Glasgow ROMA-NeT
Local Action Plan 2012 - 13
Connecting cities
Building successes
European Union
1 |
Glasgow ROMA-NeT
European Regional Development Fund
Cover - The Clyde Arc
2 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
Foreword extract from Roma-NeT
ROMA-NeT is a transnational partnership of nine
European cities committed to improving the social
inclusion and community integration of the Roma
population living in their cities. (www.urbact.eu/en/projects/
active-inclusion/roma-net/)
Although the Roma populations in the ROMA-NeT cities
vary considerably in size, the partners now recognise
the core similarities and challenges that cities are
presented with but also the significant differences and
city specific issues that exist. ROMA-NeTpartners fully
understand the critical and central role that cities have
to play if Roma inclusion is to move from a concept to a
functioning reality.
The partnership has been in place since November
2009. The cities have followed the URBACT II
methodology (www. urbact.eu) and have established
local support groups of key service providers and
organisations working with Roma communities. The
ROMA-NeT local support groups have grown their
strength and knowledge base, largely because of
exposure to the experiences, the practices, the points
of view of other cities and thematic experts. The local
stakeholder groups provide an ideal setting to develop
ideas and stimulate new thinking and innovation. Each
local group has co-produced and finalised a local action
plan setting out the step-by-step approach they will
follow, to improve services and the life opportunities for
Roma populations living in their city.
Each city has a long term goal of social and economic
inclusion of Roma and the ROMA-NeT cities know that
many small steps can bring big changes. ROMA-NeT
offers a solid platform that cities can move forward from.
Whilst ROMA-NeT cities continue to face big challenges
of improving access to Education; Employability
Health & Social Care Services and Housing for Roma
populations, their participation in ROMA-NeT has helped
them to become better organised, better networked and
better equipped to face the challenges of the future.
Key outcomes for ROMA-NeT cities have included
having the opportunity to share experiences and being
given the processes, the tools and the core knowledge
to bring the right stakeholders together to facilitate the
start of the change process.
Many cities were working ineffectively, with disjointed
services and no clear understanding of how or whether
local services met the needs of the Roma community.
ROMA-NeT has motivated the partner cities to think
about joining up local services, to work more effectively
together. These are simple ideas, and it is sometimes
difficult to know exactly how they should be put into
practice; ROMA-NeT has given partners the learning
time, the insight and capacity to effectively develop and
drive local actions.
Most importantly, ROMA-NeT cities know that they must
find and invest in innovative ways to engage and to work
in partnership alongside Roma communities. ROMANeT partners continue to need the support of European
Funding but they are better prepared to meet the
Roma inclusion requirements of the Common Strategic
Framework 2014 to 2020, Thematic Objective 9 ()
through their engagement with the URBACT II RomaNeT project.
 www.interact-eu.net/downloads/4993/Presentation_Common_Strategic_Framework_2014_2020_Vicente_Rodriguez_Saes_Commission.pdf
Executive Summary
p1
Chp 3: Employment
Chp. 1: Introduction
p4
3.0:
3.1:
1.1: Framework for Integration - Education,
Employment, Health & Social care, and
Housing
1.2: Roma Integration Goals
1.3: 10 Principles
1.4: Roma in Glasgow
1.5: LAP Development Process & move from 9
LAP objectives to 4 Framework for Integration
Objectives - Education, Employment, Health &
Housing
3.2:
3.3:
3.4:
3.5:
3.6:
3.6:
3.7:
Chp. 2: Education
2.0:
2.1:
2.2:
2.3:
2.4:
2.5:
p17
Introduction
Early Years and Care
Primary Schools
Secondary Schools
Additional Support for Learning
Early Years and Schools: Recommendations
2.6: Community Education and Development
2.7: Community Education/Development:
Recommendations
p36
Introduction
Training and Employment options to progress
Roma labour market integration
Romani Interpreters Project
Develop training programme including work
shadowing for front line staff
Create a training and employment programme
for people in Roma Communities to work as
intermediaries
Research and identify good practice in
maximising employability opps for Roma
Sharing Practice
Govanhill Housing Association/ Govanhill Dec
Trust initiatives
Recommendations for the future a specific
actions agreed by Romanet
Chp 4: Health and Social care
p44
4.0:
Introduction
4.1:
Social Care & Support
4.1.1: Roma Children and Families Team, Social
Work Services
4.1.2: Free School Meals campaign
4.1.2: Romanian Roma Sub Group (SEIN)
& `supports mapping exercise
Contents
4.1.3: Advocacy & Welfare Rights Support
4.1.4: Roma Children’s Working Group
& Children’s Srrvices Exec Group
4.1.5: Eurocities: Roma Inclusion Task Force bid:
East West Cooperation for Roma Inclusion
4.1.6: Human Trafficking
4.1.7: recommendations for the future and specific
actions agreed by Romanet
4.2:
Health
4.2.1: EU Health Team
4.2.2: Community Renewal
4.2.3: Equally Well and Keeping Well
4.2.4: Recommendations for the future and
specific actions agreed by Roman
4.2.5: recommendations for the future and
specific actions agreed by Romanet
Chp. 5: Housing
p54
5.0: Introduction
5.1: Housing and Fire Safety
5.2: Housing Recommendation
Chp. 6: Conclusions and Future Plans
p61
Chp. 7: Summary of Recommendations
p61
Executive Summary
Glasgow is a diverse City of some 600,000 residents
living in 297,000 properties ranging from substantial
sandstone detached living to apartments in multi- storey
blocks. Within this population 75,000 residents are not
of UK descent.
The population is both young and vibrant with an
average age of 35 years and 68% of working age.
Glasgow is recognised as the powerhouse of the
Scottish Economy but has also bee the Cultural capital
of Europe and is currently preparing to host the 2014
Commonwealth Games.
In completing the Local Action Plan, Glasgow has
drawn on a full range of partners ranging from Glasgow
City Council Departments like Development and
Regeneration Services, Education, Social Work and
Land And Environmental Services.
In addition a substantial contribution has been made
by partner agencies including Glasgow Regeneration
Agency, Community Planning, Govanhill Housing
Association, Strathclyde Police, Strathclyde Fire and
Rescue, National Health Service, Oxfam and Sistema.
We have also greatly benefited from being part of
the ROMA Net project which has given Glasgow an
unprecedented insight into how the 9 member countries
are currently responding to the challenges of ROMA
integration, allowing us to benefit from their experiences.
2.5.2
Roma and other ethnicity workers employed as
mediators/assistants in early years, and Primary
and Secondary schools.
2.5.3
Intensive English language reception/induction
programmes for new arrivals and for people
whose English is at an emerging/developing
stage.
