Published: 17 Nov 2021  |  Category: Application process  |  Stage: We are getting started

Sponsor obligations and requirements

Learn about your obligations and requirements as a sponsor

In Community Sponsorship, you will have requirements and obligations between the organisation acting as Lead Sponsor and the Home Office, which will be outlined in your sponsor agreement. You can see a sample sponsor agreement on gov.uk, however, you should ensure that you read your sponsor agreement carefully prior to signing it, and ask your Home Office contact if you have any queries relating to this.

Lead Sponsor Organisations provide the framework and ways in which a Community Sponsorship group will operate, but they may not be the person delivering on-the-ground support to a family once they arrive. Find out more about the role of the Lead Sponsor here.

Charities or CICs who act as Lead Sponsor to Community Sponsorship groups are welcome to join the Lead Sponsor Network, a place to share best practice, ideas and challenges with other Lead Sponsors across the UK. It’s free to join the Network and you’ll receive regular updates on the latest developments in Community Sponsorship. 

Length of support

You will provide one year (12 months) of formal integration support to a refugee family, although you can choose to extend this support. You must provide sustainable, affordable accommodation for 2 years (24 months) from the date of the family arriving in the UK.

Requirements

Welcome to the UK

Aim: Resettled family members feel welcome in the UK and are able to quickly acclimatise to living in the UK.

Sponsorship groups are required to:

  • Meet and greet arriving family at the relevant airport, bringing one interpreter to communicate with the family, and you will escort them to their accommodation, briefing them on how to use the amenities.
  • Provide a welcome pack of groceries, the content of which should take into account the culture and nationality of the resettled family.
  • Provide £200 per person (adults and children) in cash on arrival for initial expenses including groceries, toiletries, clothes, and to ensure the family have sufficient funds to live on while their claim for benefits is being processed (e.g. for a family of five the sponsor would provide £1,000). You might decide to make this money available in cash or via pre-payment cards.
  • Provide information and support to access local shops, services, and transport.

Read our advice on planning for arrivals.

Establishing a life in the UK

Aim: Resettled family are empowered to make a life for themselves and integrate in the UK, through accessing community activities, medical care, language skills, education and employment.

You are required to:

  • Ensure resettled family members receive their Biometric Residence Permits within 24 hours of the BRP’s delivery to the designated group member’s address.
  • Provide assistance with registering children with local schools as soon as possible – commencing prior to arrival and concluding registration ideally within two weeks after arrival.
  • Provide interpreting services, as required, for 12 months from arrival.
  • Arrange for English language tuition for adults as soon as possible and within one month of arrival.
  • Provide opportunities for formal English language tuition by a suitably qualified ESOL teacher, for a minimum of 8 hours per week for the first 12 months; online tuition is acceptable.
  • Make provisions for formal English language tuition to be supplemented on a regular basis by less formal conversational English.
  • Monitor progress of each individual and aim for at least one ESOL level of progress (in speaking and listening, reading, and writing) over the course of the year.
  • Provide the opportunity to obtain an English language qualification at the appropriate level, where this will support access to employment and education.
  • Support attendance at local Job Centre appointments for benefit assessments, as soon as possible following arrival.
  • Assist with registration with a local GP, within one week of arrival.
  • Advise on accessing appropriate mental health services and specialist services as appropriate.
  • Provide assistance with access to employment and education, including development of a CV.
  • Provide assistance with accessing digital services.
  • Make aware of, and support attendance at, local community activities, within and without the sponsoring organisation, such as children’s playgroups, coffee mornings, local clubs, local events, etc.

Read our advice on:

Accommodation

Aim: Resettled family has a home in which to settle in the UK, with adequate space and facilities to live in comfort.

Sponsorship groups are required to:

The accommodation must:

  • Be available to the resettled family at a cost that is affordable and sustainable, taking into account the social welfare income the family will receive.
  • Have independent access and provide adequate privacy.
  • Comply with local authority guidance on occupation levels.
  • Be in a proper state of structural repair and maintained throughout in a good state of repair.
  • Have safe electricity and/or gas supplies, and with adequate ventilation and lighting.

The property should be appropriately furnished with:

  • An appropriate number and type of beds.
  • A toilet, a washbasin and a fixed bath or shower with hot and cold water.
  • A fixed heating appliance in each room, which is capable of providing effective heating and which the tenant can control.
  • Facilities for cooking and for the hygienic preparation and storage of food (for example, a 4-ring hob with oven and grill, fridge-freezer, microwave oven, and kitchen sink).
  • Access to washing facilities (e.g. a washing machine or nearby launderette).
  • Access to facilities to dry clothes (e.g. outdoor clothes line or indoor clothes/drying rack).
  • A fire blanket and smoke alarms (including a carbon monoxide alarm where appropriate).

Read our advice on preparing a property and household items which other groups have found useful to provide.

Sponsorship groups must provide:

  • Assistance with registration with utility companies and making sure arrangements are made for payment (no pre-pay/card accounts).
  • Information to the resettled persons on the accommodation, health and safety, and an emergency contact point.

Read our advice on helping a family to manage their utilities and on preparing a welcome pack for the family.

Record keeping and privacy

You must keep records and copies of the resettled family’s key documents, including their UNHCR registration, entry clearance document, their BRPs, National Insurance number and NHS number. You must ensure that data is held securely, in accordance with the Data Protection Act (DPA) 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulation. Maintaining the privacy of the resettled family is important and you must:

  • Not issue anything that identifies the resettled family externally as refugees.
  • Get informed consent from the resettled family in relation to any proposed media exposure, requests or interest.

Monitoring and evaluation

You will be required to provide relevant information to the Home Office on request to support monitoring and evaluation of your sponsorship arrangement and the wider sponsorship scheme. The data you are asked to collect includes English language progress, employment and social connections. The family you support will also be given the opportunity to input to this feedback too. You’ll be asked to participate in an evaluation twice in the first year of your support. 

Post Arrival Support Visits, organised by Reset and which include Home Office and Local Authority attendance, will be carried out. Reset will provide interpreters for these meetings.  

 

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