Population movement
33. Different parts of Wales have at different
times experienced large population movements, including for example
the inward migration of Italian and Irish workers into the docks
and mines of South Wales in particular and the movement of people
from North Wales to the South Wales mining valleys and to docks
areas, especially Cardiff. Such changes have been part of the
history of Wales since the nineteenth century. These flows sometimes
peaked for a short time, as was the case in Cardiff in particular
during the late 1980s and early 1990s when there was a period
of reunion of refugee families affected by the civil war in Somaliland.
(Paragraph 233)
34. The period during which we took evidence on
population change and mobility coincided with a significant increase
in the number of people entering Wales as migrant workers from
the 2004 European Union accession countries (the 'A8'). The evidence
we received reflected this experience and this section of the
Report therefore focuses on the way in which Wales responded to
this recent phenomenon of globalisation. We recognise, however,
that immigrant communities have had a presence in Wales for many
generations and have made a huge economic and cultural contribution
to the nation. The concerns of these settled Welsh communities
deserve separate consideration, but fall outside the scope of
the evidence we took during this inquiry. (Paragraph 234)
35. We recognise the great economic benefit that
migrant workers can bring to Wales, but are concerned that this
should not have a disproportionate effect on the economic stability
of migrant workers' home countries. We commend the work of the
Welsh Assembly Government in building healthcare partnerships
with developing countries to reduce the impact of the loss of
health workers from these countries. (Paragraph 243)
36. Our evidence has demonstrated that migrant
workers have experienced difficulties in gaining recognition for
overseas qualifications. In a global market with an increasingly
mobile workforce, people who trained abroad must be enabled to
make full use of their skills to benefit the Welsh economy. We
recommend that the Sector Skills Councils work with the relevant
government departments to ensure the appropriate recognition of
overseas qualifications or their translation into Wales or UK
equivalents. It is important that an objective verification is
applied to ensure that overseas qualifications and experience
translate into the quality of service expected in the UK and that
there is an English language test to ensure that the skills can
be properly applied. (Paragraph 245)
The Government has put in place UK-wide legislation
to implement a European Directive (2005/36/EC) on the recognition
of professional qualifications. This Directive makes it easier
for professionals to move around Europe and work in other Member
States, by removing unnecessary bureaucratic barriers to registration
with the appropriate regulatory body for the profession concerned.
Where the incoming EEA migrant's qualifications fall short of
the minimum standard required, the regulator can require them
to undertake a 'compensation measure' to make up the shortfall.
In the UK, the Directive covers a wide range of professions
such as: teacher in state schools; physiotherapist; social worker;
farrier; driving instructor and Chartered titles for engineers
and accountants. Information about the Directive and the list
of UK professions and regulators can be found at www.europeopen.org.uk
It is accepted that applicants for recognition of
their professional qualifications should have adequate language
competence. However, testing that competence is outside the terms
of the Directive: the prospective employer can check such skills.
In those cases where in the UK there is no regulation
concerning qualifications attached to a profession, advice about
how overseas qualifications fit into the UK system can be obtained,
by the migrant, from UK NARIC—the National Agency for information
and advice on vocational, professional and academic qualifications.
The Government also supports a new European initiative:
the European Qualifications Framework (EQF). EQF has the potential
to improve the recognition of skills throughout Europe, allowing
national qualifications to be translated more effectively between
different countries. Work is currently underway to reference
the qualification frameworks in the UK to the EQF. The Welsh
Assembly Government is involved in this work.
37. Language skills are a vital element of training
for migrant workers. The ability to speak the local languages
with a degree of fluency is vital not only for employment reasons,
but also to improve social cohesion. Many migrants entering Wales
may have some familiarity with the English language, but our evidence
suggested that it was often inadequate, and few have knowledge
of Welsh. This may be a considerable disadvantage, particularly
in rural areas or in industries such as care and nursing. There
is a need to improve the provision of English and Welsh language
tuition at specific times and in specific geographical regions
in order to respond to peaks of inward migration such as that
caused by migrant workers during 2007. Local authorities do not
always have the resources to meet these specific additional demands
and we recommend that the Welsh Assembly Government considers
providing assistance in such circumstances via short term targeted
additional funding. (Paragraph 248)
The newly created Migration Impact Fund will provide
an extra £1.727m to the Welsh Assembly Government in 2009/2010.
