7 Conclusion
127. Migration is having significant effects
on some local communities across the country. The sheer pace of
change experienced in some areas has escalated public concerns
about migration to the point where migration has become the single
greatest public concern in Britain, overtaking concerns on crime
and terrorism.[272]
On our visits, some settled residents told us of their belief
that there were simply too many migrants in their area, and expressed
their views on various negative effects of migration. Community
cohesion cannot be improved without addressing and alleviating
public concerns about migration. These concerns are not merely
based on prejudice, but can often be grounded in genuine anxieties
about the visible and practical effects of migration.
128. Migration can have positive benefits for
local communities. Much of the health service is dependent upon
migrant labour. The Government pointed out that migrants made
up 17.8 per cent of the health care workforce. Many care homes
are also dependent on migrant labour; migrants made up 13.3 per
cent of the social care workforce in 2005-06.[273]
Schools can benefit from the arrival of migrant children who help
to raise the quality and educational attainment levels of the
whole school.[274]
The LGA noted that some local authorities have specifically encouraged
migration to support the growth of their local economy.[275]
The Minister of State for Borders and Immigration, Mr Liam Byrne
MP, commented, "Birmingham wants to grow its population by
about 100,000—and we do not think that all of that population
is going to come from the resident population".[276]
England is experiencing a rapid growth in the proportion of elderly
people in comparison to those of working age, and the arrival
of people of working age can help rebalance the overall population.
129. Recent migration has placed particular pressures
on local public services in areas that have experienced rapid
inward migration, including schools; translation services; social
care; English language teaching; policing and the NHS. Currently
these services are left under-funded owing to the Government's
reliance on allocating money based on flawed population data.
The consequence of this is not only vital services left without
adequate funding, but detrimental effects on community cohesion
as competition increases for limited public resources. The continued
under-funding of migration pressures at the local level increases
the risk of community tensions escalating, particularly given
that the majority of people in the UK already believe that some
groups, such as immigrants, get unfair priority access to public
services.[277]
130. The Government needs to take immediate action
to address public concerns about migration, and to defuse tensions
before they lead to disturbances. We have set out a number of
steps that the Government needs to take. It must introduce measures
to ensure that migrants can access English language tuition in
order to integrate into local communities, including ensuring
that employers pay towards English language classes for their
employees. It should ensure that its actions are co-ordinated
across departments and that best practice on integration and cohesion
is communicated to local organisations. Most importantly, the
Government needs to ensure that local organisations, particularly
local authorities, are adequately resourced to cope with local
pressures on public services from migration and take action to
integrate migrants. Only if it does so can we ensure that England
receives the full benefit from past, current and future migration.
272 Ev 78 Back
273
Ev 84 Back
274
House of Lords, The Economic Impact of Immigration, First
Report of the Select Committee on Economic Affairs, Session 2007-08,
HL Paper 82, para 144 Back
275
Ev 131 Back
276
Q 236 Back
277
Ipsos MORI, Rivers of Blood Survey, April 2008, www.ipsos-mori.com Back
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