Crossford: Keavil House Hotel welcomes Ukrainian refugees

A contract with the Scottish Government has, as of this week, seen 69 rooms allocated to refugees with many coming from the MS Victoria that is docked in Leith.

Some 900 people have been living on the ship but with that agreement due to come to an end next month there was an urgency to find new accommodation for those still on board.

At a Fife Council cabinet committee meeting on Thursday councillors were also told of a plan to “re-provision” a former care home in Methil, that was to be knocked down, to house 30-40 people for up to three years.

Around 900 refugees from Ukraine are living on the MS Victoria, which is docked at Leith. (Image: PA)

Cllr James Calder said: “I know in Crossford there’s a scheme taking place at the Keavil House Hotel.

"Local members there felt they hadn't had enough information and there's a lot of questions from constituents."

Housing service manager Gavin Smith said the council hadn't been directly involved as the hotel rooms had been commissioned by the Scottish Government.

He added: "There are still a number of questions officers have about Keavil because we provide the wraparound support services but we're not commissioning it."

READ MORE: Couple left devastated after hotel pulls plug on wedding accommodation

A spokesperson for the hotel previously told the Press they had agreed a contract under the Ukraine Evacuation Scheme, adding: "These are people in desperate circumstances who are being accommodated by many European countries on official programmes until the war is over and they can return home to Ukraine.

"Keavil House Hotel is pleased to help these individuals, couples and children by providing a comfortable home until they can return to Ukraine.

"We are not accommodating illegal immigrants."

Ukrainians fleeing to the Polish border. (Image: Newsquest)

The hotel came in for criticism earlier this year from families who had booked rooms for their wedding day, only to be told later they were no longer available.

At the council meeting, and given the severe pressure on the council's homelessness services, Mr Smith was asked for more detail on refugee numbers.

He said there are 342 Ukrainians currently staying with hosts or sponsors and just under 100 others put up in hotels, with a further 69 rooms coming on stream at the Keavil.

Mr Smith told councillors: “The Crossford provision went live on Monday.

"What we don’t know is the number of people that came here originally under the family visa scheme, there’s no requirement to let local authorities know about that and others that have travelled in different ways.

“What we do know is about 90 individuals have settled here independently whether into private or rented accommodation or something else.

“There’s no specific pressure on health, social care and housing services. That can change.”

Officers have been asked to look at more ‘longer-term’ solutions but stated the options “do not include diverting properties from mainstream housing allocations”.

Mr Smith added: “At this point in time we’re still heavily reliant on hosts and sponsors to provide accommodation.”

He said it was a very “complex and dynamic” situation, with resettlement numbers and policies changing all the time.

One example is the UK Government’s decision to end the use of hotels as ‘bridging’ accommodation.

Fife is one of three Scottish local authorities that has been doing that since September 2021, and a report to the committee said there was uncertainty about what would happen north of the border.

Mr Smith said: "We now know that the Fife hotel will end. All of the residents have been given notice to leave by the end of August.

"The Home Office effectively served notices to quit last week. Our officers were in attendance when they did that."

He said the stance had changed "quite dramatically" and added: "There's now an emphasis on 'find your own' accommodation.

"We gave a commitment some time ago that we would follow a people-led approach and not a numbers game so we're trying to actively support the very small number of families still in bridging accommodation."