Ukraine refugees: Scotland pauses super sponsor scheme

The Scottish government has announced a three-month pause in its super sponsor scheme for Ukrainian refugees.

No new cases will be accepted from Wednesday to allow staff to deal with a recent increase in visa applications.

It comes a month after First Minister Nicola Sturgeon told BBC Scotland there were no plans to pause the scheme.

Scottish Labour said the pause was "deeply disappointing" while the Tories said it highlighted the SNP's "shoddy planning and lack of foresight".

Scotland has taken in more than 7,000 Ukrainians seeking refuge since the Russian invasion, two-thirds of whom applied under the super sponsor scheme.

The Scottish government committed to welcoming 3,000 people when it launched the programme in March.

It says, since then, 21,256 visas have been issued to Ukrainians naming a Scottish sponsor - which is 20% of the UK total.

However, the number of Scottish applications "has increased considerably in recent weeks" after Wales paused its own version of the scheme while private sponsorship applications in England have gone down.

The government has now announced a series of new initiatives - including chartering a passenger cruise ship - to help provide accommodation for fleeing refugees.

The government says additional staff will also be used to help local authorities matching those in temporary premises to suitable longer-term accommodation.

Neil Gray, the minister with responsibility for refugees from Ukraine, said the pause in the super sponsor scheme would not affect anyone who had already made an application or had their visa granted.

He said: "As a nation Scotland, has risen in solidarity with Ukrainians in their hour of need.

"With a recent decrease in people applying for private sponsorship in England, and Wales having paused their own scheme, the number of applications naming the Scottish government as sponsor has increased considerably in recent weeks.

"For this reason we have taken the incredibly difficult decision to follow Wales in pausing our scheme so we can continue to provide a high level of support and care to everyone who has already been granted a visa."

The UK government's Homes for Ukraine scheme allows members of the public to host refugees.

However, under the super sponsor scheme Ukrainian applicants could select the Scottish government as the sponsor for the visa application, bypassing the need to initially match hosts with refugees.

When Nicola Sturgeon launched the scheme in March, she said it would allow "significant numbers of people fleeing Ukraine to come to Scotland immediately, and will be able to come to Scotland for safety and sanctuary first".

Following the Welsh government's announcement to pause its scheme at the start of June, the first minister said "it was absolutely not the time" to follow suit in Scotland.

Ms Sturgeon told BBC Scotland: "What is really important is that now we are seeing significant numbers of people coming from the Ukraine to Scotland - something I welcome - we are able to give long-term support.

"We need to keep under review our ability to do that, but the super sponsor scheme is important.

"It has massive support in Scotland and I want to see it continue so that we can play our full part in helping those displaced from Ukraine while the government and the people of Ukraine continue to fight Russian aggression."

Scottish Labour's Jackie Baillie said the decision to pause the scheme showed there had been "a gulf between the SNP's soundbites and reality".

She said: "The conflict is far from over, but Ukrainians are having the rug pulled out from under them.

"The SNP government must do right by Ukrainians and get this scheme up and running again as soon as possible, while making sure those who are already here are properly supported."

Scottish Conservatives spokesman Miles Briggs said: "The SNP talked up their super sponsor scheme as proof of how welcoming they were being, but that now appears to be unravelling.

"Their scheme has been beset with problems from the start, including reports of Ukrainian refugees being shunted around the country as a result of the programme and the scheme actually meaning applications being processed more slowly."

The Scottish Lib Dems claimed the government's decision would put lives at risk.

Wendy Chamberlain, the party's deputy leader, said the Lib Dems had been warning for months that the government's efforts to secure housing and vet hosts were "woefully inadequate".

She added: "Local authorities have been crying out for more help.

"This is another example of the Scottish government prioritising grandstanding over getting the detail right. The people of Scotland have shown huge generosity, now we need our government to do their part."