MD3118 Migration Programme

1.    Introduction and background
1.1.    This decision form seeks approval for expenditure of £750,000 of GLA budget for 2023-24, and approval for a further £480,000 for 2024-25, to build capacity of the immigration advice sector so that migrant Londoners have access to the appropriate advice, support and information needed to thrive. It further seeks approval of income and expenditure of the same, totalling £1,585,907, to support the delivery of the London Strategic Migration Partnership (LSMP); the extension of the Hong Kong Welcome Programme; and a new stream of work to support the capacity of the ESOL sector to support Ukrainians, and other migrants and refugees.
1.2.    This programme is split into four strands supporting the overarching vision that all Londoners can thrive, irrespective of their background or immigration status. It is underpinned by the Mayor’s Social Integration Strategy, and therefore aims to promote equality between Londoners; promote meaningful participation; and support building relationships across difference. To deliver on this, the work has been focused into four core strands: investing in the immigration advice and support sector; improving the resilience of the sector; convening and improving the coordination of services across London; and improving understanding of core issues across London so that services can better meet the needs of migrant Londoners.  
Investing in immigration advice and support 
1.3.    The first strand of this decision seeks £521,000 of GLA budget for 2023-24 to ensure migrant Londoners can obtain reliable and accessible information, advice and support. This includes: investing in organisations so they become qualified to give immigration advice, thus addressing a gap, at source, for good-quality, qualified immigration advice in London; grant funding organisations to meet the needs of newly arrived and historically underserved migrant communities; and maintaining a hub of information to help migrant Londoners understand their rights and entitlements, and to strategically fund immigration advice and the provision of support across London. 
1.4.    This decision also seeks approval of £80,000 of GLA budget for 2024-25 to continue these programmes, subject to the annual budget-setting process. Further approvals will be sought for the programme for 2024-25, and future years as appropriate.
Investing in services that improve the resilience of the migrant advice and support sector
1.5.    In response to acute pressures on the migrant sector, this second strand focuses on improved resilience to support sustainable practice, and build specialism within the sector, through a period of fast-paced change and crisis management. This decision seeks £145,000 of GLA budget for 2023-24 to continue to build capacity and specialism to meet complex advice needs, including training on immigration needs of children in care; continue advice and training to combat migrant exploitation in the workplace; contribute to the development budget for the migration team; and develop a new project focused on improving mental health support across the sector.  
1.6.    This decision also seeks approval of £284,000 of GLA budget for 2024-25 to continue these programmes, subject to the annual budget-setting process. Further approvals will be sought for the programme for 2024-25, and future years as appropriate.
Convening and improving coordination of services across London
1.7.    The third strand of this decision seeks approval for the receipt of £1,455,000 income and expenditure of the same from the Home Office and the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) in support of the work of the LSMP; delivery of the Hong Kong Welcome Programme; and coordination of support for new arrivals from Ukraine. The LSMP is a longstanding area of work, having existed for more than a decade. For 2023-24 we have received an uplift to the core budget of the LSMP from the Home Office; continuation, into a third year, of our flagship Hong Kong Welcome Programme; and a new funding stream from the DLUHC to focus on improving capacity of the ESOL sector to meet the needs of Ukrainian arrivals, and other migrants and refugees. The purpose of the LSMP is to provide strategic programme and policy coordination on migration; and, through working with partners, reduce the barriers that London’s migrant and refugee communities face in accessing services.
1.8.    The grant from the Home Office for 2023-24 will cover the staff costs needed to support the LSMP and projects that further the delivery of its business plan; develop London’s approach to supporting resettled refugees; and coordinate ESOL for resettled refugees. The LSMP has also received funding to deliver work to support the resettlement of new arrivals from Afghanistan (ref. DD2576), those seeking asylum (ref. MD3029) and new arrivals from Ukraine (ref. DD2618).
1.9.    The income from the DLUHC for the delivery of the Hong Kong Welcome Programme will provide for projects and programmes that support the welcome and integration of Hong Kong British National (Overseas) (BNO) status holders. This is the third year of the programme, which has focused on mental health support for new arrivals; building capacity of Hong Kong specialist civil society; supporting coordination of support within local authorities for Hong Kong arrivals; and providing information and advice. This funding also provides staff costs needed to deliver the programme; coordinate support; and engage with Hong Kong stakeholders (refs. MD2831, DD2576 and MD3029).
