making migration work: labour market and skills solutions · 2017-01-25 · discourse about...

NIACE Policy Solutions Issue 2 Mar 2015

MAKING MIGRATION WORK:Labour market and skills solutionsPolicy Solutions Number 2 March 2015

The National Voice for Lifelong Learning

MAKING MIGRATION WORK NIACE Policy Solutions Issue 2 Mar 2015

The NIACE Policy Solution Series brings fresh thinking and newideas to key challenges in public policy. We focus on issues wherelearning, skills and employment policies can help achieve inclusiveeconomic growth, better educational outcomes, higher employment,improvements in productivity, better health and well-being, social inclusion, tolerance and cohesion and community and citizen engagement.

Our Policy Solutions examine and analyse the evidence from ourown research as well as others' and propose new policies and approaches. We have a strong focus on practical and simple proposals for how policy can work in practice, using our networksand engagement with thousands of practitioners in the employment, learning and skills arenas.

Our overall aim is to generate interest and debate in how publicpolicy can be improved and how policy can be implemented tohelp deliver a more inclusive, fairer and successful society.

To see more of our policy solutions visit www.niace.org.uk

http://www.niace.org.uk


SUMMARY&

Migration is an important part of our society and the evidence clearlydemonstrates that migration hascontributed socially and economicallyover many centuries to the Britain weknow today. However, much of thediscourse about migration focuses onthe negative concerns about the leveland impact of migration at theexpense of reasoned debate aboutthe public policies which could helpmaximise the benefits.

We believe that employment and skills policies need tochange to unlock the skills of both migrants and UKresidents, to ensure we better meet the needs of ourbusinesses and to nurture and support greater communitycohesion.

Informing the debate

The overwhelming evidence is that migration has beenbeneficial to our economy, with little if any negativeimpact on wages and jobs for people already here. Incontrast to media perceptions about negative impacts onjobs and benefit tourism the evidence suggests thecontrary:

& While migration has grown, with net migration averaging 215,000 per annum in the last 4 years, so has the number of jobs in our economy. Numbers of British workers in employment increased by 375,000 in 2014 while an extra 239,000 non-UK nationals wereworking in Britain

& Immigrants who have arrived in Britain since 2000 were 43% less likely than the UK-born population to receive state benefits or tax credits

& EU migrants alone contribute net £20bn to the UK’s GDP and 63% are qualified to degree level

However, it is also clear that migration has increasedpressure on local services and infrastructure. This inevitablyaffects community cohesion and needs to be addressedby public policy.

Skills and Employment policy is falling short

A flurry of recent reports stress the need to tackle the UK’sgrowing skills gaps and shortages if we are to havesustained economic growth. Migration has to be part ofthe solution as well as more effective policies to supportthe skills of young people and the UK-born existingworkforce.

Current employment and skills policies are not workingthough, to help unlock the benefits of migration. What we see is:

& Decreasing supply, quality and take up of Englishlanguage learning, compounded by a large shortfall in funding

& Poor utilisation of migrants existing skills due to poor advice and guidance and lack of recognition of their qualifications

& An immigration cap that prevents our businesses capitalising on the skills of students from overseas andhigh skilled migrants.

Beyond this, public policy needs to do more to supportcommunity cohesion, including:

& Supporting local communities to address local servicesand infrastructure strains

& Resourcing local authorities to support community resilience and cohesion

& Helping all low paid workers to access opportunities to progress in their careers

This paper provides a positive contribution to the migration debate and proposes a number of policy solutions that will help to maximise the benefits of migration. We need to get this right to have sustainedeconomic growth and to maintain our reputation as a tolerant, welcoming and cohesive country.

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Making the case for language learning #1Tani Al Atwani, West Midlands

Tani arrived in the UK from Iraq in 2006 having left his familybehind. Understanding no English, he struggled with daily lifebut knew he needed to learn the language so that he couldbuy groceries, follow cookery recipes and visit the doctor.

With that in mind, Tani began learning English at SouthBirmingham College and has gained City & Guilds ESOLqualifications from entry level one through to level two – a total of five qualifications. Tani, who later progressed tostudying numeracy level two, said “I do feel a sense of pridein being able to speak English. I have built a home here andbelieve I have a civic duty to learn the language of mycountry. I especially believe that learning the language hashelped me to become independent.”

Tutor Sardul agreed: “Tani is an example to us all in thatlearning can be of relevance to people at any age and fromany background.”


