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3 Literature Review

3.1 Introduction

There has been a difficulty in locating research pertinent to this study as there are few comparable studies covering the subject matter. Indeed, there is "an evident paucity of research on migration and homelessness in Europe" ¹². Therefore, the research reviewed covers a range of related subjects as follows:

• Research about immigration trends in Europe and the impact of this immigration on homelessness services
• An assessment of information relating to the scale of migration in the UK; the level and type of work undertaken by migrants; and experiences of homelessness services in working with migrants
• Research into migration to Scotland and, in particular, integration of migrants into existing communities
• Specific research about the scale of migration to Edinburgh and the Lothians and features of the EU8 community

3.2 The European picture: Immigration and homelessness

The literature that is available on EU8 immigration focuses on the social and demographic impact of immigration from third country nationals - e.g. people seeking asylum - into the varying EU member states. The emphasis is on the social and legislative environments of each individual member state. Crucially, there is very little literature available which specifically reflects the impact of EU enlargement and, following from this, the freedom of movement across the EEA and free access to the labour market in the United Kingdom along with the accompanying rights - although this is not surprising, given that EU enlargement has taken place relatively recently. There is also some literature available relating to homelessness and social inclusion but, again, this is not specific to EU enlargement.

Immigration

The literature which looks at the EU-wide picture indicates that immigration will continue to increase throughout Europe, both from outwith the EU and as a result of EU enlargement. Overall, "the trend in all countries is towards increased immigration from outside Europe with a growing number of migrants from poor countries" ¹³. It is recognised by the European Commission to the Council that immigration will be a permanent part of Europe's future ¹⁴.

Across Europe, the profile of immigrants is made up of economic migrants, asylum seekers and undocumented migrants, in varying proportions. At an EU level, there is increasing recognition of the substantial impact that immigration is having on the social and demographic profile of all EU member states. This has led to a heightened policy focus on the integration and social inclusion of migrants. The European Community has only recently assumed competence for immigration and asylum, through the Treaty of Amsterdam which came into force in 1999 ¹⁵. The ongoing development of a common EU policy focuses on issues such as the management of migration flows and the widening of the rights and entitlements of migrants through a "more vigorous integration policy" ¹⁶. A central imperative in EU immigration policy is social integration. A key message is that equality of access to housing and other services, as well as employment, is crucial to the social inclusion of migrant communities.

Homelessness

The European Observatory on Homelessness produced a report on homelessness in 2002 ¹⁷. The main concern raised by the 15 correspondents was the increased vulnerability that migrants have to poverty, racism and social marginalisation. A further concern raised was that homelessness services can become a safety net for migrants who become destitute. This is because migrant admission policies are generally not coordinated with strategies to facilitate social integration. Further, these policies often do not coincide with national policies which dictate the categories of eligibility to key services and social protection. Therefore, homelessness services do not necessarily have the resources or expertise to fulfil this safety net role adequately.

3.3 UK literature: Scale of migration; work; and evidence of impact of migration on homelessness services

Scale of migration

Statistical information which indicates the scale of EU8 migration can be found from two UK government sources: first, the Accession Monitoring report, produced by the Home Office, Department of Work and Pensions, HM Revenue and Customs and the Department for Communities and Local Government ¹⁸. This provides data on those EU8 migrants who registered with the Worker Registration Scheme from the beginning of their membership of EU until the end of June 2006. In total, there were 447,000 applicants; 82% of these were aged between 18 and 34. 97% of EU8 migrants were in full time employment. Second, National Insurance Number ( NINo) Allocation records, available from the Department of Work and Pensions, indicate the scale of migration: in Scotland, there were 34,931 NINo registrations by EU8 nationals between April 2004 and March 2006. Information from both these sources will be used in chapter 5 in more detail.

