A COUNCIL tax discount worth as much as £1,000 will be handed to generous families throwing open their second homes to fleeing Ukrainians.
Protections will also be unveiled today to stop warmhearted Brits losing cash for putting up a refugee in their spare room.
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More than 43,600 hosts have matched with a Ukrainian under the government’s flagship sponsorship scheme.
To encourage even more people to sign up, second home owners will get a 50 per cent council tax discount.
It comes on top of the £350 cash payment already being dished out to hosts.
Refugees Minister Lord Harrington will also today lay regulations safeguarding lone householders from council tax hikes.
He said: “The generosity of the general public has been astounding and I want to thank them sincerely for their ongoing support and for opening up their homes to those who need it the most.
“These regulations will help ensure that sponsors are rightfully not financially penalised by opening their homes, and will provide clarity to local councils as they help us deliver this landmark scheme.”
It comes as woeful figures reveal just 1,200 refugees have arrived via the Homes for Ukraine route despite 43,600 applications – a dismal 3 per cent success rate.
Priti Patel is under fire for presiding over the “scandalous” border farce and even faced calls to resign.
The embattled Home Sec denied cumbersome red tape was causing any hold-ups and snapped back at critics: “It’s easy to blame someone else.”
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While she “apologised with frustration” and said the numbers would improve, she claimed Ukrainians were “not seeing delays”.
She insisted paperwork checks were needed to “protect and safeguard” Ukrainians to prevent them being wrongly deported in another Windrush scandal.
A further 10,800 Ukrainians out of 36,000 applicants have come through the Family Scheme to be with existing relatives in the UK.
It means out of 79,800 total applicants just 12,000 Ukrainians have come to Britain five weeks on from Russia’s murderous invasion.
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This post first appeared on thesun.co.uk
