Refugees: Community Sponsorship

Baroness Monckton of Dallington Forest Excerpts

Thursday 29th October 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Monckton of Dallington Forest (Con)]

My Lords, I declare my interest as someone who hosted a family from Ukraine for four years. They have recently moved on and I am expecting another family to arrive just before Christmas.

I agree with the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Chelmsford that we need to be certain that steps are taken to provide adequate support and resources to sponsors. It is in that context that it is worth looking at the Homes for Ukraine scheme, which has supported thousands of Ukrainians, with individual families opening their homes and hearts to welcome them in. Hosts were originally allocated £500 a month to help with extra costs. Last year, this was reduced to £350 a month, and now the Ministry for Housing, Communities and Local Government has said that the monthly rate is going to be reduced to £100 a month from 1 January next year.

Ostensibly, this is based on the view that Ukrainian families should by now have been able to develop their own resources here. Yet, the same cut of over 70% will apply to UK families taking Ukrainians who have just arrived, and the situation is getting worse. Even while we have been sitting in this Chamber, in the last hour 14 people have been killed at a Kyiv railway station by a Russian drone. A fortnight ago, the Lord Privy Seal rightly argued in this place that the moral obligation of this country to do what we can practically to help Ukraine and its people remains as high as ever. The noble Baroness seemed surprised when I told her about the change to the funding arrangements for hosts.

Research conducted by the Office for National Statistics outlines how the cost of living has already forced many host families to abandon this scheme. Hosts were originally asked to commit to six months. After that time, 23% pulled out as they could no longer afford it, and 99% of these hosts cited significant extra costs, such as utilities and food. The Local Government Association told us that thousands of Ukrainian households have had to register as homeless here, after their hosting arrangements collapsed. Apart from the fact that this may well cost local authorities more than the proposed cuts, it is also incredible to me that we offer families a safe haven from a country at war, yet they may end up sleeping on our streets.

Ukraine, and particularly its capital, is facing a devastating winter. It will be the worst of the war so far, given the increased Russian ballistic missile attacks on infrastructure and the almost complete cessation of the supply of US Patriot defence systems. The father of the family we have hosted for four years is still in Kyiv. In the last three weeks, he has had three hours of running water. He spends nights sleeping in either a corridor or an underpass, and he is lucky if he gets two hours of electricity a day. This week, I received an email from the guest who is joining us shortly, with his young son—the mother is no longer alive. He wrote:

“The situation in Kyiv feels more dangerous now than at any other time during these four years of war. With almost constant air raid alerts and attacks, the city sometimes feels more like a place near the front line. Even going outside has become a source of uncertainty and concern”.


As a result of this escalation, more parents from Ukraine with traumatised children are looking for homes here, yet the combination of reduced funding and high living costs has drastically reduced the number of families who are able to sponsor.

Another factor causing concern, which also needs to be taken into account, is the lack of clarity on the duration of visas, which affects not only Ukrainian children, many of whom are now totally integrated into our education system, but their mothers, or parents, who are trying to get a job and find somewhere to rent, with no fixed idea of how long they will be here. This adds unnecessary stress to an already intolerable situation. So, I urge His Majesty’s Government to look again at their changes to the Homes for Ukraine scheme, to reconsider the proposed cut of almost three-quarters to the amount paid to host families, and to make sure that lessons are learned and that the resettlement of refugees through community sponsorship is adequately resourced.