C&


M British Cleaning Council Immigration on the agenda at BCC Conference


By Mark Woodhead, chairman, British Cleaning Council.


This autumn, we will be clos- ing our annual conference with a session on the effects of immigration on our econ- omy and society. On one side, Sir Andrew Green, of Migrationwatch UK, will be making the case that better controls are needed to stem the flow of migrants into the UK, while on the other, the shadow Immigration Minister, Gerry Sutcliffe MP, will be countering by making the case that a points-based immigration system along- side tough border controls and policing is the fairest and most effective policy. Both of these speakers will offer passionate defences of their views on this emotional issue. But what are the facts on immigration to the UK? And which of the current strategies being floated by mainstream politicians will benefit the cleaning industry the most?


First of all, it is important to clear up a popular misconception about immigration and draw a distinction between EU


migration and migrants from the rest of the world. Immigration from inside the EU is unrestricted (apart from transitional arrangements for Bulgaria and Romania), while low-skilled migration from outside Europe has been banned for several years (apart from Britain’s duty to allow a set number of asylum seekers each year).


Controlled amounts of skilled or semi-skilled workers are still allowed to come to the UK, and this is the only part of migration flow over which the government can claim to have complete control. However, last summer, the current coalition government enacted a cap on skilled non- EU migrants entering the UK, placing an annual limit of around 22,000.


Migration from the EU has risen sharply in recent years, mainly because Britain was one of the few countries to offer workers from the eight eastern European countries that joined the EU in 2004 immediate full workers rights. It has been argued that the estimated 700,000 EU migrants from eastern Europe have had a positive effect on the UK economy - according to an independent analysis commissioned by the government in 2010, they contributed more to the economy than most Britons because they earn more and


therefore contribute more to taxes and national insurance, helping finance the state which boosts the average living standards for all. In the meantime,


undocumented workers have continued to enter the country. A study by the London School of Economics last year found evidence that there has been an increase in the illegal population in the previous five years, estimating the number to be 725,000, up from 430,000 in 2005. With such high levels of illegal migration, the system is clearly not working very well. The UK government’s response has been a tacit acceptance that desperate people can and will find a way around border controls to enter the country, and they have instead focused on trying to make illegal migrants lives so difficult that they will eventually opt to return to their own countries. And the many migrants that do make it in are finding increasingly sophisticated ways of creating forged documentation to obtain jobs. Hardly a month goes by without media reports of immigration officers swooping on cleaning contractors who have been deceived by their employee’s forged immigration papers, which can lead to them receiving a £10,000 fine per


illegal worker, despite exceeding every reasonable check to ensure that they are in compliance. The UK Border Agency regulations on migrant workers are time- consuming, overly bureaucratic and complicated. Asking employers to check documents that they see infrequently and are commonly and expertly forged is simply not an effective way of policing the right to work in the UK. This current policy is ripe for reform.


So what is the solution? The Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, has put forward a bold solution which chimes with a long-held Liberal Democrat policy position: earned regularisation. He has called for a conditional reprieve for the estimated 725,000 migrants living in the UK that have entered the country illegally. It would give workers the right to earn amnesty, proposing a qualifying period of five years, a long and arduous process with the prize of UK citizenship upon successful completion. Mayor Johnson is motivated by the lost tax revenues that could be used to pay for the services used by undocumented workers, with extra funds diverted towards tougher border controls.


The economics behind this argument appear to be sound: the national figure for unpaid taxes from


undocumented workers has been estimated at £1 billion (an impressive figure considering many earn close to the minimum wage). Aside from the extra tax revenues, the Johnson plan conveys unquantifiable human benefits of


regularisation. It recognises that a mass programme of expulsions would be both costly and legally difficult, not to mention the emotional scars of uprooting thousands of families that have settled and made lives for themselves in the UK. Regularisation would mean a life free from fear of deportation, protection from employment laws and an opportunity to contribute to society through the form of taxation. For employers, this would mean the removal of threat of being deceived by forged documentation every time they hire a new worker, and, for less scrupulous employers, take away the ample opportunities to circumvent employment laws and minimum wage legislation.


Regularisation has its critics too. It may have a ‘pull’ effect, incentivising future would-be illegal migrants to try and break the law and


come to the UK, attracted by the prospect of full


citizenship somewhere down the line. Other EU countries criticised Spain when it introduced an amnesty policy in 2005, suggesting that Spain would become a gateway country for illegal migration across Europe. Moreover, the financial benefits of immigration have also been challenged, with some commentators noting that the overall fiscal impact of net immigration is likely to be small.


The problems with the current system are plain to see. If we continue down the current path, with caps on skilled workers and stronger border control methods, we are likely to see the same outcome: a growing number of illegal workers living in the UK. But is increased policing a realistic proposition as every part of the state is being curtailed as part of the coalition’s austerity drive? Do we need more


imaginative solutions, along the lines of the Johnson plan, to solve this problem? Join us at Kings Place in London on 11 October as we seek the answers to these questions.


For further information on BCC and its members: www.


britishcleaningcouncil.org


British Cleaning Council Conference


Social Responsibility: working together ethically in tough economic times


11th October 2011, Kings Place, London www.britishcleaningcouncil.org/cleaningconference


Brought to you by


A conference held at a state of the art central London venue, where we will explore how we can work in a more socially responsible way, to the benefit of our industry and society.


10:00-16:00 11th October 2011 Kings Place | 90 York Way | London | N1 9AG Tickets available from www.britishcleaningcouncil.org/cleaningconference


8C&M July 2011


BCC


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