To enter into the Homes for Ukraine Grant Agreement with Oxfordshire County Council from 2025-28.

The Leader of the Council decides as follows:

To enter into the Homes for Ukraine Grant agreement to facilitate receipt of grant payments from Oxfordshire County Council accumulating to a total value of £1,026,000 (subject to funding review per year), for the period 2025-2028.

To facilitate Homes for Ukraine grant payments, Oxford City Council entered into a grant agreement with Oxfordshire County Council in September 2023 which expired in March 2025. This report recommends entering into a grant agreement with the same terms, save for the grant period and payment plan, to facilitate the receipt of further grant payments to support Ukrainians living in Oxford.

It is expected that the Council will receive in excess of £750,000 over the next three financial years with exact amounts being agreed on a yearly basis based on level of need and grant payments available.

The risk for the decision not to be made will be that Oxford City Council do not receive grant payments to support Ukrainians settle in Oxford with the sum of £385,415.45 currently due from Oxfordshire County Council for 2025/26.

The alternative is that the Council does not enter into a new grant agreement and will therefore not receive any further grant payments, this option is not recommended as it would adversely affect the Council’s financial position and reduce its ability to support Ukrainian residents.