Written evidence submitted by the London Borough of Newham

Summary

1. The London Borough of Newham (LBN) is the most diverse local authority in the country, with high levels of migration and population churn. We know that immigration has a positive impact on our economy, our community, and our services overall. However, some of the pressures it can bring are also felt more acutely by those in poorer areas like Newham.

2. The council works hard to ensure a fair deal for all on immigration. We do not want to shut ourselves off from the world - instead, we are determined to equip local people with the right skills and opportunities to thrive in the modern economy and to address their concerns about the effects of immigration head on. We often work in partnership and there are three interlinked strands to our approach:

• Making sure that everyone plays by the rules, by enforcing regulations that protect residents, providing fair access to services, and preventing the undercutting of minimum standards on housing and employment.
• Upskilling our residents to compete in an increasingly global labour market, with locally tailored employment support and skills provision to ensure existing residents are connected with local jobs.
• Building community resilience, working proactively to create opportunities for residents from all backgrounds to come together as one community.

3. Post-Brexit, local government has an important role to play in a new settlement on immigration that works for all. By ensuring a level playing field between UK and migrant workers, and helping local people to thrive in their community, we believe it is possible to allow the flexible approach to immigration that businesses need and minimise the perceived negative impacts on the most deprived communities.

4. This submission sets out some key features of Newham’s approach. We would be happy to arrange for members of the committee to visit Newham to see some of the challenges and our responses first hand.

The impact of immigration in Newham

5. Newham is the most diverse local authority in the country, and high levels of immigration have had a significant impact on the Borough:

• Newham had the highest growth in the non-UK born population in London between the 2001 and 2011 census (72,285 additional residents), with the proportion of residents from the UK falling from 62% to 46% over the same period.
• Net international migration is currently estimated at 14,000 per year, and is a significant contributor to rapid population growth in the Borough.

• The population is extremely diverse, with no single group in the majority - our largest single ethnic group in the 2011 census was ‘White British’, representing just 17% of the population (down from 34% in 2001).
• One-in-five residents (21%) have lived in the borough for less than two years. ‘Long-term’ residents are no longer the majority in the borough, and just 44 per cent of residents have lived in Newham for 10 years or more.[1]

6. Our diversity is one of our greatest strengths, and we know that immigration benefits our economy, our community, and our services overall. Newham is an open and ambitious East London borough, experiencing significant investment and regeneration, and immigration plays an important role in supporting local growth and addressing current skills gaps. For example, 36% of workers in London’s construction industry are migrants, as are a significant proportion of our health and social care workforce.[2]

7. However, we know that some of the pressures immigration can bring are felt more acutely by those in poorer areas like Newham. Our residents face greater competition for low-skilled jobs, massive demand for rental properties at the bottom-end of the market, and additional pressures on public resources. Service pressures for the council linked to immigration include:

• 74% of primary school children and 66% of secondary school children in Newham have a language other than English as their first language, and a high number start mid-term.
• 43% of homelessness acceptances in Newham in 2015/16 were for non-UK nationals. 
• 65% of those identified sleeping rough in Newham in 2015/16 were not UK citizens, with the largest single group from Central and Eastern Europe.[3]

A fair deal on immigration

8. Following the EU referendum, it is even clearer that brave but honest leadership is needed from local government to show that we are in touch with our residents. We can help shape the kind of post-Brexit environment we want to create, and we must ensure that we do not neglect hard working people who are struggling on the lowest incomes.

9. That is why we are using our role to create a fair deal for all of our residents on immigration. This means taking a proactive approach to enforcing regulations and minimum standards; ensuring local residents have the skills and opportunities to compete in the local economy; and bringing people together to build community resilience.

Making sure everyone plays by the rules

10. We want to ensure there is a level playing field for our residents by preventing illegal undercutting of standards, cracking down on unscrupulous landlords and employers who exploit vulnerable people for profit, and providing fair access to under-pressure services such as housing. We take our enforcement role seriously, with over 140 enforcement staff across the borough. We also fund 40 dedicated local police officers who work in partnership with us on local priorities and regularly participate in joint operations, including with local immigration enforcement.

