To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate they have made of the cost of hosting refugees from Ukraine for the calendar year 2022; and whether this cost will be borne by the Official Development Assistance budget.
Answered on
22 July 2022
The cost of hosting refugees from Ukraine for the calendar year 2022 will be determined by the number of arrivals by year end. As of 14 July, total arrivals of Ukraine Scheme visa holders in the UK are 95,400, of which 29,700 have arrived under the Ukraine Family Scheme and 65,600 have arrived under the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme.
Under the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, the government is providing sponsors £350 per month per address for up to 12 months. Local Authorities will also receive an extra £10,500 for every arrival under this scheme. The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities has published Local Authority funding allocations for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland[1]. An extra tariff has also been agreed for children’s education costs. Arrivals under both schemes have immediate entitlement to employment support, pensions, health provision, education and access to benefits.
Eligible costs will be reported as ODA and counted towards the 0.5% GNI ODA spending commitment. ODA eligible spend will be reported in the annual Statistics on International Development publication.[2]
[1] https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/homes-for-ukraine-funding-march-to-may-2022
[2] https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/statistics-on-international-development