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I am happy to provide it to the committee, rather than to Ms Boyack alone.

I thank Dr Allan for that question, because it has been an issue for us for coming up to a year in responding to the crisis in Ukraine and the movement of people. The Scottish Refugee Council, which we fund to support us in the arrival support mechanisms—our welcome hubs—is absolutely right. I think that you also received evidence last week from local authorities about the unpredictability of arrivals being one of the greatest challenges, particularly in relation to the peak arrivals period last summer, when we had high numbers of people arriving. There is a complete contrast with the resettlement programmes for those arriving from Afghanistan and Syria.

There is no doubt that there is a challenge, and we have been looking to respond as best we can. For instance, we have had to ensure that we have sufficient temporary accommodation to match the trend of arrivals, which meant that, at some points last year, we had overprovision of temporary accommodation. Sometimes we have been stretched in relation to temporary accommodation, but not having that certainty and correspondence has made it far more difficult for us to plan.

It is difficult and a challenge, but I need to pay tribute to my colleagues in Government, local authority teams and the Scottish Refugee Council, who have been responding admirably to ensure that people are given the appropriate welcome when they arrive. In particular, they have ensured that, as part of that welcome operation, there are people at the welcome desks at the transit points at Edinburgh and Glasgow airports and at train stations to greet folk arriving from Ukraine, with messages and information translated into Ukrainian and a very clear pathway showing where they are heading. As I said in my introduction, we could not have done that without partnership support for the welcome hubs involving local authorities and the SRC. Of course, I am happy to speak to the Scottish Refugee Council or, indeed, Border Force again about how that could be operated in a better way in the future.

Good morning, colleagues, and thank you very much for the opportunity to update you on our work to welcome and support those who are fleeing the illegal war in Ukraine.

More than 8 million people have been displaced from Ukraine. This mass movement of people remains the largest in Europe since world war two. The Scottish Government condemns Russia’s invasion and the crisis that it has created, and we stand in solidarity with the people of Ukraine. Sadly, as is evidenced by the numbers of people who are applying, the Scottish Government’s supersponsor scheme has provided a desperately needed route to safety and sanctuary. Going well beyond our commitment to welcome at least 3,000 people, Scotland has sponsored more than 23,200 arrivals, the majority of which have been through the supersponsor scheme, which is more per head of population than any other part of the United Kingdom.

The scale and pace of this national response is unprecedented and awe inspiring. I would therefore like to recognise the enormous kindness and unwavering support of the Scottish people who have welcomed our friends from Ukraine into their homes and communities, and to thank them for that. Furthermore, I would like to acknowledge the work of our partners—the local authorities and third sector and community groups—thatcontinue to provide that warm Scots welcome.

Responding to a challenge of this scale has required significant resource. This year, the Scottish Government will spend around £200 million on short-term accommodation, support for councils and funding to the third sector. Next year, we will invest a further £70 million to ensure that communities continue to receive help to rebuild their lives. We do not want anyone to spend any longer than is necessary in temporary accommodation. A settled home is clearly the best outcome. I recently launched a new campaign for volunteer hosts, and we continue to work closely with local authorities and registered social landlords to bring forward longer-term housing options. Settled accommodation is just one part of our approach. We continually take steps to improve support to displaced people and to help integration in our communities through access to education, employment support, healthcare and any other services that they may need.

Although I hope that those who wish to return can do so safely in time, the Scottish Government’s message to all those seeking sanctuary remains clear: Scotland is your home for as long as you need it to be.

I have now had the opportunity to meet Mr Kuslii to welcome him to Scotland and to set out the number of areas of intervention by the Scottish Government, local authority partners and others working to support Ukrainians. I hope to be able to visit the MS Ambition in Glasgow with him next week to talk about some of the move-on operations on the ship and to discuss some of the areas that he has raised.

I cannot remember which local authority representative was asked about the issue at the committee last week, but there is confirmation from local authority partners—I can give it again today—that there are support services on board the ships or in hotels, and that advice is readily available to hosts on how people should or can register with doctors and dentists. If there has been a breakdown for some individuals, that is unfortunate. I am looking to ensure that the head of consular services, Mr Kuslii, is aware of the support services that are in place.

You are absolutely right that it would be unacceptable if there was not a clear pathway for people to register with a doctor and so on, but those support services are in place. People are entitled to register with doctors and dentists in the same way as any other Scottish resident, and I am confident that support services are in place to ensure that those pathways are clear.

That is undoubtedly a challenge, and it was among the foremost issues in the discussion that I had with Mr Kuslii when I met him. We want to ensure that there is minimal disruption to people as they move—especially from the ships, but also from hotel accommodation. As I said, he has given a commitment to come with me to MS Ambition—next week, I hope—in order to help to communicate what is available, the support that is in place and to give some reassurance around some of that work.

