Memorandum by the London Borough of Hammersmith
and Fulham
Hammersmith & Fulham has strong historic
links with the Eastern European community going back many decades.
The borough has therefore attracted large numbers of eastern Europeans
since 1989, the numbers having increased significantly since 2003.
Eastern European, and particularly Polish, migrants
make a valuable contribution to the local economy. Many, if not
most, of recent visitors are employed in jobs requiring low to
moderate skill levels—according to Home Office statistics
almost half are employed in the hotel and catering trades. There
is no evidence that they are having a negative impact on the local
labour market, as many of the jobs they are taking up do have
significant vacancy rates. There is evidence, however, that a
minority of new A8 migrants are arriving unprepared for life in
a foreign country and unable to find employment and accommodation.
Some have alcohol problems and have boosted the local population
of street drinkers. They tend to be younger and more prone to
anti-social behaviour than the more traditional street drinkers
in the Borough.
This minority of new migrants, who find themselves
unemployed and living on the street or in squats, is placing a
burden on public services. The street drinkers are tying up the
resources of the police Safer Neighbourhood Teams, which are having
to deal with complaints of anti-social behaviour and public drunkenness.
Homeless migrants are placing greater burdens on local hostels
and day centres funded by the Council and central Government.
The largest local homelessness project has recruited Polish speaking
workers to deal with the increased demand from new Polish migrants
unable to find work or accommodation.
The additional burden on local public services
and community organisations is compounded by the inadequate migration
data currently collected by the government, which greatly understates
the numbers of migrants moving through the Borough.
The data does not even seek to capture short-term
migration (those staying less than 12 months) yet these migrants
will make use of public services, particularly those that are
unable to find work.
The Office for National Statistics has, this
year, changed the way in which the migrant population is calculated,
which has led to a reduction in the estimated population of Hammersmith
and Fulham of almost 9,000 people. Bizarrely, the revised "official"
figures suggest that there was less overseas migration to the
borough in 2005-06 than before A8 accession. In terms of net gains
the new data suggests a figure of only 1,180 compared to a figure
more than twice as high, 2,580, in 2001-02. Given the obvious
substantial increase in the numbers of Polish migrants in the
Borough over recent years, this reduction in the estimate is clearly
wrong and it will result in a significant shortfall in the Council's
Formula Grant from next year. The Council is facing an increasing
burden on its own services, and on those provided by local voluntary
sector agencies which it funds, as a result of increased migration
from Eastern Europe, yet the Government's inadequate and inaccurate
data collection on the local migrant population will result in
cuts to the Authority's annual budget.
1. INTRODUCTION
1.1 Hammersmith and Fulham is a small and
densely populated west London borough with a population of 171,400
people (Office of National Statistics [ONS] Mid Year Estimate
2006). It is a popular place to live and work with over 70% of
local people satisfied with the area (2006 Best Value national
survey). The Borough offers a range of cultural attractions in
the three town centres of Hammersmith, Shepherds Bush and Fulham
and on the Thames-side. It has a net revenue budget of £180m.
1.2 Between 2001 and 2006 the population
is estimated to have grown by a moderate 1.2%, which is a lower
increase than Inner London (4.0%) or Greater London (2.6%). The
Greater London Authority's 2006 projections indicate that the
Borough's population will grow at a steady rate in future years,
but these projections will be revised in the light of recent ONS
revisions to population estimates. The current data suggest a
high projection of 184,800 in 2011 and 189,000 in 2016 and a low
projection of 181,000 in 2011 and 183,000 in 2016. Over the next
ten years, the largest percentage population increases are projected
in the 40 to 54 age group, followed by the 5 to 19 age group.
This growth in population and the changing age distribution will
place new demands on local public services such as education,
health and housing.
1.3 The Borough has a relatively young and
ethnically diverse population with a higher proportion of young
adults aged 25-39 (37%) than London and the rest of the country.
27% of households consist of a single person under pensionable
age and only 22% of households contain dependent children. Just
over one in five residents are from non-white ethnic backgrounds,
5% were born in Ireland and there is a well-established Polish
community. Some 90 different languages are spoken in local schools.
London's place as a world city means that the Borough will continue
to be home for many diverse groups of people, of different nationality,
ethnic origin, religion, and culture.
1.4 Hammersmith and Fulham has a very visible
presence of Eastern European nationals on its streets. By far
the greatest majority are Polish. This reflects the fact that
the Borough has a long and proud history of Polish migration to
the area and a wide range of Polish businesses and services have
developed in Hammersmith and Fulham as a result.