Work

There are other sources of qualitative research which indicate patterns in work by EU8 migrants:

a) EU8 migrants are predominantly employed low wage sectors - most typically agriculture and hospitality and catering.

b) A tendency by migrants to work in jobs well below their educational and skill levels. Research also showed that migrants accepted this because the wages they were earning in the UK were significantly higher than wages in their own countries.

c) The reason for EU8 national coming to the UK generally is to look for work due to high levels of unemployment in countries of origin. There are no trends to suggest either that most are staying or most are leaving the UK.

d) EU8 nationals continue to come to the UK to work, contributing to the success of the UK economy, whilst making very few demands of the UK's welfare system¹⁹.

Evidence of impact of migration on homelessness services

Whilst EU8 nationals have access to the UK's labour market, their eligibility for welfare benefits and social assistance (such as homelessness assistance) is limited by transitional regulations. In short, until an EU8 national has completed an unbroken year in employment whilst registered with the Worker Registration Scheme ( WRS), there is no entitlement welfare benefits other than those understood as 'in-work' benefits. This leaves a proportion of EU8 migrants, primarily those who are unable to find employment, vulnerable to destitution.

Research undertaken concurrently with our study by the Homelessness Agency 'Homeless Link' focuses precisely on this group in London ²⁰. The study shows that a small but significant proportion of migrants from the EU8 countries are ending up homeless and destitute in London. 43 frontline London homelessness services were surveyed, including day centres, outreach teams and free night shelters. Hostels, where a bed space is generally dependent on eligibility for housing benefit, were not included. The survey indicated that 15% of the 4,300 individuals using these services were EU8 nationals.

Almost two-thirds of this group were unemployed, and a further third had only managed to secure irregular work. Of those employed, only one in eight had registered with the WRS. Services were asked about the support needs they had identified amongst their EU8 clients. A majority of services found that EU8 nationals faced problems with accommodation, employment, language difficulties and lack of knowledge of the UK system. A small number of services saw EU8 nationals with support needs normally associated with rough sleeping, such as drug or alcohol misuse or mental and physical health problems.

Significantly, two distinct groups of EU8 nationals who had used frontline homelessness services emerge from the London research:

• Those relatively new to the street, who have minimal support needs. Individuals within this group need short-term help to find a job and a place to live
• A second, smaller group, who have more serious support needs or multiple needs often associated with longer-term rough sleeping

The study concludes that these groups would benefit from the range of services offered by homelessness agencies, but their lack of recourse to public funds makes accessing this support virtually impossible. The risk identified is that over time and without effective interventions their problems are likely to get worse.

The Scottish Council for Single Homeless ( SCSH) undertook research into EU8 migrants and their experience of homelessness in Scotland during 2006 ²¹. The research aimed to provide a better understanding of the issues facing local authorities with regard to providing housing and homelessness services to EU8 migrant workers. The research showed that Scottish local authorities had seen a significant increase in homeless applications from EU8 migrant workers in early 2006. The study concludes that there has been some confusion regarding the duties of local authorities towards EU8 migrants who experience homelessness, particularly surrounding entitlements to welfare benefits. This issue has recently been addressed by the City of Edinburgh Council in its interpretation of the Scottish Executive's Code of Guidance (see above).

3.4 Research relating to Scotland

Research has tended to focus on labour market issues associated with EU8 migrants. As with the UK-wide research, similar themes emerge relating to type of work and reasons for migration. However, some useful additional points are made which raise questions about how successfully EU8 migrants are integrated into the communities to which they move ²².

Employers seem to value the commitment of migrant workers, their flexibility and their quality of work, in some cases contrasting this with the performance of local workers. This may have the potential to cause friction between those in the existing labour market and those emigrating from EU8 countries. However, there is also evidence to suggest that the increase in the migrant worker population does not seem to have reduced employment opportunities locally and that migrant workers are generally well-integrated into local communities ²³.

Issues relating to English language skills were also raised and are comparable with this study. It is difficult for migrant workers to access interpretation and translation facilities: this creates barriers for migrants to accessing facilities and services, such as establishing a bank account, identifying accommodation, and accessing general information and advice. Issues with language may also explain why migrants are drawn to low-paid, low-skilled jobs which do not depend upon speaking or writing in English. These concerns about language are echoed within this study.

