A Welcoming Economy – Supporting Newcomer Inclusion in BristolCity Funds Economic Inclusion Priority Group Scoping Research

Introduction and Methodology

Bristol has always been a city that is open to the world. Newcomers from outside the UK bring with them huge assets in terms of their skills, experience and the motivation to contribute to their new home. But they also face particular challenges and barriers which, if ignored, can thwart their ability to participate and lead to community tension and hostility.

This report is the product of a three-month scoping research exercise assessing the challenges for migrants and refugees in Bristol in terms of employment and enterprise. It was conducted for the purpose of guiding the work of the City Funds Economic Inclusion Priority Group, and with support from Comic Relief.

The research methodology consisted of a combination of desk-based work and interviews with key stakeholders, including a number of case study interviews with migrants and refugees on their experiences in Bristol. We are extremely grateful to all those who gave their time and shared their life experiences, wisdom and contacts to support this work.

The Economic Inclusion Priority Group has identified three key challenges for Bristol – skills, enterprise support and barriers to employment. This research has found that in each of these areas, newcomers face particular challenges which can and should be addressed as part of the City Funds’ long-term mission to make positive systemic change in Bristol.

It should be noted that this report does not attempt to address some of the wider economic inclusion challenges facing Bristol’s Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) communities, which overlap with but are also in many ways distinct from the challenges facing newcomers. There is a growing body of evidence on the economic inclusion challenges of the BAME communities in Bristol, as well as a number of established and embryonic initiatives to tackle them, but this scoping research did not have the capacity to investigate them thoroughly1. It is recommended that the Priority Group commissions specific research which can do so.

1 See for example https://www.runnymedetrust.org/uploads/CoDE%20Briefing%20Bristol%20v2.pdf and https://www.blacksouthwest-network.org/bristol-urban-enterprise-innovation-network. Particular initiatives that the City Funds should consider engaging with are the Social Mobility Partnership and the BAME Enterprise Hub.

2

White British333,432

Non-’White British’94,802

African12,085

Black Other6,922

Pakistani6,863

Caribbean6,727

Indian6,547

Other Asian4,255

Chinese3,886

Irish3,851

Any other ethnic group2,543

Bangladeshi2,104

Arab1,272

Gypsy or Irish traveller359

Other White21,950

Mixed15,438

Bristol Population by Ethnic Group

Bristol’s population has grown significantly in the last 20 years, and international migration has been a significant factor in this. In 2004 there were roughly 30,000 non-UK born residents of Bristol, making up around 7% of the population. By 2017 this had more than doubled to roughly 65,000 non-UK born residents, making up 14% of the population. Bristol is now home to people of 45 different religions, speaking 91 different languages and representing 187 different countries of birth2.

Long-term international immigration to Bristol has maintained a steady pace in the past ten years, at around 5,000-7,000 people per year. Long-term international emigration has been somewhat lower, at around 3,000-6,000 people per year. Internal migration flows in both directions are considerably higher and have increased over the past decade3.

2 https://www.bristol.gov.uk/documents/20182/33904/Population+of+Bristol+December+2018.pdf/e65be8b1-93a7-153d-da6d-62fbe-f265a04

3 Source: ONS (International Passenger Survey)

Context

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Data from National Insurance Number (NINO) registrations provide details of overseas adult nationals entering the UK who registered for a NINO in Bristol in 2018. The most common nationalities to register include: Spain (1007), Romania (961), Italy (586), Poland (563), France (324), India (242), Bulgaria (241), China (230), Greece (144), the United States (130), Portugal (120) and Hungary (114)4.

Within these numbers of international migrants arriving in Bristol are those who come here fleeing conflict and persecution. Bristol is proud to be a City of Sanctuary, and has sought to play a leading role in welcoming and resettling refugees. Accurately assessing the numbers of asylum seekers and refugees is notoriously difficult, but our best estimates are that Bristol welcomes approximately 350 new refugees every year, and likely has a population of asylum seekers of somewhere between 500-10005. Nationally it is estimated that the refugee population is approximately 4% of the foreign-born population, which if true for Bristol would give us a refugee population of around 2600. Whilst these numbers represent a small sub-set of Bristol’s migrant population, there is strong evidence that refugees face particular barriers and challenges which merit special attention when it comes to economic inclusion.

