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2 Introduction
The ' EU8' states joined the European Union on 1 May 2004. From this date on, citizens of these countries were granted freedom of movement across the EEA and free access to the labour market in the United Kingdom. However, nationals of the EU8 are subject to the UK's transitional regulations until May 2009, which limits their entitlement to social assistance. Whilst Malta and Cyprus are also accession states, their nationals were granted the same entitlements and access to the UK labour market as existing EU states.
It became apparent that migration into Edinburgh had increased substantially following EU enlargement and that members of this emerging community of EU8 migrants were beginning to access health, housing and other social care services in increasing numbers. It was very clear that this community would contribute to the economy of the city; however, information on the demographic profile and longer term impact of this new group was limited.
In response, the City of Edinburgh Council convened a consultative group, the New Member States Migrant Forum, to explore this issue. It was agreed that there was lack of knowledge about the scale of in-migration into Edinburgh by nationals from the EU8 states. In addition, the needs, aspirations and difficulties experienced by EU8 nationals in terms of employability, housing, health and social care and unmet special needs were unclear. Therefore, it was agreed that research should be undertaken to inform the Council. Furthermore, there was some debate about the interpretation of the EU Directive 2004/38/ EC1 relating to the rights and entitlements of EU8 migrants to social housing and homelessness assistance.
The terms of reference for this study were agreed through the New Member States Migrant Forum in collaboration with the Scottish Executive. The project itself was funded through the then Scottish Executive's Homelessness Unit and the City of Edinburgh Council's Homelessness Services. On this basis, the study focuses on both housing circumstances and the incidence of homelessness within this group, whilst also providing a community profile of the emerging EU8 community in Edinburgh and an overview of their access to other key services.
The study has been undertaken to provide a better understanding of the needs and aspirations of the emerging EU8 community in Edinburgh and to make a number of recommendations in relation enhancing their access to key services. The timing of this research was such that research was not directly undertaken with Bulgarian and Romanian migrants; however, it is proposed that the research findings will have relevance to the planning of services in relation to other new migrant populations.
2.1 EU Enlargement
Ten countries joined the European Union on 1 May 2004: Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia. Upon EU enlargement, citizens of Malta and Cyprus were granted the same freedom of movement and employment in the United Kingdom as the then existing members of the EU. Similar rights were extended by the UK government to citizens of the other eight countries. In much of the literature these eight countries are described as the 'Accession Eight' or 'A8'. In this research report, however, we will refer to these states as the 'European Union Eight', or EU8, to reflect the fact that they are now in the post-accession stage and their citizens now have freedom of movement across the EU and 1free access to labour market in the United Kingdom.
2.2 The economic contribution of EU8 migrants to the city of Edinburgh
This study focuses on the demography of EU8 migrants in Edinburgh and their access to health, housing and other social care services. Much of the preceding research into EU8 migration has focused on labour market and economic impact and is reviewed in section 3. Most studies have identified that the vast majority of EU8 migrants are working 2 and this does not seem to have reduced employment in the areas in which EU8 migrants are concentrated 3.
Therefore, it is clear that the net contribution to the economy of Edinburgh is overwhelmingly positive. Migrant workers are generally low users of public services; in addition, they are contributing to Edinburgh's continuing economic growth by filling key labour and skills shortages. For example, tourism generates around £2bn per year in visitor expenditure in Edinburgh and is vital to city's strategy of Live/Invest/Visit 4. Tourism is growing, with an estimated growth of 50% additional revenue by 2015 - this will require approx 8,000-10,000 additional workers 5. Employers and businesses report a strong work ethic, high motivation and positive attitudes amongst migrant workers.
As well as helping to fill vacancies vital to the growth of the city's economy, EU8 migrants also pay council tax, National Insurance and income tax. Therefore, the City of Edinburgh Council has been quick to welcome new citizens, wherever they come from, as their economic and cultural contribution benefits the whole community.
2.3 The City of Edinburgh Council New Member States Migrant Forum
In the spring of 2005, the City of Edinburgh Council convened a forum of representatives from services that had come into contact with EU8 migrants. There were some questions and concerns about this growing population and an eagerness to work together to share information and knowledge. This forum led to the identification of a range of questions relating to EU8 migration, including: the need for more detailed information about the extent of EU8 migration to Edinburgh; an understanding of the age, gender, family type, skill levels and expectations of migrants; the legal entitlement of EU8 migrants to services and social assistance - particularly in relation to a small number of people accessing frontline homelessness services; availability of useful and relevant literature about services and means to settle in the city, for dissemination to EU8 migrants in appropriate languages; and the capacity by existing local communities ( e.g. the long-standing Polish population in Edinburgh) to support new EU8 migrants.
A research proposal was generated from the Forum. Resources were then identified to carry out both the research and a subsequent training and dissemination exercise over the period of a year. The aims of the research are as follows:
A community profile
The study was designed to establish the following:
- An informed estimate of the scale of in-migration of EU8 citizens
- A profile of this new community in terms of nationality, gender, age, family composition and reasons for migration into Edinburgh
- Future intentions and aspirations of this community
- The range of needs within this community relating to housing, homelessness, health and social care
An assessment of the impact EU8 migration is having on relevant services
The study was designed to gather information from services involved with housing, homelessness and social care in Edinburgh, in relation to the impact of EU8 migrants. Key areas of interest were:
- The level, for relevant services, of contact and engagement with EU8 migrants
- The main presenting issues in relation to services' contact with EU8 migrants
- The capacity of services to respond to the needs of EU8 migrants
As part of this assessment, a case study was undertaken with one frontline homelessness agency, as this has been where some of the most visible EU8 migration issues have manifested themselves.
