Shadow Social Justice Minister and North Wales MS Mark Isherwood has welcomed the Prime Minister’s new £300 million support package for Ukraine announced yesterday and questioned the Welsh Social Justice Minister over actions being taken by the Welsh Government to ensure that school places and local GP and NHS services are available to Ukrainian refugees when they arrive in Wales.
Responding to the Minister’s Statement ‘Update on Ukraine’, Mr Isherwood asked a number of questions in relation to the Homes for Ukraine scheme, the variation in the number of visas issued in each local authority in Wales, safeguarding issues, and access to local services for those arriving in Wales from Ukraine.
Speaking in Tuesday’s meeting of the Welsh Parliament, he said:
“As of 27 April, 2,300 visas have been issued to people from Ukraine to come to Wales via the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Overall, a total of 117,600 UK Ukraine Scheme Visa applications have been received, with, as you state in your Statement, 86,100 Visas issued and 27,100 total arrivals of Visa holders in the UK. What, therefore, is your understanding of how many have arrived in Wales so far?
“You state that you ‘met with Lord Harrington, UK Minister for Refugees, and with Neil Gray MSP, Scottish Government Minister for Culture, Europe and International Development, last week, where’ you ‘raised issues regarding delays, safeguarding and funding’. So, following on from my questions relating to this last week, what further specific discussions did you therefore have with Lord Richard Harrington about reasons for the gap between growing numbers of Visas issued and the increase in total arrivals, and about what is being done to identify and address this?
“In your update last Thursday, you also stated that ‘a breakdown of local authorities is also available’. However, this shows a huge variation in the number of Visas issued, ranging from 162 in Cardiff and 153 in Monmouthshire, to an average of 63 across the six North Wales counties, to 18 in Merthyr Tydfil and just five in Blaenau Gwent. Notwithstanding the obvious difference in population size, what is your understanding of the reasons for this range, and how are you targeting support at a local level accordingly?”
Mr Isherwood also asked what specific work the Minister is doing with anti-human trafficking organisations working on the ground with Ukrainian refugees in the countries they have crossed into, and what position the four UK Governments, working together, have now reached on safeguarding.
Referring to yesterday’s announcement of a £300 million support package for Ukraine by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, Mr Isherwood added:
“As you'll be aware, the Prime Minister addressed the Ukrainian Parliament via video link today, hailing the country's ‘finest hour’, as he put it, as it battles the ongoing Russian invasion, and unveiling a new £300 million support package, including new specialised Toyota Land Cruisers to help protect civilian officials in Eastern Ukraine and evacuate civilians from frontline areas, following a request from the Ukraine Government. To what extent was the Welsh Government, if at all, aware of this request, and how might this provision assist you in your programme to evacuate civilians in frontline areas and bring them to Wales?
“Finally, how are you working with Ministerial colleagues to ensure that school places and local GP and NHS services are available to Ukrainian refugees when they arrive in Wales?”