Brexit and the Future of the UK Immigration SystemOne of the features of recent migration statistics has been a decline in migrants from the EU since the referendum in 2016. This reflects the uncertainty surrounding Brexit and it’s likely impact on our migration system. The Government has published an Immigration White Paper which proposes a major overhaul of the immigration rules which would have a significant impact on the profile of migrants coming to Bristol and their role in the local labour market. Bristol City Council is working with IPPR and Business West to investigate and communicate this impact, with a view to trying to influence the final Government proposals.

4 Source: NINO allocations to adult overseas nationals

5 https://democracy.bristol.gov.uk/documents/s16872/02%20Refugee%20and%20Asylum%20seekers%20Needs%20Assessment%20v4.pdf

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2007-20082008-20092009-20102010-20112011-20122012-20132013-20142014-20152015-20162016-2017

Long-Term International and internal migration to and from Bristol, 2007-2017

International Inflow International Outflow Internal Inflow Internal Outflow

Long-Term International and internal migration to and from Bristol, 2007-2017

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Skills

One of the greatest challenges facing migrants working in the UK is the so-called ‘skills mismatch’ – i.e. they are particularly likely to be overqualified for the work they do. The Institute for Public Policy Research has done extensive work on this issue at a national level, and have shared a draft of their report on the subject which is due to be published in the coming months. They are also working with Bristol City Council and Business West to undertake further work looking at the data on a more local level, with results due in the Autumn.

Whilst comparing the qualification levels of people from different countries presents methodological challenges, most studies indicate that EU migrants tend to hold higher educational qualifications than UK born people and tend to leave education when they are older6. Yet they are unable to turn these educational achievements into corresponding success in the UK labour market. An ONS analysis of migration and the labour market in 2016 found that around a third of migrants are overeducated for their occupations, compared to 15 per cent of UK workers7. The issue was most acute for citizens from the A8 countries (the Central and Eastern European states that acceded to the EU in 2004), of whom 40 per cent were classified as overeducated for their jobs8. Only 2 per cent of UK born workers with a degree-level qualification are in low-skilled occupations, compared with 7 per cent of EU-born and 4 per cent of non-EU born workers. In a Government report on refugee integration in 2010, more than half of those surveyed said they felt overqualified9.

Share of overqualified workers by country of birth10

6 Rienzo 2018

7 ONS 2017

8 Ibid.

9 Cebulla, A., Daniel, M., Zurawan, A., ‘Spotlight on refugee integration: findings from the Survey of New RefugeesintheUnitedKingdom’,Re-searchReport 37, Research and Analysis, Home Office, UKVI, London, 2010.

10 Source: ONS (2016)

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013

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UK

EU14

EU10

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Whilst this challenge is present in many countries, over-qualification of migrants appears to be a particularly acute issue in the UK. A recent study by the European Commission found that the UK has one of the most overeducated migrant populations in the EU, second only to Italy11.

It is widely understood that English language presents one of the main challenges for migrants working in the UK, and a recent IPPR analysis of the Labour Force Survey confirms this. Out of those whose first language is not English (or Welsh or Gaelic), around 18 per cent of EU migrants and 17 per cent of non-EU migrants record that language difficulties cause problems in finding or keeping a job. The challenge is particularly acute for unemployed EU and non-EU migrants, for whom 35 per cent and 27 per cent respectively say that language difficulties create employment barriers. Moreover, migrants’ wages vary considerably according to their language profile: the average hourly wage for migrants with English as their first language is around £13 per hour, compared to around £8 per hour for those who have a different first language and who face employment barriers as a result12.

