MD2831 Migration Programme

1.1 This decision form seeks approval to receive £917,000 income related to the Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas) Programme, and for expenditure of £311,000 of that income towards the establishment of the programme – we are seeking approval to delegate authority to the Executive Director of Communities and Skills to approve the expenditure of the remaining budget, made up of £606,000 income from the MHCLG, through subsequent director decision forms.

1.2 This decision also seeks approval for the expenditure of £600,000 of related GLA budget to build the capacity of the immigration advice sector to support Londoners with insecure immigration status, provide a hub of information for migrant Londoners to access their rights and entitlements, and to improve access to support for people seeking asylum in London. Further, this decision seeks approval to delegate authority to the Executive Director of Communities and Skills to approve £175,000 of GLA budget for 2022-23 to continue these programmes.

1.3 The Mayor has been investing strategically in immigration advice and support services to meet the needs of Londoners with insecure immigration status through the funder collaboration “Justice Together” (approved under DD2418), and through the establishment of the European Londoners Hub (ref DD2239, DD2277). The programmes detailed in this decision document continue that strategic investment, building on existing programmes, and seek to improve coordination of immigration advice for Londoners disproportionately impacted by both the impact of COVID-19 and Brexit. This includes further investment in the Justice Together funder collaboration and a contribution to the GLA Advice in Community Settings Grant Programme to support the capacity and improve the coordination of the immigration-advice sector. This will also include the development of the Migrant Londoners Hub to maintain existing assets in a quickly evolving policy landscape, and to further develop the European Londoners Hub to ensure it continues to meet European Londoners’ needs under the new immigration system.

1.4 The GLA also has a longstanding strategic coordination role in refugee and asylum issues in the capital through the work of the London Strategic Migration Partnership (LSMP) (approved under MD2798). London’s asylum-seeking population accommodated in dispersed accommodation has grown from around 700 in 2015 to around 5,000 today and is likely to see further significant increases in the coming year, including in boroughs that have previously had minimal accommodated asylum populations. The LSMP has played a pivotal role during the pandemic in coordinating support, including the introduction of the London Asylum Procurement Framework and the establishment of the London Asylum Group. The Asylum Welcome programme detailed in this decision document will address some of the strategic gaps in the capital to support people seeking asylum through intensive work with local authorities.

1.5 The LSMP has been asked to use new government funding to establish a welcome and integration programme for new arrivals from Hong Kong. Following China’s imposition of the National Security Law in Hong Kong in July 2020, the UK government has introduced a new immigration route for Hong Kong British national (overseas) (BN(O)) status holders, providing the opportunity for them and their family members to live, work and study in the UK. The government’s impact assessment in October estimated that between 123,000 and 153,000 BN(O) status holders and their dependants could take up the route in its first year, with between 258,000 and 322,000 arrivals over five years – these numbers are estimates and may change.

1.6 This decision document requests authority to receive £917,000 of government funding towards supporting the welcome and integration of Hong Kong BN(O) status holders and their families, and expenditure of the first phase of funding totalling £311,000. This funding will be used to establish GLA capacity through the recruitment of project leads; deliver engagement and scoping work to plan an effective programme; provide online information, translation and signposting through the Migrant Londoners Hub; and fund urgent projects to build and sustain specialist Hong Kong and wider South and South East Asian community infrastructure in London to prepare for a large number of arrivals.

1.7 These projects will work closely with London boroughs in order to facilitate, support and coordinate their activities and to promote pan-London cooperation to enable social integration outcomes for migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum.

Hong Kong welcome and integration programme

Context and purpose

2.1 Following China’s imposition of the National Security Law on the people of Hong Kong in July 2020, the UK government has introduced a new immigration route for Hong Kong BN(O) status holders, providing the opportunity for them and their family members to live, work and study in the UK. The government’s impact assessment in October 2020 estimated that between 123,000 and 153,000 BN(O) status holders and their dependants could take up the route in its first year, with between 258,000 and 322,000 over five years. While it is impossible to predict where in the UK arrivals will choose to settle, analysis based on existing diaspora alongside the additional pull factors of the capital suggests that up to a third of arrivals could choose to live in London.

