 Thank you Cabinet Secretary. That concludes the urgent question. The next item of business is a statement by Neil Gray on Scotland's humanitarian response to the Ukraine crisis. The minister will take questions at the end of his statement and hence, there should be no interventions or interruptions. I call on Neil Gray.얄elu, pan rydw i'r rhwng, oedol ni'r newid yn unedol ar��no rygaws yn Ykrain. Felly, y ffordd mae'r gynlluniau Cyngorau Mylliau ac mae'n digwydd brand o ffgwylio i ac ymweld eich 100 miliwn i gyrain o'r hwn. Fy enw i'r rhwng sy'n gweld i gyrain, ychydig yn nhw am ysgrifennu ddaeth i gan y gyrannu. Ysgrifennu'r hwn o'r hwn i gyrannu i gyrannu i'r hwn, a'r llwybotlog tyffanol i ni gael 300 hefyd gwahanol ar y ffordd yn gweithio'n ddoi i gael ei gael efo'r fanoedd tyihoodau a bod yn ei amlwy birdas oednaeth. Yw yn caelser i ymryd ar gyfer yr sérion ymryd yn ei gael i gael o'ch gael o'r sérion ymryd yn ei fydag o'i gael i gael i gael i'n enw i'n gael i'n enw i'n ei gael i gael eu chrannu i gael i'r symud Fyllfaenol i ddechrau i ddisplasio yn unig iawn, ac yn cymorth, y credu cyfrifatig, Europe yw yn cael ei ddod yn ymgolio'r ffordd. Rwyf y cyfrifatig yw, yn y Ffwrdd, y Cyfrifatig yw'r wwww sylfaenol, mae'r bwrdd ymgyrchol yw ymgolio yn 3,000 o'ch cyfrifatig 5 ymgyrchol. Fyllfaenol i ddod yn fwy arwyf yn yr unig iawn, yw yna yw'r wneud yn cael eu llygau yw ei ffas comprehensiveaidd, yw'r llyffurdod yw'r llyffurdod yw ei ffas comprehensiveaidd, yw'r llyffurdod yw'u llyffurdod yw ei wneud? Maen nhw, yn gwybod, ar y cwmdeilig o eich listedrwyldau, ysgolwyr wedi cyfreun ym ddiddordeb nhw ar deithas a'r cas iddo i ddweud 21,000 agor, 5t dangos yr ysgol ddechrau ddechrau'n gweld gwahanol agor. Cymru eraill yng Nghyrch yn bwyllfa i gynrychiad, hwyl. Yn wir ystafell yrydym ni'n gaelo cymysgau cyfrifonau, credu drwy 5 tyf honi'n gydag y coesol yma, oes fyddai'n 50,000 iawn i'r ysgwlltion ar gyfer y cyfnodau addysg iawn. Byddai'n dweud cyfrifonau yn y llwyddo, wrth gwrs gydag, rydym i gaelo'r ysgrifennu a chyreun darkymni allwch nhw fel llwydei i'r ysgwlltion i chi artymnu'n i'r sy'n gydag ac ar gyfer newydd yma those who we knew would arrive in the weeks ahead. At that time I also committed to a review of the scheme. Led by the chief social policy officer, Professor Linda Bald, the review convened experts from across national and local government, academia and the third sector and included the lived experience of recently arrived Ukrainians. I am grateful to them all for their work. Today I have published the results of that review with the principles of empowerment and sustainability in mind. The review has identified 16 interventions for our warm Scottish welcome to improve our offer and to ensure that we are doing everything that we can to help those from Ukraine. There are seven criteria as well for reopening the supersponsor scheme. Those are supported by COSLA, SOLAS and third sector partners. I will briefly go through some of those interventions, particularly focusing on accommodation. They include positive steps that have the possibility of creating a real lasting benefit. For many, moving from welcome accommodation to long-term accommodation is a key milestone and may be concerning, as it is a recognition that, for the time being, their homeland remains at war and they need to make a home in Scotland for longer than they may have originally envisaged. We want to be there to support them through this time. Our aim is to improve the performance of the scheme, empower those arriving with clear advice, support and improve access to long-term housing options, thereby reducing dependency on short-term accommodation. One intervention that we have already begun is to increase the supply of housing stock through the £50 million Ukraine long-term resettlement fund. The new funding is in addition to the £5 million that is granted to North Lanarkshire, which has brought 200 properties into use and has started accommodating families. Through the new fund, we have already announced £486,000 in grant funding to North Ayrshire Council. I am pleased to announce today that Aberdeen City Council has been awarded over £6 million to bring around 500 void properties back into use, making more long-term accommodation available across the city. We are working with all local authorities to encourage and support more proposals. The Scottish Government does not want anyone to stay and welcome accommodation longer than necessary. It is clear that a settled home is a better longer-term outcome, so we will also set clearer expectations that stays our short-term and highlight support available to secure longer-term settled accommodation. With many arrivals now in employment or in receipt of social security benefits where appropriate and in line with guests in private host homes and people living in other temporary rented accommodation, we will also consider asking for a contribution to temporary welcome accommodation for those still using them. That will help us to improve the prioritisation of limited temporary accommodation for those most in need and newly arriving. Thousands of Scots were in a position to be able to open their homes to Ukrainians by offering to be a private host. Local authority resettlement teams supported by our national matching service are working hard to match volunteer hosts