Source · Select Committees · Public Accounts Committee
Recommendation 20
20
Accepted
DLUHC lacks quantifiable data on extended 'thank you' payments' impact on host relationships.
Conclusion
DLUHC’s initial planning assumption had been that 50% of sponsorships could breakdown, leading to homelessness.32 We asked DLUHC what impact the decision to extend thank you payments would have on sustaining sponsor-host relationships and what analysis it had done to inform its decision to extend payments for another year. DLUHC explained that it had taken the decision based on the number of thank you payments paid out and the number of people still in sponsorship and on the findings of surveys by the Office for National Statistics on the importance of thank you payments. It also told us that thank you payments had an psychological impact in terms of recognising the contribution that people were making. DLUHC acknowledged, however, that thank you payments would not address all the challenges and barriers faced by hosts, such as language barriers or simply not wanting to share their home any longer.33 We asked whether it had been possible to quantify the number of sponsor-host relationships that were at risk of breaking down if the thank you payments had not been continued. DLUHC admitted that is had been difficult to quantify that exactly, because it depended on individual circumstances, but it considered it had a good sense of the impact.34 32 C&AG’s Report para 4.11 33 Qq 57–58 34 Q 59 Homes for Ukraine 15 3 Learning lessons and future challenges Collating and sharing data
Government Response Summary
DLUHC has already conducted detailed analysis, using ONS survey data and other metrics, to understand the value for money and impact of thank you payments on sustaining sponsor-host relationships. This analysis informed their decision to extend payments and shows the scheme is more cost-effective than alternative accommodation options.
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
4.1 The government agrees with the Committee’s recommendation. Recommendation implemented 4.2 DLUHC looked in detail at a range of evidence to understand the value for money case for thank you payments including the use of the Office for National Statistics (ONS) survey data to understand sponsor intentions, employment, earnings and homelessness data, arrivals data and estimates of likely demand for sponsorship to set out the fiscal benefits of the policy. 4.3 This analysis suggests that thank you payments are good value for money compared to the counterfactual of government support for alternative accommodation options/ homelessness support. It costs £6 to £8 per person per night to provide a Ukrainian sponsorship accommodation (based on monthly thank you payments of £350 per household in the first year, and £500 per household thereafter), which is much lower than the costs to accommodate households in temporary accommodation. 4.4 Sponsorship accommodation uses pre-existing supply (avoiding additional pressure on the housing market) and provides day-to-day support from sponsors with finding employment, education and accessing public services. The ONS survey results from July 2023 found that a higher proportion of adults on the Homes for Ukraine scheme were employed or self-employed in the UK (55%) compared with those on the Ukraine Family Scheme (not in sponsorship accommodation) (46%).