2.5.5
Increasing nursery provision within Govanhill,
with a specific focus on the provision of quality
childcare that facilitates second language
learning for parents and children together.
2.5.6
Enrolment of children at nurseries is hugely
time-consuming. One idea suggested was the
production of a short induction film for nursery
(and primary) enrolment. The video would be
played to parents at enrolment and could be
produced in a variety of languages.
2.5.7
Looking at alternative delivery methods for
parenting programmes.
2.5.8
It is suggested that we should audit our existing
spending on interpreting services and try
to reduce our reliance on interpreters and
start diverting resources into employing more
bilingual staff, across services, including Health,
Education and Social Care. Interpreting costs
are currently £26 per hour.
Detailed below is a summary of the key action points
under the 4 EU ROMA integration headings of
Education, Employment,Health and Social Care and
Housing.
2.5.10 Initiatives to address non-attendance at Primary
and Secondary are vital. At present, meetings
Education
2.7.1 Support for community activities (e.g. arts, music,
Il Sistema, sports, advice, information etc)
2.5.1
Council receptionists in schools (and social care
offices) in South Glasgow should pilot the use
of services like `Language Line’ or `Happy to
Translate’ This is a service used by the Police
and by GCC Community Relations Officers
(through DRS). The service gives instant
access to any language and is accessed over
the phone – often on `conference call’ to ensure
3 way communication.
1 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
2.7.4 Using the possibility of bringing the GRUBB
Roma music festival event to Glasgow as a
catalyst around which to progress community
development with young Roma in the arts and
music, with this work spanning pre and postGRUBB event periods.
2.7.6 Deliver training to change negative attitudes of
organisational staff towards people from Roma
communities
4.2.2 Maintain and improve links with health services in
Slovakia, Romania and Czech republic - possibly
through Eurocities/Romamatrix and other routes
2.7.7 Support the Govanhill History Project
4.4.2 Consolidate, sustain and support essential
community-based services that provide bilingual
advocacy and support services to people from
Roma communities e.g. Crossroads, Law Centre,
GRA Job Club, Positive Action in Housing, and
Glasgow Life.
2.7.8 Participate in a new EU-funded project to tackle
racism and discrimination towards Romamatrix.
2.7.9 Increase provision of informal community based
ESOL classes in Govanhill, appropriate for people
with limited literacy skills.
Employment
3.2.1 Provide interpreting services for small
community organisations working with people
from Roma communities that do not have
bilingual staff. Also, encourage the recruitment of
people from the Roma communities to become
interpreters.
3.2.2 Create a training and employment programme
for people in Roma communities to work as
intermediaries, for example in areas of health,
social work, education, welfare benefits, housing
and employment.
3.2.4 Provide/promote classroom language and
cultural mediators in local schools
3.2.5 Active English language tuition for Romani
adults
3.2.6 Skill development and job-seeking seminars
3.2.8 2nd generation young people should be
encouraged to stay on in full time education
beyond Primary school in order to acquire UK
qualifications
Health and Social Care
4.4.3 Ensure that adequate funding is in place to
support and sustain key community based
services that provide essential crisis support and
advice to people from Roma communities
4.4.8 See also rec 2.5.1 in Education section. Council
receptionists in social care offices in South
Glasgow should pilot the use of services like
`Language Line’ or `Happy to Translate’. This
is a service used by the Police and by GCC
Community Relations Officers (through DRS). The
service gives instant access to any language and
is accessed over the phone
Housing
5.1.1 Encourage GCC to enforce private landlords to
improve properties
5.1.2 Encourage wider policy debate about Roma
access to good quality social rented housing.
5.1.3 Desegregation Measures. It is proposed that, in
Glasgow, first steps should be taken to discuss
potential re-housing and wider integration
measures with Glasgow City Council and local
Housing Associations within the South Sector of
the City. The successful model used in Madrid
may be a model that can be adapted to the
circumstances that prevail in Glasgow
4.2.1 Look at the advantages of Roma mediators in the
health service - this could be possible through the
Romamatrix programme that starts in April 2013.
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Chapter 1 Introduction
The Glasgow Romanet Local Action Plan (LAP) has
been prepared as part of Glasgow’s involvement in the
Roma-NET project. It has been developed by the Local
Support Group (LSG) in Govanhill. While attention has
focused on the Roma population in the Govanhill part
of the city (an area located on the southern edge of the
city centre with a population of approximately 15,000
people) the LAP is intended for the City of Glasgow as a
whole.
Although the LAP has been formally ‘led’ by Glasgow
City Council (GCC) in its capacity as a partner in the
Roma-NeT project, the LAP has been developed as
though an extremely collaborative process (described
below) that has involved a range of the key stakeholders
responsible for providing services to the Roma
population. Also, while the LAP concludes GCC’s
formal commitment to this URBACT II project, it is
intended as a starting point for the ongoing commitment
by GCC and its local partners to develop and implement
ways to support the inclusion of the Roma population in
a socially coherent and economically successful city.
GCC (Development and Regeneration Services)
recently formed the Govanhill Partnership. This
partnership brings together statutory bodies to develop
ways tofurther regenerate the Govanhill neighbourhood
taking into account the myriad of challenges that the
district faces.
1.1 Working within the EU’s Framework for
Roma Integration
The LAP is purposefully intended to be a ‘living’ plan.
Of the detailed proposed activities set out below, some
are already in motion, while others will require resources
to be sought and found. The LAP should help give a
focus and direction to the work of many stakeholders
who are facing up to the challenge of Roma inclusion
and integration. As we move forward some proposals
may happen faster that expected, others may take
longer or may not go ahead as currently planned and,
certainly, new ideas and proposals that contribute to the
broad goals of Roma inclusion and integration must be
capable of being absorbed. In this sense, the LAP is
intentionally an ‘evolving’ plan.
In developing its LAP, the LSG have been mindful
of the EU Framework for National Roma Integration
Strategies up to 2012 (a) . To achieve significant
progress towards Roma integration, the Framework
states that ‘it is now crucial to step up a gear and
ensure that national, regional and local integration
policies focus on Roma in a clear and specific way, and
address the needs of Roma with explicit measures to
prevent and compensate for disadvantages they face.
A targeted approach, within the broader strategy to fight
against poverty and exclusion - which does not exclude
other vulnerable and deprived group from support - is
compatible with the principle of non-discrimination both
at EU and national level’.
1.2 Roma integration Goals
The Framework also recommends that EU Roma
integration goals should cover four crucial areas where
they achievement of goals is important to help Member
States reaching the overall targets of the Europe 2020
strategy:
•
•
•
•
Accesstoeducation
Accesstoemployment
Accesstohealthcare
Accesstohousingandessentialservices.