2.2 To support new arrivals to settle in the UK, the government has launched a £43 million Integration Programme to improve access to housing, work and educational support and ensure Hong Kongers are able to integrate and contribute to their communities. This includes £5 million to establish 12 ‘welcome hubs’ across every region in England, and in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, to co-ordinate support and give practical advice and assistance to new arrivals from Hong Kong to support their access to services and social integration. £917,000 has been apportioned to the GLA to administer through the LSMP for this purpose.

2.3 This regional funding sits alongside additional funding for local authorities with a focus on English language and destitution, and a voluntary, community and social enterprise (VCSE) grant scheme to support BN(O) status holders in areas such as employment, and mental health and wellbeing to help build community cohesion.

Delivery method

2.4 The first phase of funding will focus on establishing capacity in London to support the welcome of new arrivals. This will include:

• Recruitment of two full time equivalent (FTE) posts within the Social Integration Team to lead the work, subject to normal GLA approval processes. The establishment of at least one coordinator in each region of the UK (including London) has been specifically requested by the MHCLG in order to enable engagement on the programme across government. The postholders will build relationships with relevant organisations in London, oversee commissioning and grant funding of projects, and establish a governance group to oversee the funding and hold service providers to account.
• Commissioning of a piece of consultancy work to undertake urgent research to improve our understanding of the existing Hong Kong diaspora in London, to deliver a programme of engagement, and to set out options for a programme of work informed by this evidence. This will enable to the GLA to move at speed to mitigate risks around recruitment delays and ensure that urgent funding decision are backed by evidence. There is currently a lack of sufficient data about the numbers of arrivals to London and their support needs to inform service planning; and a need to proactively engage with services to ensure that funding can be reactive to the emergent needs of arrivals.
• Commissioning of a provider to maintain, update and develop a comprehensive map of services across London that Hong Kong arrivals may need to access, including advice and support services, and community groups. This resource will build on what has been developed for the European Londoners Hub to ensure it meets the needs of arrivals from Hong Kong, as well as other migrant Londoners in need of specialist services.
• Development of the Migration Hub to provide Hong Kong-specific resources and improve accessibility to Cantonese speaking audiences. This will include local information for new arrivals from Hong Kong to supplement the resources being made available at a national level. This funding will go towards commissioning an organisation to maintain the Migration Hub, and a partner to provide translations in priority languages. Further information on the Migration Hub is detailed below.
• Initial funding to be allocated to organisations where there is an urgent capacity need to ensure the sector is in a strong position to respond to an increased number of arrivals, higher levels of programme funding coming to the sector, and the launch of the government’s voluntary and community sector grant programme. This will be delivered via other GLA grant programmes where a specialist Hong Kong need is identified, such as the Civil Society Roots Fund and the Advice in Community Settings Programme. Any remaining funding will go towards the establishment of a small grants programme to support small organisations specialised in supporting Hong Kong communities to grow.

2.5 We are seeking approval for the delegation of authority to the Executive Director, Communities and Skills to approve the expenditure of the remainder of the Hong Kong Integration Programme budget made up of income from the MHCLG (£606,000) through subsequent decision forms. This will enable the team to undertake a full engagement programme in advance of making funding decisions, avoiding duplication with simultaneous VCSE funding being launched by the MHCLG, and providing flexibility to design plans as we get a better understanding of arrival patterns and emergent needs.

Impacts and deliverables

2.6 This programme will align with the ambitions set out in the Mayor’s Social Integration Strategy All of Us and in the Recovery Mission to provide a robust safety net. Specifically, this programme aims to:

• establish capacity and understanding in London to respond to a potentially high number of arrivals from Hong Kong
• establish robust governance arrangements to oversee the spending
• align with wider funding to support broader civil-society infrastructure for migrant, refugee and asylum-seeking Londoners as well as East and South East Asian communities
• ensure arrivals through the Hong Kong BN(O) route can access relevant support services, feel welcome in London and thrive in their new communities.

