The London Strategic Migration Partnership Board

Report: 5
Date: 22 July 2010
By: Chief Executive

Summary

This paper provides details of the London Strategic Migration Partnership (LSMP) and the role and responsibilities of the MPA and MPS.

The LSMP is the co-ordinating forum for services to migrants within London and is also the lead body for delivering London Enriched, the Mayoral strategy for refugee integration which was launched in December 2009.

A. Recommendation

That Members consider and note the content of this report.

B. Supporting information

1. The London Strategic Migration Partnership (LSMP) is the successor body to the previous Mayor’s Board for Refugee Integration for London. The LSMP is a board convened by the Greater London Authority (GLA) with Richard Barnes, Deputy Mayor, as Chair. The LSMP is supported by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) to co-ordinate services for all London migrants.

2. The LSMP meets on a quarterly basis and had its inaugural meeting on 26 February 2009. Membership includes members of the Mayor’s Refugee Advisory Panel and senior representatives from London Councils, London First, DCLG, UKBA, Refugee Council, Job Centre Plus, GOL and the Third Sector Alliance.

3. Since January 2010, the MPA has been a member of the LSMP represented by MPA Member, Jennette Arnold.

London Enriched – A strategy for refugee integration

4. London Enriched - A strategy for refugee integration has been developed in partnership with the LSMP and was launched on 2 December 2009. London Enriched is a non-statutory commitment by the Mayor to co-ordinate regional work for the capital’s refugee communities. It aims to mainstream the needs of refugees across the delivery of London services in order to ensure equal life chances for London’s refugee population.

5. London Enriched is specifically about refugees but will be taken forward in a broader context of migration policy for London. It covers 7 service areas: housing, employment, skills and enterprise, health, community safety, children and young people, community development and participation, and English language learning.

6. London Enriched is being delivered by ‘Link bodies’ established in each of the seven service areas. The role of the link bodies is to:

• oversee the implementation of the actions within the strategy and monitor its progress;
• develop the work on migration and asylum reception; and
• inform the partnership and policy makers of the impact of national immigration policy on London.

7. It is expected that the link bodies will gather evidence, information and data and share good practice with the partnership and communities.

MPA/MPS role and responsibilities

8. Jennette Arnold, the MPA member on the LSMP, is responsible for the Community Safety Link Body. Membership of the Link Body includes the MPS, UKBA and GLA. It is also the intention to recruit at least two community members to become members of the Link body to ensure that the work is informed by the communities affected. A list of the first years objectives under the community safety service area is provided in Appendix one for reference.

In summary, the actions cover:

• MPS service delivery to asylum seekers and refugees
• Community cohesion between asylum seekers and refugees and local communities
• The Mayoral strategy - The Way Forward: A Call for Action to End Violence Against Women in respect of refugee, asylum seeker and migrant communities
• Supporting Refugee week to promote public awareness of refugee and asylum seeker issues
• Supporting improvements to UKBA operations working alongside the Office of the Chief Inspector of the UKBA

9. It is also important to note that within the Children and Young People service area there is an action relevant to the MPA / MPS. This action looks to improve protection for trafficked children and young people (further details are provided in Appendix two)

Next steps

10. The purpose of having a focused Equality and Diversity Sub Committee meeting on the policing needs of asylum seekers, refugees and new migrants is to establish what corporate measures are in place within the MPS to meet the needs of these communities across London. This will help to inform the work of the Community Safety Link Body with respect to actions within the London Enriched Implementation plan.

11. There is a need to identify who has responsibility within the MPS for service delivery issues in respect of asylum seekers and refugees and who would be the most appropriate single point of contact for this work.

12. There is an opportunity to consider what further work beyond the implementation plan actions the link body could undertake in relation to community safety and asylum seeker, refugee and migrant communities.

C. Race and equality impact

1. The MPA is required, under Section 404 of the Greater London Authority Act 1999, to promote equality of opportunity for all persons irrespective of their race, sex, disability, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief and to eliminate unlawful discrimination.

2. The MPA, as a public body is subject to the statutory race, disability and gender duties (known as public sector duties). The MPA is legally obliged to pay 'due regard' to the need to take action on race, disability and gender equality.

3. By taking a lead role in delivering and developing the Community Safety actions of the Mayor’s Refugee Integration Strategy, London Enriched, the MPA is having due regard for the following statutory duties:

1. Elimination of unlawful discrimination and harassment
2. Promotion of equality of opportunity for all
3. Promotion of good relations between people of different groups
4. Promotion of positive attitudes towards others

4. All work developed by the Community Safety Link body will be subject to an Equality Impact Assessment..

D. Financial implications

There are no financial implications associated with this report.

E. Legal implications

1. Please see Section C.

F. Environmental implications

1. There are no environmental implications associated with this report.

G. Background papers

None

H. Contact details

Report author(s): Shirani Gunawardena, MPA

For information contact:

MPA general: 020 7202 0202
Media enquiries: 020 7202 0217/18

Appendix 1

Community safety actions within ‘London Enriched

Please note that the full London Enriched Implementation plan is available from: www.london.gov.uk/who-runs-london/mayor/publications/society/refugee-integration-strategy

Core objective

Ensure that the police and justice system deliver high quality services for asylum seeker, refugee and migrant communities.

Proposed Action (7.3.1)

Support the Police Pledge and efforts by the Metropolitan Police Service to ensure that policing for asylum seekers, refugees and other migrants is of the same high standard as for other Londoners and send a clear message that the Police are committed to tackling crime and protecting all Londoners regardless of immigration status.