We use these four integration goals in organising the
objectives and proposed activities of the LAP.
(a) www.eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServdo?uri=COM:2012:0
226:FIN:EN:PDF
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1.3 10 Principles of Integration
The Council of the EU has also stressed that, although
the numbers and socio-economic conditions of the
Roma in individual Member States vary greatly, there
are several common denominators and experience from
several Member States shows that there are general
policy approaches which have proved to be useful
and can thus be recommended to others. Again, in the
preparation of the LAP, we have been mindful of the 10
Principles laid down by the Council of the EU (b):
1. Constructive, pragmatic and
non-discriminatory policies
2. Explicit but not exclusive targeting
3. Inter-cultural approach
4. Aimingforthemainstream
5. Awarenessofthegenderdimension
6. Transfer of evidence-based policies
7. Use of Community instruments
8. Involvement of regional and local
authorities
9. Involvement of civil society
10. ActiveparticipationoftheRoma
(b) www.coe.int/t/dg4/youth/Source/Resources/Documents/2011_10_
Common_Basic_Principles_Roma_Inclusion.pdf
5 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
1.4RomaInGlasgow-SituationAnalysis
How many Roma?
The Roma population has been growing in an area
of the City that has a very long standing tradition as
being an area of ‘first settlement’ for migrant groups
arriving in Scotland and Glasgow. As a result of this
tradition, Govanhill is Scotland’s most ethnically diverse
neighbourhood with around a third of local residents
from ethnic minority backgrounds.
Within Govanhill a substantial Roma population has
existed since A8, then A2 migrants arrived following the
start of their nations’ transition to EU Accession in 2004
and 2007.
In 2004, approximately 3,000 Slovakian Roma
came to the area over a short period of time, placing
considerable strain on local housing and service
provision. A more settled population of around 1,500
Slovakian Roma is now present in Govanhill, though
inward and outward migration continues. Between
2007-10 a small population of a few hundred Romanian
Roma settled in Govanhill. In 2011 the number of
Romanian Roma residents has rapidly increased and
is now estimated at 1,000-1,500. The total number
of Romanian and Slovakian Roma is therefore still
estimated at around 2500 to 3000 people in total in
2012.
While it is difficult to obtain a very accurate estimate
of the number of Roma in Govanhill (and in Glasgow
generally), some other relevant data helps build the
picture:
●●GP practice registrations in 2010 give us a figure
of 1609 Roma residents split across 5 separate
GP practices however the accuracy of this is
questionable as local workers have stated that the
Roma population rarely state their ethnicity. There
is also evidence that adult males do not generally
register for health services.
●●Estimates in 2010 provided to Community Health
Partnership staff by officers from Police and
Environmental Health have suggested that there
are between 1400 and 1600 local Roma residents.
This is broadly consistent with the actual data
obtained from GP practices. Adding estimates for
male registration brings our estimated total figure up
to nearer the estmates stated earlier - 2500 to 3000
Roma people.
●●The approximate numbers for Primary 1 to 7 are 293
A2 and A8 Nationals. We estimate that the majority
of these nationals are Roma. That is an average
of about 26 children for each age group across the
primary sector. If the number for each age group is
roughly similar in the 0 to 5 age group and the S1S6, then the figures should be around the following:
0-5 age group = 180; and S1– S6 age group = 216.
Based on these projections we can estimate the
numbers at around 649 for the age range 0-18 A2
and A8 nationals. The proportion of Roma children is
unknown but practitioners have made an educated
estimate that the majority of these nationals will be
Roma.
A more recent development has been a movement of
the Roma population from Govanhill outwards to other
parts of the City. Many Slovakian Roma who have
lived in Govanhill for years have now started to move
to other areas, most notably Springburn and Ibrox/
Greater Govan, with reports of Roma also moving into
Knightswood and Kennishead.
This number of Roma in Glasgow is likely to rise further
as Romania’s full accession to the EU in January 2014
approaches and Romanian residents’ entitlements to
work, benefits and housing align with other EU citizens.
In addition, the indications are that the Roma population
is predominantly settled rather than nomadic.
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Engaging Roma
Many Roma do live in conditions of abject poverty and
so recognition of their circumstances does need to
be taken. Romano Lav (‘Roma Voice’) seeks to raise
awareness of Roma culture, promote opportunities for
local Slovakian Roma to get involved in community life
and support local employment opportunities. The group
have been active participants in some local community
initiatives – most notably the Clean Green Team which
won awards locally – and have had some limited
participation in Roma Net
However, it has not followed that organisations’
wider efforts have yielded fruit in terms of developing
and sustaining relationships with the broader
Roma community with many services underused or
unsustainable. In many cases, attempts have been
made to develop services for local Roma which have
simply failed. In some cases, organisations have
struggled to communicate effectively with the Roma
community with a variety of approaches used with
varying degrees of success.
Work needs to be done to develop community
participation and volunteering within the Roma
community. Recent initiatives such as the Clean Green
Team and Romano Lav demonstrate that there is
considerable potential within the Roma community in
terms of volunteering and community activity. .
Organisations and agencies working in Govanhill have
had varying degrees of success in engaging with the
Roma community in recent years. Organisations like
Crossroads, West of Scotland Regional Equality Council
and Positive Action in Housing have successfully
developed advocacy or support services and are known
and trusted within the Roma community. In many cases,
individual workers from organisations have developed
good relationships with Roma service users.
In addition, the effects of poverty on Roma families
often means they face additional struggles in terms of
childcare pressures, the need to work, or travelling to
home nations where there may still be family or other
commitments. In many cases this has made relationship
building difficult over the long term.
There is a limited history of local Roma participation
in community activities. Structures like the integration
networks, Govanhill Community Action and indeed
Roma Net have struggled to attract and engage with
Roma residents. Language is again a key barrier but
there is a less well-developed culture of volunteering or
civic participation in many of the nations from which the
Roma have arrived.
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AwarenessofRomaneeds
At a broader level, more works needs to be done to
raise awareness of the needs and issues of Roma
people within local organisations. While there is
always a place for cultural awareness training, getting
representation from key local agencies within the Roma
Net Steering Group would enable a more strategic
approach to be taken to the development of services
used by local Roma.
Similarly, raising awareness of Roma issues within
Council departments and in elected members should
also be prioritised to ensure that Roma needs are
understood and met at all levels where resources are
allocated. Additionally, there is a role for the steering
group and individual members to support agencies and
organisations to engage more effectively with the Roma
community in the development and shaping of services.
Religion
Many people from the Roma community have a religious
background that has a close affinity to the ethos of
the Catholic Church. The vast majority of Slovakians
(approx 70%) are Catholic whilst in Romania many
families have adopted Romanian Orthodoxy. A small
minority of Romanians have embraced neo Protestant
movements such as the Pentecostal church and
sizeable number of local Romanians have joined local
evangelical churches.
