Larger monthly payments should be made to hosts of Ukrainian refugees, say Liberal Democrats on Wiltshire Council.

Liberal Democrat Leader Ian Thorn said this would encourage existing hosts to continue and incentivise more to come forward.  

This follows several council’s, including Dorset, Somerset, Hampshire and Bath, boosting payments.

Currently, hosts are entitled to £350 per month under the Government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme.

Cllr Thorn said: “It is critical to attract new hosts from those who may have considered it but not yet volunteered. Refreshing the pool of hosts is key to continuing to help our Ukrainian guests.   

“With millions in funding for the refugees in the bank, we should not be risking hosts ending sponsorships at the six-month mark which is approaching for many and making Ukrainians homeless in the run-up to Christmas, with a high human and economic cost.”

But, Council Leader Richard Clewer said: “The idea that we need more sponsors doesn’t stack up. We have more host families that came forward than we have Ukrainian refugees.

“When you talk to the refugees, they’ve been very grateful for the support but they’re kind of at a point now where they’re saying they don’t really want to be living in someone else’s house.

“Rematching is proving really difficult when relationships break down and we really don’t think that a continuous rotation of hosts is the solution.”

“That’s why we’re trying to acquire houses through Stone Circle, which is the Council’s housing company, so we’re buying houses off the market and using our Ukrainian funding to do that.

“We’ve got 377 refugees in the county and some have already moved into private rental accommodation but that isn’t going to work for all, probably not the majority.”

“Other councils are trying to incentivize and pay rent top ups but the moment that money runs out, and it will run out long before the three years that the Ukrainians are supposed to be staying in the UK, you won’t have solved the problem, you’ll just have spent the money on a sticking plaster.”

However, Liberal Democrat Councillor Ruth Hopkinson, who is a refugee host, said: “As a host I know the financial burden being experienced by some hosts, especially those that are housing an entire family.  

“In the absence of any suitable housing outside the Homes for Ukraine scheme, the only way to provide for refugees is to adequately compensate hosts who have been good enough to open their homes to those in need.”