First, I am very heartened by the fact that Ukrainians who have arrived in Scotland, albeit that they are in temporary accommodation, have been able to put down roots and to establish themselves in schools, employment and other community settings. That is obviously what we want to see. Because, by its nature, temporary accommodation is temporary, there will be an element of disruption when people move on from that, which poses a challenge.

We are looking to do what we can to offer accommodation, where we can, as close as possible to where people have been based. That will not always be possible, which is why we have had staff from a number of local authorities from across Scotland go on to MS Ambition in the past few weeks. I think that 50 families are likely to move to Aberdeenshire in the coming period. We also want to impress on people the opportunities that exist for employment, schooling and housing across Scotland, not just in the central belt. When I appeared before the committee in June, I mentioned the opportunities that exist for people to move around Scotland and to be able to rebuild their lives from there.

We will work closely with Mr Kuslii and with our local authority partners. We will not work only with those that have direct involvement in the hosting of the temporary accommodation—Glasgow City Council, in the case of the accommodation on MS Ambition—but neighbouring authorities as well, to see what we can do to offer accommodation that would allow people to still be able to commute easily or to be able to go to school where they have already settled. However, I must stress that, because of the nature of temporary accommodation, there will be an element of disruption.

Finally, the national matching service has become very successful. I think that approaching 4,000 people have been matched from temporary accommodation into longer-term accommodation, whether that is hosted accommodation or longer-term accommodation in private housing or social housing. Conversations continue between people in the national matching service and those on the ships and in hotels in an effort to ensure that people can move on to areas of their choosing that will suit their needs from the point of view of education and employment.

Yes. We continue to monitor the war situation, because that is the best way of predicting what movement might be like. Obviously, the scheme itself is paused and only those who are in receipt of a supersponsor visa—more than 13,500 of whom are still to travel—or those who have managed to find a private host through what is available UK-wide would be able to travel.

We keep a constant eye on the situation as regards the war, and we would look to procure the necessary temporary accommodation to keep up the provision or to go beyond that, given the contingency that, as Mr Golden points out, would be required, which we see elsewhere in Europe, where there has been a larger movement of people, which would be more typical refugee accommodation. We have been seeking to avoid that up until now, to ensure that people who arrive here are given the best possible start, but all those considerations are kept under review to ensure that we are able to offer appropriate accommodation as best we can.

You are absolutely right. It was recognised that more needed to be done to support our hosts and, to give credit where it is due, the UK Government has acknowledged that. The disappointing element is that when that support starts has been kicked down the road. For many people, that will not be until long into the summer, and there is confusion as to when the qualification will come in. I will bring in my colleague Will Tyler-Greig to provide some clarification on that.

We continue to impress on UK colleagues, as does the Welsh Government—it is not just the Scottish Government that is doing this—the need for such an intervention. The previous UK Government minister with responsibility for Ukraine, Richard Harrington, said publicly that he wanted support payments to be made more quickly. We will continue to do what we can.

I am happy to bring in Joanna Keating at this point to provide clarification on the process for the activation of the HEF. As far as I am aware, such a request has not been made.

We are providing support through JustRight Scotland and constantly review the level of support that JustRight Scotland requires to ensure that we can meet the demand for advice about immigration status. I hope that the capacity that we have put in place at JustRight Scotland will ensure that we can meet that demand.

As Mr Ruskell says, the extension scheme is useful up to a point, because it gives people certainty until the end of this year. However, we do not have parity between those who are on the seasonal workers visa and those who arrive through the homes for Ukraine or family visa schemes, which allow people to be here for three years. We have asked for that to be rectified to give better parity so that people can have more certainty.

Another issue is that people who are on the seasonal workers scheme are unable to sponsor family members to come here. The supersponsor scheme has given a workaround for that: people can be sponsored by the Scottish Government and can join their families. That is a workaround, but it would be fairer to ensure parity across all the schemes. That again speaks to the challenges of taking an immigration response to a humanitarian crisis, as opposed to having a proper resettlement scheme.

I am happy to be corrected, but I do not think that any money has ever been held back by the Scottish Government. The £11 million is there for local government to utilise to ensure that housing provision is made available in a flexible way. Local authorities can use that as they wish to ensure that they can provide accommodation to people who are being hosted in their communities. I am not aware of any money ever having been held back by the Scottish Government.

There is a question mark over when the money from the UK Government for the £10,500 tariff will arrive, and there is a serious question mark over whether £10,500 is enough for local authorities to be able to provide the services that are required to ensure that the wraparound support that is needed is provided. We are looking at what we can do to ensure that local government is properly supported in that regard. There is also a question mark around the UK Government not having given any further commitment to that funding beyond this year, so I would be grateful for anything that Mr Golden can do to articulate and amplify the concerns that he has received.