Supporting families leaving Ukraine

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Updated: 29 January 2025

As a borough, we have a proud history of helping the government deliver support for refugees looking to start a new life away from conflict and violence.

The council is committed to ensuring the borough plays its part in assisting the government’s plans to support families coming to the UK from Ukraine. We have a well-established network of key partners we are helping to coordinate our support locally.

Government guidance

The government has published guidance around people coming to the UK from Ukraine, including:

View Gov.UK webpage about A Homes for Ukraine campaign and frequently asked questions document.

Hampshire County Council role

Hampshire County Council (HCC) has confirmed that it is leading on the response to the Ukrainian families coming to the area to escape the conflict, under the Government’s Homes for Ukraine scheme, using government funding. This includes:

checking sponsorship arrangements
doing home visits
inspections around safeguarding and fire safety
DBS safeguarding and criminal record checks
providing initial financial support
assisting with school places
arranging fostering
wellbeing checks

Hampshire County Council’s Family Support Service and completing Keeping in Touch checks with host and guests every 6 months to ensure the arrangement is still meeting the needs of both parties and to answer any queries.

When a guest leaves or is temporarily absent

It is host’s responsibility to inform Hampshire County Council when sponsorship arrangements end, or if circumstances change. You can do this by emailing childrens.services@hants.gov.uk and ukraineenquiries@basingstoke.gov.uk

What you need to do if your guests are temporarily absent

Guests should inform us when they are absent for more than 4 weeks, or if they are unsure when they will return, when the guests leave.

It is your responsibility to inform Hampshire County Council if your guests are absent for more than 4 weeks.

Your payments will then be paused until you inform Hampshire County Council that the guests have returned.

Email childrens.services@hants.gov.uk as soon as possible to inform them of any temporary absences or guest returns.

Community support

Basingstoke Voluntary Action (BVA) has continued to host the Ukraine Community Caseworker role and have been providing the welfare wrap around support for Ukrainians across the borough. During this time, BVA have worked closely with families and individuals to provide 1-1 tailored welfare support, supporting access to local support initiatives. Further details on the support BVA provides and how to get in touch can be found on BVA website.

National charity Barnardo’s has set up The Ukrainian Support Helpline to provide support to anyone fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.

The free helpline, available by calling 0800 148 8586, is staffed by English, Ukrainian and Russian speakers, to offer support to children and families arriving in the UK from Ukraine.

The helpline is open Monday to Friday between 10am and 8pm and Saturday between 10am and 3pm. Callers will be able to get help and advice on a range of topics.

More information is available on the Barnardo’s website.

Our role

As a council, we are supporting in any way we can. This may include key roles around homelessness and housing standards, ensuring that sponsors’ properties Ukrainian families and people are coming to are suitable if concerns are raised by Hampshire County Council as part of their safeguarding inspections. We are supporting BVA in community liaison work and are also engaging with all partners to coordinate and share information about the situation and changes as quickly as possible to keep them informed and engaged and to keep residents and communities updated.

Basingstoke and Deane is working in partnership with Hampshire County Council to try and ensure that where existing arrangements between refugees and Homes for Ukraine Scheme sponsors are proving to be unsustainable, that refugees can be matched with alternative hosts in this area or assisted in to longer term accommodation in the private sector.

If you are a guest or host in the borough looking for housing advice and support, please contact ukraineenquiries@basingstoke,gov.uk

To deliver an effective re-matching service, we would ask any residents who wish to become sponsors to provide information about the type and size of household they may be seeking to accommodate and the type of accommodation they are looking to offer through the scheme.

Further details on becoming a sponsor can be found on the GOV.UK website.

If you would like to become a sponsor under the Homes for Ukraine scheme, please complete the survey below.

Expression of interest to be a host for Ukrainian refugees

If you are a landlord and would like to rent your property to a family or individual from the Ukraine, please contact our Landlord Liaison team at privaterent@basingstoke.gov.uk.

Host payments to stay at £500 per month

On 26 November, the Government announced changes to the Homes for Ukraine scheme and the Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) visa thank you payments. The update included reducing the thank you payments to a flat rate of £350 per month, effective from 1 April 2025.

Hampshire County Council has confirmed that payments to Basingstoke and Deane residents eligible for hosting Ukrainian nationals under these Ukraine visa schemes will continue to receive £500 per month for 2025/26 to reflect the ongoing appreciation for the safe haven Hampshire hosts are providing.

From 1 April 2026, payments will be in line with the Government scheme which is currently a rate of £350 per month. The Government scheme also details that after a guest’s initial 18-month Ukraine Permission Extension period, thank you payments will discontinue.

Funding for host payments comes from the grant paid by Government to upper tier local authorities to administer the Homes for Ukraine and the Ukraine Permission Extension (UPE) scheme locally.

Support information

eVisa reminder

Since the 6 August, any person with a biometric residence permit (BRP) expiring on 31 December 2024 can now create a UKVI account and access their eVisa, without needing an invitation from UKVI to do so.

There is a helpful tutorial on creating an eVisa account in Ukrainian on YouTube.

Citizens Advice has also produced a useful guide to creating an eVisa account on their website.

Find information on eVisas and why you need one (GOV.UK)

Important! Check your immigration status online

If you have already registered your eVisa account, make sure that your immigration status is also active and correctly displayed.

You need to follow the link 'start now' (green button) and enter your BRP (Biometric Residence Permit) number and date of birth as well as the 6-digit security code that will be sent to you.

If after these actions a page titled 'your immigration status' with your photo appears, it means that your eVisa account has been successfully registered.

Find out how to view and prove your immigration status (GOV.UK)

Ukraine Permission Extension Scheme

This scheme will be open for applications from 9am on 4 February 2025.

Applications to the Ukraine Permission Extension will be free.

A Ukrainian national, or the family member of a Ukrainian national, living in the UK with existing permission on one of the Ukraine schemes, may be eligible to apply for UPE to continue living in the UK for up to a further 18 months.

Eligible individuals will need to make an application online. If the application is successful, Ukrainians will be able to continue to live, work and study in the UK and access public funds.

Further details on eligibility and the application processes is available at Applying to the Ukraine Permission Extension scheme (GOV.UK)