and displaced people. Over 2,790 people have now been matched into private homes. We want to quickly and safely place people with hosts but know that the most successful arrangements happen when both the needs of hosts and Ukrainians align. That is why matching is a two-way process. Resettlement needs to listen and take account of the needs and preferences of Ukrainians. Many people may prefer to live in areas close to amenities and services or close to pre-existing Ukrainian communities. In addition, volunteer hosts will have their own preferences and may not have space for larger family sizes or complex group compositions. Matching takes time and considerable input. That is why we have increased resources to our local authorities to boost the process. It may mean that, for some volunteer hosts, there is unfortunately not a match to be made. There will also be many who are interested in hosting but have not yet taken the first step as they are not sure of what is expected of them. Therefore, we will launch a Scotland-specific campaign asking households across the nation to consider offering a place in their home to a Ukrainian. As part of this, later this month, we will be holding our first warm Scottish gathering, where Ukrainians and our local communities can come together. The event will showcase Scotland's many vibrant towns, cities and villages, and will help Ukrainians to make informed choices about where to live. The review has had to take into account that we are operating in the context of a cost-of-living crisis and cuts to our budget from the UK Government. A UK Government that has failed to act effectively enough in response to the cost-of-living crisis itself and continues to fail in its response to arrivals from Ukraine. As part of his budget statement, the Deputy First Minister explained that our response to the Ukraine crisis requires us to find around £200 million that had not been planned for. For many months, I have been writing jointly with my Welsh counterpart Jane Hutt asking the UK Government to provide proper funding for Ukrainians arriving under the family route, and we have pressed for an increase to the £350 thank-you payments for hosts. None of that has progressed. Indeed, in the chaos of the last few months, the regular meetings that the Welsh and Scottish Governments had with Lord Harrington has now been replaced with unanswered letters. I will continue to pursue meetings with new UK ministers and continue to meet my Welsh counterpart, who has also just carried out a similar review of arrangements in Wales. Scotland is facing the most severe economic upheaval in a generation, already impacting people, businesses, public services and the third sector. Difficult decisions are being taken that affect all of Scotland's people, and our offer of support for people displaced by the conflict in Ukraine is unfortunately not immune from that. Let me now turn to the reopening of the supersponsor scheme. As I said earlier, we have developed seven criteria that we will use to objectively measure whether or not the scheme can reopen. Reopening must be predicated on ensuring that we are able to honour our commitment to displaced people already in Scotland and those yet to travel. We must be assured that measures are in place to mitigate pressures on local councils and other services who have been working tirelessly and that funding is in place to meet associated costs. Having considered the current position, I have concluded that we are unable to resume applications to the supersponsor scheme at this time. That does not mean that there are no new arrivals from Ukraine. There are daily arrivals from Ukraine around 100 a day and more than 13,000 visa holders still to travel. The private sponsor route for Ukrainians remains open. From the outset, I have been clear that Ukrainian resettlement is a national effort. Scotland's response has demonstrated the kindness and generosity of the Scottish people. We can only be successful by working with local authorities, third sector partners, community groups, businesses and, of course, Ukrainians themselves. I would therefore like to offer my deepest appreciation and thanks to all those who are providing help and support. That also includes the association of Ukrainians in Great Britain and the Consul General Yefien Mankowski. I would like to thank them for their support. The work of the association reinforces the importance of respecting and listening to displaced people from Ukraine, so we keep people not processed at the heart of our response. I have discussed and explained the rationale behind the interventions that I have outlined today with them both, and they remain supportive of Scotland's response, recognising the significant constraints that we face. The review heard that people should be in place, that support should be in place, that empowers Ukrainians to make positive choices about their future, and that is our aim through the interventions in our paper. The Scottish Government remains clear that Ukrainians are welcome and Scotland is their home for as long as they need it. Slava Ukraine. Thank you, minister. The minister will now take questions on the issues raised in his statement, and I intend to allow around 20 minutes for questions, after which we will move on to the next item of business. If any member would wish to seek to ask a question, please press the request to speak buttons now, and I call Donald Cameron. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I thank the minister for advanced sight of his statement and for the review by Professor Linda Bald of the super sponsor scheme. I also acknowledge that the minister dedicated some time earlier today to answer questions from Opposition MSPs. I thank him for his regular engagement on the issue. It would be great if more of his colleagues could adopt a similar practice. The Scottish Conservatives recognise the efforts that governments across the UK have taken to ensure that many Ukrainian refugees are able to seek sanctuary from the horrors that continue to unfold in their homeland. We appreciate that there will be also profound challenges ahead in ensuring that many of these people can settle in a permanent home and begin to build a new life here. However, despite the best intentions of the minister and his officials, and I have never doubted that for a moment, the super sponsor scheme remains mired in problems exacerbated by the housing crisis, which the SNP have made worse by their recent policy interventions in this area. Whilst a number of Ukrainians arriving under the scheme has been significant, the reality for many of them is very challenging indeed. Can I ask him what date does he expect the super sponsor scheme to resume, given that it has now been paused for four months? The same question that I asked on 8 September remains unanswered. Can he detail specifically the average time it takes between arrival in Scotland and placement in permanent accommodation? I thank Donald Cameron for what was almost entirely a constructive approach to his question, almost entirely constructive. I will try to answer all his questions in turn. First of all, in terms of the situation that we face, I do not recognise the characterisation that Donald Cameron attempts to portray the super sponsor scheme in. It is without doubt an incredibly successful scheme. It has meant that almost 18,000 people at the last count and many more to come will be able to get to Scotland, the UK, than otherwise would have been the case without securing a private sponsor. I will not take any criticism of the success of the super sponsor scheme that has been without doubt incredibly successful. The challenges that we face here in Scotland are not unique to Scotland. There are challenges in terms of housing that are shared with our counterparts around Europe. I was in Poland recently and saw first-hand the experiences there. I was in Ireland a couple of weeks ago and could see for myself the challenges that they are facing with regard to housing. They are very similar, in some cases, much worse than what we are facing. I also think that it is unfair to characterise the housing challenges that we are facing as being somehow unique to Scotland. In terms of the resumption of the scheme, we have objective criteria by which we will continually assess and take a decision when the criteria is met around resuming the scheme. I cannot put a timescale on that for obvious reasons, otherwise it would no longer be an objective set of criteria. In terms of the average time that people are matched from temporary accommodation into longer-term accommodation, it varies. Just as people vary and the circumstances that they arrive with vary, their needs are going to be different and what they are looking for is going to be different. We are looking to match people as quickly as possible. It has sped up. That has been helped by the digital matching tool that we have as part of the national matching service. It has also been helped by the investments that we are making in longer-term housing opportunities such as in North Ayrshire and North Lanarkshire. That is to come in Aberdeen as well. We will continue to make those investments to make sure that people are given the best opportunities as possible post-arrival. I thank the minister both for advance notice of a statement and for the pre-meeting that he helpedfully held with party spokespeople today. I also refer members to my register of interests. So much has happened. I would agree that we can collectively be proud of in our response to Putin's invasion of Ukraine, especially to those who have become hosts, the Ukrainian community, those in the local authorities and third sectors in terms of staff and volunteers who have stepped up to support the 17,500 Ukrainians who have arrived to date. Can I ask about accommodation? We have a long-standing housing crisis in Edinburgh, and I want to ask the minister why it is only repurposing buildings that are allowed in the £50 million funding. My understanding is that the city's vacant blocks do not exist and that we need—we do not have the conversion opportunities that the fund admirably seeks to see. Can I ask therefore about the proposal for modular housing? Can we have some clarity in that proposal? My understanding is that modular homes are already available as an option for new-build by both ourselves and councils for permanent housing. Is that what is being recommended, given the shortage not just in Edinburgh, Lothians and neighbouring councils? Without a plan, if we are removing one of the meals a day that is currently free and the Victoria ship in Leith, does that not make it