1.5 The Polish Cultural Centre, within sight
of Hammersmith Town Hall, is the largest Polish cultural institution
outside Poland. The close historical tie between Poland and Hammersmith
and Fulham is demonstrated by the fact that there is a Polish
eagle on the Council's mayoral regalia. The Council is proud of
the established Eastern European community, which is an essential
part of the fabric of the borough's life, and welcomes the beneficial
contribution of the new accession state nationals to the local
economy and to the social and cultural diversity of the area.
2. NUMBERS AND
CHARACTERISTICS
2.1 These historical ties, along with the
various Polish businesses, services and community organisations,
act as a magnet for new Polish migrants arriving in the Capital.
Minibuses arrive on a regular basis from all parts of Eastern
Europe. Regrettably, this migration, whilst making a very welcome
contribution to the Borough, has also carried with it a number
of associated problems. Last year the Broadway Centre (a local
homelessness project) recruited some Polish-speaking volunteers
to help with the engagement of clients at their day centre. The
Broadway funds an employment project to assist people who have
found it hard to get work and this project has been seeing an
increasing number of Polish migrants.
2.2 The area has become a locus for people
seeking casual non-registered employment. Last year police estimated
that around 150 new people were arriving in the Borough each week.
Until a year ago, "gangmasters" turned up daily in the
early morning to pick their workers from those 50-70 assembled
in King Street, Hammersmith. This happened within sight of the
town hall and led to many complaints. Due to a dispersal order,
issued by the council, and the focused attention of the police,
the public nuisance created by congregations of men hanging about
for long periods on street corners has now been reduced. Although
less visible this activity still continues, albeit in a more dispersed
manner.
2.3 Many of the new migrants resort to sleeping
in squats in large numbers or, if employed in the building trade,
sleeping on site. An eviction from one property in Hammersmith
pushed 30 people into short term rough sleeping behind Marks &
Spencers—to subsequently disperse slowly over the next few
days.
2.4 LBHF's Alcohol Coordinator reports that
street drinking by this group is regarded as the most troublesome
and the most likely to result in anti-social behaviour and complaints
from the public. Numbers of A8 street drinkers appear to be on
the increase and there are now several fluid groups across the
Borough consisting of 20-30 people. A street count on one day
in August 2006 revealed 106 people street drinking, 38 of whom
were identified as of Eastern European origin.
2.5 Earlier in 2006, the Royal Borough of
Kensington & Chelsea and the London Borough of Hammersmith
& Fulham commissioned a joint strategic review of rough sleeper
services which revealed that 150 clients of the Broadway Centre
were Polish and that 78% had no usable English. This equates to
approximately one third of the clients attending the centre. The
evidence at the Broadway Centre suggests that people unable to
find work are resorting to street drinking. The number of A8 clients
using the Broadway Centre in Shepherds Bush who have been verified
as sleeping rough in the Borough increased from 11 to 38 from
2005 to 2006. Most of those people seen by the Broadway Centre
have alcohol issues and some have mental health problems. Most
would have come to the UK with these problems and more are likely
to drift into rough sleeping if unable to find work.
2.6 The Broadway Centre provides health
care services and general access to their day centre for people
from accessional states who they assess as vulnerable. If 150
are currently assessed as vulnerable a higher number must be presenting
in search of assistance. They are allowed to use the Centre's
facilities until the assessment is completed.
3. SECTORS AND
OCCUPATIONS
3.1 Nationals of the A8 countries who wish
to take up employment in the UK are generally required to register
with the Workers' Registration Scheme (WRS). The self-employed
are not required to register. The data does not provide a measure
of migration in that it is simply a gross figure for workers who
apply to join the WRS. If a person leaves the country he or she
is not required to de-register, so even for a recent period some
of the data is historic.
3.2 The Home Office has supplied data on
the detailed occupational breakdown of workers who have applied
to join the WRS from W6, W12 and SW6 during the period 1/5/04
to 30/6/06. The total applications in the data is 2,610.
3.3 The main occupational groups, covering
nearly three quarters of applicants, are in the following categories:
— professional/managerial—11%
— labourers, drivers, operatives—5%
— caring professions, teachers—5%
4. LABOUR MARKET
4.1 The majority of workers applying to
register are, therefore, of low or moderate skill levels. Three
of these broad groups are ones which DWP data from May 2005-June
2006 identified as having significant levels of vacancies. Catering,
retail and labourers/drivers constitute 38% of those applying
for the WRS, and these occupations constitute 39% of the vacancies
notified over the past year. It can therefore be concluded that
at least four in ten of A8 applicants to the WRS in Hammersmith
& Fulham are within occupations for which there are local
vacancies.
