Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what assessment she has made of the adequacy of oversight of the Homes for Ukraine Scheme by her Department; and what steps she is taking to prevent abuse of that scheme.

The British public has shown a true generosity of spirit by opening their homes to Ukrainians seeking sanctuary from Putin’s illegal full-scale invasion of Ukraine. This generosity should not be abused, and taxpayers’ money must be used to support the intended beneficiaries of the scheme.

Local authorities are responsible for the prevention and detection of sponsor payment related fraud on the Homes for Ukraine scheme. The department has engaged local authorities and found they have counter-fraud measures in place and are recovering payments where fraud has been identified. As part of ongoing efforts to identify and reduce instances of fraudulent sponsorship and other abuses of the Homes for Ukraine scheme, existing guidance on GOV.UK has been expanded to improve information for guests, sponsors and local authorities on how to recognise and avoid fraudulent sponsorship or misuse of the scheme. Further mitigations to minimise the impacts of these issues on the Homes for Ukraine scheme are kept under constant review.

Guidance on reporting suspected fraud is available at: Reporting fraud: Homes for Ukraine - GOV.UK for guests, Reporting fraud: Homes for Ukraine - guidance for sponsors - GOV.UK for sponsors and Handling suspected fraud: Homes for Ukraine - GOV.UK for councils.