hard for people to be able to budget? Will there be cooking facilities in place? The minister also talked about promoting employment. Can he say what is being done to monitor employment if Ukraine is coming to Scotland and what is being done on a joined-up approach for employability support? I realise that the last few weeks have been somewhat chaotic at a UK level, but what is that joint government work in terms of employability and issues, for example, as access to driving licenses? Finally, can he say about the interventions 10 to 16 recommended by Linda Bald? Shouldn't they be immediate or short-term rather than into the future? I thank Sarah Boyack for her constructive approach this afternoon, but also in the meetings that we have had. Obviously, she has been representing Edinburgh City Council, her constituents as well, and she has been genuinely grateful for the work that she has been doing alongside my Government officials and myself. She is absolutely right. We should be collectively proud of our response, because it is a collective effort. I was determined at the start of the scheme when we first looked at providing a humanitarian response that it was going to be a true Scotland-wide effort, and I think that we are seeing that. At one point to correct her on, we have seen over 21,000 arrivals rather than 17,000 arrivals. That is the super-sponsor element alone. There have been privately matched the homes of Ukraine arrivals that take us over 21,000 arrivals in total. In terms of housing and the flexibility that she is looking for on the fund, I am happy to hear proposals. I am always happy to hear proposals. I am looking for as many opportunities as possible to see as many properties come forward for people for Ukrainians clearly, but also for the long-term legacy of domestic homelessness as well, to be able to be realised. I am happy if she has ideas—I said this in the meeting earlier—if she or other colleagues around the chamber have ideas on potential properties that could be repurposed or refurbished, then I am happy to consider that. In terms of modular housing, we are working with Palladium. I have said that in a previous statement. Again, it is part of this review around looking at what we can do with modular accommodation. It is something that the Irish—I was taking quite a bit of evidence from Irish counterparts around the work that they are doing on modular accommodation to try to provide longer-term sustainable housing. For us, it is about trying to find appropriate sites for those to go on and looking at how they can be properly utilised and how there can be a legacy from them. Meals are obviously cognisant of making sure that we are doing this in an equitable way, that we are making the scheme sustainable, encouraging people into longer-term accommodation, and ensuring that our offer to Ukrainians is providing parity with people who are in temporary accommodation for other reasons, either domestic homelessness or from other schemes. Obviously, we are looking to do it in a sensitive way that recognises where meal provision is available. On the ships, it is not going to be a withdrawal of catering facilities. It is perhaps going to be a contribution to the meals that are available that will still be getting made. In terms of employment and the chaos that she narrates at a UK level, we are working with the DWP and Social Security Scotland to make sure that we are providing as wide a support package as possible, both in temporary accommodation at the ships and in hotels. However, she hits the nail on the head that our ability to do some of that work is impacted by a lack of a proper relationship that was previously in place with UK ministers. Lord Harrington was very open, was very helpful, but since he has departed, we have not seen the consistency of response. We have not met a minister since, and we have not had responses to the correspondence that I have already pointed out, which is incredibly unhelpful and means that we cannot get through what we need to support people here in Ukraine. The two examples that I gave around the welcome payment and about providing parity between schemes are issues that really need to get resolved. I would advise that we have, I think, around 10 minutes, 20 seconds left for backbenchers. We have 10 backbenchers. I think that members can do the maths. We have spent almost half of the time on two questions from the front bench, so I make a plea for succinct questions and answers. If that does not happen, we simply will have to drop some backbenchers. I call Alex Cole-Hamilton to be followed by Stuart McMillan. Thank you very much, Deputy Presiding Officer. I remind the Chamber of my register of interests that I have been a host to Ukrainian refugee for the last 10 weeks under the Home to Ukraine scheme. Deputy Presiding Officer, I have two particular questions to ask. Firstly, about the wording of one of the lines in the statement, it says that those in receipt of social security or in employment, where appropriate, in line with guests in private houses, will be asked to consider for a contribution to that temporary welcome accommodation. I wonder if the minister can explain what that means, because I was understanding that guests in private homes, under the Home to Ukraine scheme, were not required to make any kind of financial