Improving understanding on core issues
1.10.    This fourth strand works to develop a better understanding of core issues through evaluation and the development of practices that enable migrant voices to be heard. This decision seeks £84,000 of GLA budget for 2023-24 to conduct a robust evaluation of our core programmes to better evidence the impact and need for this work and create a programme to include voices of lived experience and to enable the views of migrant Londoners to shape our programmes going forward. This strand also continues work on the Asylum Welcome Programme which is designing new ways of supporting the welcome and integration of people seeking asylum in partnership with boroughs.
1.11.    Further, this decision seeks approval of £116,000 of GLA budget for 2024-25 to continue these programmes, subject to the annual budget-setting process. Further approvals will be sought for the programme for 2024-25, and future years as appropriate.
 

Investing in immigration advice and support 
Context and purpose
2.1.    Research supported by the Mayor of London found that demand for immigration advice far outstrips supply in the capital. For legal aid work, the research concluded there was capacity for just over 10,000 immigration and asylum cases per year. For cases not eligible for legal aid, capacity is limited to 4,000-4,500 cases each year. However, annual demand is estimated to be in the hundreds of thousands. 
2.2.    Responding to this need, the GLA has worked with funders and civil society stakeholders to ensure immigration advice is prioritised alongside other forms of social welfare advice. Immigration advice-related work funded by the Mayor of London over the past three years has focused on developing capacity to identify and support people with immigration needs. This includes scaling up the capacity of local authorities, migrant rights organisations, legal advice and representation providers, and communities to meet Londoners’ immigration needs.
2.3.    This work contributes towards a strategic vision where all Londoners can thrive, irrespective of their immigration status, by making access to settlement and citizenship easier for all Londoners in need. It aligns with the ambitions set out in All of Us: the Mayor’s Strategy for Social Integration; in the Recovery Mission to provide a robust safety net to Londoners; and in Mayoral manifesto commitments related to citizenship and the regularisation of immigration status for young Londoners.
2.4.    Following the success of the European Londoners Hub (refs. DD2239 and DD2277), the Mayor invested in the development of the Migrant Londoners Hub (refs. MD2831 and MD2973): a resource to welcome newly arrived migrants, and support Londoners with immigration needs by providing them with information about their rights and entitlements. 
2.5.    A review was conducted of the Hub’s content, and user testing of the site was undertaken with a group of target users to identify and suggest improvements to its design, content and usability. 
Delivery method and impact
2.6.    We are seeking approval to develop and maintain the Migrant Londoners Hub, including through:
•    prioritising accessibility and readability of the content of the Hub, including copyediting capacity, and potential for multimedia modes of communications
•    reviewing how cost-effective allocations of funds for translation can meet Londoners’ needs
•    commissioning a partner to review both the legal content and the accessibility of the Hub’s content, with the option to extend up until March 2025, subject to future budget approvals, to ensure consistency and accuracy of Hub content. This accuracy is especially crucial for migrant Londoners in light of the frequency of changes in immigration law and policy, and a consistent provider enables the Hub to remain a trusted resource. 
2.7.    Funding will also contribute towards dissemination of information, including through paid social media; stakeholders; and community engagement team and migration team programmes.
2.8.    The Migrant Londoners Hub aims to:
•    act as a trusted resource for migrant Londoners to access quality information about what rights and entitlements they have in the UK, and where to access safe and qualified advice and support
•    encourage migrant Londoners to identify their immigration needs, and take steps to secure and maintain status to remain
•    inform local authorities, GPs, police and other professionals about their duties and responsibilities towards migrant Londoners, to improve service delivery and help increase trust and confidence in these services
•    strengthen the Mayor’s messages of welcome and belonging towards migrant Londoners, mitigating narratives that aim to exclude and to “other” migrant communities, such as the “hostile environment”.
•    Include targeted information for Londoners most in need of support to understand their rights and entitlements, including the Windrush Generation as well as new arrivals from Hong Kong, Ukraine and Afghanistan.
2.9.    This decision also seeks approval to provide funding of £196,000 for the Frontline Immigration Advice Programme (FIAP), led by Refugee Action, to expand access to free high-quality immigration advice in London. This is the next tranche of funding approved under MD2973.
