Impact of Migrant Workers in Perth and Kinross, April 2008

Shelley Hague, Economic Development Officer, Perth and Kinross Council

Perth and Kinross has a growing number of migrant workers coming into the local area to live and work and this is having an effect on the local population. In line with the national picture Perth and Kinross’s working age population has started growing which has reversed the decline. Although this is extremely positive on the local economy there have been some issue’s raised regarding service provision. The Perth and Kinross Research and Information group was tasked with exploring the GROS estimates which led into a greater piece of work regarding migrant workers in the area. Within the local area migrant workers are the key element for local businesses in the agricultural and tourism sectors but while doing the work we also discovered that there were a huge number now working in the care sector and were now beginning to settle in the area.

The evidence we have clearly suggests that migration into Perth and Kinross and indeed Scotland is economic and jobs led. Migrant workers are now a significant part of the workforce in Perth and Kinross in particular the agricultural and tourism sectors. Feedback from services also suggest that increasingly migrants from countries e.g. Poland include families and, with it, an increased demand upon local services. There has been no additional funding other than English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) support increasing pressure on existing services and budgets.

The importance of realigning mainstream service provision, rather than immediately creating specialist provision, must be a major part of any strategic response to new arrivals issues. Support to new arrivals requires extra resources that, in the first instance, need to be accessed quickly and used flexibly.

The longer term costs of migration, in which migrants begin to settle permanently, attract dependents and make demands upon the social and physical infrastructure associated with population growth, have rarely been considered. The key issues for public services include: The Impact in Schools, Language Barriers, Adult Education and ESOL, Housing, Community Integration, Community Safety, Health, The Environment and Culture. All of these impacts are discussed in the research.

Throughout the research we found significant gaps in information available about the numbers of migrant workers and how long they stay in the country and recommended many initiatives to try and solve these issues.