To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what estimate she has made of the savings to the public purse which will arise as a result of the decision to withdraw gratis visas for Chernobyl children charities; and if she will make a statement.

I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs.

The costs of gratis visas for Chernobyl children are currently charged to the Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) by the UK Border Agency. Based on the costs in 2011-12, the savings will be around £130,000 per year.

For more than 16 years, the Government have provided gratis visas to thousands of children to travel to the UK, for respite care organised by the Chernobyl children charities. In line with a number of other difficult spending decisions, gratis visas will cease on 31 March 2013. The FCO informed the charities concerned of this decision in November 2010 to allow them time to seek alternative funding. The FCO has also offered assistance to the charities in identifying new funding sources. Additionally, as a goodwill gesture in this final year of gratis visas, we have offered to cover the cost of Chernobyl children visas obtained in Ukraine as well as Belarus, up to a ceiling of £200,000.