MY wife and I have welcomed a family of five to our home in West Lothian, and they have now been with us for just over a week.
We had decided to act as hosts prior to Michael Gove’s non-announcements on March 14 and 18. We now realise these useless pronouncements were the first real indicators that a dysfunctional octopus must be operating the Ukrainian refugee asylum system, with one long tentacle not coordinating with any other; perhaps mis-controlled from the centre by a dysfunctional brain. (Why am I now thinking of Priti Patel?)
We read with great interest Thursday’s article on the family hosted in East Lothian (UK’s ‘broken’ Homes for Ukraine scheme needs overhaul, says host family, Apr 21), and in Friday’s National about children receiving visas long before their mothers (Most Ukrainians granted UK visa still haven’t arrived, Apr 22). We were very fortunate and are very grateful for the intervention made on our behalf by our MP, Hannah Bardell, who contacted the Home Office, to ensure they linked the five separate visa applications together as a “family”.
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From as early as March 10, we knew we would need to be assessed for Enhanced Disclosure. Having previously held an ED as a scout leader, I understood that an organisation that was an approved signatory to Disclosure Scotland would have to make such a nomination of each of us; that we as individuals could not progress it ourselves. This tentacle arm sought out no proactive feelers for any agency to take such disclosures forward and even now (I had a half hour phone-call with them), I have been told the local authorities will be moving things on. The same local authority that for three weeks said they were waiting for guidance from the Scottish Government, which in turn was waiting for Westminster diktats relating to another dysfunctional tentacle of the Homes for Ukraine scheme.
We are still attempting to get our family settled in. Today they have succeeded, (after a two-hour internet search) in being given appointments for biometric testing, (in Edinburgh city centre); a proviso for them to get National Insurance numbers that enable them to get Child Benefit or Universal Credit or even open bank accounts.
We had a good visit yesterday from our local social work department to assess the suitability of our accommodation and make a first appraisal of how well our refugee family are settling in. We got the impression, however, that they knew they had only scant information of a number of the processes required. We felt sorry for them, as we thought they found themselves at the tip of another tentacle groping around in the dark. They have, though, continued to seek assistance for both ourselves as hosts and for our refugee family.
READ MORE: Infant among dead as Russia sustains attacks on key Ukrainian cities
We encountered delays from the education department saying that they had not received a school application, which in fact had been completed and sent to them three weeks before.
Full marks, however, to our local surgery, the Ferguson Medical Practice, who quickly expedited the required forms for the five new potential patients.
Let us hope that all existing hosts and potential hosts for Ukrainian refugees will be now assisted by the appointment of Neil Gray, and that he can bring some functionality to the octopus of processes involved!
By the way, we count ourselves really lucky to have teamed up with such a lovely family; this being enabled by a husband and wife team from Poland/Ukraine, living in Edinburgh, who continue to send articulated lorries of humanitarian aid from Edinburgh to Ukraine.
Let’s all keep positive and strive to do our best.
Keith MacLeod
via email
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