Key tasks

1. Work with refugee communities to identify current key issues around police/community engagement.
2. Work with MPA, MPS, ACPO, NPIA and others to agree production of a Standard Operating Procedure for the MPS which sets out good policing practice in relation to asylum seekers, refugees and migrants, how powers should be used, supervised and managed, and reinforcing the need to engage with these and wider communities to gain trust and confidence.
3. Develop actions to ensure that the new Police Pledge is used to improve refugee community engagement with the police.

Outcome

1. Standard Operating Procedure for the MPS produced
2. Police improve service they provide to refugee communities
3. Refugees have more confidence to go to the police as victims or witnesses

Delivery partners (lead in bold)

GLA Diversity and Social Policy Team
GLA Community Safety Team
Refugee community organisations
Refugee Council
Link body members
MPS
MPA
ACPO
NPIA
UKBA

Resources

GLA staff time
MPS staff time

Proposed Action (7.2.2)

Develop and support practical actions to promote constructive local dialogue on refugees, asylum and migration and to foster positive engagement between asylum seekers, refugees, migrants and the local communities.

Key tasks

1. Develop and submit to Capital Ambition a proposal for a cohesion project that would work with LBs and LSMP partners to:
   1. assess the impact of existing support for cohesion by IDeA, ICoCO, DCLG, etc
   2. identify additional good practice and new ideas for promoting constructive dialogue on refugees, asylum and migration and the impact on housing and other aspects of life in the community
   3. develop measures to assess the role and impact of cohesion initiatives in delivering LAA cohesion indicators
   4. deliver events, practice exchange and other means of sharing good practice.
2. Establish delivery group to implement proposal.

Outcome

1. Increased range of initiatives identified to promote cohesion by addressing migration issues.
2. Improved measures for assessing cohesion initiatives addressing migration.
3. Increased awareness and application of initiatives to promote cohesion by addressing migration issues.

Delivery partners

GLA Diversity and Social Policy Team
Capital Ambition
London Empowerment Partnership
GOL
Refugee Council
UKBA

Resources

GLA staff time
Capital Ambition funding (subject to successful application)

Proposed Action (7.3.3)

Ensure that the Mayor’s strategy The Way Forward: A Call for Action to End Violence Against Women addresses the specific needs of asylum seeking, refugee and migrant women.

Key tasks

1. Analyse the experience of gender-based violence in refugee communities to inform actions.
2. Work with MPA, MPS, UKBA and others to adapt services to maximise protection for refugee women and ensure they have access to services and other support.

Outcome

1. MPA, MPS, UKBA, local authorities, NHS and others implement specific measures tackling identified gaps and barriers to support asylum seeking, refugee and migrant women.
2. Refugee women experiencing or at risk of domestic violence receive improved support

Delivery partners

GLA Diversity and Social Policy Team
GLA Community Safety Team
RCOs
MPS
MPA
UKBA
Refugee Council
GOL
NHS

Resources

GLA staff time

Proposed Action (7.3.4)

Support Refugee Week in promoting public awareness of asylum and refugee issues

Key tasks

Contribute to funding of Celebrating Sanctuary launch event June 2010

Outcome

Improved public awareness of asylum and refugee issues
GLA Events Team/GLA Diversity and Social Policy Team

Resources

GLA staff time

Proposed Action (7.3.5)

Work with the Office of the Chief Inspector of the UKBA to support improvements in UKBA operations, including immigration enforcement work.

Key tasks

1. Work with LSMP and local crime and disorder partnerships to monitor enforcement practice and support partnerships in working with UKBA to eliminate recurrent problems.
2. Convene regular meetings with the office of the Chief Inspector of the UKBA to discuss results of monitoring.

Outcome

1. Improved monitoring and data sharing enables crime and disorder partnerships to assist in prevention, early intervention and action to tackle community- relations issues.
2. Improved enforcement action by UKBA.

Delivery partners

GLA Diversity and Social Policy Team
UKBA - Office of the Chief Inspector
MPS
MPA
Local Crime and Disorder Partnerships
RCOs
GOL

Resources

GLA Staff time

Appendix 2

Further actions within the London Enriched Implementation plan relevant to the MPA/MPS re: Children and Young People

Core objective

Overcome the specific challenges faced by refugee children and young people in London in order to improve their health, wellbeing, safety and educational attainment and ensure they enjoy the same life chances as their peers.

Proposed Action (8.3.4)

Improve protection for trafficked children and young people.

Key tasks

1. Monitor current pilot of trafficking toolkit by London Safeguarding Children Board and support roll out.
2. Build on previous work by the Poppy Project, Refugee Council and other partners to assess need to increase awareness of relevant services and organisations on how to identify children and young people who may have been trafficked.
3. Work with partners to improve quality and availability of information on trafficked children for relevant service providers.
4. Take action to ensure that the protection of trafficked children takes precedence over immigration control.

Outcome

1. Increased capacity of relevant services and other organisations to identify and support young people who may have been trafficked for sexual or economic exploitation.
2. Improved information on trafficked children to support more effective prevention and awareness work.

Delivery partners (lead in bold)

GLA Diversity and Social Policy Team
London Safeguarding Children Board
Metropolitan Police Service
London Local Safeguarding Children Boards
Specialist agencies
Mayor (Kit Malthouse)
Refugee Council
GOL
London Councils
UKBA
The Children’s Society
NSPCC
SERTUC (Teaching Unions)
AAnti-Slavery International

Resources

GLA staff time

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