Housing
The Govanhill area is a densely populated area of
about one square mile in the south east of Glasgow just
outside the city centre. The area is Scotland’s most
ethnically diverse community which, with EU expansion
in recent years, has become home to the majority
of Scotland’s Czech, Slovak and Romanian Roma
population.
Govanhill Housing Association is the primary provider
of social housing in the area – owning approximately
2,300 units which are predominantly improved tenement
flats. However, there remains some 12 tenement
blocks in the south west of the area which are of poor
quality, in serious disrepair and which are in private
ownership. The Roma population is housed almost
exclusively in this privately rented stock in the south
west of the area. Since Slovakia’s full accession to the
EU in May 2011, Govanhill Housing Association has had
limited applications from Slovakian Roma families for
affordable, social housing.
The high density of housing means that, there is a
significant overcrowding issue in a number of properties,
with instances of several families – particularly Roma
- sharing flats not uncommon. This population density
and overcrowding has a significant impact on the
quality of life for many residents. The area is busy, with
frequent complaints about neighbour noise, dumping
and misuse of refuse facilities. Additionally there are
perceived and actual anti-social behaviour problems
around large gatherings of individuals in local streets –
often as a consequence of overcrowding.
The south west of the Govanhill area features a
significant number of properties for private rent .
Approximately 60% of privately owned homes are
currently rented out and this trend is increasing with
many owners selling up and moving from the area.
There are in excess of 2,000 registered landlords in
the area, accounting for around 93% of the local rented
housing stock. In some of the unimproved blocks, the
proportion of owner occupiers is as low as 20%.
Within the privately rented housing stock there is a
significant issue regarding the bad practice of some
landlords. Regulations around multiple occupancy
are frequently flouted. In addition there are a number
of landlords who exploit tenants via rent payments,
retaining deposits and illegal evictions. This kind of
exploitation seems to be directed particularly at Roma
tenants. Moreover, many landlords are reluctant to
meet the costs of maintenance and required investment
in their properties. Many vacant flats also often have
their contents dumped out into the streets of Govanhill,
contributing to local environmental problems.
Much of the privately rented housing stock in the
south west of the area has had little or no investment
resulting in a spiral of decline. Since 2009, a
substantial programme of statutory housing repairs
has been carried out by Glasgow City Council. In
addition the recent backcourts initiative, which has just
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Glasgow ROMA-NeT
received funding for a second phase, has delivered
environmental improvements to rear and front gardens.
Nevertheless, much of this area’s private sector housing
stock is in poor condition and often below tolerable living
standards.
A recent social survey of this unimproved tenement
housing found that 30% of homes do not have double
glazing, 10% were not considered to be watertight and
14% considered their home to suffer from rising or
penetrating damp. In a large number of homes there
is no central heating and 42% of respondents felt that
the condition of their communal areas had deteriorated
significantly in recent years. Additionally, the area
suffers an infestation problem – particularly in relation to
cockroaches and bedbugs – as well as rodents.
A contributing factor to the decline of the private
sector housing stock has been the lack of effective
property management and maintenance services.
Glasgow City Council is now making use of its statutory
powers to serve Maintenance Orders and to require
the implementation of Maintenance Plans on those
tenements where Common Repair works have been
completed.
Health
The prevalence of alcohol use and smoking is among
the Roma population is believed to be high. There is
a lower rate of cancer, but increased morbidity and
premature cardiovascular mortality. Respiratory diseases appear relatively low, but as the Roma population previously did not access services, many illnesses
have probably gone undiagnosed. The number of cases
of infectious diseases within the Roma population is
unknown, again as access to services is perceived to be
difficult and health problems remain unreported. How-
9 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
ever, there is now increased attendance at GP surgeries
by the Slovakian and Czech Roma.
Obesity is reported to be quite high within the adult
Roma communities. This is due in part to high degrees
of poverty and generally as a result of a complex mix of
social and behavioural influences.
Health Visitors report a number of challenges with
supporting children and families to engage with
health services, for example young Roma women are
presenting late in pregnancy resulting in late booking
and having little or no ante natal care or preparation
for parenthood. Also of specific concern is the number
of young children with significant dental decay/disease
requiring tooth extraction at the dental hospital. A high
proportion of parents either fail to present their child for
ongoing treatment following tooth extraction or attend
follow up appointments. This results in the child being
de-registered and misssing out on preventative dental
health care.
Access issues have been evidenced through the Roma
Keep Well outreach programme. 171 Roma patients
from 2 participating Keep Well practices, aged 40 – 59
years were eligible for inclusion in a cardiovascular
health and lifestyle consultation at their GP practice.
Using a model of bi-lingual outreach support, there was
an endeavour to contact each patient either through
letter, telephone contact and/or face to face home visit.
122 patients did not attend the health check as there
was either no engagement due to patients not residing
at registered address, change of mobile telephone
number or no forwarding address. Of the 122, only 3
declined or showed no interest in the health check.
49 patients successfully contacted, agreed to have
an appointment made. 7 failed to attend the booked
appointment, 3 cancelled the appointment and 39
attended. This demonstrates the complexity of planning
health services for this population group using traditional
models of appointment and access to mainstream
services.
Poor access to Free School Meals & Nutrition
Education, Health and Social Work staff began meeting
in March 2012 to discuss the issue of Roma schoolaged children and their access to free school meals.
The issues are as follows:
●●There are approx 294 Eastern European children
attending the 4 primary schools in Govanhill; the
majority of these children are believed to be Roma.
Only 25% are in receipt of free school meals which
is well below the Glasgow City average, which is
approx 36%. Council staff believe that this figure
should be much higher and there are an unknown
number of other children who may also be entitled.
Many of these children’s parents need help to
maximise their income and claim free school meals.
We know that schools try their level best to ensure
that children do not go hungry at lunchtime and
Head Teachers are very resourceful and inventive in
the ways that they manage to achieve this, but the
children need a reliable and more dignified means of
accessing what they are almost certainly entitled to.
●●A recent draft report (1) from the Education Service
Planning Performance and Research Unit (19th
March 2012) highlights the above problem: “The
Scottish Index of Multiple Deprevation doesn’t reflect
the true deprivation of the schools. As the families do
not receive benefits they are not counted within the
SIMD figures. This is an issue which requires to be
addressed at national level. The local authority has
allocated additional resources, such as the home
link worker and English as an Additional Language
teachers out of its own resources. The city’s
settlement from national government does not take
into consideration the impact of the Roma population
for the same reason. A unique solution is required
for a unique problem.” (p.3). The report also states
that “Lunch times have also brought issues of nonattendance to the school in the afternoon session.
