From:

Louise Heinemann, Project Manager, KLARS (King's Lynn Area Resettlement Support)

 

As there has been no time to consult anyone else on this submission, it should be viewed as my own thoughts and opinions only.

 

Background to area

KLARS (a small local charity) was set up in 2000 to support refugees and asylum seekers who were beginning to appear locally. I moved to the area in August 2003 from Lincoln, and noticed a difference immediately; Lincoln was receiving NASS asylum seekers (largely of African origin); King's Lynn was not a NASS dispersal point, and most asylum seekers were Eastern Europeans, predominantly Lithuanians. KLARS' client group has been carefully monitored since Jan 2004; statistics are collated monthly, so we know numbers, ages, nationalities, sex and reason for needing help. We have seen more than 4,000 since we began keeping records; I don't know the overall numbers, but through reading reports and discussion with other front line people (e.g. Inland Revenue) I estimate 15,000 - 20,000 in and around West Norfolk.

Rapid Inward Migration into an Area with no previous experience

The history has no recent history of newcomers settling semi-permanently; geographically it's off the main route anywhere, and is not an economic boom town. People are particularly unmoving in villages, and can be hostile to newcomers. Pretty villages on the north coast are being bought up as second homes (one place has 40%) and people move here to commute to London, but non-native English speakers are more noticeable. Some were here prior to the EU expansion (May 2004), but more have come since, mostly from A8 countries. In the 2001 census, numbers of non-UK born are negligible; the current situation doesn't show on the electoral roll (only about 2,000 new foreigners) but is there on school registers, doctors' surgeries, court registers, and employment.

­Employment

One typical example was given by a Portuguese factory worker, who told me that when he started four years ago, he was one of 5 foreign nationals on a shift of 60; he is in the same factory, but the shift is now 110, of whom only 9 are not foreign nationals. Not only has the number of foreigners increased, but the factory's turnover has more than doubled. Good, cheap foreign labour has enabled businesses to grow.

Four years ago, his local workmates were fascinated by him, invited him to their parties and are now his best mates; they talk to him, about "those foreigners", and then apologise quickly, remembering his origins. I asked what had happened to the English who used to work in the factory; apparently they were old and retired, or got depression, or quit. Migrant workers, particularly Lithuanians, are so fast and so hard working and that it can be challenging for others to keep up with them.

In King's Lynn itself, there has been an increase in the number of gangmasters and labour providers (including national organizations); many employ East European staff to communicate with their workers. I don't have unemployment statistics to know what the overall effect this been but have heard that there has been no increase. I have not heard grumbling about jobs being taken; there is a general feeling that the indigenous population does not want to get up at 5 am, and drive 20 miles to pick cauliflowers. Jobs are largely in horticulture, agriculture, packhouses, food preparation factories, carehomes and seasonal tourism. People work across county borders between Norfolk, Cambs and Lincs; many commute 45 miles to and from work, in vans or sharing transport.

Services

Labour, and the economic growth is the positive aspect. There does not appear to have been a comparable investment in infrastructure or services. KLARS is the only organization providing advice and information in migrant workers' native languages, enabling them to apply for WRS, National Insurance Numbers, school places for children, driving licences, car insurance, tax rebates and so forth. Some people don't need our service, because they speak enough English, or have a friend who does; others pay someone to help, and some employers may help. Even so, in four years, we have gone from one weekly session and 30 clients a month to five weekly sessions and 377 clients a month. One or two of the banks are beginning to employ multilingual staff, but no one else does.

Accommodation

Accommodation is scarce; people may start in tied accommodation provided, directly or indirectly by the gangmaster, before moving on to privately rented, and buying their own. This means an increase in HMOs and in applications to social housing. During the financial year which ended April 2007, migrant workers made up 8.9% of new people joining the housing list; the percentage on the list overall was lower. In that year, 695 were housed, 65 (9%) of them, migrant workers. I expect the numbers, and percentages, to increase. Freebridge (the housing association which took over from the council) does not employ multilingual staff or provide translated information; new tenants come to KLARS to get their utilities connected.

Atmosphere

Long established local residents on estates may view surrounding houses as the natural right of a relative, and there has been talk about people jumping queues; the information provided on how the housing is allocated is not transparent enough to allay such beliefs.

Off the estates also, locally born residents complain about non-availability of parking spaces, bins put out on wrong day, and noise. Nothing is available in other languages to ensure that newcomers do not unwittingly transgress. Newcomers complain of targeted vandalism (every car with a foreign numberplate being scratched), racist insults, bullying of children, scattered syringes and being afraid to go out. Fearful of reprisals, many have been reluctant to voice concerns, but some are losing patience. There was at least one tense situation last autumn, which I believe the police handled very well. Personally, I feel that the police, of all statutory bodies, is the one that has made most effort to understand and work with the newcomers.

I believe that difficulties on the estates pre-date the arrival of migrant workers - drugs, drug dealing, petty crime, vandalism of other people's property, noise - it's not only migrant workers who suffer, but racism is raising the profile.

The effectiveness of local and central government in assisting community cohesion

For four years, I have attended the quarterly diverse communities forum (DCF) at local level, which feeds into the LSP, to so into the LAA. Most people at DCF have little contact with migrant workers and I haven't seen much tangible outcome. The vice-chair attends a quarterly Multi-Agency Forum (MAF) at regional level; again there is no practical output. MAF is occasionally attended by EEDA (East of England Development Agency) which I believe has a staff of 7 to cover East of England's migrant workers. (I am late with this submission because an EEDA worker had the email on his computer for one month before passing it on.) I was told that EEDA's concern is economic development; they don't want to hear from KLARS about the practical issues facing migrant workers. Nevertheless, migrant workers are going home because in part because of these difficulties, and there will be economic consequences, if they cannot be replaced as easily as at present.