2.10.    Since 2016, FIAP has helped organisations working with migrants to provide high-quality immigration advice by training advisers, to develop their advice models, and to register with the Office for the Immigration Services Commissioner (OISC). FIAP also provides ongoing support and continuous professional development to advisers and organisations enrolled in the programme. Refugee Action is the only organisation in the UK delivering this model. Its successful outcomes have led the London Funders strategy for immigration advice in London (to which the GLA has contributed) to highlight FIAP as an easily scalable model if additional funding is invested.
2.11.    In six years FIAP has supported more than 200 organisations across the UK (40 per cent of which are in London); and trained 1,300 students, with a 70 per cent pass rate in OISC assessments. A total of 52 organisations have been supported, 22 of which became accredited to provide more complex immigration advice and casework.
2.12.    This is a continuation of the work delivered by Refugee Action over the past year (ref. MD2973) and will allow FIAP to expand its support to six organisations in London to develop, increase and strengthen their immigration advice services. It will target organisations providing advice and casework in languages other than English, to prevent language from acting as a barrier to accessing free and quality immigration advice; and to strengthen capacity among migrant and community organisations.
2.13.    As set out and approved in MD2973, we do not believe this grant confers economic advantage on Refugee Action. As described above, it is the only organisation in the UK delivering this model of both training and holistic support to advisers and organisations. In addition, a large proportion of the sum will be used to cover the costs of participating organisations to ensure that staff are supported to engage in the training, and that organisations can maintain their services. The amount directly used by Refugee Action for administration and recruitment to support the programme will be less than £50,000 per annum. This is a local programme, specific to London.
2.14.    Approval for expenditure of £270,000 of GLA funding towards year two of the migrant advice and support grants, and £87,000 of Hong Kong Welcome Funding, to maintain and increase access to advice and support, is sought to meet the specific needs of migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum in London. Contributions from the Hong Kong pot will be dedicated to supporting Hongkongers. In year one, expenditure approved under MD2973 delivered six months of funding. Approval is required for an additional six months of funding to grantees, to increase the impact and reach of existing work.
2.15.    The fund will invest in frontline organisations providing specialist advice and/or holistic support to migrant Londoners, including European Londoners, Hongkongers and the Windrush Generation; and in grants that enable the GLA to respond in a coordinated way to humanitarian crises, including helping those impacted by the invasion of Ukraine and wider pressures within the asylum system. These grants will build on existing six-month grants to support a resilient and inclusive advice sector to meet the dynamic needs of migrant Londoners. 
2.16.    This work aims to: 
•    develop capacity for currently underserved groups and areas of emerging need
•    promote lasting collaborations across the advice sector for the betterment of migrant groups 
•    develop support practices that prioritise staff wellbeing to improve the long-term resilience of the sector.
2.17.    Below is a breakdown of the funds for the spending proposals. All funding for 2024-25 is subject to the annual budget-setting process.
Table 1

Investing in services that improve the resilience of sector 
Context and purpose 
2.18.    In response to acute capacity and policy challenges across the migration sector, this strand of work has been developed to improve resilience through strategic training programmes, enabling development of durable partnerships, and improving mental health support available to frontline services.
2.19.    The GLA’s Children in Care with Immigration Needs programme (MD2973) was developed and implemented in partnership with three London local authorities. As part of the programme, Coram Children’s Legal Centre continues to deliver pan-London training to local authorities, ensuring children in care across London are supported through early intervention and appropriate referrals. 
2.20.    Across the migration sector there is widespread recognition of the vicarious mental health impact of supporting migrant communities: in a June 2022 Refugee Action survey, 76 per cent of organisations reported their current status of staff wellbeing as ‘surviving’.  Relevant factors include the increased risk of vicarious trauma; the impact of longer work hours; inexperienced practitioners taking on high-stress cases due to lack of capacity across the sector;  increased burnout rates; and high staff turnover across a systemically underfunded sector.
2.21.    Due to urgent need, the sector’s work is structured in response to crisis; and delivered at a fast pace in response to humanitarian emergencies, crisis-managing urgent cases and cyclical applications for short-term funding. While mental health support is increasingly offered to migrant Londoners, rarely do organisations have the capacity, funding or expertise to also support staff wellbeing. 
