CONCERNS have been raised after Ukrainian refugees living in East Lothian have had difficulties accessing public services.

The information arose at a recent meet-up of Ukrainians from across the county in North Berwick, where problems accessing public transport and using leisure facilities were noted.

The majority of the Ukrainians that attended the meeting spoke little or no English and therefore require to attend the East Lothian Council-led language classes that are held in Musselburgh and Haddington.

However, they have faced stumbling blocks in getting bus and train passes from the council.

The problem extends to access to leisure facilities where refugees are finding difficulty being able to use the swimming pools and gyms without paying for them as they cannot access memberships.

enjoyleisure, which runs sports facilities in East Lothian on behalf of the council, offers an Access to Leisure Scheme aimed at delivering free usage of facilities for lower-income homes, which the Ukrainian refugees would fall under.

However, it has been claimed that barriers such as attaining National Insurance numbers and Universal Credit are preventing the refugees from having access to such benefits.

The situation differs from Edinburgh’s leisure facilities, run by Edinburgh Leisure, which are offering unrestricted access to Ukrainian refugees free of charge.

'A huge amount of work'

East Lothian Council has acknowledged the ongoing issues and is striving to make the assimilation process easier for the families already staying in the county.

A spokesperson for East Lothian Council said: “Council teams have been working incredibly hard to settle the 26 Ukrainian families who have arrived in East Lothian so far.

“A huge amount of work has gone into dealing with the complex and continuing updated guidance around the settlement schemes.

“This has involved huge volumes of enquiries and communication with the host families.

“Our priorities have been ensuring all the necessary checks are carried out to allow host families to take in refugees, with a real focus to ensure that Ukrainian families arriving in East Lothian have access to key essentials and services such as registering with a GP; applying for Universal Credit; obtaining interim payments while Universal Credit claims are processed; opening a bank account; enrolling in schools; accessing English tutoring; and obtaining National Insurance numbers.

“We are in touch daily with host families and Ukrainians to ensure they feel supported and can connect with each other.

“As families begin to settle, we are aware that some families who have settled in some of our semi-rural areas are beginning to feel isolated and finding it difficult to access services and employment opportunities.

“We are discussing the issue of access to public transport with colleagues to find a solution.

“Likewise, we are in the process of working out potential access to leisure services.

“However, our priority first and foremost is to ensure families are matched to host families and are settled with access to all the main services such as finance, health and education.

“A huge amount of information and our dedicated email address for dealing with Ukrainian arrivals and host families is always available on our website.”