Language also appears to be associated with the over-qualification issue. For workers at each qualification level, migrants whose first language is not English are more likely than other migrants to be concentrated in lower-skilled occupations – suggesting that English language difficulties could prevent migrants fully utilising their skills in the UK’s labour market.

This descriptive research is supported by a regression analysis of the explanations for migrant over-qualification. A 2013 study found that, controlling for other characteristics, male immigrant over-qualification is linked to English language difficulties. It also found that over-qualification tends to decrease with age and the length of time spent in a job, confirming the belief that migrants’ integration into the labour market improves over time13.

A proactive economic inclusion strategy should therefore address as a priority this waste of skills and talent among the UK’s migrant workforce. Such an effort would not only help to foster more integrated communities and build public consent for migration, but would also bring economic benefits through higher wages and productivity. IPPR calculate that reducing over-qualification among migrant workers so that it corresponds to over-qualification levels among the UK-born would deliver an increase in annual economic output of approximately £7.3 billion14.

11 Biagi et al 2019

12 IPPR, Measuring the Benefits of Integration (unpublished)

13 Altorjai, 2013

14 IPPR, Measuring the Benefits of Integration

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Ahmed’s Story

Ahmed, 45, is an electrical engineer from Sudan. He came to the UK in 2006 as an asylum seeker. For 9 years he waited for his claim for refugee status to be processed, with several of those years spent in a detention centre little better than a prison. Finally, in 2015, he was granted indefinite leave to remain.

With his professional background, Ahmed was excited to start rebuilding his career and support his family. He quickly put together a CV and began looking for a role in an engineering firm. While waiting for his asylum claim, Ahmed had learnt English from scratch, gaining fluency in speaking and writing. But despite this, Ahmed’s job searches proved unsuccessful and his hopes began to fade away.

One of the major issues he faced was that of skills recognition. When he left Sudan, he did not bring with him his University degree certificate - a situation familiar with many people running away from danger. Eventually he managed to get a transcript from his University in Sudan, only to find that employers would not recognise it here. On top of this, his time in immigration detention centres had robbed him of the opportunity to do work experience. With prospects dwindling for him to get a job in the engineering sector, Ahmed was offered a job through a family friend as a taxi driver. Ahmed has now been a taxi driver in Bristol for almost 5 years.

Possible Solutions

Local Skills Recognition Hub

NARIC (the National Recognition Information Centre) is the UK agency for the recognition of international skills and qualifications. It provides a skills comparison service for individuals to secure official documentation of how their international qualifications compare with UK qualifications. However, this system has been critiqued for being bureaucratic, sometimes inaccurate, and limited in scope15. The Scottish government has recently explored more innovative ways to address skills matching, including funding a pilot Migrant and Refugee Skills Recognition and Accreditation Hub based at Glasgow Caledonian University. Working closely with migrants and employers in the social care, construction, engineering, IT and hospitality sectors, the hub aims to help ensure that migrants’ skills and qualifications are recognised16. Further work could be done to assess whether such an initiative could also be applicable in the Bristol context.

Skills Mapping

SkillLab is a start-up social business which has developed an app to help employment services better integrate refugees into local labour markets. The app helps users to map their skills and experiences (in their native language) and then matches this to the skills and experiences required by particular jobs (from an EU database of almost 3000 different occupations). The app was tested in Bristol during its development and has now launched, with trials taking place in several other European cities. A trial in Bristol could help build up a picture of the skills profile of our local refugee/migrant population, testing the efficacy of the tool for those individuals whilst also directing future work on specific sectors and employers that could be engaged in economic inclusion work. The app works on a license basis, with a trial of 75-300 licenses costing approximately €20,000 - €70,00017.

