To seek approval for the spend plan which details how funding from the Government for the Homes for Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme will be spent.

The cabinet member health and adult wellbeing introduced the report and highlighted that Herefordshire had so far welcomed 511 guests, residing with 189 sponsors.

Cabinet members praised the response from the community. In relation to what would happen at the end of the sponsorship period, it was noted that many of the Ukrainians hosted had already sought and obtained jobs. They would transition into private housing in due course or seek housing through the homepoint system like anyone else. There would be no priority access to affordable housing.

Group leaders also paid tribute to the community support for these refugees. It was noted that:

·       Integration into the community was important;

·       The county had close links to Ukraine and the response to the crisis reflected this;

·       A pilot project offering free bus travel to refugees was currently running in the Ross on Wye area and if successful would be rolled out across the county;

·       School transport for Ukrainian families had already been provided;

·       Additional funding was provided for children of refugees joining Herefordshire schools.

It was unanimously resolved that:

a)             The planned support for Ukraine and associated spending as set out in the report and Appendix A is approved; and

b)             That authority is delegated to the Corporate Director for Community Wellbeing to take all operational and budgetary decisions in relation to their proposals and the implementation, including the use of contingency sums and budget variations within the overall approved budget.