The families often have their main meal of the day
at lunch time and this is the time when families will
all get together and eat a large meal. Families often
take their child home for this meal and they do not
return to school.” (p.11)
AccesstoEmploymentandEmployment
Services
Employment for the Roma community is hard to
come by due to poor levels of training or educational
attainment, which could be attributed to language
barriers, isolation etc. Some Roma resort to selling
the Big Issue (a local Homeless Magazine), although
this is usually only Romanian Roma (as well as
local Bulgarians) as their A2 status gives them the
same basic rights as EU citizens, but who face some
restrictions in their ability to get work. It is understood
that many Roma work in the black economy though the
extent of this is obviously hard to confirm.
A number of local agencies do provide casual labour
for the Roma, with pickups from local streets. There
is uncertainty about the employment status, pay,
conditions and rights of the individuals working for these
agencies. We know of one agency who are picking
up Roma for work and the reports are of very poor
conditions. The Roma take part in this work freely as
(1) Attendance issues report available from GCC Education Service
Planning Performance and Research Unit (19th March 2012)
10 |
Glasgow ROMA-NeT
they don’t believe there are many other opportunities for
work.
Reports from service providers, suggest that the current
situation of Romanian Roma’s in Glasgow is at the
moment not well assessed. Access to service provision
is generally very limited - institutions do not have
comprehensive information about the needs, structure,
mindset of the community. There is certainly space to
improve current service for A2 Roma nationals in the
city.
Education
Educational attainment is generally low among the
Roma. A selection of the Roma population speak basic
English but their ability to speak and to read English
varies.
Local agencies suggest that the lack of English
language skills is the primary reason they struggle with
formal education locally, to seek work or to engage with
mainstream service provision. Many Roma are keen to
access local ESOL provision but struggle to engage with
local providers.
AntiSocialBehaviourandCrime
The local Police force has engaged with the Roma
community for around 6 years and the focus over
this period has been around complaints of anti-social
behaviour in many forms including groups of males
hanging around the streets, creating a fear of crime,
excessive noise within communal stairwells where
Roma families reside, inappropriate disposal of rubbish,
overcrowding in private let properties, child protection
concerns, for example children not attending school
or being in the streets late at night. Reports from the
local Police force statistics show that it is the anti-social
behaviour and the fear or crime that are the main areas
11 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
of concern for the community.
In addition, it is noted by local agencies that Roma do
not often report crime, especially anti-social behaviour
in the community. They are also hesitant to report
instances of racial crimes.
Implications for Roma of Welfare Reform
Practitioners working with Roma are concerned
that the implications flowing from the UK Coalition
Government’s welfare reform will be very challenging.
The reforms mean the way people are able to claim
and receive benefits will change. Under the proposed
Universal Credit, many existing working age benefits
will be phased out and merged into one single monthly
payment to cover living, child support and housing
costs. The Universal Credit will encompass a payment
for living costs, child support and housing costs. This
will mean that Income Support/JSA/ESA, tax credits
and housing benefit will be merged into one monthly
payment, out of which you will pay your housing costs
and budget the rest of your money for the month ahead.
The practicalities of the implementation of the
Government’s Welfare Reform programme create
additional barriers and hurdles to the ability of the Roma
Community to access state benefits.
It should be borne in mind that the position of A2
members of the Roma community are still currently
facing additional difficulties with regards to accessing
state benefits in comparison to those who are nationals
of the A8 countries.
Those difficulties are well documented in other
publications/documents.
Notwithstanding the issues of eligibility to state benefits
under the welfare reform programme, additional
difficulties identified are:
All of the above will serve only to isolate further a
community already experiencing difficulties under the
existing system. The issue of accessibility in terms of
the ability to make valid claims for benefit should give
rise to real cause for concern for both members of this
community and those offering them support.
●●No provision for paper claims.
Claims must be made
online. Additional/exceptional claims can be lodged
by telephone. Both these methods of claiming
raise issues such as access to computers, being
computer literate and the obvious problems to do
with language problems if a telephone claim is made.
●●Monies will be paid monthly thereby raising issues re
the ability to budget. This also raises the real threat
of rent arrears accruing due to the above.
●●Monies are to be paid directly into bank accounts.
As stated above this will be on a monthly basis. It is
unclear how many of the Roma Community currently
have a bank account. Evidence is required to gauge
the extent of this problem.
●●Universal Credit will be administered by DWP
centralised offices. The ability to “liaise” with a
“local office” will be removed. This will undoubtedly
present issues re correct levels of benefit being paid.
●●Early indications are that even in cases where
claimants have authorised organisations to
advocate on their behalf, due to the centralisation
of the DWP operation, these mandates will be
rendered worthless thereby eliminating the ability of
organisations such as RSLs to act on the claimant’s
behalf, as this is no longer an option.
12 |
Glasgow ROMA-NeT
1.5LAPDevelopmentProcess
The Glasgow LAP has been developed through a highly
interactive process involving a mix of stakeholders who
formed a Local Support Group (LSG). From the outset,
the LSG has been chaired by a representative of GCC’s
Development and Regeneration Services. From October
2012 chairmanship responsibilities was picked up on an
interim basis by a representative from GCC Social Work.
The LAP development process has been characterised
by 3 important features:
●●Stakeholders engagement - Bringing together a
good mix of key stakeholders from both the Council,
the third sector and community-based services
directly in touch with local Roma.
●●Systematic process - Following a structured and
systematic development process that enabled
all stakeholders to input insight and help shape
priorities, objectives and proposals.
●●Peer review - Exposing Glasgow’s LAP in draft
form to peer review by other international partners
involved in the Roma-NeT project.
Stakeholders – the LSG bright together a rich mix
of stakeholders with responsibility for a range of key
services and activities relevant to Roma. The active
members of the LSG and their relevance to Roma have
been:
●●Glasgow City Council (DRS, Education and Social
Work) – in its capacity as URBACT partner, GCC
was able to field representatives from key policy
areas;
●●GovanhillHousingAssociation–a major social
landlord and asset owner, that has supported
employment and training schemes and important
community-based advocacy services working on
behalf of Roma;
13 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
●●Govanhill Law Centre – a community-service that is
in daily, direct contact with Roma and other services
with which Roma interact;
●●Crossroads – another key (but fragile) communitybased service working directly with Roma to help
stabilise lives and make links with other services;
●●Oxfam – a charity with locally-based staff and a
strong commitment to community engagement and
community development work with Roma;
●●Strathclyde Police –very active in working with the
local community and young people, to diffuse tension
and build better community relations;
●●Community Health Partnership – concerned with
identifying and meeting the health needs of the local
community;
●●Community Renewal – a community enterprise that
knows the community well and which offers ways of
engaging directly with Roma;
●●Govanhill Youth Project – another important
community-based project experienced in working
with local youth, both Roma and non-Roma;
●●Romano Lav – the first Roma organisation to be set
up in the area (by Slovakian Roma);
●●West of Scotland Regional Equality Council –
whose representative is Slovenian and has direct
contact with local Roma;
●●GlasgowRegenerationAgency–responsible for
supporting unemployed people to move into training
and/or employment.