Under the Cleaner Greener Safer Stronger programme, King's Lynn received more than three million pounds to improve life on one or more of the less salubrious estates. As many migrant workers live there, I was told they would be included in this initiative. More than one year into the programme, it appears to focus on litter to the exclusion of all else, so nothing to foster community spirit or counteract the hostility to newcomers.

Rather than funding a nebulous concept like community cohesion, money and effort are desperately needed to support overstretched services. The problem is poverty, and people are fighting for scarce resources; people are unlikely to become a caring sharing community when three of them are fighting for a parking space, a cheap house, a place at a good school for their child.

Education

KLARS runs an afterschool club in one local primary school where, five years ago there were less than 2% non-native English speaking pupils, and there are now 20%+. In that time, there has been no increase in ESOL provision. I understand the budget is decided at a certain amount, per child not speaking English; the amount is below £200, which doesn't buy very many hours of ESOL teaching over the 6 - 9 months it may take a child to become fluent. In the meantime, the other children in the class may receive less attention, progress more slowly, making it hard to convince their parents of the positive aspects of non-English speakers.

Education provision is managed from the county offices at Norwich, where the increase in numbers has been dismissed as "seasonal fluctuation. " Migrant workers bring children of all ages; it seems even harder to find secondary school places, and if the child is 16, there is only the college, which does not offer full time English classes, and has limited academic options.

Health

The use of interpreters has increased so dramatically that one local surgery is about to start employing its own interpreter, full time. People present inappropriately at hospital, because surgeries are not open at evenings and weekends, but if they take time off work they may lose their job.

Mental health does not seem to be catered for, as there is a dearth of practitioners with language skills. Disillusion with the UK, depression, post natal depression (many young mothers without family support), alcoholism are not uncommon and there have been five suicides in the last 12 months. Surveys have been attempted, and there was talk of a county group, but nothing has happened.

The role of English Language

The people I see are generally keen to learn or improve their English. They are hampered by the lack of suitable classes at appropriate times. Migrant workers come to the UK to work, and they need to, to survive. Many work 12 hour days, sometimes six or seven days a week for months on end. They work shifts, the shift pattern may change, or they may be offered overtime, and to refuse would mean jeopardizing their job and being blacklisted by other labour providers. During the week, people are exhausted; they want classes at weekends. They need classes revolving around practical situations such as completing forms or booking a doctor's appointment.

The local college (College of West Anglia) has yet to rise to this challenge; classes are largely during the day, and there are none at weekends. There are no multi-level classes, no flexibility as the syllabus must be followed for accreditation and funding. I've been told that if you miss three classes you are struck off the register. Nevertheless, all classes are full in the autumn, leaving little chance for anyone who comes later in the year.

Employers and labour providers don't often provide classes, although it would appear to be necessary from a health and safety aspect, as well as improving workforce satisfaction. People with good English may progress to more responsible, permanent posts within the factory. This may become cause for envy from any remaining indigenous workforce.

Obviously, language is vital for communication, but there is also a need, by the host community, to understand a little more of the cultural background in other countries. Even well-educated professionals can be lacking in this; many teachers may not know that children in E. Europe don't have to start formal education till they are seven, with the correlation that six year-olds can need basic socialization training; health professionals may not appreciate that other countries don't have GPs, and are upset when Polish mothers look disdainful when their child's development is measured by a nurse, instead of the paediatrician who would do the job in Poland. Obviously, the newcomers also need to become familiar with UK systems, but they learn through living here.

 

Impact

I think I've said enough already about impact. It is clearly there - on the streets, in housing, schools, hospitals, GPs surgeries (one local surgery is in the process of recruiting its own interpreter), advice centres. The local newspaper is not always helpful, and has attempted to run racist headlines. There, to be fair, the DCF did something, and contacted the editor to good effect. There have been attempts at multicultural events; KLARS organizes an annual International Fiesta, and the Learning and Skills Council (I think) has an event "Round the World in 80 dishes" where people try different food, for free. This is OK, but most providers are foreign, while the eaters are locals. Eating food is one thing; tolerating your neighbour's noise or behaviour is another.

 

To date, I have said that with A8 nationals there are no communities, as they are very recent arrivals and have yet to coalesce into communities. I think this remains largely the case. There are no identifiable leaders, (as in Afro-Caribbean groups) though this is what the host community expects, and requests. In the factories, when workers have their breaks, they sit in groups by gangmaster and then by nationality. I believe people socialize largely within their own language groups, though often these widen out, as there have been marriages across nationalities. Sometimes there is a shared language (e.g. Brazilians and Portuguese) sometimes not (e.g. Ukrainians and Portuguese), so people resort to English. They don't think of themselves as lumped together, as "ethnic minorities".

A few informal groupings around nationality are beginning to emerge, and should be supported. With a vacuum, there is a danger that individuals may take on the role of spokesperson for a community for their own gain, but I think this will be for people themselves to sort out.

The area itself has gained in diversity; supermarkets have a wider selection of food, there are several Portuguese cafes, East European shops, businesses and sports teams. However, at the last local elections, a BNP candidate came very near to being elected, suggesting that the zenophobia and negative feelings are also on the increase. It is difficult to explain to locals that wealth is being created by migrant workers when none of the benefits of the taxes these people pay is returned to the area, to support the overstretched services.