A coordinated approach by a range of agencies was recommended to address existing and emerging needs of migrant workers. This included cooperation between employers and various statutory and voluntary services. This raises questions about what might be provided for EU8 migrants in order to ensure integration and access to services such as language support, and web- or paper-based information in all EU8 languages. There have also been some examples of 'welcome packs' and other information for EU8 migrants in local authority areas, such as Aberdeen and Glasgow.

3.5 Scale and type of migration to Edinburgh

Throughout this research, there has been considerable difficulty in making an accurate assessment of the level of migration into Edinburgh. DWP and NINo data does give an indication. It is difficult to identify migration flows due to lack of data on the numbers of migrants arriving and, crucially, leaving the UK, as highlighted by Lothian Labour Market Unit's 2006 study ²⁴. This study also indicates that in 2004/5 the City of Edinburgh absorbed more than a quarter of all migrants coming to Scotland; and that the country most represented in this group was Poland. A more detailed assessment of numbers of EU8 migrants in Edinburgh can be found in the community profile (section 5).

Literature suggests that, throughout the European Union, there are wide variations in the social profiles and circumstances of migrant communities ²⁵. It could be argued that the EU8 migrant community in Edinburgh is characterised by an overwhelmingly high proportion of economically active educated and skilled young people who, for the most part, have eligibility for the services that they require.

3.6 Conclusions

Likely future trends

It seems likely that immigration will continue to increase throughout the EU, both from outwith the EU and as a result of EU enlargement. It also seems likely that the EU will continue with the development of common policy on the management of migration flows and increased integration of migrants to communities. If this is the case, there may be difficulties in coinciding national policies with EU regulations.

Currently the UK economy is buoyant, with very low unemployment. Whilst there are vacancies, particularly those which are not dependent on good English language skills, then it seems likely that migration will continue to occur. Levels of migration may be affected by a number of issues:

• A reduction in the value of UK currency against those currencies of EU8 countries meaning that the value of UK wages would drop or rise still further, in relative terms.
• Levels of vacancies and sectors in which vacancies occur
• Unemployment rates in EU8 countries
• The opening up of labour markets in other EU member states to EU8 nationals
• Further EU enlargement (Bulgaria and Romania joined the EU in January 2007, but with significant restrictions on accessing the UK's labour market)

Edinburgh appears to have proven attractive so far and this is likely to continue to be the case if the economy continues to grow. It is important to keep in mind that EU8 nationals, if working legally in the UK, are contributing to the economy through National Insurance and taxes and, as such, are able to offer considerable net benefit. Through increased migration, it is possible that friction may arise between the existing work force and new migrants. This may become more problematic if language barriers are not addressed.

A significant proportion of EU8 migrants are young people (aged 18-34). If the tendency is for young migrants to stay in the UK, there is also the chance of this group further integrating - having families and accessing a wider range of services as a result.

If there is a change in interpretation of the current legal position taken by local authorities on access to housing assistance by EU8 migrants who are not economically active, there could be an increase in more vulnerable people both migrating to the UK and accessing services. If this is the case, then additional housing resettlement and support services will be required to meet these needs; this is made more complex through issues of language. If the current legal position is maintained, there is the possibility of an increasingly vulnerable and marginalized group of EU8 migrants remaining in frontline homelessness services.

The need for specific research about impact on key services

Useful research has already taken place on the impact of migrants from overseas on the UK economy and labour market. This research suggests that migration is seen as being almost entirely positive, albeit with some issues raised about a mismatch between educational attainment and type of work, as well as issues about language acting as a barrier to reaching full earning power. However, with the exception of the Scottish Council for Single Homeless's report, this existing research does not give detailed information about the impact of this group on local public service provision. The statistical data is a very valuable source to gauge numbers of EU8 migrants and gives some demographic information. However, this does not give a complete picture as it is unclear at this time what proportion of EU8 migrants have applied for National Insurance numbers or the Worker Registration Scheme.

Therefore, the remit of the Edinburgh-based research into impact on services is to address an information need largely not yet met by existing research. It is anticipated that other local authority areas may wish to undertake similar studies in their areas to assess impact on services locally.

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