Borough Council Awaits Details of Scheme That Would Allow It to Sponsor Ukrainian Refugees

Published on: 8 Mar, 2022
Updated on: 9 Mar, 2022

Ukrainian refugees

By Martin Giles

Details of the scheme that would allow Guildford Borough Council and other local authorities to act as sponsors for Ukrainian refugees are still awaited. Nominated sponsors can be necessary before the necessary visas or entry clearances are granted.

Julia McShane (Lib Dem, Westborough) deputy leader of GBC and lead councillor for Communities and Housing, said today (March 8): “Like so many people in Guildford, we are heartbroken at the events unfolding in Ukraine and hearing the stories of people.

Cllr Julia McShane

“We are willing to do the best we can to help those in need and we eagerly await details of the government’s scheme that will allow local authorities to become a sponsor to help Ukrainians come to the UK.”

The Home Office has been criticised, from several quarters, for its slowness in setting up the necessary administration to issue visas to Ukrainians fleeing the Russian invasion and wishing to come to the UK perhaps because they have relatives here.

Some Ukrainians are already at Calais but reports are that they still cannot be processed there; the process requires certain checks and biometric enrolment.

Meanwhile, it is rumoured that Russian oligarch Alisha Usmanov, sanctioned last week by the government, has never even stepped foot inside his staffed 16th-century mansion Sutton Place, a few miles outside Guildford near Jacobs Well. It was the former home of American tycoon Paul Getty.

One Dragon reader has suggested that it is used to accommodate Ukrainian refugees.