1. HOW IS MIGRATION WORKING?The employment, learning & skills challenges

Migration has made an important contribution toBritain’s development, economically and socially -contributing over many centuries to making Britain a diverse and outward-facing country. However, thepublic debate is often negative, sometimes ill-informedand focused more on concerns over jobs, housing,public service provision and the overall numbers ofmigrants.

This chapter analyses the facts, moving on from thediscussion on numbers, which often clouds the debate, toconcentrate on understanding impact – with a particularfocus on employment, learning and skills.

Understanding the facts on migration

Between 1991 and 2013, immigration in the UK rose by60%, from 329,000 in 1991 to 526,000 in 2013. Netannual migration has also seen a dramatic rise, from anaverage of 37,000 per annum between 1991-95 to over215,000 per annum between 2009-131.

These numbers say nothing about the impact ofmigration but do influence public perception, particularlyin communities with higher levels of migrant residents.Public understanding of the scale and nature ofmigration, and media reporting, often differs markedlyfrom the reality. Immigration is now consistently rankedin polling as the general public’s ‘most important issue’,often above the economy. A majority of the publicbelieves that the number of immigrants coming to the UK is too high and that immigration is more of a problemthan an opportunity2. Overcoming these perceptionspresents a significant challenge to policy makers.

Recent analysis by Dustmann and Frattini3 has gonefurther than most to understand the benefits and costs ofmigration. They highlighted the positive net fiscalcontribution of recent immigrant cohorts (those arrivingsince 2000). Migrants from the A104 countries havecontributed almost £5bn and those from the rest of theEU £15bn. Over the same period, the net fiscalcontribution of the UK-born population was negative,amounting to almost -£617bn. Migrants from outside theEuropean Economic Area (EEA) made a negativecontribution to the public purse of £117.9 billion. Theiranalysis concluded that recent migrants tend to bringpositive net contribution due to their higher than averagelabour market participation rates, compared with thedomestic population, and their lower receipt of welfarebenefits.

Their report also sought to challenge popular misconceptionsaround access to benefits and housing. They found that EU immigrants who have arrived in Britain since 2000were 43% less likely than the UK-born population toreceive state benefits or tax credits and also 7% lesslikely to live in social housing5.

The overall positive economic impact is experienceddifferently in local communities because of the unequaldestinations of migrants. Over the last census period thenon-UK-born population in England and Wales increasedby almost 2.9 million6, however, three quarters of thisincrease occurred in just over a quarter of all local authorityareas. This is why local services and infrastructure issuesbecome so important.

1: HOW IS MIGRATION WORKING?&

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1HoC Library, Migration Statistics, (December 2014)2Scott Blinder, UK public opinion toward immigration: overall attitudes and level of concern (2014)

3Christian Dustmann and Tommaso Frattini, UCL, The Fiscal Effects of Immigration to the UK (Nov 2014)

4A8 Countries are: Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia and Hungary

A10 Countries are A8 plus Malta and CyprusA2 Countries are Romania and Bulgaria

5Dustmann and Tommaso (UCL 2014)6Labour Force Survey (Crown Copyright) - analysis by Migration Advisory Committee (2014). Migrants in low-skilled work – The growth of EU and non-EU labour in low-skilled jobs and its impact on the UK. (July 2014)

Public understanding of thescale of migration differs fromthe reality

Measuring Labour Market Effects of Migration

Analysis of the labour market effects of immigration has anumber of methodological challenges. For example,migrants often move to areas of strong economic growthand labour demand. This makes it difficult to untanglecause and effect in terms of changes in wages andemployment.

Another problem is that international immigration into aparticular area may cause some workers to leave andmigrate to other parts of the country or abroad.Whenever this happens, the labour market effects aredissipated across the country, which makes correctmeasurement through local labour market analysis moredifficult.

What do we know about migrants and work?

The evidence shows that immigrants are better educatedand younger than their UK-born counterparts, especiallythose from the EU15 (the members before the 2004 EUenlargement)7. There is also a larger than average shareof immigrants compared to the UK-born populationworking in professional occupations (47.3% vs 33%)8.However, reflecting the ‘hollowed-out’ nature of the UKlabour market (where there are declining volumes of mid-ranked jobs), there are also more A89 immigrants thanaverage in processing and elementary occupations10.

