Ukrainians, Hong Kongers and some Afghans will be excluded from the Government’s annual cap on refugees under a new “safe and legal” routes scheme to be launched in 14 months’ time.

The Government has launched a consultation on the scheme with local authorities invited to set out their “capacity” to accommodate refugees coming to Britain via safe and legal routes in order to determine the limit.

The cap, for which the Government will look to get Parliament’s stamp of approval before launching in January 2025, would be subject to change each year.

However, the Home Office said it would not include Ukraine visa schemes, the Afghan relocation and assistance policy, or the Hong Kong British national (overseas) route or mandate scheme.

The measure was introduced in the flagship Illegal Migration Bill, which became law earlier this year.

‘Unacceptable number’

Robert Jenrick, the immigration minister, said: “The unacceptable number of people making illegal, dangerous and wholly unnecessary small-boat crossings is placing an immense strain on housing and services across the UK.

“As part of the Illegal Migration Act to stop the boats, we will bring in a cap on our safe and legal routes informed by the capacity of local authorities.

“This will ensure that we do not take more refugees than our public services and communities can cope with and that the refugees we do decide to take can be properly supported and integrated.”

Steve Smith, chief executive of refugee charity Care4Calais, said: “Passing the buck to underfunded councils to justify limiting safe futures is a dereliction of leadership.

“If the Government was serious about putting people smugglers out of business, stopping small-boat crossings and saving lives, they would immediately get on with introducing a safe-passage visa for refugees fleeing war, torture and modern slavery to claim asylum in the UK.”

Tim Naor Hilton, chief executive of Refugee Action, called for the cap to be abandoned. “The Government must not think about caps but a target to resettle at least 30,000 refugees a year as part of a standardised global scheme that can expand to respond quickly to emerging crises, such as in Afghanistan and Ukraine,” he said.