Constituents have been in touch with me regarding the Homes for Ukraine scheme to ask why things are taking so long, why background checks are delayed and what extra provision the Government has put in place to deal with the applications.

I wrote to the Secretary of State for the Home Department to ask:

How many additional staff have been employed to process DBS checks for sponsors under the Homes for Ukraine scheme; and what estimate she has made of the likely processing time for those DBS checks.

The reply I received is below:

The Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) have assessed they will be able to deliver checks for the scheme using its current resources. They are operating a seven-day working week within its disclosure operations teams, to provide the capacity needed to process these checks and they will continue to review and flex resources as required. The DBS intends to undertake the checks in line with its published service standards, which state that 80% of Enhanced with Barred List Checks will be completed within 14 calendar days, and 80% of basic checks in 2 days.