11. We were the first local authority in the country to introduce borough-wide private rented sector (PRS) licensing to tackle rogue landlords who let out overcrowded and sub-standard properties – often exploiting vulnerable people and recent migrants.  Landlord licensing helps us to enforce minimum standards and address perceptions that immigration contributes to the housing crisis, while enabling us to tackle shocking examples of exploitation such as severe overcrowding and people housed in dangerous conditions.
12. By taking action against rogue landlords, we make it much more likely that housing will be used by Newham families and drive out ruthless operators seeking to undercut decent and responsible landlords. Working with the Police, the UK Border Agency, and HMRC, we have also been able to address wider concerns around immigration and exploitation, anti-social behaviour, and undeclared rental income. It is only through true partnership working that these issues can be tackled. In 2015/16, Newham provided 70% of all landlord prosecutions in London, and since the scheme started in 2013 our work has led to:
• 1000 landlord prosecutions, with 28 landlords banned
• An additional £2,033,588in Council Tax collected.
• Over 402 multi-agency operations conducted.
• More than 674 arrests made by Newham Police.
13. We now require permission from the Secretary of State to extend the licensing regime from January 2018, and we will be submitting our case to the Department for Communities and Local Government. The Government should support local authorities who wish to introduce borough-wide licensing schemes to raise standards in the private rented sector.
14. We want to do even more, which is why we have long been campaigning for greater powers to enforce payment of the National Minimum Wage. [4] High levels of low-skilled migration in areas such as Newham is often linked to exploitation in the labour market. We estimate that one in five Newham workers are receiving less than the minimum wage,[5] with too many employers illegally exploiting vulnerable people to undercut legitimate businesses. When employers use migrant labour to illegally undercut the local workforce it breeds bitterness and division. We believe that local government is best placed to address this issue, using our local knowledge to pursue rogue employers with robust targeting and enforcement alongside our existing regulatory role in local workplaces. The Government should support devolution of greater powers over labour market enforcement to local areas.
15. We are also working hard to address our growing problem with rough sleeping. Over half of rough sleepers in Newham are not from the UK, with the largest group from Central and Eastern Europe (112 of 260 people found sleeping rough in 2015/16).[6] Operation Alabama is our award winning partnership with Thames Reach, the Metropolitan Police, and the Immigration, Compliance and Enforcement (ICE) service to help rough sleepers and address related anti-social behaviour. Outreach staff and other partners are working closely together to help people into accommodation and reconnect people with their country of origin. In the first year, a total of 145 people were moved from the street into hostels and other accommodation, 35 were referred to drug and alcohol services, and 20 supported to return to their home countries.[7]

16. With Newham on the frontline of London’s housing crisis, we know we must also offer a fair deal on housing. That is why our housing allocations criteria is based on a first-come, first-served principle and rewards contribution, with a residence criteria and people in work or with caring responsibilities prioritised. We are ensuring that nobody is ‘jumping the queue’ for housing in Newham.

Upskilling our residents to compete

17. Helping residents to thrive in their own communities, and preventing people from being left behind by economic growth, is key to addressing many concerns related to immigration. Rather than shut ourselves off from the world, we are determined to make sure our residents get a fair deal and have the right skills and capacity to compete in the modern economy. Only through local programmes, using local knowledge and relationships, can both residents’ and businesses’ needs be met.

18. That is why access to Workplace, our highly-effective local employment service, has a residence criteria to ensure long-term residents do not lose out. The council invests around £5m a year in providing locally focused employment support, and by working closely with employers to provide what they need we have filled over 30,000 vacancies with local people since the programme started in 2007. This approach helps our residents to outcompete migrant labour and take advantage of new jobs coming to the borough, meaning globalisation is an opportunity not a threat.

19. We are also matching our skills provision to what local businesses need. Our Construction Skills Academy, in partnership with LendLease and Lloyds bank, is addressing a pressing skills gap and aiming to reduce the reliance on migrant labour in this crucial sector.[8] This will build on the success Workplace has already had in placing residents in key construction jobs on the Olympic Park site and beyond, with over 1,000 residents placed into construction positions over the last three years.

20. We are also working with neighbouring boroughs across the Local London sub-regional partnership to push for greater devolution of skills powers and funding. The Government should pursue more radical devolution of employment support and skills provision to help local areas upskill their residents, link them with local jobs, and reduce the overreliance on migrant workers in key sectors in the long run.

