[Lord Speaker] Fourth oral question, Lord Harries of Pentregarth.
[Lord Harries of Pentregarth] I beg leave to ask the question standing in my name on the order paper.
[Baroness Williams of Trafford] My Lords, the Government has announced that the UK will establish a humanitarian sponsorship
pathway, which will open up a route to the UK for Ukrainians who may not have family
ties with the UK but who are able to match with individuals, charities, businesses and
community groups.
There will be no numerical limit on this scheme; we will welcome as many Ukrainians as wish
to come and have matched sponsors.
I thank the Minister for her answer, which is very welcome indeed.
Rabbi Jonathan Romain in Maidenhead advertised locally for people willing to offer rooms
to Ukrainian refugees and, within days, he had 240 offers.
I believe that that could be replicated all over the country, so I am very glad that the
Government have given that Answer.
Will people with a named host and named accommodation who wish to come here be able to undertake
the process in this country rather than having to go through a long and very unsatisfactory
visa process via Paris or Brussels?
Poland and Germany have shown very open hearts; I believe that the British people will do
the same.
[Baroness Williams of Trafford] Well I would totally agree with the noble Lord that the British people will be very
very generous.
In fact, just before we started Questions, the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Durham
told me about a Church-based organisation that had already had 891 pledges.
These are fantastic figures; the noble and right reverend Lord is absolutely right: we
need to have them in the country first, and we need to expedite that process as quickly
as possible.
I am very keen to capture that enthusiasm and help, and offer support as soon as we
can.
[Baroness Smith of Newnham] My Lords, in light of the answer the noble Lady has just given, can she say whether there
is going to be an opportunity for people to apply for visas in this country rather than
being kept at Calais?
And secondly, the Secretary of State for Defence was unable to answer a question on the radio
this morning on whether the ACRS scheme for Afghan refugees has actually opened, saying
that this is a matter for the Home Office which is rather busy with Ukraine.
Can the Home Office not manage to deal with Afghan and Ukrainian refugees simultaneously?
Well I do think it's fair to say that the Home Office is dealing with both Afghan and
Ukrainian refugees simultaneously.
Up to 9 o’clock this morning, 4,278 appointments had been made at VACs; that is across the
world, but it is a lot of VAC appointments.
I checked for myself where the main bulk of those appointments were being made and the
vast majority—that is, half of the appointments —were, of course, unsurprisingly, made in
Poland.
We have two VACs in Poland.
For people fleeing Ukraine to be able to go straight to a VAC in Poland is clearly the
best and easiest thing for them to do, to avoid problems along the way, shall we say.
[Baroness Fraser of Craigmaddie] My Lords, the Minister has just told us about the vast majority of appointments being made
at VACs in Poland.
I know of a family who have been waiting in Warsaw for some time and the website has not
changed; they cannot make an appointment.
The helpline, which the website says will be manned 24/7, is not manned over the weekend.
Yesterday, I asked a question and was told that a team of four experts was going to Poland
to help build capacity.
Can the Minister reassure me that this is being increased and that people in Poland
will be able to get VAC appointments so that they can come back home?
If I could tell my noble friend, it is very difficult to know from a short exchange on
my noble friend’s question when the family tried to make the appointment and all that
sort of detail, but I know that 1,451 appointments have been made in Warsaw.
I will keep her updated.
We have extra capacity in our VACs and will have 100 extra people trained by the end of
the week.
I will certainly take back her point about Warsaw, and make sure that everything is running
smoothly.
[Lord Clark of Windermere] My Lords, is it true that the Government have issued more visas to Russian oligarchs than
they currently plan to issue for Ukrainian refugees?
Does the Minister’s announcement today mean categorically that there will be a vast increase
in the number of Ukrainian refugees accepted?
[Baroness Williams of Trafford] Well as I said to noble Lords, the figures are uncapped: as many people who want to come
here can come, whether or not they have family ties.
It was estimated last week, I think, that under the family routes provisions we might
see 200,000—there is no limit on the number of people who can come here through this humanitarian
sponsorship pathway scheme.
[Bishop of Leeds] My Lords, the Government has rightly praised the generosity of the people of the United
Kingdom, but there seems to be a systemic problem in allowing that generosity to be
exercised.
Can the Minister say something about the systemic issues and address an associated matter: how
can we guarantee that the information we are given is accurate, given what has happened
in Calais, for example?
We keep hearing from the Government that we are leading the way, but we are patently not.
What I would say to the right reverend Prelate is clearly this scheme is new—as of a few
days ago.
I think that I recognised, in my answer to a previous question, that we want people’s
generosity—the British people are very generous—to be captured, and I hope that this scheme will
be up and running as soon as possible.
[Baroness Finlay of Llandaff] My Lords, last Wednesday we were told that the sponsorship scheme would start and were
given a telephone number.
That number was only for Ukrainians.
If you phone in today you are referred to an 0300 number that does not work.
Yesterday I was told in the Portcullis House information hub that the department for levelling
up, rather than the Home Office, is taking a lead on this.
Can the Minister tell the House when there will be a streamlined system of information
whereby people who are sponsoring somebody can register that sponsorship and advise the
people who are trying to get out of Kyiv?
Well the sponsorship scheme, as I said, should be up and running very shortly, and DLUHC
will indeed be the lead department on it.
In response to the noble Baroness, I undertake, when there is a number and the scheme is up
and running, to come back to the House and give details.
[Lord Paddick] My Lords, surely what is needed is speed, as well as numbers. The UK has admitted only
300 Ukrainian refugees, while the Republic of Ireland has admitted 1,800.
Why is the UK dragging its feet?
I would wholeheartedly agree with the noble Lord that speed and numbers are vital.
I understand that as of 9 o’clock this morning there were 526 grants under the family scheme.
With regard to the sponsorship, however, the noble Lord is right: we need to do it quickly
and efficiently.
[Lord Hannan of Kingsclere] Is it not clear from listening to interventions from all around the Chamber that—
[Lord Skidelsky] My Lords, in addition to the help that the Government is giving to Ukrainians to come
to this country, will they consider offering humanitarian visas to those brave Russians—members
of the clergy, members of civil society, academics, journalists and ordinary citizens—who face
long prison sentences for exercising their democratic right to oppose this war?
I am very glad that the noble Lord asked that question because, at this point, we all need
to stop and remember all of those Russian people who are so against, or do not even
know, what is happening in Ukraine.
I haven't got any details of that, but certainly it's quite heartbreaking when you see Russian
soldiers who don't appear to know what they're doing and why, fightingi n the Ukraine.