Guidance

Homes for Ukraine scheme (2022-23) local authority tariff payment grant determination No. 31/6538 (England)

Published 16 March 2023

The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (“Secretary of State”) in exercise of the powers conferred by section 31 of the Local Government Act 2003, makes the following determination:

Citation

1. This determination may be cited as the Homes for Ukraine tariff grant No. 31/6538.

Purpose of the grant

2. The purpose of the Homes for Ukraine tariff grant is to provide a per-person tariff to support local authorities to provide wrap-around support to individuals and families to rebuild their lives and fully integrate into communities. The tariff amount is £10,500 for guest arrivals on or prior to 31 December 2022, and £5,900 for arrivals on or after 1 January 2023. For eligible minors (any individual who is under 18 who has already applied for the Homes for Ukraine Scheme who is not travelling with or joining a parent or legal guardian), the tariff remains at £10,500 for arrivals on or after 1 January 2023. Annex B contains details of local authorities’ responsibilities under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, in line with the Guidance for Councils which was updated on 16 January 2023.

3. A reconciliation process will be conducted after the end of the 2022-23 financial year to ensure that tariff funding is allocated accurately and fairly between local authorities. This process will account for movements of guests between ratified rematches that cross local authority borders. For a rematch to be ratified, checks must have been carried out and the destination local authority agrees to the transfer. This includes a rematch which is organised by a guest themselves, which is then subsequently ratified by the relevant authorities. Tariff funding will be pro-rated on a monthly basis, subject to the length of a guest’s stay within an authority.

4. The facilitation of the reconciliation process will be subject to local authorities providing accurate data after the end of the 2022-23 financial year (data collection for the reconciliation exercise will commence early in the 2023-24 financial year). Where the amount of grant paid to an authority differs from the pro-rated entitlement based on the number of guests who have moved in or out of the local authority, the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities may recover funding, or provide extra funding, to ensure that local authorities receive their correct entitlement. The reconciliation process will be combined with the Q4 payment round, which will cover the reporting period 1 December 2022 to 31 March 2023, and the Q4 payment due to a local authority may be increased or reduced in line with the money that is due at reconciliation.

Determination

5. The Secretary of State determines the authorities to which grant is to be paid and the amount of grant to be paid as set out in Annex A of this determination.

6. The grant will be paid in full and in arrears for one year (with the year commencing on the day of the guest’s arrival in the UK), based on actual data on arrivals. Payments will be made in full every quarter, to capture new arrivals in each quarter. For partial months, the following principles apply: if a guest has been in the local authority area for less than half a month (less than 16 days), the local authority will not receive the tariff for that month. If a guest has been in the local authority area for half a month or more (16 days or more), the local authority will receive the tariff for that month.

7. In two tier areas, the grant will be paid to upper tier authorities.

Grant conditions

8. Pursuant to section 31(5) of the Local Government Act 2003, the Secretary of State determines that the grant will be paid subject to the following conditions in Annex C.

HMT Treasury consent

9. Before making this determination in relation to local authorities, the Secretary of State obtained the consent of HM Treasury.

Signed by authority of the Secretary of State.

Emma Payne
Director, Homes for Ukraine Programme

Annex A: Grant allocations

Grant allocations are attached as a separate document.

Annex B: Local authority responsibilities under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme

Local authorities have a number of important functions in supporting the Homes for Ukraine scheme. Local authorities will be expected to offer the categories of support listed below:

• Initial reception
• Data sharing
• Safeguarding checks
• Interim payment for guest
• Provision of education
• Service referrals
• Work and benefits
• Homelessness assistance
• Move on support, including supporting access to the private rented sector
• Community integration
• Administering payments to sponsors
• Facilitating rematching

Supporting minors not travelling with or joining their parents in the UK

On 16 January 2023, the Department published updated guidance on the Homes for Ukraine scheme. This guidance outlines the role of local authorities across England in supporting the Homes for Ukraine scheme and includes further detail on the categories of support listed above. Local authorities should continue to follow any updated guidance.

Annex C: Grant conditions

Pursuant to section 31(5) of the Local Government Act 2003, the Secretary of State determines that the grant will be paid subject to the following conditions:

1. A recipient authority must use the funding to carry out the activities, as set out in the Homes for Ukraine guidance, including completing all 5 safeguarding and accommodation checks, including DBS checks, on sponsors and the property in line with the Department’s guidance as soon as practicable, and record these 5 checks on the Foundry system.

2. Where the tariff is provided for an eligible minor’s arrival, a recipient authority must use the funding to support children with a Homes for Ukraine visa who are not travelling with or joining their parent or legal guardian, as set out in the Homes for Ukraine guidance for councils in relation to children and minors applying without parents or legal guardians. This includes: confirming the two forms of parental consent required have been provided; carrying out the required safeguarding and accommodation checks including a sponsor suitability assessment as soon as practicable in line with the department’s and private fostering guidance, and recording these checks on the Foundry system; and carrying out the required post-arrival and ongoing checks.

3. A recipient authority must commission or provide services that ensure guests and sponsors are provided with a source of advice and support to assist with registering for mainstream benefits and services, including where necessary specialist public health services and community integration.

4. A recipient authority must use the funding to support guests into post-sponsorship accommodation. Updated guidance was published on 16 January 2023 (“Private rented accommodation and alternative accommodation: Homes for Ukraine”). The form and range of this support will differ depending on the local area and could include, but is not limited to, measures such as: commissioning or providing advice services to guests and sponsors on affordability and how to find accommodation in the private rental sector, financial support with rental deposits/advances, acting as a guarantor, and encouraging landlords to rent properties to guests.

5. In two tier areas, upper tier authorities must agree a plan locally to:

• make payments to lower tier authorities in relation to all the services which they provide to guests under the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, during the full duration of the scheme, including for services such as homelessness assistance for which lower tier authorities are responsible; and
• make an immediate payment to lower tier authorities in relation to any upfront costs.

6. A recipient authority must provide regular data returns in relation to the Homes for Ukraine Scheme, as set out in guidance. For example:

• entering relevant data on Foundry regularly, and at a minimum, weekly; and
• that Section 151 officers must sign off quarterly returns to the Department which include: data to indicate how many people are moving in/out of the area; the number of ‘thank you’ payments made to sponsoring households; the number of unaccompanied minors resident within the LA, including the number of children who have been taken into the care of the local authority and the number of care leavers the authority is supporting; and confirmation that conditions have been met.

7. Where the amount of grant paid to an authority exceeds the authority’s actual pressures (based on the number of guests resident in their area), the difference shall be repaid to the Secretary of State. In addition, if the Department is made aware that an authority is in breach of the grant conditions above, it reserves the right to recover funding.

8. Tariff funding can be claimed in full on a guest’s arrival, prior to all checks on the host being completed, but checks must be carried out promptly following a guest’s arrival. If a local authority receives a tariff for a guest, and the guest leaves the local authority (for example, due to the host subsequently failing the checks) the funding may be recovered by the Department at the end of financial year reconciliation.

9. The Department will continue to keep the approach to data monitoring under review, and will update guidance on data returns accordingly.

10. There will be a reconciliation process after the end of the 2022-23 financial year, as set out above (‘Purpose of the grant’).

Annex D: Homes for Ukraine guidance for councils

• Homes for Ukraine: guidance for councils
• Homes for Ukraine: guidance for councils (children and minors applying without parents or legal guardians)