5. PUBLIC SERVICES
5.1 Migrants from the A8 countries access
the full range of local authority services. Examples are set out
in this section of particular service impacts. A serious concern
for Hammersmith and Fulham is that the current local government
funding regime does not adequately recognise the demands placed
on the council from A8 migrants.
5.2 Population data is a key driver of the
amount of government grant support that local authorities receive
through the Local Government Finance Settlement. Our view, as
expressed in the section on data improvements, is that the current
data provided by the Office for National Statistics has failed
to keep pace with the population movements associated with the
A8 countries. No allowance has been made for the impact of short-term
migrants, those that reside in Britain for less than a year, whilst
the data on inwards and outwards migration appears to be flawed.
The net result is that government grant support has failed to
keep pace with the demand for public services.
Education and Schools
5.3 Schools data shows a degree of increase
in Polish pupil numbers 2002-07, though not of the same scale
as increases in numbers of voters or NI registrations. Among nursery
and primary schools, where the great majority of pupils live within
the Borough, there has been an increase from 114 in 2002 to 152
in 2006, a 33% increase. Although this is a significant proportional
increase, numerically the increase is relatively small. This bears
out the assumption that most recent economic migrants from Poland
have been single men rather than family units, although this may
change over time.
5.4 Secondary school numbers are almost
constant, (though with a jump of 24 in 2006-07) but here most
pupils in fact travel in from outside the Borough, so the data
here is inconclusive. Here 61% of Polish-speaking secondary pupils
in 2006 attend London Oratory, where 91% of pupils travel from
outside the Borough.
5.5 Data is available for 2007 for all A8
languages. The totals are 8 children in nurseries, 220 in primaries,
241 in secondaries and 3 in special schools. Polish-speaking pupils,
therefore, form 89% of the pupils in schools originating from
A8 countries.
Table 1
NUMBERS OF POLISH-SPEAKING PUPILS AT BOROUGH
SCHOOLS 2002-07
|
| 2002
| 2003 | 2004
| 2005 | 2006
| 2007 | Overall % of
pupils who live
in the Borough
|
|
| Nursery | 0 |
2 | 2
| 6 | 3
| 5 | 98
|
| Primary | 114
| 111 | 107
| 138 | 149
| 187 | 95
|
| Secondary | 192
| 186 | 191
| 197 | 198
| 222 | 44
|
|
| Source: LBHF Childrens Services Dept
|
Homelessness and Advice
5.6 Hammersmith and Fulham received a grant from DCLG
to address issues relating to A8 migrants. It was used to deliver
an intervention for A8 street populations who were engaging in
rough sleeping, street drinking and begging but who were not entitled
to interventions or public funding. Many of these individuals
were identified as highly vulnerable. The Council is working with
the Barka Foundation, a Polish social inclusion charity, as a
partner in a six month pilot working through the Broadway Centre
and the Upper Room, which helps with IT training, employment,
legal advice and documentation. The pilot has gone well and is
due to end in November. The Council feels that it is vital that
such a support initiative is continued on a wider geographical
basis with the participation of other Boroughs and/or the GLA
or London Councils to avoid one Borough becoming a magnet for
migrants.
5.7 As well as the Broadway Centre and the Upper Room
which the Council provides funding for, the East European Advice
Centre is also in the Borough and is another agency which the
Council supports. It has been inundated with the demands of the
growing group of East European migrants that visit to seek advice
and help. Being a London wide resource that just happens to be
based in the Borough, however, only a relatively small proportion
of its clients are Borough residents and so, again, there is a
need for wider collective funding and service provision across
a wider geographical area.
6. IMPROVEMENTS TO
DATA
6.1 Hammersmith & Fulham has a long-standing Polish
community, second in numbers only to the adjacent Borough of Ealing,
so it is natural that large numbers of Polish migrants following
accession in 2004 would come here. The strong impression from
daily life in this area is that this has undoubtedly been the
case. This has not, however, been fully reflected in official
migration data.
6.2 There is no way of properly measuring A8 migration,
or indeed any international migration. The sample used in the
International Passenger Survey (IPS) is too small (the total national
sample in 2005 was only 2,965 in-migrants and 781 out-migrants),
and the same is the case for the Labour Force Survey (LFS), which
is now being used to determine geographical distributions of in-migrants
and where data is only available for groupings of local authorities.