2.22.    Migrant workers are disproportionately represented in low-paid, precarious and informal work. Many face additional vulnerabilities including exclusion from statutory services; language barriers; limited support networks; and a lack of knowledge about labour rights or where to access support. Migrant workers with new categories of immigration status – such as those with status via the Hong Kong BNO scheme, the EU Settlement Scheme or the Seasonal Worker scheme – face vulnerabilities accessing their rights and proving their status. Migrants also face challenges accessing advice and support that adequately covers the intersection between their immigration status and other rights and entitlements, including their employment rights. For some, reporting poor working conditions and challenging an employer could put them at risk of losing their visas and becoming undocumented. 
2.23.    In his manifesto, the Mayor committed to: challenge unscrupulous employment practices; demand high employment standards; and help Londoners to access support on employment rights and other social advice via the London Recovery Board.
2.24.    Building on these commitments, and on the GLA’s longstanding collaboration with the Citizenship and Integration Initiative, in April 2022 the Social Integration team welcomed two part-time civil society secondees to coordinate and strengthen the Mayor’s work to protect the rights of migrant workers in London. The secondees have worked closely with other teams at the GLA and the Mayor’s Office for Policing and Crime (MOPAC) to ensure coordination across intersecting briefs.
2.25.    In the first year of the programme (ref. MD2973), which also includes £20,000 contribution from the Hong Kong Programme (ref. MD3029), research has been conducted into the current advice provision and infrastructure in place, in London, to support migrant workers to address cases of labour abuse, exploitation and modern slavery. This research will help identify the structural and practical barriers that prevent migrant workers from enforcing their employment rights; and propose relevant interventions to better identify and support them to address employment-related issues. In parallel with this research, a training programme on employment rights for migrant Londoners has been commissioned, to create a bespoke training and supervision programme for migrant and community organisations. This will help such organisations identify employment issues, and provide advice and casework pertaining to employment rights. The programme has approval under MD2973, and aims to improve access to advice and support needs to migrant workers in London who are at risk, or have experience, of labour exploitation through a commissioned programme. 
Delivery method and impact
2.26.    Building on year one of the programme, approval of expenditure of £95,000 is sought to continue to build capacity, and strengthen referral pathways and collaboration between the migrant and employment rights sectors, to better identify and support migrants facing labour abuse and exploitation. Following publication and dissemination of our research, findings will be used to develop a coordinated funder strategy to ensure long-term sustainable support to relevant sectors, joining up with other relevant programmes including the Justice Together Initiative and the Mayor’s Advice in Community Settings. Further work on this strand of up to £20,000 will provide capacity building and staffing contingency for the Migration Team.
2.27.    This work will be shaped by the civil society secondees in collaboration with migrant and community organisations, employment advisers, caseworkers and solicitors; and will be developed in close collaboration with researchers to ensure future work is developed from a strong evidence base. It will also build on the GLA’s and MOPAC’s ongoing activity, including Advice in Community Settings, the Employment Rights Hub, and work to prevent and tackle modern slavery. A further £200,000 is sought for 2024-25 to ensure this work is embedded across workstreams.
2.28.    As set out and approved in MD2973, this decision seeks approval for expenditure of £20,000 to extend the commissioned pan-London resource for local authorities to access training and learning tools, in order to build their capacity to identify and support children and young people in care with immigration and citizenship needs. This is a continuation of the work delivered by Coram Children’s Legal Centre over the past two years (refs. DD2492 and MD2973). We are due to launch our evaluation of the programme, and can use this event to promote the training to further interested boroughs.
2.29.    This element already formed part of the competitive tender exercise in line with the GLA Contracts and Funding Code. Extending this contract will ensure Coram quickly responds to this changing scenario; builds on the relationships it has already established with councils; and keeps materials and training updated to cover changes in legislation and policy during the next six months.
2.30.    Responding to the urgent need to develop large-scale support systems and resources to support the wellbeing of migration practitioners, approval is sought for £30,000 of the migration support budget for 2023-24; £15,000 from the Hong Kong Programme (already approved under MD3029); £15,000 from our Ukraine income (already approved under DD2618); and a further £80,000 of GLA budget for 2024-25 to design and implement a mental health incubator for London’s migration sector. 
2.31.    The incubator programme will be designed in consultation with the recipients of the Migrant Advice and Support Fund, which includes organisations representing new arrival communities and historically underserved communities including Deaf communities, LGBQI+ migrants and Windrush families. As practitioners in this field, they are the experts on what wellbeing means. Their insight will then be structured, by wellbeing experts, into a coherent programme across two years, testing and developing good practice with frontline migration workers. Contributions from Hong Kong and Ukraine funds will ensure the programme can meet the needs of organisations serving these groups.
