Migrants’ impact on D2N2 area economy revealed

Migrants in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire are more likely to start their own business, and more than half are educated to at least GCSE level, says new research commissioned by the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership.

D2N2’s research into emerging migrant communities’ impact on the society and economy of Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire – the area for which the private sector-led LEP works to promote economic and jobs growth – was to better understand how new migration patterns should inform its economic strategy, and skills and training needs connected to this.

Researchers focused on emerging, rather than established, migrant communities; defining emerging migrant communities as: “People coming into the UK, who change the dynamics of a neighbourhood. This change may come about because of the scale of migration, language barriers, actual or perceived cultural differences to the established community and no existing or at best a peripheral connection to a locality or social network.”

Report authors S4W and Richmond Baxter analysed national and regional data, including the UK Census and labour market information, spoke to businesses and business bodies including the East Midlands Chamber and Federation of Small Businesses; met with community and voluntary services, and conducted an online survey of 27 CVS organisations; held direct interviews with members of 14 organisations; and used findings from other recent studies.

A D2N2 steering group – including City College Nottingham, Community Action Derby, NG7 Training and Employment Action representatives – oversaw the study. It built on 2015 work by Equalities Challenge, a Nottingham-based partnership addressing difficulties faced by new arrival, minority ethnic and disadvantaged communities.

Key findings of the report were:

The D2N2 area has proportionally seen far less migration than the UK as a whole. The 2011 national Census showed 13% of the UK population was born outside the UK, compared to 7.7% in the LEP’s area – or around 162,000 of the 2.1million people living in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire. However, 58% of all the D2N2 area’s non-UK born residents lived in Nottingham and Derby (with a growing population also in Mansfield).

· Migrants from more than 100 countries have moved to the D2N2 area; but emerging migrant communities are largely formed by economic migrants from European Union ‘accession states’ – countries which joined the EU during more recent member expansions (2004 and after) – and by people from the Middle-East and North Africa, due to geo-political tensions. In 2015/16 of the 16,263 overseas nationals in the D2N2 area who registered for National Insurance numbers the largest number were from Poland (4,344) followed by Romania (3,301), Italy (818), India (793) and Spain (481). Nigeria ranked 12th in terms of most nationals registering, with Sudan 20th and Eritrea 27th. New migration from well-established routes to the UK, including India and Pakistan, also remain important.

· Most migrants are of working age; with almost 70% aged from 16 to 64, and almost a third of the total aged 16 to 24.

Peter Richardson, chair of the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “Migration is a key influence on UK society and its economy. It was essential that D2N2 commission research into the emerging migrant communities in its area, to inform our economic and employment strategies.

“Migration patterns are complex and changing, but this new research has solid recommendations which could help both employers and migrant workers.”

Hassan Ahmed, chair of Equalities Challenge and chair of the D2N2 research project steering group, added: “I am pleased to have worked with the D2N2 LEP on this important research project. It shows that emerging migrant communities are, by and large, looking after themselves. They may have untapped entrepreneurial spirit, be under-employed or may wish to improve their English, but on the whole they enjoy relatively high employment rates.

“This report makes recommendations to help unlock the full economic potential of established and emerging migrant communities in D2N2, and I look forward to seeing its recommendations implemented.”