Subject to a review in the autumn of the economic position and
the migrant fees being received a similar amount can be expected
in 2010/2011. In developing proposals for the use of the fund
the Welsh Assembly Government is keen to ensure that the money
will be used in a way which will leave a sustainable legacy beyond
the life of the fund. Proposals are currently being developed
which will enable as wide as possible engagement from statutory
stakeholders and voluntary organisations. The intention is to
advocate investment in projects and services which will help us
to deliver on community cohesion and social inclusion. This could
include projects which would seek to provide additional ESOL (English
for Speakers of Other Languages) and WSOL (Welsh for Speakers
of Other Languages) classes.
In 2006, the Welsh Assembly Government restructured
the way Welsh for Adults was planned and delivered nationally
in order to increase the numbers of Welsh language speakers.
A commitment was made to establish six Welsh for Adults Centres
to be responsible for working in partnership with other providers
such as local authorities to plan strategically for the development
and delivery of targeted learning opportunities for people wishing
to improve their linguistic skills in Welsh. This includes the
planning and delivering of targeted provision for migrant workers
and asylum seekers. The Welsh Assembly Government funds the provision
through the Welsh for Adults Centres.
The need for Welsh language provision for migrant
workers is more pronounced in areas where Welsh is spoken as a
community language, mainly in north-west and south-west Wales.
In 2007-09, both the North Wales Welsh for Adults Centre at Bangor
and the South-West Welsh for Adults Centre at Swansea piloted
Welsh taster courses for migrant workers from Poland who wish
to use their Welsh at work. However, both these centres have
recently highlighted the fact that the demand trend for this provision
appears to be in decline as a consequence of the impact of the
recession.
The Glamorgan Welsh for Adults Centre at Pontypridd
specializes in offering bespoke provision in the workplace and
has recently been commissioned by the Royal College of Nurses
to offer Welsh language taster courses for Filipino nurses so
as to enable them to communicate with patients and staff in Welsh.
ESOL is identified alongside literacy and numeracy
as a part of the responsibility of the basic skills strategy.
Within the basic skills strategy funding has been made available
to increase the numbers of teachers qualified to teach language,
literacy and numeracy. This has resulted in a significant increase
in the numbers of qualified staff. ESOL needs vary greatly across
Wales and over time but the growth in need has increases the imperative
to plan strategically. To this end an ESOL national advisory group
has been established to identify priorities within the sector
and to plan a support programme for practitioners as well as to
increase the focus on training and providing professional development
for teachers and supporters of ESOL.
38. No migrant workers should experience exploitation,
no matter the industry in which they are employed. At present,
our evidence suggests that the resources devoted to preventing
and addressing exploitation are insufficient. The Gangmasters
Licensing Authority has only a limited remit and is poorly resourced,
whilst local authorities are already struggling with other priorities.
We recommend that the remit of the Gangmasters Licensing Authority
is extended to include additional industries and that it is provided
with appropriate additional resources for this larger remit. (Paragraph
252)
The Government strongly agrees that vulnerable workers,
whether migrant or otherwise, should not be subject to exploitation.
That is why we established the Gangmasters Licensing Authority
in 2004 to operate a licensing scheme of labour providers in the
agricultural, food processing and shellfish collecting areas.
There is general agreement that the GLA has been effective in
clamping down on illegal working practices of rogue employers
in these sectors, and that for a small organisation it "punches
above its weight".
We think it is fair to say that all enforcement agencies
would like more resources to do the job. The GLA currently receives
around £1.4 million grant in aid to operate the licensing
scheme and to ensure that licensed labour providers comply with
the conditions of their licences. Defra also provides the GLA
with around £2.2 million a year to enforce the criminal offences
established by the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004. Additional
funding is provided by the Department for Agriculture and Rural
Development in Northern Ireland for enforcement there.
Defra is currently considering a bid by the GLA for
more funding to cope with increased activities as a result of
the impact of the recession and employers unfairly taking advantage
of workers to maintain profit margins, in particular, to cover
the cost of additional enforcement officers. However, Defra has
to balance the funding of competing priorities from a finite level
of resources at its disposal.