DiagramshowingLAPdevelopmentprocess
Existing baseline information on
Roma in Govanhill. was drawn on
and added to throughout the LAP
planning process as more intelligence
on Roma was forthcoming.
Step 1:
DeskResearch
Step 2:
Stakeholder
consultation
Feedback from stakeholders
analysed to identify: main issues and
challenges; priorities for the LAP;
and their potential role in supporting
Roma inclusion and integration.
Step 3:
Analysis
Step 4:
Planning
A range of stakeholders from the LSG
were nominated as ‘Objective Leads’,
which meant that they took primary
responsibility for drafting relevant
sections of the LAP that deal with
proposed actions under the agreed
objectives.
Analysis led on to firming up the
main goals and objectives of the
LAP, these being discussed and
agreed by the LSG.
Step 5:
Co-production
Step 6:
Peer review
The draft LAP was then shared
(again) with all key stakeholders
involved in the development process
as a way to check the feasibility of,
and commitment to,
its recommendations.
All members of the LSG were
consulted (via either face to face
interview, online consultation, or
both)
Glasgow was able to share its
LAP with the other international
partners at a transnational
meeting in Valencia in June,
2012. A formal peer review
session was part of the
programme and the Glasgow
LAP was very highly rated by the
other Roma-NeT partners.
Step 7:
Final consultation
14 |
Glasgow ROMA-NeT
Systematic process - The LSG met regularly at a
location within the Govanhill area approximately every
6 weeks between 2011 and 2012. An independent
consultant was engaged as a resource to help the LSG
prepare its LAP. Preparation of the LAP then became
a standing item on the agenda of the LSG, with all
stakeholders regularly inputting and being updated
on the LAP as it developed across a stepped process
consisting of:
Peer review – Glasgow’s draft LAP was shared with
all the other international partners at the transnational
meeting in June 2012 in Valencia, Spain. Along with
each of the other Roma-NeT cities’ plans, the Glasgow
LAP was critiqued by the partners in terms of its
strategic thinking, clarity of goals and objectives and
the range of activities proposed. Each city’s LAP was
awarded a score of 1-10 (with 10 being highest. The
Glasgow LAP received a score of 8 points, which was
the highest mark awarded in the peer review session.
Re-structuringtheLAPinto4EURomaIntegration
Goals - At the last Romanet LSG meeting, it was
agreed that the Romanet Action Plan would benefit from
re-structuring. `Housing’ had recently been added as a
new heading and `Education’ was largely missing from
the plan. It was proposed and agreed that the plan
should therefore be structured around the 4 EU Roma
Integration goals of Education, Employment, Health &
Social Care and Housing and the original 9 objectives
absorbed into the new structure.
The advantages of doing this were as follows:
1 Rationalising the LAP from 9 headings into 4
headings simplified the plan and aligned the plan
with EU Roma Integration goals
2 The current 9 objectives were `cross-cutting’, and
many professionals working on these objectives
found themselves frustrated and confused through
attending multiple meetings to discuss similar
matters
3 The LAP was missing `Education’ as a heading and
this was thought to be a major gap
4 The formation of 4 Headings enabled the formation
of 4 distinct Romanet LSG working groups,
(Education, Employment, Health & Social care, and
Housing) , each led by a person selected by the
LSG.
Guiding Principles for all Romanet Working Groups
●●Roma representation is essential
●●All working groups within the Romanet LSG should
identify and gather data in order to shape services
for local Roma residents and they should seek input
from Roma service users into the shape and delivery
of services.
●●The LSG should seek participation from key
agencies –eg Education, Housing benefit, Socal
Work, Job centre, HMRC
●●The LSG should engage Leadership within GCC and
locally elected members
15 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
OriginalLAPObjectives
The original LAP from Sept 2012 objectives were as
follows:
1. Strengthen engagement and collaboration
between service providers and between service
providers and the Roma community. It is proposed
that the activities under this heading should become
`overarching guiding principles’ for each working
group for Education, Employment Health & Social
care and Housing. This objective and the related
activities a. to d. are now included as guiding
principles for all 4 working groups. The 4 overarching
principles for the work of the Romanet LSG are
as follows. These were originally Romanet LAP
objectives 1 b to e.
2. DevelopabetterunderstandingoftheRoma
community in Govanhill and how it works (in
particular Roma ‘work’). This objective contained
three activities a. to d., which were, broadly speaking,
about gathering data to shape services, getting
representation from Roma people on Romanet and
broadening the membership of Romanet to include
Education staff, Housing benefit and DWP staff and
so forth. The new LAP has included these activities,
breaking them up appropriately into respective
working groups. Objective d. is discussed in the
Community Education Section.
3. Tackle negative public attitudes towards Roma
within the Govanhill community and among staff
involved in service provision. This objective was
split into 4 activities; 3 of these – a., b. and d., are
now to be found under the `Community Education/
Development section, as they are encompassed
within the Romamatrix bid that is described there.
Action c. is included in the Community Education
Section of the new LAP.
4. Support Roma when they engage and interface
with services by providing language and other
support. This is an objective that should apply to all
four of the new working groups. Action 4.a is now
included in the Employability section of the new LAP,
Action 4.b is now in the Community Development
section and actions c. and d. have been absorbed
under Social Care.
5. Secure and build existing community-based
services that provide basic crisis support that
essential to enabling Roma families survive and
‘get by’. This section has now moved into Social
Care.
6. DevelopbetterunderstandingofRomaandRoma
rights among front line service staff Most of this
objective is now covered by the Romamatrix bid and
by a Technical assistance bid action that is included
in the Community Development section of the new
LAP within Education
7. Identify range of suitable and immediate training
and employment opportunities to progress
Roma labour market integration. This section is
absorbed by the Employability part of the new LAP
with the exception of activity 7.c which is now under
Education.
8. Improving housing conditions and availability for
Roma. Now absorbed into Housing section
9. Position Govanhill as an area meriting focus
in Scotland’s new/emerging urban policy and
Glasgow at the forefront of a progressive
response to the needs to Roma communities –
an issue high on the EU agenda. This objective is
now a general principle that is an aim for all of the
4 working groups and Romanet as a whole. Obj.