2.32.    Below is a breakdown of the funds for the spending proposals. All funding is subject to the annual budget-setting process.
Table 2

Convening and improving coordination
Context and purpose 
2.33.    The purpose of the LSMP is to provide a strategic leadership, advisory, coordination and development function for migration and integration in London. The LSMP brings together cross-sector partners to look at migration issues of strategic importance to London. It supports local delivery of refugee resettlement programmes and the coordination of ESOL provision. Its remit includes data and demographics on migration and supporting integration. The work of the LSMP is informed by the Mayor’s Migrant and Refugee Advisory Panel (MRAP), a membership of organisations that support migrants, refugees and people seeking asylum. The LSMP will ensure its work supports the Mayor’s priorities and GLA policies and activities.
2.34.    The funding covers staffing costs for longstanding posts. It is externally funded via grant income from the Home Office, with some additional costs being met through the Robust Safety Net Staffing Budget.
2.35.    Further, through the LSMP we receive funding from the DLUHC to deliver the Hong Kong Welcome Programme (up to £917,000), and to improve the capacity of the ESOL sector to meet the needs of Ukrainian arrivals and other migrants and refugees (up to £200,907). 
2.36.    The Hong Kong Programme includes funding for staffing, and a suite of interventions that support local authority delivery to enable: tailored service provision to meet the needs of Hongkongers; development and support to Hong Kong specialist and led civil society; work to support access to mental health and wellbeing for Hongkongers; and support for wider GLA programmes to ensure tailored service to Hongkongers, including the Migrant Londoners Hub, the Migrant Advice and Support Fund, and the Migrant Exploitation in the Workplace Programme. This is the third year of the programme, and approval is being sought to receive income, and to enable expenditure of the same against our core deliverables on the programme.
2.37.    The ESOL capacity funding to support access to English-language learning for Ukrainians, and other migrants and refugees, is a new funding stream. This funding will formally sit with the Skills and Employment Unit in order to maximise its impact alongside the Mayor’s existing commitments to support access to ESOL and skills for Londoners.
Delivery method and impact
2.38.    The LSMP budget provides for core staffing of the team, which includes 4.5 positions (with .5 matched by GLA Robust Safety Net) to oversee the LSMP governance, including sub-groups and task-and-finish groups, and the work programmes attached to these boards. Three of these positions are permanent, recognising the long-standing nature of the Partnership. Two are fixed term positions. It is intended that these positions will be extended provided that approval can be obtained through the Establishment Control process. Work programmes include refugee resettlement; Afghan bridging hotel and resettlement; coordination of ESOL; widening asylum dispersal; and various other strands at the request of the chair and partners of the board. These requests include a lot of reactive work, including humanitarian crisis management through the LSMP ‘core group’ of senior leaders in London.
2.39.    This funding will also see the contribution towards aligned programmes that further the aims of the LSMP. This could include commissioning research and consultancy; funding projects that pilot ways of working and meet identified gaps in London; and continuing and embedding learning from the Asylum Welcome Programme.
2.40.    The Hong Kong Welcome Programme is receiving a third year of funding. This funding will provide for the core staffing of the Hong Kong team, which includes four FTE fixed-term positions to oversee the suite of programmes designed to welcome and integrate new arrivals from Hong Kong. It is intended that these four positions will be extended provided that approval can be obtained through the Establishment Control process. This funding will run from July 2023 to July 2024, and will therefore sit across two financial years. It will contribute towards several initiatives, which are detailed in the table below. 
Table 3

2.41.    The Adult Education Budget (AEB) funds the majority of ESOL provision delivered in London, and in the 2021-22 academic year around £53.2m was spent on ESOL provision: an increase from £42.9m in 2019-20. Demand for ESOL in London is high, with ESOL learner participation increasing by 28 per cent, and aims enrolments by 26 per cent, in the AEB across 2021-22. The ESOL sector has expressed that a shortage of ESOL tutors has been a barrier to meeting the demand for ESOL provision within London. In a recent pulse survey, by the GLA, of a sample of London skills providers, most said they faced challenges when trying to recruit for ESOL tutors – indicating difficulties in attracting new entrants into the ESOL workforce, and a lack of qualified teachers available to fill the gaps. ESOL providers have indicated that cost has been a significant barrier both for commissioning provision directly and for individuals registering for teaching qualifications. 
