Memorandum by the Improvement & Development
Agency
INTRODUCTION
The Improvement & Development Agency (IDeA)
for local government welcomes this inquiry and is pleased to submit
evidence.
The IDeA works for local government improvement,
so that councils can serve people and places better. It uses experienced
councillors and senior managers as peers to support and challenge
improvement in the sector, it enables the sharing of good practice,
its Leadership Academy helps councillors to become better leaders,
and it supports the development of local government's management
and workforce. The IDeA is owned by the Local Government Association.
The IDeA manages England's only national support
programme to help councils and their partner organisations manage
the impacts of migration. Our evidence is based upon the experience
to-date from that programme, working with a wide range of councils
engaged with this policy agenda.
MIGRATION EXCELLENCE
PROGRAMME
The IDeA is managing and delivering this programme,
which is funded by the department for Communities & Local
Government and which builds upon findings in the Audit Commission's
Crossing Borders report. The programme is helping councils across
England to manage effectively the local impacts of migration.
It has a particular focus on recent migration from EU Accession
States. The objectives of the programme are: to promote learning
and develop good practice; and to build capacity and capability
for managing migration within supported councils.
Early outputs from the programme include a good
practice guide, containing case study examples and a self-assessment
checklist for councils (copy enclosed), and an online "community
of practice", allowing its 250 members to access key migration
documents, share knowledge and seek advice.
The programme is now beginning delivery of 11
migration support projects, which will benefit 23 councils. These
provide tailored support to meet local migration needs, delivered
using experienced peers from the sector and other means (training,
etc). This support will be delivered over the coming six month
period, with the aim of creating self-sustaining benefits.
The most frequent issues where councils have
sought support through our programme are:
— Developing leadership capacity and
partnering arrangements, especially with the voluntary sector.
— Developing understanding of migrant
numbers and characteristics, by improving local data and intelligence.
— Improving standards in housing and
employment, and building links with landlords and employers of
migrant workers.
— Engaging with new migrant communities,
to provide them with local information and understand their service
needs.
— Encouraging integration, by supporting
opportunities for migrant and existing communities to meet and
mix.
— Reducing community tensions, including
work with local media and myth busting.
— Developing the economic potential
of migrant workers and assessing the economic risks if the supply
of migrant labour were to dry up.
Another relevant and linked programme, managed
by the IDeA, is its Cohesion Programme. A Community Cohesion Benchmark
is being developed, for launch in Summer 2008, which will include
monitoring and guidance on many aspects of migration of concern
to local authorities. The programme is also hosting a series of
forums, run in partnership with local authorities. These cover
the spectrum of authority areas—from diverse metropolitan
through to rural districts—and all have highlighted new
migration and population churn as significant issues, impacting
on resource use and community cohesion.
RECENT MIGRATION
In 2006-07 some 263,000 migrants from EU Accession
States registered to work in England (National Insurance registrations
data). Seventy per cent of these were from Poland, around 10%
each from Slovakia and Lithuania, and the remaining 10% from the
other seven states (including 3% from the most recent EU members,
Romania and Bulgaria). This continued the pattern since 2004,
when most of these states joined the EU, though the most recent
Workers Registration Scheme data indicates that a peak in the
numbers may now have passed.
This wave of migration has some fairly distinct
features:
— The speed with which it came about
following the 2004 extension of the EU.
— The degree of churn among this population,
with large numbers coming over here to earn for relatively short
periods of time and then returning.
— The geographic spread of this population.
Whilst the largest absolute numbers have arrived in London and
other large cities, many have gone to small town and rural areas
with little history of international migration. Herefordshire
experienced a tenfold increase in registered migrant workers over
a three year period. The challenges in such areas can be more
fundamental, because the institutions lack experience of managing
such issues and because the existing populations are relatively
homogenous.
Nevertheless, whilst EU Accession State migrants
predominate in some areas, it should be noted that they comprise
a minority of migrants arriving in the country as a whole.