ESOL for Professionals

ESOL (English as a Second or Other Language) is currently funded by a combination of the Adult Education Budget and the Education and Skills Funding Agency. From April 2019 the Government has devolved responsibility for the Adult Education Budget to the eight Mayoral Combined Authorities, including WECA. Following this devolution, WECA is now solely responsible for funding all ESOL learners in Bristol. Overall provision for ESOL has been cut by the Government by approximately 60% over the last decade, and there is now no Government funding for ESOL provided in the workplace18. The South West Strategic Migration Partnership and South West Councils have developed a draft ESOL strategy for the region to help inform WECA and other Local Authorities in their decisions on ESOL provision. There is also a Bristol City Council project which will start soon and which has been funded by the Controlling Migration Fund which is looking to standardise ESOL accreditation across the city. City Funds could explore with the relevant stakeholders whether there is a gap in ESOL provision which it may be well placed to fill – e.g. in matching employer investment in ESOL, or in providing fairly priced loans for recent migrants to Bristol to improve their English in line with their other skills and qualifications.

15 Cerna 2011

16 Scottish Government 2019

17 Based on an informal conversation with SkillLab

18 GLA press release

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Enterprise Support

Along with skills and experience, the other thing that many migrants and refugees bring with them is entrepreneurial spirit. Aston University has found that ethnic minorities and immigrants are twice as likely as white Britons to be early-stage entrepreneurs, and an analysis by OECD showed that internationally migrants have a higher likelihood to pursue entrepreneurship than locals. Indeed it has been estimated that migrants are responsible for 1 in 7 of all UK companies19.

This trend appears to be particularly strong for refugees. A survey of refugees in the UK found that 82% agreed entrepreneurship is a good career path, while 56% believed entrepreneurship/self-employment is better than employment20.

The benefits of harnessing this newcomer entrepreneurship are manifold, including:

• Enhancing newcomer wellbeing and sense of belonging

• Reducing dependency and building empowerment

• Allowing business owners to support other newcomers

• Creating jobs for locals

• Increased tax revenues

• Developing transnational business links for Bristol

Sadly, however, this entrepreneurial zeal is often going to waste, leaving the associated benefits unrealised. In the same survey cited above, 68% of refugees said they wouldn’t know where to go to get business support, while a study of Syrians in UK, Netherlands and Austria found that only 1.5% had started a business, despite 32% having had entrepreneurial experience back home21.

A UN Policy Guide on entrepreneurship for migrants and refugees has identified 5 common barriers that cause this mismatch – rights, language, culture, access to finance and support networks. This analysis is largely mirrored by other similar studies.

From the evidence available, it appears that the national and international picture is very much mirrored here in Bristol. There is a broad consensus that Bristol has a well-developed business support eco-system, with assistance available at every level of the business development process, and wide-ranging sectoral expertise. There is also, however, a consensus that the business support in the city is not nearly as inclusive as it could be, with refugees, migrants and BAME communities in particular very poorly assisted22. Barriers/problems which have been identified include:

• Business support organisations not working together for the benefit of those seeking support

• Lack of support for ‘soft skills’ and ‘grey areas’

• Overemphasis on workshop format which can be intimidating for newcomers

• Fixed-term support which doesn’t allow for longer-term, more relational help

• Lack of diversity in those delivering business support

19 Aston University, 2018. Ruth and Swagerman, 2016. Starting Afresh – Centre for Entrepreneurs

20 Starting Afresh

21 Betts et al, 2017

22 BSWN research (unpublished)

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• Implicit and overt racism and prejudice

• Lack of sharia-compliant finance (when asked what products were available for Muslim customers, a Regional Director of a National Bank answered ‘I don’t know’)

• Business support projects requiring too much data which puts people off taking part

Addressing this ‘inclusion gap’ in business support is a challenge that has gained significant prominence in the city in recent months and years.

Possible SolutionsThere are a small number of existing and proposed initiatives tackling this issue in Bristol, and City Funds should consider whether it might take an active role in supporting/partnering with these efforts.

Entrepreneurial Facilitator Project

This project is a collaboration between ACH, the University of Bristol, Engine Shed, Barton Hill Settlement and WECA, with a number of other stakeholders engaged on a Steering Group. The project involves funding an Entrepreneurial Facilitator whose remit is to support refugee and migrant entrepreneurs in Bristol and to connect them up with the business support offer in the city. The project has deliberately taken a locally embedded and highly relational approach, which has proven to be very successful in engaging entrepreneurs who weren’t previously accessing support. The project has been running since Autumn 2018 and its pilot phase comes to an end later this year. Those involved in leading it are preparing plans for the project’s future development, and will be presenting these to potential partners/funders in the coming months.

