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Communities and neighbourhoods

Migration national conference

Date of speech	22 November 2007
Location	British Library, London
Event summary	Conference on migrant workers hosted by the East of England Development Agency (EEDA)

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Draft text of the speech - may differ from the delivered version.

Let me first of all thank the East of England Development Agency for arranging today's conference.

Migration has always been a controversial subject to discuss. It can provoke strong reactions, raise legitimate concerns, but also be manipulated by unscrupulous politicians to provoke base reactions.

I hope today will give us a mature, balanced debate, because unless political leaders are prepared to address the concerns, empathise with the fears, and tackle the myths of migration, we end up in the worse place of all - with politicians speaking one language and the people speaking another.

We need to recognise the positive economic and cultural contribution of migration: but equally, the impact on communities and public services.

One that acknowledges how strongly many people feel, without losing sight of the facts.

And one that is not just about analysing the challenges, but sharing the positive and practical things that are being done across the country to manage them.

The starting point of any debate has to be a recognition of how important migration has been in British history.

For centuries openness to trade, to new ideas, to new people has enriched and strengthened this country.

There's a pub in my constituency called the Flemish Weaver. It's named in tribute to artisans who made Manchester their home in the fourteenth century. They brought a craft that would go on to make the North West the world's textile capital, creating jobs and generating wealth.

For 350 years Jewish communities have made an incalculable contribution to business, science, arts and civic life.

After the Second World War, it was new arrivals from the Commonwealth who helped set the NHS on its feet and support other crucial public services.

Today, in the era of globalisation, looking outwards is more vital than ever. Making the most of the flow of capital, goods, services and people is essential if we are to remain a leading force in the world economy. And migration continues to make a positive economic contribution.

The late Robin Cook pointed out that Britain's national dish - chicken tikka masala - is a combination of Indian-style chicken and good old British gravy, a perfect metaphor for the way indigenous culture is enriched by migration.

My own favourite is fish and chips - French fried potatoes, introduced by the Huguenots, and Jewish fried fish, introduced by Eastern European and Russian Jews, and as we all know, there's nothing more British than fish and chips.

In rural areas, such as the East of England, migrants play a big role in agriculture, hospitality and tourism - indeed, EEDA's own research in 2005 found that migrant workers contributed approximately £360 million a year to the region's economy.

But it's not just low-skilled industries. It's students from abroad who decide to stay and put their talents to use. It's professionals attracted by the vibrancy of the UK economy.

Without talent from abroad, the City would not be as successful.

Nor would manufacturing. Last week I was in the North-East where, as well as nurturing local talent, chemical firms are looking to Eastern Europe to meet their need for skills.

And yesterday I was in a meeting with Local Authority Chief Executives praising the energy and dynamism that young migrants brought to the local area.

Migrant communities are young communities. Young communities, filled with energy, vibrancy, entrepreneurialism and ambition. You can confidentially predict that in twenty or fifty years time, some the most successful, dynamic businesses in Britain will be ones started in the past five years by recent migrants.

So in all our discussions, and our approach, it's vital to keep sight of those benefits.

But in a balanced debate, we also need to have our eyes open to the challenges.

It is clear - as patterns of migration change, and as international travel makes it easier, including for many British citizens, to study and work abroad - that some communities are experiencing these changes for the first time. Others are experiencing changes on a new scale. This can be unsettling.

Some public services - like schools and hospitals - suddenly need to meet new needs.

Charities are seeing people come for help who don't speak English as their first language.

In some places relations between people from different backgrounds can be difficult - where people do not have the skills or knowledge about how to get along with people who are different to them.

Sometimes, the challenge is not so much what migrants do as the perceptions of settled communities.

At worst, extremists look to use all this as an opportunity to try and create divisions, driving a wedge between different communities.

These are genuine challenges. They won't go away if we stick our head in the sand; nor if we choose simply to fulminate and bluster.

What we need are positive, practical steps to ensure that migration continues to strengthen and enrich this country, continues to be part of what makes Britain great.
 
I recognise that it is often local government on the front line doing just this, seeing the issues first, reacting first, working with a whole range of organisations, from employers to schools to hospitals to charities.
It is local government organising, coordinating, and providing a collective sense of direction.

I want to pay tribute to that - especially to those individual local authorities who are experiencing more challenges than others.

In many places you have done great work, showing true leadership.

I was struck listening recently to a school head whose Catholic school had seen their rolls swell thanks to Polish children, and the local Priest was delighted to have a full church every Sunday.

And I hope today will help us all learn from the what the best are doing.

The Commission on Integration and Cohesion and the Institute of Community Cohesion showcased some of the work going on.

Sometimes it is small misunderstandings that lead to tensions - for example, when people don't know when to put their bin out. In Langport, a small town in Somerset, the local Development Trust appointed a specific officer to give new arrivals information about their rights and responsibilities, helping them fit in with local life.

Sometimes, new migrants are particularly vulnerable to being exploited by unscrupulous gangmasters or irresponsible landlords. Taking action to protect them is absolutely the right thing to do - as places like Cornwall and Manchester have done. Getting it right can have a big impact on settled communities as well. Enforcing the minimum wage means that fair deals don't get undercut. And making sure people don't end up living in sub-standard, overcrowded accommodation can get rid of a potential source of tension.

Sometimes, things can be improved by providing a forum for people to talk about their shared experiences. In Coventry, the Local Strategic Partnership started "Celebrating Coventry", an event to mark civic pride and break down barriers between people from different backgrounds.