This occupational mix in both high-skilled and less skilledjobs is reflected in the distribution of immigrants acrosssectors and industries. The health, hotel and restaurantsector employs more migrant workers than other sectors,while the energy, agriculture and public administrationsectors employ relatively fewer migrant workers. EU15migrants are concentrated in the finance sector11.

Understanding labour market impact

The main motivation for migrants coming to the UK is forwork, as stated by 76 per cent of migrants from the EU.Perhaps this is why the UK is the only EU country to havea lower unemployment rate for migrants than nationals(7.5 per cent to 7.9 per cent respectively)12.

MAKING MIGRATION WORK

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NIACE Policy Solutions Issue 2 Mar 2015

7Immigration and the UK Labour Market, Centre for Economic Performance,London School of Economics and Political Science. (March 2015)

8Labour Force Survey (Crown Copyright) - analysis by Migration Advisory Committee (2014).

9A8 Countries are: Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia and HungaryA10 Countries are A8 plus Malta and CyprusA2 Countries are Romania and Bulgaria

10Immigration and the UK Labour Market, Centre for Economic Performance,London School of Economics and Political Science. (March 2015)



Table 1: Occupational distribution of Immigrantsand UK-born, 2014

% of UK-born

ManagerialProfessionalAssistantprofessionalAdministrativeSkilled tradesPersonal serviceSalesProcessingElementary

Source: Labour Force Survey

10.019.514.9

11.211.19.48.25.99.9

% ofimmigrants

9.022.610.4

7.69.19.86.45.99.9

% ofoccupationwho areimmigrants

14.618.011.7

11.413.316.512.920.924.5

Table 2: Industrial distribution of immigrants and UK-born, 2013

UK-born

AgricultureManufacturingEnergyConstructionRetailHotels and restaurantsTransportFinancePublic administrationEducationHealthOther

Source: Labour Force Survey

1.710.61.37.413.54.5

5.817.86.4

10.713.66.7

immigrants

1.110.70.75.212.410.1

7.320.44.0

7.814.85.7

% ofindustrywho areimmigrants

10.816.19.311.714.829.6

19.317.910.4

12.217.113.8


Analysis consistently shows that at national level theemployment rate of the UK-born population is notadversely affected by immigration and has remainedlargely unchanged since EU expansion in 2004. Instead,the total number of jobs in the economy has increased, asnumbers of new migrants have entered the UK. Thenumber of British workers in employment increased by375,000 in 2014 while an extra 239,000 non-UKnationals were working in Britain. Our 31 million labourforce is now made up of 28 million British citizens and 3million non-UK citizens13.

The evidence about local labour market impact ofmigration is harder to interpret. Analysis by the MigrationAdvisory Council (MAC) into the distribution of migrants inlow-skilled work showed significant differences between EUand non-EU migrants. Non-EU migrants are most likely tobe situated in London, EU migrants are much more dispersed.Newham in London has the greatest share of non-EU migrantswith 53 per cent of the population working in low-skilledjobs originating from non-EU countries. By contrast, Boston,in the East Midlands, had the highest share of EU migrants,equivalent to a quarter of the local adult populationworking in low-skilled jobs14. The MAC analysis also foundthat there is no consistent pattern of impact on the locallabour markets across those areas with a high share ofmigrants. Each local area therefore needs to be consideredindividually to assess the true impact of migration.

The following diagram (Figure 2), using analysis of LabourForce Survey data by the Centre for Economic Performanceat LSE15, plots the change in each county’s unemploymentrate for UK-born workers against the change in its immigrationshare between 2004 and 2012. Each dot represents acounty. The black line summarises the strength orotherwise of the relationship. The flatter the black line, theweaker any correlation. This analysis shows the almostcomplete lack of correlation between changes in the UK-born born unemployment rate and changes in immigration.

The analysis also shows that there is no evidence of anyassociation between changes in the less skilled (defined asthose who left school at age 16) UK-born youth NEET (‘notin education, employment or training’) rate and changes inthe share of immigrants. Counties that experienced thelargest rises in immigrants experienced neither larger norsmaller rises in UK-born-born unemployment.

Dustmann et al16 analysed the effects of immigration onworkers within specific wage ranges and occupations. Theyfound that the greatest wage effects are found for low-wagedworkers, where each 1% increase in the share of migrantsin the UK-born working age population leads to a 0.6%decline in the wages of the 5% lowest paid workers and toan increase in the wages of higher paid workers. Similarly,another study focusing on wage effects at the occupationallevel during 1992 and 2006, found that, in the unskilled andsemi-skilled service sector, a 1% rise in the share of migrantsreduced average wages in that occupation by 0.5%17.