9.a. included in the Housing section of the new LAP,
Obj. 9.b, 9.d and 9.e are included in the Community
Development section, 9.c. is incorporated into Social
care.
16 |
Glasgow ROMA-NeT
Chapter 2: Education
Education is the foundation for Roma inclusion across
Europe in all countries and in all settings urban and
rural. Most children are struggling to continue, or
participate at all, in some form of education. Education
remains a significant cause of inter-generational
discrimination and inequality towards Roma.
The experiences in ROMA-NeT cities are very similar to
those described in ‘The Situation of Roma in 11 Member
States’ (2) that: (i) one out of every two children attend
pre-school or kindergarten; (ii) nine out of ten Roma
children aged 7 to 15 are reported to be in school;
(iii) participation in education drops considerably after
compulsory school age; and (iv) only 15% of young
Roma adults complete upper-secondary general or
vocational education.
Our experience shows that significant efforts should be
made to support Roma children and families to ensure
that they are included, resourced and fairly treated in
school from an early age. For example, in Slovakia
almost 60% of non-Roma children attend pre-school and
kindergarten whereas less than 30% of Roma children
attend. In Greece less than 10% of Roma children
attend pre-school, kindergarten or school against almost
50% attendance by non-Roma children.
In May 2012, the European Commission put in place
the ‘National Roma Integration Strategies’ (3) and the
priorities for every Member State are clear. Two key
goals are: (i) to widen access to quality early childhood
education and care; and (ii) to put in place measures
to ensure that Roma children complete at least primary
school. Although many Member States have developed
strategies to include ways to address the shortcomings
in education for Roma, the question that remains is
how these will be translated into action by cities with
significant and quantifiable results.
Wendy English Acting Depute Head Annette Street Primary
at the Glasgow Roma-Net conference 2012
(2) European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) ‘The
Situation of Roma in 11 EU Member States Survey results at a glance’
(2012) Luxembourg, p. 12.) from http://urbact.eu/fileadmin/Projects/
Roma_Net/outputs_media/ROMA_miniguide_EDUCATION.pdf
17 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
Good practice does exist and the education authorities
in cities should look elsewhere to find out how others
(3) p.7.) from http://urbact.eu/fileadmin/Projects/Roma_Net/outputs_
media/ROMA_miniguide_EDUCATION.pdf
have created effective interventions in educational
practices. ROMA-NeT cities provide some examples of
interventions that have been tried and tested and that
can make a genuine and measurable difference. (From
http://urbact.eu/fileadmin/Projects/Roma_Net/outputs_
media/ROMA_miniguide_EDUCATION.pdf
“The ability to fully access services is fundamental to the
social inclusion of everyone, including the Roma. This
is especially the case in the area of education: Roma,
alongside Gypsy and Traveller children, represent one
of the lowest achieving groups. The Office for Standards
in Education (Ofsted) has reported that Gypsy, Roma
and Traveller pupils have the lowest results of any
ethnic minority group and are the pupils most at risk in
the education system. These assessments have been
confirmed by data coming from the School Census since
2003.7” (4)
NESSE (Network of Experts in Social Sciences in
Education - www.nesse.fr) submitted a report to
the European Commission Directorate-General
for Education and Culture in 2008, stating that
“Segregation can be de jure and de facto. European
countries not officially have segregated schools for
migrant and ethnic minority children on a (de jure) legal
basis.” ..” De facto segregation of migrant children in
urban schools – usually in disadvantaged city quarters
– exists in all European countries that have experienced
immigration in the 2nd quarter of the 20th Century.
This school segregation is primarily the resulto of
concentration and segregation of migrants in housing.
Where housing is highly segregated neighbourhood
schools will generally be segregated too. Existing school
segregation may also reinforce housing segregation,
since some majority households may move away
to areas of the city with no or only a small minority
population because they prefer majority dominated
schools” (5).
(4) from `The movement of Roma from new EU Member States: A
mapping survey of A2 and A8 Roma in England Patterns of settlement
and current situation of new Roma communities in England A report
prepared for DCSF European Dialogue August 2009.’ Available at
(http://equality.uk.com/Resources_files/movement_of_roma.pdf) .
The NESSE network (2008) state that “..de facto
segregation of schools on the basis of concentration
of migrants in housing areas hinders educational
achievement of migrant, minority and low income
students. Migrant students suffer from a concentration
of peers in class and they profit from a mixed structure
of students. (p.49) Farley (2006) (from Heckman, 2008)
looked at recent research on the influence of peers and
concluded that:
●●“Minority children exposed to classmates with higher
educational aspirations increase their own (Wells &
Crain, 1997)
●●Expectations are higher in integrated schools
compared to segregated schools (ibidem; Cohen
1995, 1993)
●●Academic achievement and sometimes IQ test
scores of minority students improve after a transfer
to integrated school (Ortfield et al, 1991; Slavin 1985;
Wortman and Bryant 1985)
●●Minority students in integrated schools are more
likely to attend college and get better jobs after
graduating (Wells & Crain 1997; Ortfield and Eaton,
1996)” (p.23)
Second language acquisition depends on the same
conditions for general attainment as apply to any pupils.
The cultural, economic and social capital of a pupils’
family is of real significance, not only for educational
attainment, but for language learning as well. Hartmut
Esserr (2006, from Heckmann, F., 2008) reviewed the
literature on the critical period hypothesis. Heckman
notes that “It seems that second language learning is
possible at all ages, but there is a gradual decline in
learning ability after puberty.
(5) (from Education and Migration – strategies for integrating migrant
children in European schools and societies - Heckmann, F. 2008, p.21
– available at http://www.nesse.fr/nesse/activities/reports/activities/
reports/education-and-migration-pdf
18 |
Glasgow ROMA-NeT
Second language acquisition is easier up to puberty,
after which greater effort and motivation are required”
(6) .
Children who are unable to acquire proficiency in
English prior to secondary school will have an impaired
ability to access the `higher order’ English that is
needed to achieve the level of certification required
to access tertiary or higher education. An inability to
access the curriculum at secondary school is also highly
likely to lead to school disaffection and truancy which
we know is correlated with a higher likelihood of future
involvement in substance use, youth offending or risk
taking behaviour in the community (7)
Even if those young people who are disaffected from
school do not become involved in anti-social behaviour,
their lack of ability to access the job market due to poor
English and/or poor qualifications is likely to lead to
lack of work and a probable continuation of a poverty
cycle of disadvantage that will, in many cases, lead to
further strain on public services and the public purse. It
is therefore vital that preventative action is taken now to
combat the main source of these difficulties – the early
acquisition of English language.
http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/cls/esytc/findings/digest4.pdf ,
2.1
Early Years & Care
Recommendation 1 of the NESSE report submitted
to the European Commission (Heckmann, F., 2008)
suggested that the provision of early childhood
education and care for migrant children is vital: “Install
an effective pre-school system and child care system;
it improves the educational opportunities, attainment
and school careers of migrant students” (p.74).