Table 1

3.1 Under Section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the GLA must have ‘due regard’ of the Public Sector Equality Duty, that is the need to:

• eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation
• advance equality of opportunity
• foster good relations between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not.

3.2 Equality, integration and inclusion are the drivers behind these programmes, and they support the delivery of the Mayor’s Social Integration Strategy All of Us . This strategy defines social integration as the extent to which people positively interact and connect with others who are different from themselves. It is determined by the level of equality between people, the nature of their relationships, and their degree of participation in the communities in which they live. All these programmes seek to tackle the inequalities that pose barriers to Londoners with insecure immigration status from fully participating in their communities, including through improving access to immigration advice. Initiatives contained within the Hong Kong welcome and integration programme will promote social integration outcomes, including through grant funding to civil society to enable activities that bring communities together.

3.3 The work to improve access to immigration advice and support services, and to improve accessibility of information and on immigration rights will reduce uncertainty and discrimination facing vulnerable migrant groups. This includes challenges such as feeling unwelcome, discrimination, hate crime, problems accessing credit and mortgages, difficulties renting private property, problems gaining employment, discriminatory treatment stemming from confusion about entitlements to services, and resulting mental health problems.

3.4 Insecure immigration status often interacts with other forms of marginalisation, such as poverty, disability and racism. Many of London’s migrant communities are also ethnic minorities and impacted by barriers in accessing housing, secure healthcare and other entitlements. The impact of insecure immigration status does not solely affect the life chances of migrants themselves, but also their British family members such as their children or other dependents.

3.5 Migrant groups are also significantly represented among the low-paid workers who have either been at the forefront of the city’s COVID-19 response, or have been impacted by poverty exacerbated by the pandemic. For instance, those affected by the NRPF condition are often from a Black or other minority background and struggling with other issues such as poverty, the impact of disability or domestic violence.

3.6 Creating opportunities for migrant Londoners to access immigration advice, and for this advice to be better embedded in settings where they can access it more easily, will help them to secure their rights and entitlements. The aspects of this programme which seek to build connections with frontline community settings recognises the ways that London’s communities have been stepping up and supporting migrants with insecure immigration status for many years now, even when this support can be lacking from public services. This programme creates more possibilities for migrant Londoners to flourish within their communities by ensuring that their basic rights are secured. Poor access to services and social connections has a particularly deleterious impact on people seeking asylum with additional protected characteristics. For example, we know that our partners believe that people in the asylum system who identify as LGBTQ+ experience disproportionate isolation and victimisation.

3.7 Any commissioning processes will ask potential partners to demonstrate how their projects are inclusive of a diverse group and actively work to eliminate discrimination on the basis of the nine characteristics protected in the Equality Act 2010. In order to ensure the highest standards of equality, diversity and inclusion are upheld, the GLA will use outreach and engagement approaches to target activities at particular groups that are less able to engage or face greater barriers to engagement to enable them to participate, while ensuring that activities are open and accessible to all Londoners.

3.8 The guidance and resources are produced in accordance with best practice for accessible communications. The production of materials in multiple languages will support Londoners with limited English and improve access to this information for digitally excluded groups, for users with low reading comprehension, and grant programmes will provide direct outreach to vulnerable and excluded groups.

Key risks and issues

Conflicts of interest

4.1 There are no conflicts of interest to note for any of the officers involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision form. The team who will be administering these projects include secondees and trustees of a number of relevant organisations; appropriate mitigations will be put in place throughout all tendering and grant programmes to remove relevant officials from a decision-making role regarding funding where any conflict does arise. This applies to GLA officers and also those funded to deliver work on our behalf. All commissioned services will be procured competitively in accordance with the Contracts and Funding Code.

Link to Mayoral strategies and priorities

4.2 This work links to the Mayor’s Strategy for Social Integration All of Us, including confronting barriers and discrimination faced by migrants and refugees and supporting Londoners with insecure immigration status to access their legal rights to citizenship and residence.