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13Labour Force Survey (Crown Copyright) - analysis by the Guardian: (18 Feb 2015)


15Immigration and the UK Labour Market, Centre for Economic Performance, London School of Economics and Political Science. (March 2015)

16Christian Dustmann and Tommaso Frattini, UCL, The Fiscal Effects of Immigration to the UK (Nov 2014)

17Stephen Nickell and Jumana Saleheen, The Impact of Immigration on Occupational Wages: Evidence from Britain (2008)


Migration & benefits - what's the story?

Public policy on migration, over the course of this parliament, has tended towards assuaging public and media concernsabout numbers. Over the past 12 months both the Government and other parties have proposed policy aimed atcombatting perceived ‘benefit tourism’, in particular with the aim of reducing the eligibility of EU migrants to drawdown benefits. This is despite the evidence showing that less than 5% of EU migrants claim Job Seekers Allowance(JSA) and less than 8% claim in-work benefits18.

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Migration and Benefits: The rules

Jobseekers from the European EconomicArea (EEA) need to wait 3 months beforethey can claim for Jobseekers’ Allowance,child benefit and child tax credits.

To stay longer than three months, theyhave to be in work, actively seeking work,or have a genuine chance of being hired.Or they have to prove that they have theresources to remain without being aburden on public services.

EU migrants cannot automatically claimbenefits after three months. They have topass a “habitual residence test” under EUlaw. Even if they pass this, they can thenclaim Jobseekers’ Allowance for sixmonths – after that, only those with a joboffer or proof they are likely to find workare allowed to continue claiming.

On top of the tests required under EU law,the UK applies an additional test: the“right to reside”.

From April last year, new EEA migrantjobseekers have no longer been allowedhousing benefit.

Migration and Benefits: The reality

Less than 5 per cent of EU migrants areclaiming Jobseekers’ Allowance.

EU migrants make up 5.6 per cent of theworkforce - families with at least one EUmigrant make up 7.7 per cent of tax creditclaims.

Those who have arrived in Britain since2000 were 43% less likely than UK-bornsto receive state benefits or tax credits andalso 7% less likely to live in social housing.

Migrants to the UK make a net contribution,as they pay more in taxes than they takeout in benefits - £20bn from Europeanmigrants alone.

There are similar levels of UK nationalsand foreign-born individuals living in socialhousing: 17 per cent and 18 per cent,respectively.

18House of Commons Library, Statistics on migrants and benefits, Commons library standard note, (November 2014)


THE STATE OF THE NATION&

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Figure 4: EU Migrants as a percentage of the population, 2011

& NET annual migration has seen a dramatic rise over the past 2 decades, from 37,000 per annum between 1991-95 to almost 300,000 this year.

& Migrants are dispersed across the UK. Non-EU migrants are most likely to live in London, whilst EU migrants are much more dispersed. Boston, in the East Midlands, has the highest share of EU migrants.

& There is also a difference between the fiscal contribution of EU and non-EU migrants.

& Since 2001 it is estimated that migrants from across the European Economic Area have contributed an estimated £8.9bn to the UK Economy (£436 per person per year), whilst non-EU migrants have had a negative impact of - £86bn.

© OpenStreetMap contributorsSource: England & Wales Census


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Making the case for language learning #2Naseem Bashir, North East

Naseem moved to the UK in 1996 to get married, and at thetime she had a very basic understanding of English. Her aimwas to work in childcare, but she knew she’d need to improveher language skills to achieve this.

Naseem went to Newcastle’s Angelou Centre – an organisationworking with and supporting black and minority ethnic women– to ask for help to improve her spoken English. Naseem becamea volunteer crèche worker at the centre and undertook arange of courses in Community Learning Champions, CivicVolunteering, Parenting Champions and Tackling RaceInequalities.

Naseem is now a Community Learning Champion who helpsother adults in her community access learning opportunities,and is seen as a role model. She continues to volunteer in thecentre’s crèche and works part time as a crèche worker.

Naseem said, “Learning gave me confidence as a womanand mother. I am now able to support my children with theirstudies and share knowledge about the wider world.”