It is important to stress that this case study, whilst providing extremely valuable information about EU8 migrants who have high support needs and are not currently working, represents a picture of only a very small minority of EU8 migrants in Edinburgh.
Recommendations
Recommendations will be made relating to the ways in which services can best be planned in order to adjust to the needs and aspirations of Edinburgh's EU8 migrants. The initial focus was on housing and homelessness services. However, the research objectives were predicated on the recognition that housing and homelessness issues cannot be considered in isolation from the provision of services relating to economic, family, health, employment and educational factors. As a result, whilst the principal focus has been on housing and homelessness, the recommendations also cover aspects of the provision and co-ordination of services in relation to: health, social care, skills and education, and information needs.
A steering group was formed comprising Edinburgh Cyrenians, Foursquare (the Cowgate Centre), the City of Edinburgh Council, Scottish Council for Single Homeless ( SCSH), the then Scottish Executive and Lothian and Borders Police. Additional research support was brought in by Edinburgh University's School of Social and Political Studies.
2.4 Legal entitlement to social housing and homelessness assistance for EU8 migrants
The EU8 Directive
There has been some debate between the Scottish Government and local authorities concerning the interpretation of the EU Directive which outlines the rights and entitlements of EU8 migrants to social housing and homelessness assistance. Under EU Directive 2004/38/ EC, which is transposed into UK law by statutory instrument ( SI) 2006/1003 6, the citizens of the EU8, Cyprus, Malta and the EEA16 7 have freedom of movement across the EEA and free access to the labour market in the United Kingdom. However, nationals of the EU8 are subject to the UK's transitional regulations until May 2009, which state which classes of EU nationals have different types of right of residence, and state that "people can lose right of residence if they are an unreasonable burden on social assistance" 8.
The regulations SI 2006/1003 introduce the right of EU nationals to work in the UK subject to certain criteria. Different criteria apply to citizens of the 'old' EU countries and those of the new EU8 states. Citizens of the 'old' EU countries obtain the right to reside if they are a worker; a job-seeker; self-sufficient; self-employed; a student; or a family member of any of these classes. Citizens of the new EU8 states need to be a worker (and registered on the Worker Registration Scheme ( WRS)); self-employed; or self-sufficient, in order to have the right to reside.
Different regulations govern access to benefits in the UK. For EU8 nationals, they must be in work and registered on the WRS in order to claim in-work benefits, such as Housing Benefit. EU8 nationals who have worked and have been registered on the WRS for 12 months can assume the same rights and entitlements as pre- EU enlargement EEA nationals. In England, there are also regulations governing access to social housing and homelessness assistance. In Scotland, no such regulations exist.
The Scottish Executive's Code of Guidance
The Scottish Executive's Code of Guidance sets out that all EU8 migrants have the same entitlements to housing and homelessness assistance as other EEA applicants, due to the membership of EU8 states to the European Charter on Social and Medical Assistance ( ECSMA) 9 and the Council of Europe Social Charter ( CESC) 10. The Home Office is currently working to address the discrepancy between eligibility for benefits, which is restricted to certain categories of EU8 nationals (as defined above); and eligibility for social housing and homelessness assistance, which is not restricted. This leads to a situation in which some EU8 nationals can be eligible for housing and homelessness assistance, but not have the means to pay for it.
The City of Edinburgh Council interpretation
The City of Edinburgh Council has sought legal advice on the duties owed to homeless applicants from EU8 states. This advice corresponds with the legal advice received by Glasgow City Council. COSLA has subsequently consulted with both of these councils to formulate a position pertaining to local authorities across Scotland. The legal opinion given to the City of Edinburgh Council is that local authorities have a legal duty to provide homelessness assistance and housing assistance to EU8 migrants who are 'economically active '. The definition of 'economically active' for an EU8 applicant is narrower than for other EEA applicants, due to the UK's transitional regulations 11.
EU8 migrants who experience homelessness and are not working
With some local authorities adopting the position taken by the City of Edinburgh Council, this presents a new question: what happens to those EU8 migrants who find themselves homeless, but are not entitled to assistance and are not working? This research provides information about the new EU8 community in the City of Edinburgh - the vast majority of whom are economically active. However, the difference of opinion in interpretation of the Scottish Executive's Code of Guidance is important. It has an impact on how local authorities discharge duties for the very small minority of EU8 migrants who are homeless and not working. In Edinburgh, this group are accessing emergency homelessness accommodation but do not qualify for homelessness assistance.
2.5 How the research will be used
It is anticipated that this research will be useful in a number of ways:
- Inform policy and community planning mechanisms in the City of Edinburgh
- Provide a basis for a training programme for agencies in contact with EU8 migrants
- Offer a greater understanding of how to manage issues of destitution with the small minority of EU8 migrants
- Offer a framework for other local authorities wishing to undertake similar studies in their own areas relating to the impact of EU8 migrants
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