5.1 Approval is being sought for expenditure of £775,000 for the Migration Programme spanning over two financial years as detailed in the below table. Funding for 2022-23 is subject to the Authority’s budget setting process for that year.

5.2 This expenditure will be funded from the Migration Support programme budget held within the Communities and Social Policy Unit. This programme sits within ‘A Robust Safety Net’ mission. Funding for future financial years will be subject to the annual budget setting process and is not guaranteed. For 2022-23, a £750,000 indicative budget has been allocated to the ‘Migration Support Programme’ against which £175,000 of expenditure is being sought to be committed in this decision.

5.3 Approval is also being sought for receipt and expenditure of £917,000 grant funding from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) for integration work to support Hong Kong British Nationals (Overseas) and form the ‘Hong Kong Integration Programme’.

5.4 This decision requests delegation of authority to the Executive Director of Communities and Skills to approve £606,000 of expenditure through subsequent decisions.

5.5 The remaining £311,000 expenditure is approved via this decision and is detailed in the below table.

6.1 The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Mayor fall within the statutory powers of the Authority to promote and/or to do anything which is facilitative of or conducive or incidental to social development within Greater London and in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have complied with the Authority’s related statutory duties to:

(a) pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people

(b) consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom

(c) consult with appropriate bodies.

6.2 According to section 31(3) of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (the “Act”), the Authority cannot incur expenditure providing social services, which could instead be made by a London borough council, the Common Council or any other public body. By virtue of section 31(6), the limitation in 31(3) does not prevent the Authority incurring expenditure in cooperating with, or facilitating or coordinating the activities of the said bodies. The officers have set out at paragraphs 1.4, 2.3, 2.4, 2.14, 2.23, 2.24 and 2.26 above how the proposed projects amount to cooperation with borough councils and facilitation of their activities. Officers must ensure that any other proposed expenditure does not of itself provide social services where this could be made by a London borough council, the Commons Council or any other public body.

6.3 In taking the decisions requested of him, the Mayor must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Mayor should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.

Procurement & grant funding

6.4 In decision two, the officers have sought approval of a £311,000 budget for the Hong Kong Integration Programme and, in decision four, the officers have sought approval of a £590,000 budget for three projects: (i) Insecure Immigration Status; (ii) the Asylum Welcome Programme and (iii) the Migrant Londoners Hub. Officers must ensure that any external services required for those projects be procured in accordance with the Authority’s Contracts and Funding Code (the “Code”) and with the assistance of Transport for London’s procurement team. Furthermore, officers must ensure that appropriate contractual documentation be executed by both the Authority and the relevant contractor prior to the commencement of the relevant services.

6.5 To the extent that the projects require the distribution of grant funding by the Authority, the officers must ensure that the funding be distributed in accordance with section 12 of the Code and that a funding agreement be put in place between the GLA and the recipient, before any of the funding is provided.

Creation of two posts

6.6 Under the Act, the Head of Paid Service (“HoPS”) may, after consultation with the Mayor and the Assembly and having regard to the resources available and the priorities of the Authority:

(a) appoint such staff as the HoPS considers necessary for the proper discharge of the functions of the Authority (section 67(2) of the Act)

(b) make such appointments on such terms and conditions as the HoPS thinks fit (section 70(2) of the Act).

6.7 The Assembly has delegated its powers of consultation on staffing matters to the Assembly’s staffing committee, currently the GLA Oversight Committee.

6.8 After consultation with the Mayor and the Assembly, the Staffing Protocol was adopted by the HoPS in November 2009 and revised in July 2018. The Staffing Protocol sets out the Authority’s agreed approach as to how the HoPS will discharge the staffing powers contained in sections 67(2) and 70(2) of the Greater London Authority Act 1999 (as amended).

6.9 This process will need to be followed separately to this Mayoral Decision in order to create the necessary posts should the funding be approved

Delegation

6.10 Any function exercisable by the Mayor on behalf of the Authority may also be exercised by a member of the Authority’s staff albeit subject to any conditions, which the Mayor sees fit to impose. To this end, the Mayor may make the requested delegations to the Executive Director, Communities and Skills, if he so chooses.

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