Hosts of refugees under the Homes for Ukraine scheme will now be able to start applying for £350 monthly payments.
These payments are optional. If hosts do decide to apply for them, the payment will be backdated to the day their guests arrived. The payments will be made by their borough or district council for up to 12 months.
Borough and district councils will email those who've been hosting for a month or longer over the next few days with details of how to apply online.
East Sussex County Council asks for patience and understanding as payments begin.
Those who have been hosting for a month or longer will be made a priority, but no one should worry if they don't hear immediately from their borough or district council: they're working to contact all hosts as quickly as possible.
ESCC are here for all urgent queries, but ask people not to contact them to ask about payment dates. This will free staff get the work done as quickly as possible.
Thank you for your patience.
For severe difficulties, contact [email protected]
New way to pay £200 to arriving guests
A new way of getting the £200 welcome payment to guests arriving on the Homes for Ukraine scheme is being launched.
They'll be sent a voucher code to their mobile phones which they'll then be able to show at any post office branch to get the payment. One person will be able to obtain the one-off payment for everyone in their group.
Text messages from the post office will begin going out to recently-arrived guests from next week.
Some guests may first be contacted by one of the local councils to check the right number to use.
This payment system will replace the payments which our brilliant local voluntary action groups have been managing up to now. We hope new arrivals will find it an easy way to collect their welcome payment.
Arrivals in East Sussex - latest figures (27 May 2022)
The latest figures show we can expect almost 1,400 refugees from Ukraine to come to East Sussex - with more than half already arrived. 330 hosts have already welcomed one or more guests.
Help with claiming benefits
There's full advice on how to claim benefits (including Universal Credit) in our 'Welcome to East Sussex' guide for guests.
They will need a face to face appointment to provide ID after making a claim. This will be at one of the five Jobcentres in East Sussex: in Hastings (two sites), Bexhill, Eastbourne (2 sites), Lewes and Newhaven.
Some Jobcentres open six days a week, Monday to Saturday, so in most weeks they might be asked to attend on any of those days. However all centres will be closed from next Thursday to Sunday (2-5 June) for the bank holiday weekend.
Claimants are paired with a Work Coach to help them into employment and all jobcentres offer translation services on site.
There's more in our online welcome guide, in Ukrainian, Russian and English.
Click here to find out more.
