Tens of thousands of Ukrainian refugees are expected to arrive in the UK next week, Michael Gove has said.

Mr Gove said it is expected the Government’s new sponsorship route will bring tens of thousands of refugees into the country.

Local authority areas will be entitled to more than £10,000 for each Ukrainian refugee taken in.

Asked for his estimate of the number of people who could come to the UK through the scheme, he said: “Tens of thousands.”

Bournemouth Echo: (PA)(PA)

He told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “There’ll be money available for local authorities … there will be just over £10,000 per individual available to local authorities.”

He added that the allowance was actually “just over” £10,000 per Ukrainian for each local government area.

“Then there’ll be additional payments for those children who are of school age and who need to be accommodated within the educational system,” he said.

The first people to arrive through the scheme are expected next week, Mr Gove said.

He added that steps must be taken to ensure people who might be “intent on exploitation” are prevented from “abusing” the Government’s new refugee sponsorship scheme.

He told Sky’s Sophy Ridge on Sunday: “We absolutely do need to make sure, first of all, that the people in Ukraine are who they say they are, so there need to be some security checks there.

“There’s been understandable concern about the scheme being exploited possibly by criminal elements. So, that’s the first thing.

“Then the second thing is we do need to make sure that people here … are in a position to provide that support, which is why there will need to be security checks as well to make sure that those – and I think it would only ever be a tiny minority, but still – those who might be intent on exploitation can be prevented from abusing the system.”