EOC(3) MW 008

Equality of Opportunity Committee

Inquiry into Migrant Workers  

Response from Flintshire County Council

Flintshire County Council is a local authority in North East Wales. Seven thousand council staff deliver services from various sites around the county with the main administrative centre at County Hall. Services include council tax, education, housing, leisure, libraries, planning, refuse collection, recycling roads, social services, trading standards, transport and tourism.
The ethnic profile of Flintshire 2001 was:-

Source: Office of National Statistics - Census 2001

Since 2004 there has been an increase in the number of migrant workers, from the A8 countries coming to live and/or work in Flintshire. A significant number of these migrant workers are from Poland.

The views set out below have been collated from a workshop on the impact of migrant workers which was held for public and voluntary sector organisations in Flintshire in December 2007. The event was hosted by Flintshire County Council. Views have also been collated from colleagues who have regular contact with migrant workers.

Experiences of migrant workers and their families

Are you aware of barriers experienced by migrant workers and their
families in accessing public services?

• Difficulty using some services without the availability of a face to face translator, for example, those services that deal with sensitive and emotional subjects such as mental health services.
• Tendency to rely on Accident and Emergency units and not to register with a G.P. Where they are registering with GPs some migrant workers are choosing to register with the GP in the next town rather than the nearest G.P.
• Lack of general information as to where and how to access public services. Some migrant workers have reported that they were not aware that they could bring their children into the country and that they could attend local schools.
• However some migrant workers, who felt confident using the English language, have reported that they know where to go for services and if they didn’t they would go to the local library to find out.  
• Schools have reported difficulty in developing relationships with families so that a continual dialogue on children’s progress can be developed.

What are the key reasons for these barriers?

• Language barrier- some migrant workers have said that they don’t feel confident in asking for clarification or talking to services because of communication difficulties.
• Not understanding some services and how they operate, for example, refuse collection, schools.
• Cultural differences - for example, not accessing child care services as it may be okay to leave children at home alone in their own country.
• Lack of co-ordination of service information - information about all public sector services is not held in one place for the public to find for themselves.   An Open Door Project supported by Flintshire Community Safety Partnership has been established to support migrant workers and their families. This drop in facility has mainly been used by migrant workers who need help translating letters or completing forms - this reinforces the need for access to translated material, translators and increased ESOL provision.

Please provide examples of the English and Welsh language provision for migrant workers and their families in your area. How accessible and

appropriate is this provision?

• English for Speakers of other Languages (ESOL) classes are provided by the local Further Education (FE) College and by the Workers Education Association (WEA).
• Classes at the college are held once a week but the college also provide classes on site in the work place for local employers.
• The WEA provided courses at a drop in centre for migrant workers.
• Discussions with migrant workers have indicated that weekly classes aren’t adequate. There is also difficulty attending if shift patterns rotate and so therefore individuals aren’t able to attend regularly.
• Welsh classes are provided by local FE college; however it is not known whether migrant workers are attending these. Some migrant workers have said that they did not realise that two languages, English and Welsh, were used in Wales.

What opportunities do migrant workers and their families have to build
friendships and social networks between themselves and within local
communities? Please provide details of any formal or informal groups or networks in your area.

• Weekly Drop in centre - funded by the Flintshire Community Safety Partnership. However, this is mainly used by Polish migrant workers. There are plans to encourage attendance by other migrant workers.
• Fitness centres and local libraries are places that migrant workers meet informally with each other.
• The Roman Catholic Church also provides an opportunity for migrant workers who attend Mass to meet regularly.

The impact of economic migration on local communities

What are the resource implications for public service providers in areas where a significant proportion of the population are migrant workers and their families?

Services who have identified an impact are:

• Adult Social Care
• Careers Wales
• Citizen’s Advice Bureaux
• Health Services
• HousingJob Centre Plus
  Libraries
• Local Education Authority
• Probation Service Registrars
• Schools
• Victim Support
• Increased resources needed for interpretation and translation services; in particular some services need face to face translation as opposed to telephone interpretation, for example, mental health, Educational assessments, Citizens Advice Bureaux because of the nature of the service. For some services there is a need for quick access to these translators. There are increased costs for translation of references, medical records etc.  
• Becomes time consuming finding out and validating information e.g. health records, references.
• Extended interview /appointment times needed when interpretation and translation services are required, for example, registrars (births and marriages), GPs, Health Visitors, midwives - this is impacting on appointment systems, waiting times and staff capacity. Registrars are allocating triple appointment slots where interpretation facilities are required.
• Increased numbers of people using some services, for example, mental health services (drugs and alcohol team), midwives, health visitors, registrars (births and marriages). This is affecting staff capacity.
• CAB has reported increased referrals from migrant workers regarding employment advice.
• Increased number of pupils in schools who do not speak English or Welsh- this is impacting on the English as an additional language (EAL) service and the school itself. Issues that have been identified are the numbers and the difficulty of not having any notice of new arrivals. The children are also arriving without any background information - educational attainment levels, learning difficulties etc. This information would help schools provide the right support to children when they arrive.
• Available housing stock is limited and there has been an increased demand for accommodation affecting waiting lists. There are also increased number of houses of multiple occupation and reports of sofa surfing/hot bedding/overcrowding.
• Training costs for staff understanding differences in culture and how to make services accessible and meet needs of migrant workers and their families.
• Lack of awareness about UK legislation and culture means that migrant workers are coming into contact with enforcement agencies, for example, Police and Probation Service.