payment, and that is a worrying change if that is a change. The second thing that I have pressed him on this before is that his Government considers extending the discretionary travel arrangements on free bus passes to all refugees living in Scotland, whether they are from Ukraine, Afghanistan or Syria, so that they might better be able to take up offers of accommodation outside of our metropolitan areas. Thank you, Mr Cole-Hamilton. I will not quite describe that as succinct minister. He is correct in his characterization to begin with that there is no contribution to being made in private homes. This is about welcome accommodation that we are looking to provide parity. On the concessionary travel scheme, we continue to consider what we can do to provide the support that Alex Cole-Hamilton, Paul Sweeney and Bob Doris, Mark Ruskell have been looking for us to do. It is a programme for government commitment for us to work with the third sector and local authorities to consider how best to provide free bus travel to people seeking asylum, refugees and to space people from Ukraine. Stuart McMillan is followed by Sian Davie. Notwithstanding what the minister has said, what more can be done to support people into employment, particularly those with existing qualifications but who require assistance to convert them into UK equivalent or upskilling them to allow them to continue to work in their professional field? We are working with the DWP local authority and third sector partners to provide employability support to Ukrainians seeking employment. They are able to access the Scottish Government's full range of employment support services, such as Fair Start Scotland. Services offered under no one left behind in Skills Development Scotland, which have advisers experienced in accreditation and qualifications recognition. We have also been working with the Scottish Business Organization such as the Scottish Chambers of Commerce to ensure that displaced people are able to access business-led job matching support and will continue to take a collaborative approach where we can. Amongst other services, Ukrainians coming to Scotland will require legal advice. Ukrainian lawyers who relocate to Scotland have the capacity to do a huge amount of good to you. The value of their linguistic and legal skills during the crisis has already been highlighted by the Law Society of Scotland. What attempts are the Scottish Government making to utilise Ukrainian lawyers during the resettlement process and what processes are in place to overcome any Ukrainian-English language barrier? Obviously, we are looking to utilise anybody who is arriving with skills or qualifications, especially those who are able to then help others who are arriving from Ukraine given the language skills that they will arrive with as well. In terms of general advice and support to people that we have commissioned and provided funding support to Just Right Scotland to make sure that, from an immigration perspective, people have access to as much support as possible to ensure that they are fully utilising what is available to them. I thank the minister for his very welcome update regarding the recently announced funding for Aberdeen City Council. I have had the absolute privilege of working with two constituents hosting the Ukrainian family who are now settled and in their own home working and their son in education. However, despite my constituents' best efforts, obstacles remain that would enable Ukrainian HGV licence holders, such as Alexander, to obtain an equivalent UK licence, thereby allowing Ukrainians to secure employment in a sector where significant labour shortages exist. If he can provide an assurance regarding what he is doing to press the UK Government to address this unnecessary anomaly as a matter of urgency. Yes, I can. First of all, I want to thank Audrey Nicholl and other colleagues in the Aberdeen area for their support for the bid that came in from Aberdeen City Council. I think that it is going to make a massive difference to providing long-term accommodation to Ukrainians in that area. I am very grateful to Audrey Nicholl and her colleagues for that support. Obviously, the licensing infrastructure rules that are regulated by the DVLA are reserved to the UK Government and Parliament. The Scottish Government is nonetheless committed to doing all that we can to work within our remit to provide support to people seeking sanctuary in Scotland. I was pleased to hear that the DVLA is currently in contact with the Ukrainian Embassy to obtain information on their vocational licensing and testing standards in order to assess the feasibility of an exchange agreement for larger vehicles. We will continue to call on the UK Government to urgently resolve the matter, and I will write a letter to colleagues in the UK Government to press this issue once again. Minister will be well aware of local authorities struggling to fund places for young Ukrainian refugees who are not settled in permanent accommodation in our Scottish schools. What funding is available to those councils who are welcoming Ukrainian refugees and are currently finding the welcome fund is not sufficient to deal with the education demands that they face? Michael Marr is right that the UK Government has provided a tariff of £10,500 per person to cover associated