6.3 Furthermore, official estimates measure only long-term
migrants, ie those staying for a year or more. Short-term migrants,
of which there are many within the A8 flows, are completely missing.
Workers' Registration Scheme data for Hammersmith & Fulham
for the period May 2004 to March 2007 indicates that 37% of A8
migrants registering were intending to stay for less than 12 months,
so that over one third of A8 migrants would be missing from official
counts. Short term migrants, of course, still use public services.
6.4 The Office for National Statistics (ONS) recognises
these deficiencies and has been working on their improvement.
The necessary improvements, however, have not been fully implemented
and an interim solution has been devised by switching from IPS
to a combination of IPS and LFS, which substitutes one set of
inadequate data for another and there is still no measurement
of short-term migration.
6.5 The net result of this change has been a disaster
for H&F in that, as a result of adjustments to estimates of
international migration, the population of the Borough in mid
2006 is estimated to be 8,500 fewer than the previous estimate
for 2005. The adjustment to previous Mid Year Estimates 2002-05
has resulted in a net loss to the Borough over that period of
8,900 people, caused by reductions in estimated in-migration of
4,400 and increases in estimated out-migration of 5,400. This,
in turn, will have a potentially disastrous impact on the Council's
finances when the Government's 2004-based Sub-National Population
Projections are released, which will be used to determine Formula
Grant.
6.6 The absurdity of the figures is that the revised
official data now suggests that overseas migration to the Borough
was less in 2005-06 (a total of 5,680) than before A8 accession
(between 6,600 and 7,000 a year in the 2001-04 period). In terms
of net gains the new data suggests a figure of only 1,180 compared
to a figure which is more than twice as high, 2,580, in 2001-02.
This is plainly wrong in the context of the recent wave of A8
migration.
6.7 The main indicators of A8 migration are National
Insurance (NI) registrations and data from the Workers Registration
Scheme. Since 2004, 4,330 A8 workers have registered for NI in
H&F and 4,080 have registered on the WRS. This can be contrasted
with the fact that there were only 200 NI registrations from A8
countries in 2002-03, so we know that there has been a very substantial
increase in A8 migration. Yet in the latest population estimates
by ONS the net gain to the Borough due to international migration
for 2005-06 is estimated to be at the same level as pre-accession,
in the years 2001-03.
6.8 Among London Boroughs, Hammersmith & Fulham ranks
5th highest in numbers registering on WRS between May 2004 and
June 2007 and 12th on NI registrations. In the ONS estimates of
international in-migrants 2005-06, however, Hammersmith &
Fulham ranks 14th and in terms of net international migrants as
a % of total population, Hammersmith & Fulham ranks as low
as 19th among London Boroughs.
6.9 The gap may indeed be even wider than this. NI and
WRS data has known limitations. Not everybody registers—the
self employed for example are not required to register for WRS,
and of course dependants are not registered in either scheme.
An even greater drawback may be that the place of initial registration
may not reflect current place of work or residence. A person registering
in Westminster, for example, may actually soon after be living
or working in Hammersmith & Fulham. So it may well be that
registration data may under-count numbers for this reason, as
well as the fact that not everyone registers at all in the first
place.
6.10 The indications are, therefore, that for the migrants
that ONS purports to measure, ie those staying for 12 months or
more, the estimates are likely to be erroneous. Furthermore, there
is a large number of migrants staying for shorter periods who
are not measured at all.
6.11 As well as reductions in estimated in-migration,
ONS has increased the number of estimated international out-migrants
so that the Borough has the 7th highest figure among the London
Boroughs: in terms of out-migrants, as a % of total population,
Hammersmith & Fulham ranks 4th. This is not so much based
on hard data but on a regression model using the 2001 Census.
There is no common sense reason for supposing that 5,400 more
people have left the Borough over the 2002-05 period than was
previously estimated. So here again ONS estimates are likely to
be erroneous.
6.12 The above is a demonstration of the fact that although
ONS are working to improve estimates of migration, these improvements
are by no means fully worked through. The recent revisions are
an inadequate interim solution which still produces deficient
data and the application of which has had a major negative economic
impact on some local authorities, of which Hammersmith & Fulham
is one.
6.13 In order to more fully understand what is happening
in Hammersmith & Fulham with regard to A8 migration, including
the extent to which it consists of short-term or repeat migrants,
the Council is commissioning some research, the results of which
will be published next year.
28 September 2007
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