Spatial, sectoral and temporal trends in A8 migration to the UK 2004-2011. Evidence from the worker registration scheme

Since the enlargement of the European Union on 1st May 2004, large numbers of migrants from the A8 countries (Poland, Czech Republic, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary and Estonia) have joined the UK labour market and East-Central Europe has become one of the principal source regions of migrants to Britain. Nationals from these states now constitute some of the largest foreign-born populations in the country. As part of the transitional arrangements following accession, A8 migrants were required to register under the Worker Registration Scheme (WRS) if they took up employment in the UK for one month or longer. The WRS operated between May 2004 and April 2011. The WRS represents a uniquely detailed source of information on East-Central European labour migration to the UK in terms of the employment taken up by A8 migrants immediately after arrival in the UK. The research presented here analysed administrative data from the WRS in order to shed light on spatial, sectoral and temporal trends in registration flows. The findings in this report can help inform understanding of migration patterns, and responses to them, at the national and local government levels.The volume of labour migration flows from East-Central Europe has been substantial, with 1,133,950 registrations recorded over the lifetime of the WRS (May 2004 – April 2011). These flows have been concentrated in particular segments of the labour market, with most A8 migrants engaging with the hospitality and agricultural sectors and often working through recruitment agencies as opposed to directly for employers. The volume of new arrivals from the A8 countries has decreased since the onset of the recession in 2008 but still remained substantial at the end of the WRS period. The demand for migrant labour has been relatively consistent in agriculture compared to other sectors of the economy during the recession, suggesting that employers in this sector may still require overseas workers as they struggle to source labour regardless of prevailing labour market conditions. In other sectors the requirement for overseas workers had receded to a large extent by 2011. Conceptually this points to A8 migrant labour serving distinct ‘functions’ in the UK labour market

Differentiated legitimacy, differentiated resilience: beyond the natural in ‘natural disasters’

This paper starts with a flood in southern Malawi. Although apparently a ‘natural’ event, those most affected argued that it was made much worse by the rehabilitation of a nearby irrigation scheme. We use this example to interrogate the current interest in resilience from a perspective informed by political ecology and political economy, arguing that a focus on resilience should not be at the expense of understanding the conditions that shape vulnerability, including the ways in which ‘communities’ are differentiated. Complex factors are at play – and the ways in which these combine can result in a ‘perfect storm’ for some individuals and households. These factors include the effects of history combining with ethnicity, of legitimacy influencing voice, and of the interplay of political dynamics at different levels. In particular, processes of commodification have played an important role in shaping how some may benefit at the cost of catastrophic harm to others

A model for a mainstream school-based speech and language therapy service

This report of the Withywood Speech and Language Therapy (WiSaLT) project describes the process of setting up and evaluating a mainstream school-based and -funded speech and language therapy service. Outcomes for the child, the classroom setting, the teacher/therapist relationship and the school as a whole were monitored. Progress towards each of the outcomes was demonstrated but it was found that those children with phonological difficulties made more progress than those with language problems. The reasons for this and implications for the future of the service are discussed. © 2001, Sage Publications. All rights reserved