Refugee Community Organisations working in partnership: The quest for recognition by Patricia Anne Jones A thesis submitted to the University of Birmingham For the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Centre for Urban and Regional Studies Birmingham Business School College of Social Sciences University of Birmingham March 2010 University of Birmingham Research Archive e-theses repository This unpublished thesis/dissertation is copyright of the author and/or third parties. The intellectual property rights of the author or third parties in respect of this work are as defined by The Copyright Designs and Patents Act 1988 or as modified by any successor legislation. Any use made of information contained in this thesis/dissertation must be in accordance with that legislation and must be properly acknowledged. Further distribution or reproduction in any format is prohibited without the permission of the copyright holder. Abstract This thesis was based on five multi-agency, urban Partnerships at the heart of the Accommodate Project: An initiative that set out to stimulate grassroots resolution to the problem of refugee housing, settlement and integration, at a time when large numbers of people were arriving seeking asylum in the UK. Refugee Community Organisations (RCOs) were engaged by the Housing Associations’ Charitable Trust (hact) to work alongside housing providers, local authority partners and others, for three years in five cities where refugees were struggling to find permanent housing. My original contribution to knowledge concerned study of the Partnerships from the perspective of organisations working with the most socially excluded, the RCOs. The Partnerships created a structure where power could be brokered. Research was conducted in a critical realist tradition in order to discover the relationship between emerging themes. Connections made between structural barriers and local interaction meant this approach presented a bigger picture view that other methodologies might have overlooked. A longitudinal methodology tracked progression from the marginalised position that was the starting point for many RCOs, struggling to survive and fill the gaps in service provision for community members. By the end of the Project, RCO partners had changed attitudes, improved access to housing services and transformed institutional relations between social housing providers and refugees. Hact’s support for RCO capacity building was fundamental to their being able to influence the agenda, define the solutions and participate in policy decision-making. The Accommodate Project created a learning space that countered marginalisation by actively involving community groups in cross-sector partnerships. This study demonstrates that community empowerment is an accumulative yet uneven process. A participatory approach allows less engaged groups to learn quickly from those that are better established. If the intention of community empowerment is to lead to fundamental change, the role of active management strategies by a catalyst such as hact is paramount. The thesis deploys and develops theories of community empowerment and network management to conceptualise the social inclusion of marginalised groups. Dedication This thesis is dedicated to the memory of Brian Anson, architect, artist, writer and community activist. He inspired generations of students and never gave up the struggle for “the world as it could be” (Shaw, 2008:34). Acknowledgements I would like to express my thanks to the many participants involved in the Accommodate Project for their hospitality and for sharing their thoughts, experiences and time with me. Without their co-operation this thesis could not have been written. Thanks to hact staff and associates; especially Heather Petch for her warm welcome and open access to hact’s archives; to Drew van Doorn and Barbara Nea, always willing to help when needed; Devan Kanthasamy for his generosity in sharing, discussing and debating the Project and to Azim El-Hassan who initiated Accommodate and enabled this CASE studentship opportunity that has evoked in me an unquenchable thirst for research and analysis. Gratitude is due to my supervisors, Professor David Mullins and Dr Lisa Goodson for their enthusiasm, infinite patience and sustained interest. Their joint efforts and helpful advice have been the source of great encouragement throughout the research process. I am also grateful to my friends Anni, Cathrina and Kate for the arduous task of proof reading the final draft. Finally, I am most indebted to my partner Steve Booton for his continued belief in my ability to complete the work together with his endless support to do so. Glossary of Acronyms BME Black and Minority Ethic CBL Choice Based Lettings CEN Community Empowerment Network CIC Commission on Integration and Cohesion CIH Chartered Institute of Housing CLG (Department of) Communities and Local Government CURS Centre for Urban and Regional Studies ESRC Economic Social & Research Council Hact Housing Associations’ Charitable Trust HMO Home in Multiple Occupancy HMRA Housing Market Renewal Area IOM International Organisation for Migration NAM New Asylum Model NASS National Asylum Support Service NGO Non-Governmental Organisation PCT Primary Care Trust RCO Refugee Community Organisation RHIP Refugee Housing Integration Programme TPO Tenant Participation Officer TSO Third Sector Organisation UNHCR United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Table of Contents Chapter 1: Hact’s Accommodate Project: Partnerships in action..................1 Introduction ...............................................................................................................1 CASE studentship in context.....................................................................................4 Hact’s role .................................................................................................................7 Evaluation .................................................................................................................9 Refining the PhD topic ............................................................................................11 Challenges ..............................................................................................................12 Positioning theoretical frameworks .........................................................................15 Theory and methodology to meet challenges .........................................................20 A grounded approach..............................................................................................21 Research methodology outcome ............................................................................22 Thesis structure.......................................................................................................24 Chapter 2: Contexts and Dynamics.................................................................27 Introduction .............................................................................................................27 The Migration Debate......................................................................................30 Statistical evidence .................................................................................................30 Economic and forced migration...............................................................................31 UK classification......................................................................................................33 The refugee experience ..........................................................................................34 Loss of Choice ........................................................................................................35 Loss of Control ........................................................................................................37 Loss of status ..........................................................................................................38 Patterns of settlement .............................................................................................39 The ‘parallel lives’ debate........................................................................................41 Housing Policy.................................................................................................45 Dispersal and access to housing ............................................................................45 Lack of local intelligence .........................................................................................48 Housing Supply .......................................................................................................49 Policy trends............................................................................................................53 Housing and social exclusion..................................................................................57 Influencing housing policy .......................................................................................61 Conclusion ..............................................................................................................63 Chapter 3: RCOs’ challenges in collaboration ...............................................65 Introduction .............................................................................................................65 Social Capital ..................................................................................................67 Social capital and capacity building