2.42.    This funding will enable the GLA to build capacity of the ESOL workforce, through an aligned approach to our existing work to deliver the AEB and wider skills initiatives in London. The delivery mechanism for this funding will include running an expression of interest process with existing AEB providers in London, who deliver relevant ESOL tutor training qualifications. 
2.43.    This Decision seeks authorisation to delegate to the Assistant Director, Skills and Employment, to take any further programme-level decisions as necessary. The deliverables discussed within this Decision are outlined in the table below. 
Table 4

Improving understanding on core issues
2.44.    Both the training around migrant exploitation in the workplace, and the migrant advice and support grant programme, are flagship programmes of the migration team that test new approaches to the acute crisis faced by migrant Londoners and build the capacity of the sector to support undeserved communities.
2.45.    The flexibility in eligibility criteria of the migrant advice and support grant programme will allow us to fund a breadth of projects, in response to the urgent needs identified by community organisations. By encouraging partnership applications, we aim to promote lasting collaboration across the advice sector for the betterment of migrant groups. The intersection of migrant and employment rights is an underserved area without structured trainings in place to tackle the acute vulnerability migrant workers encounter, particularly within the context of the hostile environment. Building on our research findings, the training will create a thematic resource to create access to rights for migrant workers. As a pilot training, it is important to measure the impact of this approach to support exploratory conversations with funders around routes to scale of this model.
2.46.    While the Mayor recognises that “London draws huge strength from the contribution of migrants who choose to make the city their home”,  under hostile environment policies migrant Londoners face exclusion from full participation in our city. Limited access to housing, finding work, opening a bank account, ESOL and difficulty in attaining citizenship are just some of the barriers confronting people seeking asylum, refugees and people with insecure immigration status. These barriers prevent them from contributing to the communities in which they live.
2.47.    Hostile environment policies – such as increased immigration checks and delegated Home Office enforcement across civil society and local government – also create fear of statutory bodies within migrant communities. This is an obstacle in migrant Londoners engaging with the Mayor’s office. 
2.48.    At present, while working to ensure all migrant Londoners can thrive irrespective of their immigration status, the GLA works in consultation with civil society, local authorities and central government (notably via forums such as MRAP and the LSMP). However, at present there is no tailored process in place for migrant Londoners to be consulted on projects and policies that impact them. 
Delivery method 
2.49.    To deliver on the Mayor’s opposition to the hostile environment  aims of exclusion, a programme of inclusion of migrant Londoners in the GLA’s work is proposed. We are seeking approval of £80,000 across two years to review how we work with MRAP, and to commission a community engagement partner to promote the inclusion of migrant voices in our work. This community engagement partner will draw on existing GLA connections to community organisations, and thematic lived experience groups, to build an advisory panel of migrant Londoners. Drawing on other lived experience panels at the GLA – such as the Peer Outreach programme – and the expertise of community engagement colleagues, we note that relationship and trust-building takes time, and therefore propose an initial 24 months for the development of this programme. 
2.50.    The name, aims and structure of this panel will be co-designed and further developed with migrant Londoners. The current vision is for the panel to be consulted on planned work, and to have a safe space to raise key issues of importance to their communities, to network, and to develop a trusted relationship with the GLA. 
2.51.    This programme aligns with All of Us: the Mayor’s Strategy for Social Integration across two policy priorities – tackling barriers and inequalities, and increasing democratic participation by tackling inequalities in voice and power. It recognises that migrant Londoners are the experts on the barriers they face; structured consultation and co-design with migrant Londoners will build stronger and more relevant GLA migration programmes. We will particularly look to engage with historically underserved and racialised communities, including Windrush families, Deaf and disabled migrants, and LGBTQI+ Londoners, alongside new arrival communities.
2.52.    A thorough evaluation is needed for the GLA to learn from the needs and approach of supported community organisations. We also require detailed evidence to document the continued need for this funding, its impact, and the value of this flexible funding approach. To this end, we seek approval of £100,000 across two years (£34,000 for 2023-24 and £66,000 for 2024-25) to conduct a detailed evaluation of both programmes. 
