Steve Brine was among Members of Parliament as the House of Commons listened carefully to Michael Gove, the Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, unveil the UK’s ‘Homes for Ukraine’ scheme.
Mr Brine had previously joined MP’s from across the parties in calling for a generous scheme to answer the needs of the millions of refugees fleeing Russian’s invasion of their home.
Steve took the opportunity to welcome the scheme, calling back to David Cameron’s ‘big society’, saying; “As is the expansion of the family scheme and the new sponsorship scheme, which my Right Honourable Friend will know I was very impatient to see last week, certainly the 1700 of us who stood together in Winchester Cathedral on Saturday with prayers to Ukraine, are very appreciative of this.
“The phased response, I think is sensible, we can't let the perfect be the enemy of the good, we have to get this up and running. Is there a trigger or a timeline that my Right Honourable Friend is working to for when the charities and the church groups can get into this, please?”
Mr Gove thanked the MP for Winchester and Chandler’s Ford for his “impassioned advocacy” and confirmed that the next phase would trigger “as quickly as possible”.
The Homes for Ukraine scheme will allow individuals, charities, community groups and businesses in the UK to bring Ukrainians to safety – including those with no family ties to the UK.
Phase One of the scheme will allow sponsors in the UK to nominate a named Ukrainian or a named Ukrainian family to stay with them in their home or in a separate property.
Mr Brine has since been told Winchester District is in the top five areas of the whole country to express an interest in participating in the scheme.
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