ROLE OF
LOCAL GOVERNMENT
We agree with the conclusion in last year's
report by the Commission on Integration & Cohesion (Our Shared
Future), that the impacts of migration vary considerably from
local area to area and, therefore, that local government has a
critical role to play. It is best placed to identify local priorities
and find appropriate solutions. This agenda cuts right across
the role of local government and its partnerships with other local
bodies (including Local Strategic Partnerships).
In the IDeA's view the local government sector
has performed well on this challenging agenda. There are many
examples of local authorities acting quickly, providing local
leadership, demonstrating its capacity to innovate and developing
good practice. This includes councils in areas where international
migration is a relatively new phenomenon.
However, the scale and speed (and, for some,
newness) of migration is a significant challenge and there is
undoubtably considerable further scope for learning and capacity-building
within the sector on this issue. Moreover, the impacts of migration
are subtly changing over time, for example as more EU Accession
State migrants choose to settle or bring across dependents.
STRATEGIC ISSUES
Key strategic issues for local government resulting
from migration are:
Leadership—acting effectively to
manage migration requires both political and managerial leadership
by councils, to recognise the importance of the issue for their
area, ensure it is built into relevant policy or strategy documents,
prioritise actions and, perhaps, allocate resources. A challenge
for councils is to get onto the front foot, in terms of managing
and planning for migration impacts, so they are not simply driven
by more immediate issues.
Partnership—the impacts of migration
go well beyond the direct responsibility of local councils and
managing them effectively requires a partnership approach. Some
local partners will be obvious, such as the police, health service
and voluntary sector, but other (less traditional) partners, such
as the landlords and employers of migrant workers, also need to
be engaged. A good example of such partnership working is that
developed through the Responsible Employers Scheme in Cornwall.
Communications—councils need to
establish the means to communicate with new migrant communities
to ensure they understand the needs and issues for that part of
their population. Frontline councillors have an important role
to play in this respect. Engagement and communication can also
take place through intermediaries, such as the voluntary sector
and churches, and (where they exist) via migrant community networks
or organisations. However, councils should ensure that they communicate
about migration with the whole of their population. They should
strive to be seen to be fair and need a means of identifying migration-related
issues for existing communities that require early action eg noise,
rubbish.
Information—a sound evidence base
allows councils to identify the main issues in their area, devise
appropriate strategies and plan service delivery. A recent piece
of research, commissioned by Local Government Analysis and Research
(LGAR) from the Institute of Community Cohesion, highlights some
of the flaws in official data sets about migrants and migration,
and the difficulties in sourcing accurate information. Whilst
there is no easy solution, councils need to work with local partner
organisations (developing data sharing protocols and adopting
common data definitions) to make best use of local administrative
data sources alongside national ones. For example, school pupil
numbers, higher education data and GP registrations. Frontline
services and voluntary sector bodies can also be a good source
of intelligence about migrants, as can employers and landlords
(see above). West Lancashire District Council undertook a questionnaire
survey of employers in its area. Newcastle City Council funded
research to better understand the aspirations of their migrants,
including how long they intended to stay.
OPERATIONAL ISSUES
Key operational issues for local government
resulting from migration are:
Adapting services—the demands upon
local services made by new communities (what they use, where,
when and how they access them) will inevitably be somewhat different
from that of existing populations.
Providing information—there is considerable
evidence that migrants want more information when they arrive
in this country and benefit from having that information, including
about their rights, about accessing local services and about some
cultural norms.
Regulating standards—most EU Accession
State migrants live in private rented accommodation, many in houses
in multiple occupation, where councils have the role of regulator.
Councils may also work with others, like the Gangmasters Licensing
Authority, to address migrant exploitation by employers.
Community activities—council support
for community events and activities can help encourage opportunities
for integration between migrant and existing communities as a
means to develop understanding and address tensions.
KEY SERVICE
IMPACTS
Arguably the local service areas that have been
most affected by recent migration are:
Information services—many councils
and local bodies have developed migrant information or welcome
packs, to provide newly arriving migrants with information about
the area. These are typically available in the main migrant languages
and at places where migrants are most likely to visit. Making
them available at workplaces can be particularly effective. The
IDeA will shortly publish some guidance and a template for organisations
producing migrant information packs, to promote good practice.