Service providers have also expressed concerns about the impact on services in the future as migrant workers settle and relocate older family members in Wales - will this impact on Older Peoples service and other services?

What are the advantages and challenges for people in local communities in which migrant workers live and work?

• Advantages
• Increases diversity of the local community
• Increase in variety of culture, food etc in the local area.
• Some local employers have been able to recruit to "hard to fill jobs”
• High skill levels and positive work ethic
• Challenges
• Encouraging tolerance, responding to concerns:-
• about increasing competition for jobs, particularly for young people entering the employment market and not having the skills to compete with highly qualified migrant workers.
• about the impact of language development which could change the career path of migrant workers and the potential for this to impact on graduate opportunities for local people.
• that limited resources, for example, housing, are being taken by migrant workers and affecting opportunities for local people.
• about benefit entitlements for migrant workers.
• Utilising the skills that migrant workers bring, whilst balancing concerns about the impact on job opportunities for local people.
• Encouraging understanding about each other’s cultures and rights and responsibilities.
• Integration
• encouraging migrant workers to take part in community events,  including volunteering.
• ensuring that all community members are seen to be given equal opportunity to access work, social activities and resources.  
• encouraging understanding about each other’s cultures  and rights and responsibilities.

Examples of good practice

Please provide examples of good practice, including: projects or initiatives which have enhanced community relations
good employment policies and workplace initiatives accessible and appropriate public services.

• projects or initiatives which have enhanced community relations
• Produced myth buster leaflet to dispel stereotypes and myths about migrant workers- these have been circulated in local communities.
• Celebrating Diversity Project- led by the Museums Service, this looks at the experiences of people who have moved to the area. There will be an exhibition of this work rolled out across all libraries in Flintshire.
• Race awareness project in schools- North Wales Race Equality Network delivered race equality workshops to year 7 pupils.
• Neighbourhood Wardens working with North Wales Police to visit schools in areas where there have been an increased number of racial incidents.
• Neighbourhood Wardens worked with the owner of a shop selling Polish products to put a multi lingual sign saying "Everyone Welcome” to diffuse rumours that the shop was banning British people.
• accessible and appropriate public services:-
• publishing information in different languages and promoting this at the Open Door Project.
• sign posting visitors at the Open Door Project to relevant services.
• Welfare Benefits Officers attending sessions at the Open Door project.
• providing library books in Polish.
• supporting a Neighbourhood Warden to learn Polish.
• promoting information through local employers.

Suggestions

What action should be taken to improve the life experiences of migrant

workers and their families and the communities in which they live and work?

It would be helpful if WAG could :-

• help employers understand migrant workers’ qualifications by developing a conversion scheme for European and British qualifications.
• provide list of approved face to face translators for use by public and independent sector.
• ensure migrant workers are provided with information about legislation,  their rights in services and employment, and responsibilities when they enter Wales - this will help avoid duplication.
• provide guidance on how to promote the recruitment of migrant workers.
• provide additional resources for public services and voluntary sector to pay for increasing translation costs- should be a dedicated fund and perhaps could be held by one agency.
• provide accurate statistics on number of migrant workers in terms of gender, age, disability, religion, nationality and ethnicity. Further support is required on accessing school and medical records from different countries.
• Co-ordinate further research on migrant workers who are in Wales now and , anticipated numbers for the future so services can plan and bid for further funding, if necessary.
• review funding for the EAL and ESOL  service so that the service can respond quickly to significant increases in demand.
• ring fence money for training teachers on welcoming and integrating newcomers and how to manage non English/Welsh speakers in the classroom.
• develop resources for both migrant workers and service providers which identifies differences and similarities in service provision and culture; this will help duplication of resources and effort.
• provide information on the benefits of applying for a National Insurance number so that this can be circulated by employers - this will also help with capturing more accurate data.
• share and receive data on a regular basis with public services.
• promote qualifications/competence routes for people who would like to work as translators.
• work with the public sector to develop counter arguments and collate evidence to challenge myths which threaten cohesion.

Local service providers including Local Strategic Partnership Board to:-

• encourage joined up working and sharing resources (translators)
• identify a development worker to co-ordinate protocols, engage with migrant workers, undertake research and co-ordinate activities to meet the needs of migrant workers and their families
• establish a multi agency forum (including employment agencies and the private sector) to collate and share data, develop a strategic approach and build capacity.
• provide mediation service to integrate communities
• train staff to be able to inform migrant workers on their benefits entitlements.
• develop multi agency sharing protocol.
• Communicate with migrant workers so they understand the benefits of engaging with services and do integrate into communities.
• ensure Community Strategy reflects changing needs of the community.
• review of ESOL/Welsh language provision to ensure it is accessible.
• review local education and training provision, for both local people and migrant workers to equip them with the skills to meet the current and future needs of the local labour market.
• encourage migrant workers to sign up to Worker Registration Scheme and apply for National Insurance numbers.
• improve information to migrant workers and their families so they are aware of services and how to access them.
• keep local community up to date with changes in the demographic profile.