Speaking at a Policy Network Conference in London today (Dec 1), Sir Robin Wales said that while immigration has brought benefits to the country as a whole, migration affects areas and people in different ways
He told the conference that Newham – the biggest Olympic and Paralympic host borough – deals with migration by promoting community cohesion, tackling worklessness and ensuring equality and fairness in the delivery of services.
In his speech, Sir Robin said that overall the impact for UK plc regarding immigration is positive, but he called for greater flexibility for local authorities in tackling the complexities of immigration and said steps must be taken to help the working poor, unskilled and unemployed who suffer from depression of wages and competition for jobs.
He said: “the East End lags far behind the rest of London; on employment, income, child poverty, skills and health… our driving aim in Newham is to achieve what we call convergence with the rest of London. Our goal is to ensure that our residents have the same opportunities and quality of life as the average Londoner
Migration affects communities in different ways and the needs of my borough will be different to another borough. But in addressing the challenges of migration, I would argue that elected members in local authorities are democratically accountable and uniquely placed to understand these local complexities. In recognition of this, there must be greater devolution of power and flexibility for local authorities to act.
Sir Robin said better national counting, mapping and financial planning would help central and local government deal more effectively with the impacts of immigration. A detailed analysis of the borough’s population commissioned by Newham Council had revealed an undercount of at least 21,000 – which means the borough is losing out on an estimated £10.5m of funding every year.
Added Sir Robin: “This must change. Those areas which experience increased strain on public services resulting from immigration should receive extra help to meet this demand.
“In addition to more effective national planning, we need evidence-informed planning locally to respond to the demands immigration places on our services and community.”
The conference heard that Newham faces serious challenges – it is the sixth most deprived local authority in the country with levels of worklessness well above the national average.
Sir Robin told the delegates that Newham has a strong record of community cohesion and that this must be preserved and built on to manage the impact of migration. He said one of the ways to maintain cohesion is to give people fair and equal access to services.
He cited a shortage of council housing as one of the factors which can threaten community cohesion and stressed the importance of treating people fairly.
He added: “The shortage of council housing means that allocations can be a potentially serious threat to cohesion. Conflict can develop between communities if recent arrivals are perceived ‘to ‘jump the queue’. In Newham we have a transparent system which allocates housing based on waiting time.
“This is not about race or ethnicity, but is about fairness. Over 60% of Newham residents come from an ethnic minority, and 65 per cent of residents on our housing waiting lists come from a non-white ethnic group. In the light of this there can be no accusations of any one particular ethnic group being given preference over another.”
Sir Robin also stressed the vital importance of employment in uniting communities and raising aspirations and said immigration should not be used as a substitute for tackling worklessness.
He said it is important for the long-term unemployed to be given the training they need to get a job and that Newham Council is looking to scale up the support services it offers to residents to help them face the effects of the recession.
He added “We believe that residents should be first in the queue when it comes to opportunities in Britain. It is particularly important for the long-term unemployed and those who have never worked to be given a chance. Long-term unemployment is a social evil that blights millions of lives in this country. This is about giving people the chance they deserve to improve their situation and contribute both to the economy and to society.”