The Church of Scotland has welcomed changes to an initiative that supports refugees arriving in the UK. David Bradwell, who co-ordinates the Church-hosted project Scottish Faiths Action for Refugees, said it was ‘great news’ that the number of people settled under a community sponsorship scheme will soon be in addition to a new UK Government limit commitment and not count towards it.

He added that he and others had campaigned for changes to the community sponsorship scheme, which enables community groups to directly welcome and support refugees in the UK, for a long time.

Mr Bradwell said: “This is massive news and something we’ve been pushing for for years – a real success.”