It is recommended that the Economic Inclusion Priority Group requests a presentation from the project in the near future with a view to possibly supporting the next phase of its development.

Sharia-Compliant Finance

One of the interesting findings of the Entrepreneurial Facilitator project has been the lack of easily accessible Sharia-compliant finance for entrepreneurs in Bristol. This is a gap which City Funds could look to fill, working in partnership with a financial intermediary to design a product or set of products which could be piloted in Bristol. If the Entrepreneurial Facilitator project continues it could provide an important component of such a pilot, signposting potential applicants and helping them develop the necessary plans and projections to make best use of the products and ensure the best possible chance of repayment.

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Barriers to Work/Entry-level EmploymentThe Head of the Mayor’s Office, Kevin Slocombe, sometimes refers to the ‘ABC’ theory of employment – Any job, Better job, Career. This theory is based on the idea of a progression for those excluded from the labour market which begins with entry-level employment and then develops over time. Unfortunately evidence gathered for this report, both published research and anecdotally, suggests that for many migrants and refugees, such a progression often does not take place, with people either struggling to find gain any employment or being trapped in entry-level work and unable to progress further.

Employment rates suggest that for some migrants and refugees, gaining any employment is a significant challenge. Indeed the below graph suggests that whilst Bristol employment rate for white UK-born residents is better than the national average, the employment rate for ethnic minorities not born in the UK is significantly worse than the national average.

Employment Rates in Bristol23

At a national level, we know that for refugees in particular gaining employment can be a significant challenge. Recent research by the University of Oxford found that refugees are less likely to be employed than other migrants and than the UK-born, with an employment rate of 51% compared to 73% for those born in the UK24. This employment gap closes then longer a refugee is in the UK, but is still present even after 25 years of residence25. Refugees were also found to earn less and work fewer hours than the UK-born and other migrants, earning an average of just £9 per hour – 55% less per week than UK-born26. They are 20% less likely to be in full-time employment, and 19% less likely to be in professional or managerial positions27.

23 Annual Population Survey, 2017-18

24 https://www.compas.ox.ac.uk/wp-content/uploads/ECONREF-Refugees-and-the-UK-Labour-Market-report.pdf

25 Ibid.

26 Ibid.

27 Ibid.

3.80 3.30

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white UK born white not UK born ethnic minority UKborn

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Unemployment rate age 16+, 2018

England Bristol

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In Bristol, there is strong anecdotal evidence to suggest that refugees and other vulnerable migrants are concentrated in particular sectors which are known to have low-pay and poor conditions – particularly cleaning, hospitality and security. This is partly driven by the nature of the asylum system and the fact that when an asylum seeker is given refugee status they then have a 28-day ‘move-on period’ within which to find employment and housing, which leads many people to take whatever job seems most easily available. It is also partly driven by language and culture barriers which make vulnerable migrants less aware of their employment rights and therefore more open to abuse and exploitation by unscrupulous employers28.

Possible SolutionsThere are a small number of organisations and initiatives in Bristol which are already seeking to help refugees and other migrants find good quality work and progress through their careers. ACH is the most notable specialist organisation in this field, and has a track record of partnering with the Council, DWP, businesses and others to help refugees find and sustain good quality employment29. They have recently run a pilot programme offering asylum seekers work taster sessions, and have also developed a partnership with First Bus which has led to X refugees gaining employment.

Another noteworthy initiative in Bristol is Refulingua, a project run by Bridges for Communities. The idea was inspired by the Mayor’s commitment to refugees as assets to the city, and involves training Syrian refugees to teach conversational Arabic to other Bristolians. There are also a small number of catering businesses which have recently been set up with the aim of providing employment for refugee women in Bristol.