The GLA's enforcement effort is directed at those
areas which the GLA's intelligence suggests represent the greatest
risk. This approach ensures that the GLA makes efficient and effective
use of the resources at its disposal. The enforcement effort of
the GLA is complemented by a wide range of activities undertaken
by other Government agencies to enforce other legislation which
impinge upon the activities of gangmasters
Collectively, the criminal sanctions and resources
available to the GLA and other enforcement agencies represent
a significant weapon with which to tackle the activities of gangmasters
and other employers who exploit their workers and act illegally
Government has no current plans to extend the scope
of the Gangmasters (Licensing) Act 2004. The scope of the 2004
Act was limited to shellfish gathering and the food chain as the
problem of illegal labour providers was thought to be most prevalent
in these sectors. Employment agencies and other labour providers
operating outside the GLA sectors are already subject to employment
agency legislation, which is enforced by the Employment Agency
Standards Inspectorate (EASI)
The case for extending the scope of licensing was
recently looked at by the Vulnerable Workers Forum chaired by
Pat McFadden, Minister for Employment Relations at BERR. The Forum
concluded that there is no consensus for such an extension. Instead
the Government has announced that it intends to build a significantly
higher profile for the EAS amongst agency workers and agencies
themselves. This involves;
- Doubling the number of EASI inspectors by July
2008
- Implementing a campaign to promote the awareness
of EASI
- Closer working between EASI and GLA to share
information about non-compliant or suspect businesses operating
across their respective areas; and to share information about
labour providers moving out of the licensed sector into those
regulated by EASI
39. The housing demand associated with an increase
in economic migration after the accession of the A8 states to
the European Union compounded an existing shortage of affordable
housing in Wales. Local authorities must take a central role in
strategic planning for housing and they must receive appropriate
support from central government to respond to short term additional
demands for housing. (Paragraph 259)
The Welsh Assembly Government is actively engaged
in supporting Local Authorities in their strategic function of
meeting the shortage of affordable housing.
The One Wales agreement commits the Welsh
Assembly Government to providing an additional 6,500 affordable
homes by 2011.
There is a suite of mechanisms to assist the development
of affordable housing, involving the use of publicly owned land
and the prioritisation of sites, central government funding through
Social Housing Grant (SHG) and the Strategic Capital Investment
Fund (SCIF), through the Planning System (section 106 agreements)
and the development of Local Authority Affordable Housing Delivery
Statements.
The Welsh Assembly Government is providing £322
million via the SHG programme to assist the delivery of additional
affordable housing for rent or low cost home ownership
Through the SCIF an additional £42 million has
been secured over three years to provide additional affordable
housing schemes. It will take advantage of securing new properties
and land, bringing with it the added benefits of helping maintain
employment in the building industry. SCIF can be used to purchase
unsold completed properties built by developers, partially completed
properties or for the purchase of land that can be developed for
affordable housing.
The Welsh Assembly Government wants to see publicly-owned
land released more easily for the development of affordable housing.
A number of sites have been identified through the Welsh Assembly
Government Land Release protocol across Wales for a fast-track
disposal to Housing Associations to assist in meeting the target
of 6,500 extra homes and to boost the construction industry during
the housing market downturn.
40. Increased population mobility is a feature
of globalisation. This means that levels of migration into Wales
from other countries will continue to vary. We have found no evidence
to suggest that the arrival of migrant workers has posed a threat
to local services. In fact, migration overall represents a sizeable
economic boost for Wales. However, migrant workers do have particular
needs which must be supported, including the provision of information
about services and employment rights and the translation of documents
and services into languages other than Welsh and English. Equally,
in areas which have experienced high levels of inward migration
in a short period, the increased demand for services can be challenging
for local authorities to meet. We consider that there is a pressing
need for improved methods of data collection concerning the numbers
of migrants in particular areas and their likely period of residence
in order to inform decision-making and planning for additional
pressure on local services. Greater sharing of information between
employers, agencies and public service providers is also required.
This will be of continued importance in future years as the ongoing
integration of national economies into the global market encourages
even greater population mobility. Leaving local services with
inadequate funding to cope with demand leads to a poorer service
for local communities and can also negatively affect community
cohesion. (Paragraph 261)
Please refer to the response provided for paragraph
42.
41. The recent report on Issues Affecting Migrant
Workers from the Equality of Opportunity Committee of the National
Assembly for Wales has called for an employers' code of practice
focusing on reduction of exploitative practices. We consider that
any such code could usefully include a commitment by employers
and employment agencies to encourage social cohesion and help
workers integrate into the local community (Paragraph 267)
The Government is committed to ensuring that migrant
workers who are here to work and contribute do not become vulnerable
to exploitation. We are committed to ensuring that all employees
have the same protection and that all employers play by the rules
and do not seek to undermine UK employment law. Legal migrant
workers have the same employment rights and recourses as their
UK equivalents. The Government has created a fair framework of
employment rights including the right to a minimum wage, a right
to 24 days paid leave—being increased to 28 days from April
2009—and the right not to be forced to work more than 48
hours a week.