And sometimes the biggest barrier to new arrivals for getting on is a poor grasp of English. In Goole, in North Yorkshire, following the arrival of Polish migrants, the council has made its English lessons much more accessible around people's working day, and made more books on Learning English available in the local library.

This kind of work is absolutely vital. That's why there are new measures for cohesion in the 198 national indicators for local government.

I know that some local authorities are putting these among their priorities for improvement in their Local Area Agreement. I welcome that, because in some places it's clear that cohesion can't be an optional extra but needs to be part of what local authorities do day in, day out. I welcome it because it shows local government thinking and acting strategically.

And it's because this work is so important that this Government is committed to supporting more of it.

That's why, in response to the Commission on Integration and Cohesion's report I recently announced a ten-point action plan, backed up by £50m investment over the next three years.

As part of that, from next year we will be piloting specialist integration and cohesion teams.

These experts - with experience from a whole range of different places that have handled changes well - will help local leaders find solutions that fit the local picture, from information packs explaining to migrants what their rights and responsibilities are, to citizens' days, to myth-busting events for settled residents.

And we will be producing guidance helping local authorities decide when they should be translating material - and when they shouldn't: and advice on how the funding of community groups can best encourage cohesion.

But as well as at a local level, migration has big implications for central Government.

We need to get better not just at supporting your work but complementing it with our own.

There is, already, a huge amount going on across the whole of Whitehall.

And just as local authorities coordinate across different partners, we in Whitehall need to coordinate nationally across a whole range of departments.

For example, the Home Office's work is vital - strengthening our borders, and enforcing immigration law.

The new points system to be introduced in 2008 will make sure we get the migrants we need, with the right skills to fill gaps.

But a successful response must involve many more players than just the Home Office.

For example, my Department is responsible for housing - one of the areas most prone to myths and misconceptions: like the far right's ugly claims, in parts of East London, about the local council having a policy "Africans for Essex".

This is of course utterly absurd and offensive.

So too are the more subtle but just as false suggestions that migrants get special priority for council housing when the fact is, not all are eligible, and when they are, they go through the same process as everyone else.

But I believe we can rebut these kind of myths even more effectively with a fuller understanding of the picture across the country and in different sectors.

So my Department is examining more fully the impact of migration on social housing, the private rented sector, housing affordability, and household projections. 

And we are working with the Commission for Equality and Human Rights on the review of housing allocations recently announced by Trevor Phillips.

But the issues go well beyond my Department, too.

Look at the role of the English language - one of the most important factors in building a sense of shared belonging.

The way we support the teaching of English as a second language can have a big impact on cohesion. The Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills are going to be talking to their partners as they take a fresh look at national policy.

Or look at health. The Department of Health is reviewing the reciprocal health care arrangements we have with European Economic Area countries, and how foreign nationals access primary and secondary care.

These are important issues - health, housing, education. There is a lot of practical, positive work underway, and in the months to come we're going to see more of it.

But I do agree there's a challenge for us in Whitehall.

Perhaps people at the moment don't quite see the range of what we're doing.

And perhaps they don't quite see how it all fits together.

We need to get better at bringing together what we do, joining forces and making sure we are all pulling in the same direction.

Increasingly I want my Department - with its responsibilities for local government, and supporting strong communities - to be the people thinking strategically to achieve just that.

And equally, with the patterns of migration constantly shifting, we need to be able to keep up to date with new changes.

Above all - people need to feel that the system is fair - that no-one is getting a free ride whilst they have to work harder than ever.

That's why the Migration Impacts Forum, set up earlier this year, is so important.

My Department and the Home Office co-chair the Forum, established to provide a forum for dialogue with the experts - including local government - who understand the difference migration is making in local areas.

The forum has already begun looking at the evidence of the impacts of migration. At its last meeting, it looked at community cohesion. In January it will look at housing. And future meetings will look at issues like crime and disorder, and health. I believe this work is vital, we need to take it further, and I will be attending the next session so that I can hear for myself from the people on the front line.

And finally, Government is listening and learning on the statistics we use to measure the population, which reflects the number of migrants in different parts of the country, and the support we provide to local authorities on the back of them. 

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) have already made important improvements, reflecting a better understanding of just where in the country migrants travel to and from. The local government settlement going to consultation this year will be based on a revised set of population projections based on 2004 figures, published in September 2007.

While the ONS data are not perfect, they are the best data currently available that treat all authorities on a consistent basis - which is of fundamental importance. It simply wouldn't make sense to use different measures for different parts of the country.

But of course, like any data, the ONS statistics can be improved.

That is why we welcome the substantial programme of work ONS is undertaking to improve population statistics.

Local authorities are going to play an important part in that, and I know you'll be hearing from ONS later this morning.

And I know that many are already taking up the challenge from the Commission on Integration and Cohesion to gather more information to understand what's going on in their communities and how they should react.

Today isn't the end of the debate. Rather I hope it will help us all - both in central and local government - understand what more we can do, how we can do it better.

I do believe we have the right fundamental approach.

One that is positive about the opportunities of migration, but hard-nosed about its impact on public services and cohesion.

Understanding that Britain is a nation of Danes, Normans, Romans, Jews, Huguenots, Asians, Chinese, Irish, Afro-Caribbeans, Africans, Poles, Australians, and home to every race, faith, ethnicity and nationality under the sun.

But recognising that rapid change can be unsettling and creates fear and tension. To recognise it, is the first step to tackling it.

It is not about scaremongering, but taking tough practical action.

Together we have the opportunity make sure that migration continues to be not a burden, but a great benefit for years to come.