Learning Together to Safeguard the City 26th November – 10th December 2015

Vulnerable Migrants

Lucy Bryson, Community Safety Manager– Refugees and Migrants,

Brighton & Hove City Council

Alice Macnair, Caseworker – Vulnerable Migrants, Brighton & Hove City

Council Adult Social Care

Programme

• Definitions of key terms – who are vulnerable migrants? Which vulnerable migrants live in Brighton & Hove?

• Case studies

• The local authority’s duties to accommodate and support vulnerable migrants who have No Recourse to Public Funds

• Where to go for extra help and advice

2

Brighton & Hove’s migrants

• Who are they?

• Where are they?

• Are you a migrant?

Discuss with your neighbour

3

What is a migrant?

• It depends! Academics may look at ‘country of birth’ or ‘nationality’.

• A useful UN definition of a long term migrant is ‘A person who moves to a country other than that of his or her usual residence for a period of at least a year [….] so that the country of destination effectively becomes his or her new country of usual residence’

4

What is a refugee?

• Article 1 A (2) of the 1951 UN Convention

defines a refugee as someone who

• “…owing to a well-founded fear of being

persecuted for reasons of race, religion,

nationality, membership of a particular social

group or political opinion, is outside of his

country of nationality and is unable or, owing

to such fear, is unwilling to avail himself of

the protection of that country”

5

What is an asylum seeker?

• Someone who has arrived in a country

and has asked the government of that

country to recognise them as a refugee

and give them protection, but who is still

waiting for a decision from the

government.

6

Which migrants are often

considered ‘vulnerable’

• Refugees

• Asylum seekers

• ‘Undocumented migrants’ such as refused

asylum seekers, victims of modern slavery

including trafficking and poor labour

practices

• Separated or unaccompanied children

7

‘Insecure Immigration Status’

• No physical and psychological security

• Not free to integrate into the UK and no

way of making a living legally

• No chance of travelling to see family

• Severe restrictions in accessing the British

welfare state

8

The Home Office – 3 Commands

• UK Border Force

• UK Visas and Immigration

• Immigration Enforcement

9

The Hostile Climate

Increasing expectation that public and private sector work more closely with the Home Office to deny services to those with insecure status – eg landlords, NHS, local government, banks, DVLA…

Withdrawal of all support from refused asylum seekers

Promotion of voluntary departure to home country

10

Some real cases

• Two Case studies

• Split into four groups – and each group

takes one.

11

‘No Recourse to Public Funds’

• Protecting the vulnerable’ v ‘Controlling

immigration’ The ongoing battle…

• Complex and frequently changing through

case law

• Local authority is forced to be the safety

net for families and some adults but is not

reimbursed.

12

Children Act 1989

• Duty of Council to safeguard & promote

welfare of children in need in their local area

• ‘by providing a range and level of services

appropriate to meet those children’s needs’

• Referral to MASH - what happens next

• Child in Need & Human Rights assessment

• Case law: Council can’t support where family

eligible for Home Office support

13

Adults - Care Act 2014

Eligible care and support needs:

• Needs arising out of physical / mental health condition

• As a result cannot achieve 2 or more specified ‘wellbeing outcomes’

• Without assistance / significant pain / distress

s42 Safeguarding – duty to enquire, where person:

• Has needs for care and support

• Is experiencing or at risk of abuse or neglect

• As result of the needs, unable to protect self from the abuse / neglect

14

Care Act 2014

Available to ALL:

Duty to assess / enquire

Information / advice / advocacy / signposting

Power to provide support (s19) e.g. while assessing

NB also s117 Mental Health Act ‘aftercare’

NOT available automatically:

‘Care & Support’ under s17 Children Act / Care Act

Provision of care services

Equipment

Housing, subsistence

15

Nationality, Immigration and

Asylum Act 2002

Prohibits Councils from providing care and

support to:

• Anyone with refugee status in another

country

• Anyone from another EU country

• Anyone who has been refused asylum by

the UK

• Anyone in the UK ‘unlawfully’

16

Unless…

(1)The refusal to

support would

breach the person’s

human rights; or

(2)The refusal to

support would stop

them from being able

to enjoy their EU

rights

17

Human rights

• Article 3 “No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”

• Article 8 Right to respect for private and family life

• These are most frequently considered – why

Difference: absolute / qualified right

Difference: access to legal aid

18

Return?

• If a person can return freely to their country:

• They can avoid a breach in the UK

Obstacles

• If there is a legal / practical obstacle:

• They cannot freely return. Overcome this?

Issues

• If there would be a breach in their country:

• We cannot expect them to return

What the HRA looks at

HR

A fin

ds…

Person can return

Bu

t… They choose not to

Th

en

…

We have no duty

Returning to country of origin to

access support

Requirements

• Needs must be independent of destitution

• Destitution must be proven – issues

• No other means to access support

– Housing (EEA / Non-EEA)

– Community / friends / family

– Welfare rights

• Eligible needs identified AND no other way to meet these…

• Safeguarding??

21

Entitlements to NHS Care

• Everyone is entitled to see a GP for free

• Everyone is entitled to free urgent care at

A&E

• Those applying for visas eg students and

workers now have to pay a health

surcharge

• Many migrants are now charged for

secondary care

22

Safeguarding is Everybody’s Responsibility 23

Thank you for attending this Learning Together to Safeguard the City event. We hope that you found it informative and that you will be able use what you have learnt to in your practice to improve outcomes for people in Brighton & Hove and help keep them safe.

Please let us know what you thought about this session

by completing our quick survey at: www.surveymonkey.com/r/LearningTogether2015

or completing one of our postcards before you leave

Your feedback will help us plan future Learning Events and will be considered in the Learning Together to Safeguard the City fortnight Final Event

www.brightonandhovelscb.org.uk www.safeinthecity.info

@LSCB_Brighton @safeinthecity

What can the Safeguarding Boards teach one another? 10 December 2015, 2pm – 4pm, The Great Halll, Moulsecoomb

Join us for our finale event which will pull together the themes the Learning Together to

Safeguard the City activities. It will be an opportunity to reflect on the subjects, issues/

barriers and areas of good practice that have been identified during the fortnight’s eclectic

events.

This is an opportunity for managers, frontline practitioners and professionals with an interest

in developing and enhancing safeguarding to come together with senior managers and

strategic leads.

The event will be hosted by Graham Bartlett, the Chairperson of the Local Safeguarding

Children Board and Safeguarding Adults Board, and will consider the ways in which the

two boards can learn from, and influence, each other to help make Brighton & Hove a safer

city to live in and be part of.