Mapping rapidly changing minority ethnic populations: a case study of York Gary Craig with Sue Adamson, Nazreen February 2010 Ali and Fasil Demsash Official statistics can be of limited help to those providing services to increasingly diverse populations. Using an innovative approach, this project drew on both formal and informal sources to estimate the size and diversity of York’s minority ethnic population and the implications for key agencies. The project was commissioned by the Joseph Rowntree Foundation’s York Grants Committee, which makes modest grants to organisations to help improve the general quality of life in York. The Committee wanted a more up-to-date picture of the city’s population than census data offers, to help inform its work. This report looks at: • the approach piloted by the project • what this approach found • the project team’s recommendations for policy and service organisations in York. The project suggests that York’s population is much more ethnically diverse than is often supposed, identifying 78 different first languages within the city. www.jrf.org.uk When they talk about communities, all they see are white, Asian, black and possibly Chinese. They don’t see the Italian community, they don’t see the Polish community and they don’t see the Iranian community. (Iranian community activist, Manchester, cited in Rutter et al., 2009) Contents List of tables and figures 4 Executive summary 5 1 Background 9 2 A brief history of minority ethnic 16 settlement in York 3 Methodology: how we approached this 21 research 4 What we found: quantitative data 26 5 What we found: qualitative data 33 6 Conclusions and recommendations 41 References 46 Notes 48 Appendix: First languages identified within York 52 Acknowledgements 53 About the author 53 Mapping rapidly changing minority ethnic populations: a case study of York 3 List of tables and figures Tables Table 1 Population (2001 Census; 12 2006 estimates in blue) Table 2 Population by ward 13 Table 3 York – largest minority ethnic 14 population by ward Table 4 Employment statistics for public 27 sector organisations in York Table 5 Total WRS and NINO 29 registrations, 2004–08 Table 6 Main occupations, 2004–08 32 Table 7 Minority ethnic groups in the City of York 36 Figures Figure 1 Minority populations in York by ward 15 Figure 2 NINO countries of origin 30 Figure 3 Workers from A8 countries, 2004–08 31 Figure 4 A8 NINOs, by year 31 4 Mapping rapidly changing minority ethnic populations: a case study of York Executive summary Official statistics are not much help when trying to make service and policy responses to rapidly growing minority ethnic populations, particularly where recent growth has been from a relatively small baseline. Using an innovative approach, therefore, this research drew on a range of formal and informal sources to establish the size and diversity of York’s minority ethnic population and the implications for its key agencies. Background Labour Force Survey (LFS) is far more frequent, but only surveys a relatively small number of people: for The minority ethnic population of the UK is growing any single local authority, the number of minority steadily; in some areas, particularly rural areas and ethnic respondents likely to be captured may be some towns and cities, growth is relatively rapid. very small – possibly less than 10. In areas where One national study has identified York as a city there has been a recent substantial rise in the where the minority ethnic population appears to number of migrant workers, specific datasets such be growing more rapidly than in most other areas. as the Workers Registration Scheme (WRS) data This is due in part to key areas of the local economy or National Insurance numbers (NINOs) may help (tourism and higher education) depending heavily to give a more rounded picture, but these data on investment by those from other countries. generally only apply to a limited range of minority ethnic groups. However, official datasets provide limited help to local authorities anxious to ensure that they are This project involved a number of standard shaping policy development and service delivery research techniques, such as a policy and literature to meet the needs of changing demography. review, secondary data analysis and mapping and This project set out to try and map the size and qualitative interviews. These were supplemented diversity of minority ethnic groups using not only by a range of less formal techniques, such as the official national datasets but also a range of other collection of administrative employment data from research techniques and data sources. Many of the local organisations, observation and networking. circumstances in York may apply to similarly sized cities and towns and other local authorities could The methodology was not particularly complex but potentially use this approach. required the ability to draw together a very wide range of data from very differing kinds of sources. The approach In addition, the researchers had to be very flexible in following up possible lines of enquiry. The census provides data once every 10 years. Because results are finally available three years The project was complicated by a number of after the census is taken, there may be as much as factors, including: 13 years between the snapshot of one set of data and the next becoming accessible. The Quarterly Mapping rapidly changing minority ethnic populations: a case study of York 5 • considerable movement across the York/ The private sector employs many more people in North Yorkshire border which affected York than the public sector. However, data from both housing and labour market issues; private sector agencies was far less easy to obtain. Most private sector employers did not respond to • the reluctance of private sector letters asking for details of their workforce. Those agencies to provide data; that did respond were either not prepared to release ethnic monitoring data to the team or did • inconsistency and gaps in the presentation not keep such data. of data by public sector organisations; Data on migrant workers is complicated by the • the pace of change, and the arrival of fact that many workers may live in one authority irregular or non-recorded migrants; and and work in another. In this case, many more live in York than the surrounding North Yorkshire • the very limited number of organisations area because of the supply of low-cost housing. in York working directly with Black and In addition, those migrant workers who are self- minority ethnic (BME) communities. employed are not required to register with the WRS and those leaving the UK are not obliged to de- register. Taking these conditions into account, the What this project found study estimated that at least 800 migrant workers were working in the city and many more living there. In the 2001 Census York’s minority ethnic This cross-border movement points to the need for population (i.e. all those not categorised as White, neighbouring local authorities to collaborate over White other or White British) was 2.1%, and for service provision. The issue of migrant workers also those not categorised as White British it was 4.9%, raises the problems of the transitory nature of some much lower than the averages for the UK as a minority populations, which is likely to increase their whole. vulnerability. The project’s analysis of administrative data from The less formal types of fieldwork demonstrated the employment records of York’s public bodies that the numbers of minority ethnic establishments provided a profile of much more ethnically diverse and facilities in York are substantially greater and workforces than had been commonly understood. more diverse than is recognised formally by service providers. Places such as restaurants, fast food Most public agencies had reasonably coherent establishments, places of worship and linked faith- ethnic monitoring schemes although some had based activities, informal groupings and networks invented ethnic categories of their own (e.g. may provide access points for reaching minorities ‘Oriental’), which did not match census categories which are as useful as more formal organisational or had drilled down to national categories such as routes. Serbian. In most cases, organisations had failed to achieve a target (which many had set themselves) Despite a popular perception of York as a largely of minority ethnic recruitment matching the profile ‘White’ city with no more than six or seven minority of the population at large in York (around 6%). groups present, the study identified 92 different (The team had also hoped to examine data on ethnic/national origins present in the city and 78 the grades at which minorities were working but different first languages (see Table 1). Although a such data was relatively sparse.) The total number few ethnically–based community organisations had of minorities covered by this data alone was itself existed for some years, most of the ethnic groups close to the total number recorded in the 2001 identified took the form of informal networks and Census but this did not include all private and third groupings, often focused around a specific activity sector employers, children under school age and such as worship, language or economic activity. those out of the labour market. 6 Mapping rapidly changing minority ethnic populations: a case study of York To estimate the minority ethnic population of • greater investment in services and York the team drew on the information gathered