2.53.    Further, this Decision seeks approval for the extension of the Asylum Welcome Programme approved under MD2973. This would contribute a further £20,000 to the development toolkits as outputs from the programme, to embed the learning from the design lab approach to developing welcome and integration work for people seeking asylum in London.
2.54.    Below is a breakdown of the funds for the spending proposals. All funding is subject to the annual budget-setting process.
Table 5

3.1.    The work of the LSMP includes the following objectives:
•    increase the social integration of refugees, people seeking asylum, and other migrant Londoners
•    enable the fulfilment of London’s commitments to refugee resettlement, so that the capital plays an ambitious role in meeting the goals of the UK’s resettlement programmes
•    facilitate the development of new approaches to supporting people seeking asylum, which are sustainable and resilient in the face of future pressures.
3.2.    Under section 149 of the Equality Act 2010, as a public authority, the GLA must have ‘due regard’ of the Public Sector Equality Duty; that is, the need to:
•    eliminate unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation
•    advance equality of opportunity
•    foster good relations between people who have a protected characteristic and those who do not.
3.3.    Equality, integration and inclusion are the drivers behind these programmes. They support the delivery of All of Us: the Mayor’s Strategy for Social Integration; and the Recovery Missions to enable access to ‘good work’ and a ‘robust safety net’. These programmes also help address challenges highlighted in other missions, including commitments to support young people and to build stronger communities. All these programmes seek to tackle the inequalities that pose barriers to Londoners with insecure immigration status. These barriers stop such Londoners from fully participating in their communities, and the related work of these programmes includes improving access to immigration advice.
3.4.    The work to improve access to immigration and employment advice, and support services, and to improve accessibility of information to migrant Londoners, will reduce uncertainty and discrimination facing migrant groups. This includes challenges such as feeling unwelcome; discrimination; hate crime; difficulty renting private property; problems gaining employment; discriminatory treatment stemming from confusion about entitlements to services; and resulting mental health problems.
3.5.    Insecure immigration status often interacts with other forms of marginalisation, such as poverty, disability and racism. Many of London’s migrant communities are also ethnic minorities, and are impacted by barriers in accessing housing, secure healthcare and other entitlements. The impact of insecure immigration status does not solely affect the life chances of migrants themselves, but also their British family members such as children and other dependants.
3.6.    Migrant groups are also significantly represented among the low-paid workers who have been at the forefront of London’s COVID-19 response, or who have been impacted by poverty exacerbated by the pandemic and consequent rise in the cost of living. For instance, those affected by the ‘no recourse to public funds’ condition are often from a Black or other minority background, and often struggle with issues such as poverty, the impact of disability, or domestic violence.
3.7.    Creating opportunities for migrant Londoners to access good-quality advice and support, and for this advice to be embedded in settings where they can access it more easily, will help them to enforce their rights and entitlements. This programme creates more possibilities for migrant Londoners to flourish within their communities by ensuring that their basic rights are secured. Poor access to services and social connections has a particularly deleterious impact on people seeking asylum with additional protected characteristics. For example, our partners believe that people in the asylum system who identify as LGBTQ+ experience disproportionate isolation and victimisation.
3.8.    Any commissioning processes will ask potential partners to demonstrate how their projects are inclusive of a diverse group; and actively work to eliminate discrimination on the basis of the nine characteristics protected in the Equality Act 2010. To ensure the highest standards of equality, diversity and inclusion are upheld, the GLA will use outreach and engagement approaches to target activities at particular groups that are less able to engage, or that face greater barriers to engagement, to enable them to participate, while ensuring that activities are open and accessible to all Londoners.
3.9.    The guidance and resources are produced in accordance with best practice for accessible communications. The production of materials in multiple languages will support Londoners with limited English; and improve access to users with low reading comprehension. Grant programmes will focus on improving access to vulnerable or excluded groups.
 

Key risks and issues

Conflicts of interest

4.1.    There are no conflicts of interest to note for any of the officers involved in the drafting or clearance of this decision form. The team administering these projects includes secondees from, and trustees of, several relevant organisations. Appropriate mitigations will be put in place throughout all tendering and grant programmes to remove relevant officials from a decision-making role regarding funding where any conflict does arise. This applies to GLA officers and those funded to deliver work on our behalf. All commissioned services will be procured competitively in accordance with Contracts and Funding Code.
