Over £300m given to English councils to help house Ukrainian refugees unspent | Refugees

The British councils were not spent more than 300 million pounds to help Ukrainian refugees accommodation, and thousands of people faced homelessness.

Shared with Guardian, the demands of freedom of information to 150 councils in the UK, about one -third of the 1 billion pound budget, 327 million pounds – three years after Russia occupied Ukraine, determined that it was sitting in the Council Bank accounts.

Most of the Council Councils were used to pay to personnel and joint organizations. For Ukrainians, only 22 million pounds were spent for temporary accommodation and 15 million pounds to help specially rented accommodation.

Many Ukrainians are struggling to find accommodation in the special rented sector due to the need to deposit, that councils can help, but some Ukrainians say that they can be slow, bureaucratic and difficult to access in practice. It may also be difficult to find the UK guarantor, and those who cannot speak English are struggling to negotiate with their landlords.

British Red Cross research Earlier this year, he found that Ukrainian refugees were more than twice the possibility of life of the British people. Red Cross research, which uses data throughout the UK, predicts that more than 6,400 Ukrainian families will experience some kind of homelessness this year.

Baljeet Nijjhar Ukrainian Refugee AssistanceObtaining and gathering FoI data, “Thousands of pounds per pound per Ukraine to local councils are allocated, but the guests we support seem to be struggling to access directly when needed.

“The most common issue is not to rent specially, and people do not recognize anyone who can act as a guarantor in the UK, so the local council that they have to trust here to solve this problem.

“Our research shows that many councils remain a significant amount of funds, but that very few people help to rent, while others show a ‘a’ to do ‘, show a proactive approach and significantly more help.”

The government money allocated for the Ukrainians wanted to set targets in order to reach the Council expenditure and to reach the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Governments (MHCLG) for more quickly rented accommodation for interventions.

Solomiia Barajets, a Ukrainian refugee and trainee lawyer who carries out the Ukrainian employment integration project to help people find a job, said that he was struggling to buy housing for himself and his family and tried to help others in the same situation.

“The status of the Ukrainians here is not stable. I have two children and a disabled mother. I contacted more than 50 landlords. It was very polite but they never returned to me. The Council didn’t help me. I had to help myself.”

Stan Ben Kurtar, Director of Opora, an organization that supports Ukrainians to rebuild their lives: “The quality of Council support for Ukrainians is usually a post -code lottery.

“Differences in the Council structures in the United Kingdom, resources and priorities have expanded the gap. While some Ukrainians are still getting high support, a constantly growing number is struggling.

Director of Sanctuary Foundation, which supports Ukrainian refugees. Krish Kandiah praised the British people for their hospitality.

“It is very important for England to develop this generosity by ensuring that every Ukrainian has the security and dignity of its front gates,” he said.

A MHCLG spokesman said: “Councils are given a certain financing per arrival, and it is not unusual to spend time in England, not at once. Ultimately, it is best placed to understand the needs of the local communities and to explain how this money is spent.”