Memorandum by Burnley Borough Council
1. DESCRIPTION
OF ORGANISATION
Burnley Borough Council is a district local
authority within East Lancashire.
2. DETAILS
The following details are to provide a response
to the inquiry on Community Cohesion and Migration announced on
5 December 2007. The points reflect and express the established
policy position of the Council.
2.1 As part of its' work of responding to
and managing the effect of migration and managing the public concerns
that this generates, Burnley Borough Council's Economy Scrutiny
Committee considered a report about the position of migrant workers
in Burnley; information about local initiatives underway to address
the needs of migrant workers; and points identifying issues for
further consideration and discussion by Members. The key points
in the report were:
2.1.1 Our Committee recognised that it is
not possible to accurately identify the numbers of migrant workers
who have come to the borough, either from the Accession Eight
countries or from other countries. We found that the numbers of
local registrations under the Workers Registration Scheme and
applications for National Insurance Numbers, however, represent
useful indicators in relation to the Accession Eight. Between
May 2004 and December 2006, there were 205 registrations under
the scheme in Burnley, with Polish nationals representing the
largest group of those registering (69), others being from Lithuania
(55), Slovakia (43) and Latvia (20). Between 2002 and 2006, there
were just over 100 applications for National Insurance Numbers
from migrant workers from the Accession Eight countries. Our Committee
recognised that these figures will not include dependent family
members who may have moved with the worker, or followed when the
worker was established in work and accommodation. Nor will they
include any people who have registered to work in the United Kingdom
in other towns and cities and then moved to Burnley. They may
also not include self-employed workers, to whom different registration
criteria apply. It should also be noted that the figures do not
enable us to identify how many workers, after registering and
working in Burnley for a while, have left the borough, either
for other places in the United Kingdom, to another European country,
or to the country from which they originally migrated.
2.1.2 Our Council recognised the wider East
Lancashire context to the position of migrant workers in Burnley—and,
of course, a wider national and international context. Migrant
workers registering in one borough may work in neighbouring boroughs,
or live in one borough and work in others.
2.1.3 Our informal research across East Lancashire
shows that the majority of migrant workers are male (around 64%),
with most aged between 18 and 34 years old. Their occupations
are generally in manufacturing sectors (process operators, packers,
food processors), the building trade, and hospitality. Virtually
all the migrant workers work between 35 and 40 hours a week, although
some work longer hours. The average hourly wage they earn is between
£4.50 and £5.99, which is broadly in line with the National
Minimum wage, which currently stands at £5.35.
2.2 Initiatives to address the needs of
migrant workers:
2.2.1 Public agencies and voluntary organisations
in Burnley and across East Lancashire have been involved in a
range of positive initiatives to address the needs of migrant
workers. In Burnley, the Council has been taking part in these
initiatives as an expression of our policy, expressed in the Sustainable
Community Strategy of Burnley Action Partnership, "Burnley's
Future", to "promote and welcome immigration, but
[also to] manage and plan for demographic change".
2.2.2. In 2006, a partnership of 12 different
public bodies across East Lancashire collaborated to produce a
"Welcome Pack" for people moving to East Lancashire,
including people from countries that have recently joined the
European Union. As well as being produced in English, the pack
was produced in translated versions in Polish, Lithuanian and
Czech. The pack provides residents with information about key
services that are available to them, and about where they can
get advice on a range of issues, including housing, employment,
policing, health, banking and education. It also sets out clearly
the law and the responsibilities that all residents have on such
issues as driving motor vehicles, drugs laws and tax liabilities.
By bringing all this information together into one publication,
the pack helps ensure that information on peoples rights and responsibilities
and on relevant services is provided in an efficient way.
2.3 Organisations in the voluntary, community
and faith sector, especially the Catholic churches, are playing
a crucial role in establishing positive contact with these new
members of the local community:
2.3.1 One key initiative has been pro-active
work to identify and communicate with migrant workers. The Police
have led on this, particularly through developing links with employers,
recruitment agencies, housing providers and schools.
2.4 Burnley Borough Council has been working
with partners to help identify the effect of inward migration
and the impact on service delivery. This has involved working
in partnership with other district councils and the Lancashire
County Council in order to undertake a local survey to which will
help to understand the needs of the newly arrived to Lancashire,
and to assist the management of migration across Lancashire. An
issue, which has already been identified and commented on in a
number of national reports, is the recording and accurate statistics
in data for Migration.
2.5 The survey of district councils and
the County Council in East Lancashire will have the aim of identifying
how:
2.5.1 We should apply good practice guidelines
as identified in the Improvement and Development Agency, the Institute
for Community Cohesion and the Audit Commission, both in our survey
work, and in ongoing work to manage migration and to take account
of public views about issues of migration.
2.5.2 We should establish the extent of activities
which are currently being undertaken to manage migration throughout
Lancashire.
2.5.3 We should review these activities to
identify gaps in service provision and then to move to developing
and applying support mechanisms and good practice in dealing with
changes in the community.
2.6 Discussions in a Lancashire-wide group
have also taken place on the need to work across the sub regional
area to collate and disseminate credible data on population changes,
including data on levels of migrant workers and good practices.
This still needs developing at this stage and will be managed
safely and securely.
2.7 The countywide approach also involves
supporting those in leadership position in order to promote agreed
messages in line with established policy, and to engage residents
around those. This support will include information sharing, training
and mentoring.
2.8 In responding to the recommendations
of the Commission on Integration and Cohesion, Burnley Borough
Council are:
2.8.1 Undertaking a survey to help identify
service needs; monitoring community tensions and responding to
these through positive initiatives such as multi-agency monitoring,
and the Burnley Good Relations Programme; working with voluntary
and interfaith organisations and other agencies on projects to
contribute to the development of cohesive communities; mainstreaming
integration and cohesion into the Local Strategic Partnership's
sustainable community strategy, through our work in the cross-cutting
theme group on Social and Community Cohesion.
2.8.2 Burnley Borough Council, also in partnership
with other district councils, has helped to produce a "Welcome
to East Lancashire" booklet, which provides vital information
about services such as police, housing, education etc. It has
currently been produced in English, Czech, Lithuanian and Polish
to meet the needs identified migrant workers in this area.
2.8.3 The Council is committed to ongoing
work on these areas. We feel that activity of this type is an
integral part of carrying out our duties and of our community
leadership role. These responsibilities, and the work that comes
with them, need to be acknowledged and taken into account in the
considerations that government gives to setting the grants to
Burnley Borough Council and other district councils facing similar
issues, including Rate Support Grant, Area-Based Grants and special
programme grant.
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