Herefordshire is already home to 240 refugees from the conflict in Ukraine, with “at least” a further 320 expected, according to Herefordshire Council.
It confirmed the figures when announcing how a new £231,000 package of Government funding will be used to help Ukrainian children in the county.
This will boost the council’s school admissions and English teaching teams cope with the increased demand, and to provide “family-friendly” English lessons over the summer holidays via a contracted company.
The council’s report outlining the spending reveals that under the Government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme, 190 sponsors are helping 560 guests to come to Herefordshire, of whom 240 have already arrived.
Of these, around two in five these are under the age of 18 – meaning that with a “maximum expected number” of 900 people, the council expects up to 360 children and young people to arrive.
But the final number is likely to be higher, as a separate route, the Family Scheme, enables individuals to join family members already in the UK – and the council “does not have anyway of tracking these”, it says.
The council is due £2,472,000 from the Government, or £10,300 per person, for the 240 already here.
But Government figures show the county “can expect at least another 320 guests”, taking the total expected funding to £5,768,000, the council said.
“It would not be realistic to rely on the voluntary and community sector to provide the necessary specialist languages services, although they can and do contribute by offering a range of spoken English opportunities which are hugely valuable,” the council’s announcement pointed out.
Unlike previous refugee settlement schemes, settling Ukrainian refugees in the UK has been left largely up to individual households and voluntary organisations.
As of this week, the UK has received 175,100 visa applications from Ukrainians, made up of 123,200 under the Ukraine Sponsorship Scheme, and 51,900 under the Family Scheme.
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