Building Community Resilience

21. It is also important to address concerns around integration and community cohesion that can arise with rapid migration and population change. We have worked hard to avoid tension and build a shared community. We respect and celebrate difference - this cannot be about forcing people to assimilate or pretending we are all the same. However, we must also be clear about what we have in common, and help people come together and build positive connections naturally.

22. In Newham, our eight Community Neighbourhood Teams are at the forefront of our approach, pioneering a new way of getting people active and building networks by bringing the work of the council closer to local residents and harnessing the power of our community.[9] We have turned our libraries into thriving community hubs, bucking the national trend by extending opening hours and increasing footfall. We now host an average of over 500 community events per week through our Neighbourhoods, encouraging residents from all background to get involved in their community and providing opportunities to volunteer, learn new skills, or simply attend one of our coffee mornings or activities in our libraries. Our annual Connecting Faiths –Building Communities conference also brings together hundreds of representatives of different faith groups across Newham to consider how they can work together and with the Council on community projects.

23. We make sure that when people use our community assets or council funding, it is for inclusive events that are open to all residents- not restricted according to particular religious or ethnic groups. We also help to bring people together through our programme of free community events and our ‘Let’s Get the Party Started’ small grants scheme, allowing local people to host their own events including street parties.

24. Speaking English is also a key part of building a shared identity, and enabling everyone to play an active role in the community. We do not fund foreign language newspapers in our libraries, and we have reduced the amount we spend on translation to encourage people to improve their English. However, we will not leave people to sink or swim - we continue to offer free English tuition that is open to all, despite cuts in government funding. 

25. Being a strong, inclusive community also means that we welcome those in the greatest need. We have taken our responsibility to house Syrian refugees seriously, taking in families as part of the Government’s scheme. Local people and community groups are helping these families to settle through our Neighbourhoods teams, and have also raised thousands of pounds through fundraising events for the wider Syrian refugee crisis. We want to do more, and we call on the Government to support local authorities to help more refugees in this ongoing crisis.

Conclusion: immigration policy post-Brexit

26. We are proud that our approach is working, and 89% of our residents report that people from different backgrounds get on well together in Newham – above the national average.[10] We know there is further to go, and we cannot afford to be complacent. However, Newham’s success in supporting a diverse and cohesive community while providing a fair deal for existing residents contains important lessons for the Government’s approach to immigration policy post-Brexit.

27. By helping local people to thrive in their community, enforcing minimum standards to ensure a level playing field, and helping to bring people together, it should be possible to create a fair deal on immigration which provides the flexibility that businesses need while preventing people from feeling left behind and addressing perceived negative impacts of immigration in deprived communities.

28. Local government leaders have an important role to play in this, but our approach needs to be supported by Government. The London Borough of Newham has faced among the largest cuts in the country, with further cuts confirmed to 2020, making it challenging to manage service pressures and fund vital community infrastructure.[11] The principle of providing additional support in areas with high levels of immigration to mitigate pressures, as set out in the recently announced Controlling Migration Fund, is welcome. However, more needs to be done to support local authorities.

29. Specific areas that the Government should focus on in developing a new post-Brexit settlement on immigration include:

• Protecting the rights of existing EU migrants:  There are a large number of EU citizens in Newham that have settled here and make a significant contribution to the community and local economy. Their right to remain in the UK post-Brexit should be protected as a priority. 

• A bespoke deal on immigration for London: We support the Mayor of London’s calls for the particular needs of London’s economy to be considered in the post-Brexit immigration policy landscape. This should include exploring some devolved powers over migration, such as a London-specific work visas.[12]

• Supporting local authority enforcement: the Government should support local authorities who wish to take on a greater role in enforcing minimum standards in housing and employment in high migration areas, including supporting landlord licensing schemes and the devolution of key powers relating to labour market enforcement. The committee should recommend that the Government conducts trials in areas with the capacity, resource and experience of local enforcement, such as a pilot of devolved National Minimum Wage enforcement in Newham.

• Devolve greater power and resources over employment and skills: enabling local areas to support residents to compete in the economy and fill local skills gaps, and reducing reliance on migration in key industries in the long-run.

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