Further afield, an organisation called Clean for Good in London is pioneering a possible way forward on the quality of entry-level work. Angry at low pay and poor conditions in the cleaning industry, a Church in East London developed a proposal for an ethical cleaning company. With grant funding to develop the business plan and social finance to get it off the ground, Clean for Good is now very close to break-even after just over 2 years. It employs 38 people with a turnover of over

28 The Somali Resource Centre, for example, reported being aware of a number of Somali Bristolians who had been exploited by cleaning companies.

29 ACH sets itself the goal of helping people attain median salary employment rather than simply seeing success as someone having got any job.

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Ghias’ Story

Ghias has lived in Bristol for almost three years now. When he was 13, the war in Syria turned his life upside down and made continuing his education impossible. But now, with a job at Starbucks, he is getting back on his feet.

It was a perfect life for Ghias before the war. Then the bombing started. His school was bombed. Some of his friends died. That was the last time Ghias had any schooling. Leaving Syria with his parents, he lived in a refugee camp in Jordan before they finally reaching the UK in 2012. Granted indefinite leave to remain in 2016, he moved to Bristol the same year.

For his job search Ghias was among a group of 10 refugees who took part in a specially designed Starbucks employment course. For someone who had not studied anything since he was 13, he recalls “I was scared. But the trainers made it simple, asked simple questions so I could make a simple answer. And I got the job.”

“My first days were challenging but I have been there eight months and now I help train new staff and I am studying coffee art. I can create a flower and a heart. I keep learning new things. I’m happy and I love doing it. I want to live and contribute to my new community here in Bristol. I lost years of my life. I am making it up now.”

£400,000 p/a. It is an accredited Living Wage Employer, employs its staff directly and gives them sick pay and pension contributions above the statutory minimum. In March 2019 it was recognised by NatWest as a ‘Top 100 Social Business’.

‘The Good Work Challenge’

Taking inspiration from these initiatives, City Funds could seek to catalyse a generation of ethical businesses providing good quality entry-level employment for refugees, migrants and native Bristolians. This could take the form of a ‘Good Work Challenge’, with a competitive process established to identify those in the city with ideas for such businesses. Successful entrepreneurs could then be supported through a combination of grant, investment and in-kind support to develop their ideas and bring them to market. Such a programme could be delivered in partnership with one of a number of business support entities in the city, and could have intended outcomes not just of creating new jobs but also of challenging the norms of all employers in these sectors, and perhaps of influencing future procurement processes across the City30.

A Sector-Specific Approach

Another way of addressing this challenge would be for City Funds to focus in on a small number of sectors and seek to create inclusive pathways into those industries, either specifically for refugees/migrants or more broadly for those currently facing economic exclusion. This could involve a combination of mentoring/job readiness work alongside working with employers and/or addressing issues in procurement. One option to consider might be YTKO’s proposal for an initiative called ‘Building Growth’ which would create a co-operative of construction-related SMEs that would unlock job opportunities for a range of excluded groups into a sector which is currently 94% white and male.

30 This has certainly been part of the impact of Clean for Good, which has catalysed a wider conversation about standards in the cleaning industry and the moral responsibility of organisations to procure ethical cleaning services.

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Conclusions and Next Steps

This paper has outlined some of the most pressing challenges facing migrants and refugees in Bristol in terms of employment and enterprise. Looking at the areas of skills, business support and entry-level work, it has assessed the evidence base at both a national and local level, and proposed some possible solutions for the City Funds Economic Inclusion Group to debate and explore.

The key next step is for the City Funds Economic Inclusion Priority Group to debate the findings of this report, and to decide which solutions it would like to explore further and/or which issues it would like to commission further research on.

SkillsLocal Skills Recognition Hub

‘The Good Work Challenge’

Entrepreneurial Facilitator Project

Skills Mapping

A Sector-Specific Approach

Sharia-Compliant Finance

ESOL for Professionals

Enterprise Support

Barriers to Work/Entry-level Employment

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