2. FALLING SHORTHow current policy measures upto the challenges of Migration

Public policy related to migration has over recentyears tended to react to a growing negative publicperception of the impact of migration. This has led to mainstream political parties seeking to promise reductions in net migration or to propose more punitive measures to dissuade immigrants from coming to the UK. What has mostly been missingfrom the debate is a focus on public policies whichwill maximise the benefits of migration, support people to integrate into society and tackle the localpressures on services and infrastructure.

In this chapter we explore three main areas where policymakers need to move the debate if we are to makemigration truly work for all.

The language barrier is a barrier to growth

Over the next 10 years it is anticipated that there will be13.5 million job vacancies in the UK labour market, butonly 7 million new labour market entrants to fill them19.Employers are already facing critical skills gaps and skillsshortages, leading to low productivity, together withmillions of people stuck in low-paid work or not able toaccess full-time work. It is increasingly becoming clearthat we need to look beyond our existing workforce if weare to fill these gaps.

The Annual Population Survey (2013) reported that therewere approximately 28.5 million people aged 16-64 inemployment in the UK, 15 per cent of whom were non-UK-born. Of those 28.5 million people, around 13 millionare working in low-skilled occupations and 2.1 millionpeople in low-skilled occupations were not born in the UK.Migration has an important role to play in helping to fillskills gaps at either end of a ‘hollowed out’ labour market.Research suggests that lack of access to English languagelearning (English for Speakers of Other Languages orESOL) is one of the greatest institutional barriers tomigrants upgrading their skills and allowing businesses touse their talents to address growing skills gaps20.

Overall, around 850,000 people in England and Wales areconsidered ‘non-proficient’ in English. However,government funding for ESOL has declined from £210min 2008 to £130m in 2013, having suffered adisproportionate share of the reduction in the Adult SkillsBudget (Figure 5). Although many providers report highlocal demand for ESOL provision, which they are unable to

meet, reductions in funding and increased eligibilityrestrictions have resulted in a dramatic drop inparticipation in ESOL learning. This has fallen from anestimated 500,000 learners in 2006/07 to 139,000 in13/14. The funding and eligibility rules for ESOL and thedrop in funding has led to questions about theappropriateness and quality of provision too.

Tackling language skills also delivers important personalbenefits. In some cases people have been living and workingin Britain for decades without having the opportunity todevelop their English language skills further. This can be asignificant barrier to them successfully integrating intoand contributing to their community, building a careerand fulfilling their ambitions.

The role of learning and skills provision is essential inensuring that the individual, employers and the widereconomy are able to harness the capabilities of morehighly-skilled migrants to everyone’s advantage, whilealso supporting individuals and communities that feeldisplaced by migration to get the skills they need to bepart of the society.


2. FALLING SHORTHow current policy measures up to the challenges

&

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19Wilson, R. et al, Working Futures 2010 – 2020 Evidence report 41, UKCES (Aug 2014).

20NIACE, Committee of Inquiry on English for Speakers of other languages (2006).

850,000 people in England and Walesare considered ‘non-proficient’ inEnglish. However, funding for ESOL hasdeclined from £210m in 2008 to £130m

Source: ONS, Crown Copyright (Jan 2015)


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Recognising the skills migrants have

The University of Birmingham undertook a seven-yearstudy into the education, training and employment needsof new migrants in the UK. This highlighted a number ofissues which have hampered high skilled migrants fromusing their skills in the labour market. Their analysis foundthat migrants with professional and trade backgroundsoften found that their existing qualifications from theircountry of origin were not recognised by professionalbodies in the UK21.

Many students who had completed degrees in their countryof origin also found that the UK NARIC system downgradedtheir qualifications often to intermediate level and thatthere is no mechanism for these students to use theirexisting learning as credit for a UK degree. In the absenceof a recognition of prior learning and achievement systemmany migrants are required to undertake further trainingto have existing skills recognised.

We believe more needs to be done to improve qualificationrecognition alongside improving embedded English languagesupport in vocational training and diversifying existingESOL provision to meet a wider range of needs. ESOLclasses also need to be provided more flexibly so that thosein employment can continue to progress their learning.

The migration cap is a cap on our ambition

There has been much debate in the run-up to the generalelection about the practicalities, pros and cons of themigration cap and targets. The Coalition aim of reducing net migration to “below 100,000 within this parliament” has been unsuccessful, with the most recent data showingnet migration at 298,00022.

