MORE refugees due to stay with sponsors in Fife have arrived in the UK, according to new figures.

The latest Home Office data shows 185 Ukrainians due to stay in the Kingdom under the Homes for Ukraine scheme had arrived in the UK by June 13 – up from 137 on May 16.

There has also been an increase in the number of visas issued, with 295 successful applications as of June 14, a rise on the 243 from four weeks prior.

Ukrainians fleeing the conflict with Russia can apply for a visa to stay here under two initiatives.

The family scheme allows Ukrainian nationals to stay with relatives already living in the UK, and the sponsorship scheme, also known as 'Homes for Ukraine', allows individuals to host refugees for a minimum of six months.

However, there have also been delays and problems with processing visas – with some warning of safeguarding issues and mismatches between hosts and refugees.

The numbers who have arrived as part of these schemes cover a relatively small proportion of the number of refugees who have arrived in Scotland, as visas issued through the Scottish Government's 'super sponsor' scheme do not show up in local authority figures.

As of June 14, 8,647 visas had been issued directly, far more than the 3,425 issued for people to stay with individual sponsors.

There have also been more than 40,000 visas issued through the Ukraine family scheme across the UK.

The new figures come amid reports that some refugees have been made homeless due to their accommodation arrangements breaking down, or not being suitable when they arrive.

Labour MP Lisa Nandy, the shadow levelling up and housing secretary, described the situation as “shameful”.

“The British people showed amazing generosity in stepping up in their thousands to provide the care and sanctuary that these people – many of them families with young children – needed and deserved in such awful circumstances.

“But the UK Government has failed miserably to play its part.

“Ministers were warned about the risk of refugees becoming homeless on the day they launched the sponsorship scheme, but they were more interested in grandstanding in television studios than doing their jobs to protect vulnerable people.”

While figures are not yet available on homelessness among refugees in Scotland, in England there were 660 homeless Ukrainian households as of June 3, including 480 with children.

A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities said “the overwhelming majority” of people were settling in well and that only a minority of cases have seen family or sponsor relationships break down.