Guidance for Local Authorities

Home Office Guidance

The UK Government has published initial guidance on the Homes for Ukraine scheme which outlines the role of councils across England in supporting the scheme. Click the button below to access the official guidance.

The UK Government updates guidance published on the Ukraine Schemes: Homes for Ukraine and the Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme. As of 21 January 2025, the guidance has been updated to include further details on the UPE scheme, covering family relationships, changes to thank you payments, host arrangements, and more. 

All the updated guidance can be found below, ahead of the scheme going live on 4 February 2025:

The UK Government has also produced information relating to the Homes for Ukraine scheme for children who are under the age of eighteen. The information within the guide covers the following:

• Before you arrive in the UK,
• Travel arrangements,
• What you should know in your first few days on arrival,
• Welfare,
• How to access Health Care Services,
• School and Education,
• Length of sponsorship agreement and ending of sponsorship,
• Work and Benefits.

To access the guide, please click the below link.

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Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme

From 09:00 on 4 February 2025 the UPE will open for applications from Ukrainian citizens and their eligible family members living in the UK under existing Ukraine schemes. The application form will be online via the Gov UK website. ‘Thank you’ payments will be extended for eligible hosts for the 18 months they are covered by the Visa issued under the UPE scheme. After a guest’s initial 18-month UPE period, thank you payments will discontinue.

To fund this support and ensure it is affordable within government budgets, all ‘thank you’ payments will be paid at a flat rate of £350 per month with effect from 1 April 2025. This includes ‘thank you’ payments to hosts where the guest remains in Homes for Ukraine sponsorship (in Year 2 and 3, and currently receiving £500 p/m). When an HFU guest moves on to a UPE visa, we the local authority are asked to invite the sponsor to make a new claim for payment. All thank you payments made during the UPE visa period should be at the rate of £350 a month for a maximum of eighteen months.

For new arrivals in 2025/26 local authorities will continue to receive the £5,900 per person (£10,500 for eligible minors) tariff payment to support guests to rebuild their lives and fully integrate into communities. This funding can continue to be used flexibly to meet local and individual needs. Future Tariff payments will be subject to the outcome of the Spring Spending Review.

Eligible minors on the UPE scheme who remain in sponsorship will continue to require oversight by local authorities for the 18-month period. Funding will continue to support local authorities with their ongoing care of eligible minors, paying £6,100 per minor per year for the duration of the 18-month UPE visa period. Where an eligible minor enters the care of the local authority due to a sponsorship breakdown and no other arrangements can be made, local authorities will continue to receive £64,150 per year (pro-rated) and £16,850 for care leavers. Eligibility criteria will be set out in guidance in due course.