Net migration is made up of three broad elements:

& immigration from the EU (which, under EU treaties, cannot be capped);

& immigration from outside the EU (which the Government controls through a points-based system); and

& outward migration (which the Government cannot control).

Because the Government can only control one of thethree components of net migration, this receives mostpolicy attention. But sometimes this has perverseconsequences – for example, reducing the number ofinternational students (who pay higher fees and subsidiseBritish students) and risking both higher educationincome and reducing the high skilled migration needed tofill skills gaps.

We believe that Government needs a more sophisticatedapproach to this policy. For the UK to continue to prosperand grow employers need to access a global workforce –ensuring they can recruit the brightest and best. This is aneconomic imperative in an increasingly competitive globaleconomy. When it comes to inward investment and fiscalpolicy Government has clearly demonstrated that “Britainis open for Business”. Migration policy similarly needs tomatch this rhetoric. A number of commentators havesuggested that the Government should take a morepragmatic approach by matching the migration targetcloser to labour market need - ensuring that we are betterequipped to tackle skills shortages in the economy.

21Philmore, J, New migrants and lifelong learning: impacts, gaps andopportunities, Centre for Urban and Regional Studies (2007)

22ONS (Crown copyright), Migration Statistics Quarterly Report (26February 2015)


Better policy to address perceptions & reality

The challenge for policy makers is to make policy whichrecognises the negative perceptions of migration as wellas embracing and promoting the real benefits it brings.

As noted in chapter one, the often reported concerns thatmigrants benefit to the detriment of domestic residents(from increased access to employment opportunities,benefits, housing and other services) is largely false or verylocalised.

Despite the evidence, the perception that UK-bornresidents are missing out is real. With unemployment nowfalling, the perceptions are less about access to work andmore focused on pay. Recent reports suggest that the UKhas 5 million people on low pay and that it is very difficultto move from low pay into higher skilled work or tosupport improved productivity without skills and othersupport.

As we discussed in our last Policy Solution publication onprogression, there are policies that can address the highnumbers of people in low paid work. Our proposal for aNational Advancement Service would be aimed ateveryone in low pay and focus on boosting their earningsand opportunities.

Beyond employment and skills policies there are otherpublic policy challenges that will help address the realissues as well as the misconceptions about migration. For instance, more work needs to be focused on housing,education and local service provision.

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Learning and skills provision isessential in ensuring that theindividual, employers and thewider economy are able toharness the capabilities ofmore highly-skilled migrants

http://shop.niace.org.uk/no-limits-from-getting-by-to-getting-on.html







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Making the case for language learning #3Aurelio Horta, South West

Aurelio came to the UK from Portugal with his family in 2004, seeking work and a better life.When a car accident left him with injuries that meant he couldn’t continue his career as amiller, he set about improving his skills for employment.

Whilst recovering, Aurelio became a volunteer for South Somerset Mind and Yeovil Hospital,offering advice and interpreting skills. Aurelio knew that learning English was key to accessingjob opportunities, so he passed Levels 1 and 2 in literacy and numeracy, as well as ECDLcomputer courses. During that time, he encouraged more than 200 other migrants to completevarious English courses.

In 2010, Aurelio became the Community Link Worker for South Somerset District Council, andsubsequently started studying for a Level 6 Diploma in Public Service Interpreting.

He said “My job gives me great pleasure to see my clients happy when their problems have beenresolved. These last two years have launched my career at a level that I never dreamed of.”


3. POLICY SOLUTIONSEmployment, learning & skills policiesthat will maximise migration benefits


3. POLICY SOLUTIONSEmployment, learning & skills policies that will maximise migration benefits

&

This chapter identifies positive policy solutions toensure that the benefits of migration are maximised;UK residents are supported to succeed; and communitycohesion is nurtured.

Learning English for all Everyone should be able to access support to become proficient in English language and migrants should take responsibility to use the opportunities. Public funding should be targeted, learning opportunities more flexible and individuals and employers should be incentivised to invest in skills. Totackle this NIACE believes that

a. Learning English should be a requirement of anyone in a household in receipt of any benefit.At present learning English is a requirement of the main claimant of Jobseeker’s Allowance. We proposeto extend this requirement to anyone in a household (not just the main claimant) of any working-age benefit (including for example, Housing Benefit) in advance of the potential roll out of similar conditionsto households in receipt of Universal Credit.

