Integration is the only way forward for migrants

11:42am Thursday 17th April 2008

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When residents of Eastern European countries dubbed the Accession 8 were given permission to work in Britain, there were fears it would signal a huge surge in dole scroungers and greater trouble on the streets. Sussex, particularly Littlehampton and Bognor, has welcomed thousands of migrant workers to its heart and has been praised for its work to help them fit in. Today Paul Dendle, Arun District Council's cabinet member for finance and central services, argues the new workers must be thought of as equals with their neighbours, and tells how officials could have done even more with extra assistance from the Government.

It was with interest that I read of a new study, published by the Association of Chief Police Officers yesterday, which revealed the influx of migrants into Britain has not led to an increase in crime as some had previously suggested.

As someone who is working extremely hard, along with other agencies, to foster community cohesion in Arun, I welcome this dismissal of just one myth that can unjustly create fear and suspicion in our communities.

Myself and two colleagues, Chief Inspector Brian Bracher, of Sussex Police, and Jaqui Ball, head of strategy and partnership at Arun District Council, have recently returned from a European Conference in Brussels about migrants.

We were invited to speak in front of an audience, including members of the European Commission and officials from across the Continent, in recognition of how Arun has responded positively to the influx of EU migrants during the past few years.

Arun has the second highest number of registered eastern European workers in the South East, with more than 4,000 registering between May 2004 and December 2007.

Many organisations within the district have worked tirelessly in this time to help the migrants integrate into our community, with positive effects.

The Council for Voluntary Service (CVS) has been working in partnership to develop, support and improve access to information and services for migrant worker communities since 2002.

The partnership includes Arun and Chichester district councils, Sussex Police, Sure Start and the Children's Fund, along with health, education and other voluntary sector colleagues.

A major element of that work has been to consult with new residents from Portugal, Poland, Latvia and Lithuania in order to understand their issues and needs.

If Britain is to be a cohesive society its citizens have to be able to communicate with each other, share experiences and have the same liberal democratic values.

Integration is the only way forward.

We need to reach out to these new communities and integrate them into the British way of life, which is based on principles of free speech, fairness and economic opportunities for all.

Through Accord, the cross-cultural advisory group, we have been able to develop a better understanding of the differences in our cultures and use this in a positive way.

The new Expanding Communities team of frontline workers, each specialising in helping people from other countries to settle in Arun, will also be able to take this work further over the next 12 months.

They will help deliver services, such as one-to-one surgeries, and support the partner agencies in their work with the migrant community, including English language provision and ante-natal classes.

Bulletins have also been published in Lithuanian, Polish, Latvian, Russian, English and Portuguese to keep the communities up to date with how issues are progressing.

The council's website is also available in five different languages, offering a Welcome to Arun pack with important information on housing, education and emergency services.

The work to date has been achieved with a minimum use of public funds.

Instead, considerable time and shared resources have been utilised.

The investment in the new team highlights further partnership.

The majority of the available Government funding comes in grants, which are awarded in relation to the local area agreement, with additional investment by the CVS and Lloyds TSB Foundation.

Helping migrants settle into the area does not just involve addressing their needs - the concerns of others in the community must also be considered.

One of the ways we have tried to do this is through the publication of a "mythbusting"

leaflet, to address misinformation about the new communities in Arun.

Arun is home to almost 150,000 people of different backgrounds, beliefs and ages.

It prides itself on being a place that welcomes and readily integrates newcomers, where every individual has access to the means of achieving a good quality of life and feels a strong sense of belonging.

However, it is not just migrant workers who must be made to feel included within or communities.

CVS and other voluntary organisations are at the heart of other new community support initiatives in Arun.

As well as the community workers, there will be a team of six health trainers based in Arun from May, who will help individuals with health issues.

Funded by the primary care trust and managed by CVS, the new posts are designed to help address health inequalities across the district.

To help break down any barriers that may exist between different groups, the community cohesion group hopes to stage an event in the autumn called Peace Week, which will involve schools, neighbourhoods and workplaces.

A cohesive community is one where everyone has a sense of belonging, and where the diversity of people's backgrounds and circumstances is valued.

The Government has had a windfall in tax receipts from east European migration but they are failing to help councils in predominantly rural locations with the consequences of that migration.

Instead, they have been pumping funds into their urban political heartlands and ignoring the plight of the rural poor.

Arun, with its partners, has had to build a successful integration strategy on a shoestring.

However, we could do more to mitigate the growing pains of migration if we were given sufficient funding.

It has been proven that 98% of migrants from the so-called "Accession 8"

countries are in work, with the rest either between jobs or in the process of looking for work.

The migrants are certainly more of a bonanza for the Treasury than a drain and the scare stories simply turn out to be myths when you look at the facts.

Hopefully our visit to Brussels has highlighted our plight.

We also hope it will focus the European Commission's attentions on finding funds to offer us more help and support, because Gordon Brown and his Government are certainly not listening to us.