In addition, the Government established the Vulnerable
Worker Enforcement Forum in June 2007, chaired by the Minister
for Employment Relations, to look into the nature and extent of
abuse of worker rights, assess the adequacy of the enforcement
framework and identify possible improvements. The Forum concluded
its work in August 2008.
Following the work of the Forum, the Government is
undertaking a programme of work to ensure that all workers, including
migrant workers, have access to their rights and that they are
properly enforced. Key measures include:
- a sustained, three year, Government-led
campaign to raise vulnerable worker awareness of basic employment
rights and encourage the reporting of workplace abuses. The campaign
will include promotion of a single enforcement helpline; significantly
more publicity for the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate;
more awareness-raising work for migrant workers, an enhanced basic
rights section on www.direct.gov, and publicity for the new national
minimum wage (NMW) penalties and fair arrears provisions. Phase
1 started in early February 2009 with a £1million campaign
to raise agency workers' awareness of their rights and promote
the Employment Agency Standards Inspectorate through posters in
hot-spot areas, online activity, press articles, and direct marketing
to all 13,000 employment agencies;
- establishment of a single enforcement and compliance
helpline through which vulnerable workers will be able to report
abuses and access information and advice about the rights enforced
by government. This will significantly simplify and streamline
the current position where there are six separate helplines. The
new service will be operational this year;
- action to tackle the legal information-sharing
barriers that, for some of the enforcement bodies, prevent inspectors
passing information to each other. This will enable better targeting
of the worst employers;
- significantly more face to face contact with
advice bodies, community groups and local authorities to raise
awareness of the NMW, employment agency standards and other basic
rights, and build local contacts for intelligence about non-compliant
employers;
- a Fair Employment Enforcement Board chaired by
the Employment Relations Minister bringing together the enforcement
bodies and external stakeholders to drive forward these improvements;
and
- a third round of the Union Modernisation Fund
(UMF) to be run with a new focus on protecting vulnerable workers.
The Government has also strengthened enforcement
of basic employment rights through the Employment Act 2008. The
Act introduces stronger penalties for non-compliance with the
National Minimum Wage, and improves protections for agency workers
by making infringements of employment agency regulations indictable,
so that they can be tried in a Crown Court where tougher penalties
are available and cases can be brought by the enforcement body
without a witness. Recent revisions to the Employment Agency Conduct
Regulations also give agency workers a right to withdraw from
services provided—such as transport—without suffering
detriment.
We have also taken steps to raise migrant worker
awareness of workplace rights, both prior to their arrival and
once they are in the UK. It is particularly important to reach
workers in the host country before they leave as it is often much
harder to help workers, who may not speak English and have no
accommodation arranged, once they arrive. We have offered to work
with the Governments of all the new Member States, to prepare
bi-lingual 'know before you go' leaflets aimed at ensuring potential
migrants are aware of their rights and responsibilities both before
they leave their own country and on arrival in the UK. To date
we have produced leaflets in partnership with the Polish, Lithuanian
and Romanian governments and benefited from input from the TUC,
the CBI and other stakeholders. They have been distributed widely
in both the workers' home country and the UK. For example, in
Poland they have been publicised on television and our Embassy
and the Polish authorities have worked hard to distribute them
via job centres, recruitment fairs and other channels.
The Government has also heavily publicised the national
minimum wage, and has specifically put together information to
ensure that migrant workers are aware of their entitlement to
the national minimum wage and know where to go for advice. A specific
awareness raising campaign targeting Polish, Lithuanian and Slovakian
workers through outreach work, posters and online activity took
place in 2008. This included pages on directgov in Polish, Lithuanian
and Slovakian. There are also guidance leaflets available in a
range of languages. In addition Accession country (A8 and A2)
workers required to register under the Home Office's Worker Registration
Scheme receive a basic Know Your Rights leaflet.
42. In recent years, Wales has benefited from
an inward flow of migrants, many of them highly skilled. It has
also made efforts to raise skill levels within the existing population,
as discussed in the first section of this Report. In order to
ensure that the Welsh economy exploits these resources to the
full, the UK Government, the Welsh Assembly Government and local
government in Wales will need to co-ordinate their activities
more closely, enabling sound strategic planning for local services
in response to varying levels of inward and outward migration,
and providing a ladder of opportunity for incoming migrants, as
well as the existing population, to raise their skills and contribute
to the country's prosperity. (Paragraph 270)
United Kingdom Borders Agency representatives have
met with counterparts in the Welsh Assembly Government and discussed
the findings of the Welsh Affairs Committee report. The Welsh
Assembly Government has said they will work closely with UKBA
and local councils to evaluate the recommendations that have been
formulated.