b. The number of English classes should be expanded to match growing demand. To do this, existing public investment on ESOL (£130m) should be focused solely on flexible and high quality entry level learning, expanding learning opportunities at this level. More should be done to provide on-line, blended courses to enable people to progress as quickly as possible to becoming proficient.

c. Personal Skills Accounts should be introduced to fund all ESOL learning above entry level. Employers would be expected to register employees for an Account and provide time to access learning when learners themselves invest. Learners would be able toaccess income-contingent loan funding. In line with NIACE’s manifesto proposals on personal skills accounts all employees should have access to Career Reviews to help inform their investment in learning. We estimate this new market will be valued at between £150-200m.

d. Government should support the development of more language learning embedded into vocational courses. Embedded language support would allow migrants to improve their skills and contribute to the economy. This would help maximise the benefits of migration.

Local solutions to improve opportunities for people and greater community cohesion. Policy makers should support local communities where there are greater numbers of migrants. To tackle this NIACE believes that:

a. Local areas with particularly high levels of migration should be supported to raise additional resource to tackle their specific needs.They should have the option to introduce, where there is local agreement from employers (similar to Business Improvement Districts and the skills levies in construction and the creative industries), an additional employer levy to fund skills support and apprenticeships for residents as well as other community cohesion activity.

b. All people should have equal opportunities to get on. As recommended by NIACE’s No Limits, the Government should give better support to all people in low paid work, including introducing a new National Advancement Service and access to Personal Skills Accounts.

c. Leading by example - Government should establish a pilot to improve English Language proficiency of workers in the publicly-funded Health and Social Care Sector through blended and work based learning. As well as improving effectiveness and productivity, this could inspire and inform similaractivity in those sectors with a higher representation of migrant workers, such as the Hospitality and Food and Drink Sectors.

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Migrants, particularly those with high skills have a vital role to play in helping us to tackle our skills crisis. For the UK to continue to prosper and grow, employers need to access a global workforce – ensuring they can recruit the brightest and best. This is an economic imperative in an increasingly competitive global economy. On our inward investment and fiscal policy Government has clearly demonstrated that “Britain is open for Business”. Migration policy similarly needs to match this rhetoric. To tackle this NIACE believes that:

a. Government should urgently review the migrationcap to ensure that the UK has access to the students, entrepreneurs, and people with skills we need to growand prosper. This should recognise the different migrant groups, including family and humanitarianmigration; high-skilled migrants where language learningwould be self-financed as well as those seeking low-skilledwork. Students should be excluded from any target and economic migration should be encouraged where thereare urgent labour market needs in the economy23.


OUR SOLUTIONS&

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23Social Market Foundation, Targeting Migration, (March 2014)


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Making the case for language learning #4Rubina Bhatti, South East

Originally from Lahore in Pakistan, Rubina’s hectic family life had for many years prevented herfrom returning to education in the UK. She jumped at the chance to join Surrey Council’sFamily Learning Language course, which helped improve her English skills, and gave her theconfidence to better support her sons in their education.

Within a short space of time Rubina completed the OCR Functional Skills English exam and twoIT courses. She later studied for a Level 2 Preparing to Help in Schools qualification.

Her new skills and understanding have benefited both Rubina and her son, who has grown inconfidence and greatly improved in his school work. She now volunteers at her local primaryschool helping the children with maths and English.

Rubina said: “I had begun to believe that I would never get the opportunity to return toeducation in the UK, but these courses have changed my whole outlook towards life. My dream is to become a teaching assistant.”


CONCLUSION&

It's time for an informed, outcome-driven debate onmigration, avoiding the negative rhetoric that sadlydominates much of the mainstream reporting ofmigration policy.

Employment, learning and skills policies have a critical roleto play in helping to make migration work. It is imperativethat we maximise the clear benefits migration has anddoes bring for businesses, communities, the economy andmigrants themselves. Through more positive interventionswe can:

& Unlock the talents of migrants to fill skills shortages and gaps and support sustained economic growth

& Support all workers to become more resilient and able to fill vacancies across all levels

& Build greater community cohesion across the length and breadth of the country.

Only by moving on to address real, rather thanperceived challenges with positive and practicalsolutions will we have a migration system that servesthe needs of our economy and society.

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“Employment, learning andskills policies have a critical role to play in helping to make migration work, securing a much greatereconomic return and alsoensuring much strongercommunity cohesion”

National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (England and Wales)

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making migration work: labour market and skills solutions · 2017-01-25 · discourse about...

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