Ukraine: Kent County Council to increase payments for refugee hosts

A council will boost the payments it makes to families hosting Ukrainian refugees over the winter.

Kent County Council (KCC) said it was increasing payments "to recognise the increased cost of living" and "to encourage more hosts to come forward".

Host families will receive a total of £400 a month for one person, and an additional £100 for every person above that, up to a limit of £1,000.

At present host families receive a payment of £350 per month.

The extra payments will begin in November with the first payment backdated to October, and will continue until March.

The Homes for Ukraine scheme has matched 3,871 people with 1,642 hosts in Kent, and the authority said it did not "have enough new hosts to cope with the ongoing demand".

KCC leader Roger Gough said: "I hope that this extra payment to people who have so generously opened their homes to Ukrainian guests will give some reassurance in these financially challenging times.

"I know that many of our hosts want to be able to continue to support their guests beyond the initial six months of the scheme but are finding it difficult to do so considering the cost of living pressures."

Follow BBC South East on Facebook, on Twitter, and on Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].