Homeowners have offered holiday cottages in the Staffordshire Moorlands as a haven for Ukrainian refugees but have been left frustrated by the process, a community leader has revealed.

Others have suggested vacant council buildings could be used as temporary accommodation for families fleeing the conflict in Ukraine.

Staffordshire County Council has vowed to welcome refugees to the area if needed. But work is still in the early stages, members of the Corporate Overview and Scrutiny Committee heard on Tuesday (March 29) and more clarity is needed on the authority's role in supporting the new arrivals.

Councillor Gill Heath, who represents Leek Rural division, said: "There is a lot of holiday cottages in the Moorlands and I have two families who have very kindly registered to donate a cottage so that they would have their own access and a family or three or four people could be easily accommodated for a year. They've registered but they're struggling.

"They're frustrated because they really want to do it now. They've resorted to speaking to people in Poland."

Lichfield councillor Colin Greatorex said: "I had somebody lobby me as a resident asking 'what are the local authorities doing?' In terms of county facilities there are buildings that are mothballed and the one that was identified to me was the one on Scotch Orchard, which was a day care centre.

"The suggestion was could the county council make a building available? Has that been something the county has looked at?"

Councillor Charlotte Atkins added: "We have Kniveden Hall in Leek."

Council leader Alan White responded: "There are some buildings we might be cautious about bringing back into use. Scotch Orchard was pretty gloomy – it would need quite a bit of work doing to it before we put anybody into it because I don't think it is particularly habitable.

"I don't know what the state of Kniveden Hall is. But you've hit upon something I haven't thought about and we will take that away and give it some consideration.

"Sadly it seems as if some lessons aren't learned from the pandemic. When the Government asked for NHS volunteers to come forward three quarters of a million stepped forward and were then kept waiting.

"The voluntary work that took place was done by local government. If Government had the confidence to say 'local government, you crack on with it we know you're good enough to get it sorted' we'd get it sorted.

"Instead of which, you've got people trying to co-ordinate it from Whitehall who think that everything can be done from an app in Whitehall. Devolve it back to us and we will get it sorted out for you."

But Councillor Kath Perry said: "Whilst I agree it is amicable to use buildings it's not just about the accommodation – it's the other things that go with that like schooling. It's nice to have all these things but you have to think about the long term for children being educated and schools provision.

"It's not just about a roof over their heads, it's about accessing medical things as well. It's all the other details that need to be thought about when we think about opening up buildings.

The authority's chief executive John Henderson said Staffordshire's Strategic Resilience Forum had set up a tactical coordinating group which the county council was leading. He added "I think it's still in the early stages in terms of our work on the Ukrainian issue.

"We are looking at the various guidance we have had from Government and considering how we gear ourselves up to support this as and when it becomes a pressing issue for us. I think we still need to get clarity in terms of the guidance and understanding what our role is – for example what's our role in relation to these people who have volunteered to host Ukrainian families and individuals – and that all still needs working through.

"There is a team that is working on it. They are the team that has worked previously in terms of the Afghan and other refugee and asylum issues and have a lot of experience in doing that.

"I'm sure it will be a challenge finding accommodation for people within the county. But the one thing we have said is that we are committed to doing what we can here in Staffordshire to help with that particular crisis."