Links to Mayoral strategies and priorities
4.2.    This work links to All of Us: the Mayor’s Strategy for Social Integration, including confronting barriers and discrimination faced by migrants and refugees, and supporting Londoners with insecure immigration status to access their legal rights to citizenship and residence. It also supports the delivery of the recovery missions to enable access to ‘good work’ and a ‘robust safety net’.
Consultation and impact assessment
4.3.    The focus of this work building the capacity of the immigration advice sector has been built on extensive research and engagement with migrant rights sector organisations, people with lived experience of the immigration system, and desk research on capacity to inform our decisions as a funder.
 

5.1.    This decision form seeks approval for expenditure of £750,000 of GLA budget in 2023-24, and approval for a further £480,000 for 2024-25 to build capacity of the immigration advice sector so that migrant Londoners have access to the appropriate advice, support and information needed to thrive. This capacity is detailed in the table below:

5.2.    This decision form also seeks approval for receipt and expenditure of up to £917,000 of grant funding from the DLUHC for the Hong Kong Welcome programme; up to £200,907 of grant funding for work to support Ukrainian arrivals access learning; and up to £468,000 of grant funding from the Home Office for the LSMP. The total receipt and expenditure described in this decision form is £1,585,907.
5.3.    The expenditure of £750,000 is in line with the 2023-24 approved Migration Support budget allocation for 2023-24 financial year.
5.4.    Funding for future financial years will be subject to the annual budget-setting process and is subject to change. The expenditure of 480,000 for the Migration Programme in the financial years 2024-25 is assumed to be affordable and can only be confirmed when the budget allocation is formally approved as part of the annual budget setting and approval process.
5.5.    Any contracts that commit the GLA in future years are subject to appropriate break clauses.
5.6.    The award of funding to the delivery partners will be subject to satisfactory financial due diligence.
 

6.1.    The foregoing sections of this report indicate that the decisions requested of the Mayor fall within the statutory powers of the Authority to promote and/or to do anything which is facilitative of or conducive or incidental to social development within Greater London and in formulating the proposals in respect of which a decision is sought officers have complied with the Authority’s related statutory duties to:
•    pay due regard to the principle that there should be equality of opportunity for all people
•    consider how the proposals will promote the improvement of health of persons, health inequalities between persons and to contribute towards the achievement of sustainable development in the United Kingdom
•    consult with appropriate bodies.
6.2.    In taking the decisions requested of him, the Mayor must have due regard to the Public Sector Equality Duty; namely the need to eliminate discrimination, harassment, victimisation and any other conduct prohibited by the Equality Act 2010, and to advance equality of opportunity between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic (race, disability, gender, age, sexual orientation, religion or belief, pregnancy and maternity and gender reassignment) and persons who do not share it and foster good relations between persons who share a relevant protected characteristic and persons who do not share it (section 149 of the Equality Act 2010). To this end, the Mayor should have particular regard to section 3 (above) of this report.
    Grant funding
6.3.    To the extent that the budget of this MD be used for further grant funding, officers are reminded to comply with the requirements of the Subsidy Control Act 2022 and section 12 of the Authority’s Contracts and Funding Code (the “Code”) and to ensure that an appropriate funding agreement be put in place between the Authority and the recipient, before any of the funding be paid.
6.4.    In decision 3, officers are seeking approval for the Authority to receive £1,117,907 of grant funding from the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities and £468,000 of grant funding from the Home Office. Officers are reminded to ensure that the Authority comply with the conditions placed upon the use of the funding by the Home Office.    
Procurement
6.5.    Where officers use any of the requested budget for the procurement of goods or services, the officers are reminded to ensure that they comply with the requirements of the Code and seek assistance from Transport for London’s Procurement and Supply Chain Department. Furthermore, officers are reminded to ensure that a contract be put in place between the Authority and the counterparty before the services commence.
Delegation
6.6.    Any function exercisable by the Mayor on behalf of the Authority may also be exercised by a member of the Authority’s staff albeit subject to any conditions, which the Mayor sees fit to impose. To this end, the Mayor may make the requested delegation to the Assistant Director, Skills and Employment, if he so chooses.
    Staffing
6.7.    It should be noted that this decision relates only to the approval of budget although there is reference to approval also being sought for continued expenditure for nine existing posts. Any staffing decisions that need to be made following this decision must be approved by the Head of Paid Service in accordance with the GLA Head of Paid Service Staffing Protocol and Scheme of Delegation.