costs of supporting people arriving from Ukraine. I have mentioned in my statement and in response to Sarah Boyack that there currently is not parity between schemes as to whether or not the UK Government offers that support. For instance, the Homsubys Ukraine scheme gives access to the £10,500, whereas, if you arrive by the family scheme, you do not, which I find fundamentally unfair and wrong. It is another area where the chaos of the UK Government over the last couple of months has meant that we have not been able to impress on that. It is something that the previous Minister had great sympathy with and wanted to get resolved. I also think that the £10,500 in itself probably does fall short in terms of what local authorities are requiring, particularly with more complex educational needs. We have provided additional support over and above that to local authorities for welcome provision, and it is obviously up to local authorities to determine how best that money is spent. However, if there are particular issues and concerns that he or colleagues in Dundee City Council or elsewhere would want to raise with me, I am more than happy to hear at any time. It is obvious that we must do everything that we can to make displays Ukrainians feel secure and supported, not just upon arrival, but over the longer term as well. Can I ask the Minister what plans have been made for people at the end of their time with the private hosts? This is one of the benefits that we have with the super sponsor scheme in that we already are able to look at rematching and that we have a temporary accommodation provision that is not available outside of Scotland and Wales. It is unavoidable that host relationships will break down from time to time and some will reach a natural conclusion. It will be for a number of reasons and will work with local authorities to finalise a consistent approach to rematching when this happens, both for super sponsor and private sponsor visa holders. However, some of the interventions that I have set out today will support all-displaced people to access longer-term accommodations such as through the private rented sector. Local authorities have also begun contacting hosts and displaced people who are reaching six months of their hosting arrangements and are being in place to open discussions about next steps. However, it is important to note that we have called, along with our Welsh counterparts, for the UK Government to raise the thank you payment beyond £350. The one thing that we have received confirmation on that I do not think is as well known in public consciousness is that the thank you payment is available for people beyond six months. If you choose to maintain that relationship, you can still receive that thank you payment. I thank the minister for his statement and the briefing that he gave earlier this afternoon. The review published today is welcome and contains helpful information and guidance, including the 16 interventions and the seven criteria for reopening the super sponsor scheme. Regarding those seven criteria, they are not simple tests and I wonder if the minister could say a little more about how they will be interpreted, assessed and applied, and what other information he will use before taking the decision to reopen the scheme. There are objective tests that need to be met. We have set out, as best we can, the areas that we feel need to be passed need to be met before we can reopen the scheme. I think that it would be no surprise to colleagues that the availability of accommodation is part of that. The situation on the ground in Ukraine itself is also going to be part of that. Sometimes those two issues are going to compete, but there will be tests that we will review on a constant basis. Obviously, I will be looking to do everything that I can to make sure that the scheme is working as effectively as possible, moving with a good flow through the system for people from temporary and to longer term accommodation. That would allow us to reopen the scheme when those tests are met. I call Jackson Carlaw. Can I probe the minister a little further on his response to Sarah Boyack with respect to the Ukraine Longer Term Resettlement Fund? I am aware of one possible site in my constituency, not locally authority-owned, that was until recently a care home facility with space for more than 88 residents. Currently, Mothbald, it could be and could have the potential to offer accommodation to Ukrainian families if refurbishment works were agreed and progressed. Is there a route for those sites to be identified and progressed other than through a local authority or exclusively through that route? As I said to Sarah Boyack and I say again to Jackson Carlaw, I am happy to look at any proposals that come forward that would provide suitable, long-term and sustainable accommodation for people arriving from Ukraine. For project management reasons and for ensuring that we are able to provide properties at scale, we have looked for local authorities to do the bidding. So my suggestion to Jackson Carlaw is to speak to his local authority to see whether that is something that they would be interested in facilitating and being part of and then we can have a conversation around whether or not there is a flexibility in the scheme that would allow something like that to take place.