breakdown of completed matches by Local Authority can be found in the accompanying set of tables.

Displaced People from Ukraine arriving to Scotland on an Individually sponsored visa under the Ukraine Sponsorship scheme 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 hosted accommodation in Scotland. Cumulative figures reported by Local Authorities between 13 and 16 September indicate that Local Authority teams are aware of around 2,350 individuals (at least 990 cases – e.g. families) arriving on a Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme Individual Sponsor visas that have arrived at their new accommodation in Scotland (Figure 5). Please note that additional arrivals to their accommodation may have happened that Local Authorities are unaware of.

In addition to the figures above, Local Authority teams have also reported that around 870 people (around 370 cases) have been matched into social housing. Please note that social or council housing is not a matching pathway in and of itself, but these individuals will either have arrived on a Scottish Super Sponsor visa and been matched by the national matching service or Local Authority Teams straight into social housing; or they might have arrived on a separate visa route (for example the Family Visa Scheme) and have been placed into social or council housing after requiring access to temporary homelessness accommodation.

Figure 5: Breakdown of Completed Matches for New Accommodation for Displaced People from Ukraine arriving on a Ukraine Sponsorship scheme visa, by Matching Pathway. Scottish Government data reported between 13 and 16 September 2022, Convention of Scottish Local Authorities data as at 14 September.