The voluntary and community sector is also a major supplier of
information and advice to migrants—preferred by some because
it is not seen as "authority". Other key providers include
Citizens Advice Bureaux, churches and organisations established
by migrant communities. The PIP project in West Wiltshire made
use of previous migrants to provide new migrants with information.
English language training—a big
rise in demand for courses of English as a second language (ESOL)
is frequently reported. Many EU Accession State migrants arrive
with a reasonable grasp of the English language, but this is not
universal. This is an issue, given evidence about the importance
of learning the language quickly and the preference for learning
English over providing translated material. Other issues include
the variable quality of ESOL courses and the fragmented nature
of its provision, with few obvious pathways or signposting between
providers and levels of training and with few links made to employers'
needs. Our programme's support project with the London Borough
of Ealing is seeking to address just such issues.
Housing regulation—where there are
concentrations of migrant workers in houses in multiple occupation
(HMOs) this can place considerable demands upon district and unitary
councils, as the regulators. Their statutory powers to licence
HMOs under the Housing Act 2004 are fairly limited, but a number
of councils are now looking to make use of their discretionary
powers to extend licensing in neighbourhoods that are particularly
affected. Gateshead Council has already established such a scheme.
Policing—some police forces have
reported significant workloads resulting from the influx of migrants
and that their dealings with migrants can be made more complex
by language difficulties. It would appear that migrants are more
likely to be the victims of crime than the perpetrators of it,
but this all adds to the policing workload.
Education—increasingly the arrival
of children of migrant workers from EU Accession States with limited
English is being reported as an issue and a cost. This can be
disruptive where it involves large numbers or pupils arriving
in mid-term. For some rural schools having children with no or
limited English can be a new experience. One interesting example
of good practice guide is Wrexham's use of pre-school classes
for new migrant children, where they can gain sufficient grasp
of the language before being placed in a school.
There is also evidence of impacts on other local
services, such as healthcare where migrants with minor ailments
are often reported as going straight to hospital A&E departments,
rather than using a GP surgery.
FUTURE OPPORTUNITIES
The significant flow of migrants looks set to
remain as a trend. As noted above, there remains considerable
scope to support local authorities in their learning about this
policy agenda, so they can continue building capacity to manage
migration issues and to plan for future population change. But
the developing nature of that migration, as some groups settle
and other groups arrive, means that approaches and solutions will
need to keep evolving.
The IDeA, therefore, welcomes the £50m
that was announced for local community cohesion projects by the
Government in its initial response to the Commission on Integration
& Cohesion. Our Migration Excellence Programme has shown that
tailoring local support to meet migration needs is a sensible
approach. It has also built up resources that could be drawn upon
in future, such as its pool of experienced peers, its good practice
material, its community of practice and its training modules.
This could help to spread good practice more widely and drive
further innovation on this agenda. Some ongoing support for the
network of peers and resources, beyond the lifetime of the current
programme (the funding for which ends in September 2008), would
therefore seem useful and cost-effective.
Our observation of local approaches also leads
us to believe that some modest up front investment to help establish
local support networks and services for new migrant communities
would be worthwhile. This would help new migrants to settle and
integrate faster, providing them with a place to go for information
and support (including someone who speaks their mother tongue).
This preventative approach can try to address the issues faced
by some migrants before they become more serious. The New Link
project that offers advice, mediation and training to migrants
in Peterborough is a good example. It is an umbrella organisation
that hosts and brings together groups representing the area's
different migrant nationalities and backgrounds.
CONCLUSION
The IDeA manages England's national support
programme to help councils and their partner organisations manage
the local impacts of migration. Local authorities have been leaders
in developing approaches and good practice on this policy agenda,
but the scale, speed and spread of recent migration has created
a variety of challenges—both strategic and operational.
These vary from area to area, with the more fundamental strategic
issues being more keenly felt in small town and rural areas which
have not been traditional destinations of international migrants.
Key local service impacts include those on information services,
English language training, housing regulation, policing and (increasingly)
education. The IDeA's programme has created lessons and resources,
including experienced peers, which could be built upon in any
future support. Some seed corn funding for local migrant community
support networks would also seem a sound investment for the future.
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