There is strong evidence supporting a correlation
between the provision of early childhood development
programmes for the support of general development
and later, improved educational attainment levels.
These programmes can be broadly split into two
types of programme – home based programmes,
targeting parents and children aged 0 to 3 and centrebased programmes that take place in a variety of
settings – nurseries, family centres and in some
cases health centres – usually aimed at the 3 to 5
age group category, but not exclusively. Some of
these programmes go beyond the scope of `general’
development and focus on second language learning
and there is some evidence that these programmes
have had impact.
3 to 5s. These are Govanhill Nursery and Cuthbertson
Primary School nursery which has a nursery attached
to the main school. Govanhill Nursery School was
inspected by Education Scotland as part of the
integrated inspection programme in December 2008.
The centre achieved `very good’ ratings across all
evaluations. The centre caters for pre-school children
aged three to five years. It is registered for 80 children
attending at any one session – at present 70 children
are attending the morning session and 40 in the
afternoons. Approximately 10 of the children in the
nursery are Roma. Staff in Cuthbertson Primary School
report that children who have EAL needs who attend
the nursery tend start primary school with better literacy
skills than those who did not attend nursery. Staff report
that interventions targeted at pre-school children who
have EAL needs is extremely worthwhile in terms of
their English language acquisition.
Govanhill nursery has additioanl support from EAL
teachers. Govanhill nursery face many of the same
challenges that colleagues at primary have – basic
communication with parents and children and the fact
that there are high numbers of pupils attending who
have EAL needs. Good English language modelling
from peers is difficult in this setting. Education Services
have recently reported that (in Aug 2012) 40 places
were recently offered by Govanhill Nursery to children in
the locality that were not taken up. About 25% of these
places were offered to Roma children but the other
75% were children from other ethnicities. The issue of
`take up’ therefore appears to be an issue that relates to
many ethnicities and not just Roma parents. Govanhill
nursery has 140 places for children and only 8 places
are currently taken by Roma children.
It is widely recognised that, within the Govanhill area,
there is high demand for early years nursery places.
Within the Govanhill area there are two council-run
establishments that offer formal nursery provision for
Crossreach – a Church of Scotland NGO – provide
`play and share’ facilities for local parents and they
have been active in terms of adapting their service
to meet the needs of Roma Children. They recently
commissioned a Romanian researcher who carried out
some local research into the needs of the Romanian
community. Crossreach have an SPPA Play Therapist
employed and their staff are trained to deliver parenting
programmes such as Triple P and Mellow Parenting.
Daisy Chain has also partnered with Crossroads and
Govanhill Free Church to provide a family drop (The
Bothy), mainly attended by Slovakian, Czech and
Romanian Roma. This runs once a week during term
time and provides a safe place for children to play,
build positive trusting relationships, receive support
and advice, enjoy healthy foods and be accepted as
part of the community in Govanhill. After carrying out
a feasibility study into early years provision in the local
area, Daisy Chain have secured funding to provide
services for those specifically from the Romanian Roma
community. They run a play session on a Monday
(6) (from Education and Migration – strategies for integrating migrant
children in European schools and societies - Heckmann, F. 2008, p.21
– available at http://www.nesse.fr/nesse/activities/reports/activities/
reports/education-and-migration-pdf
(7) (see Smith, D.J. (1999). Edinburgh Study of Youth Transitions
background briefing, 6 October, 1999. Centre for Law and Society,
University of Edinburgh. Et al from http://www.law.ed.ac.uk/cls/esytc/
findings/digest4.pdf
19 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
morning in the Victoria Evangelical Church where
children can come with their parents, play and receive
support with a range of issues. This is a structured time
with free-play, activities, healthy snack and song time.
Crossroads – another local community development
NGO - are running a Drop-In service some evenings
during the week – this service includes some advocacy/
welfare rights work as well as the provision of play
facilities and staff during the evening.
All agencies involved in working with Roma children and
families find the parenting styles of some Roma parents
quite different from the style of parenting that would
probably be the norm within the indigenous Scottish
population. There is a strong feeling that Roma parents’
understanding of child development and attachment
is at a level of understanding and stage that many UK
parents would have had a number of generations ago.
There is a `traditional’ old-fashioned attitude towards
behaviour management amongst parents, with many
believing that physical chastisement is the right way to
discipline children. Of course, many Scottish parents
share these beliefs too. Challenging these attitudes is
a struggle for schools and nursery staff, and for social
work staff who are sometimes called upon to discuss
individual incidences of physical harm.
2. 2
Primary Schools
There are four main primary schools in the Govanhill
area – St Brides Primary, Holy Cross Primary,
Cuthbertson Primary and Annette Street Primary. There
are a combined population of approximately 294 Eastern
European pupils attending the 4 primary schools in
Govanhill area. Most of these pupils are thought to be
from Roma families from Slovakia and Romania.
St Bride’s Primary
St Bride’s Primary is a Roman Catholic school and it
has a population of approximately 60 Eastern European
pupils – this equates to a percentage of 18% of the
whole school population of 340. In St Brides, staff
have developed a number of strategies to improve the
integration and engagement of Roma children and their
parents. Examples are:
●●Fortnightly `EU parents’ sessions with Romanian and
Slovakian interpreters. The school depute head and
principal teachers use oral methods to communicate
with parents and they try to get key documentation
translated into Romanian and Slovakian
●●The use of Slovakian support staff to support
communication with parents and children
period in the day, but are part of a mainstream class
for the rest of the day.
School staff face a challenge in terms of managing basic
communication with Roma children and their parents
on a day to day basis. Limited support from a Slovakian
home link worker is welcome, but inadequate and does
little to address issues relating to communication with
Romanian speaking children and parents.
Holy Cross Primary
Holy Cross is another Roman Catholic school in the
Govanhill area, which has a much smaller number of
eastern European children attending. The school has a
roll of 433 children at present and the capacity for 599
pupils. They have approximately 20 Eastern European
children attending, which is about 5% of the school
population. This is one of the main associated primary
schools for Holyrood Secondary school. The school has
a balanced ethnic `mix’ with about 54% of the school
population from ethnic minorities.
Cuthbertson Primary
Cuthbertson Primary is a non-denominational school
with a very diverse school population. There is a
nursery attached to the school which accommodates
70 different pupils (40 in the mornings and 30 in the
afternoons). The numbers of Eastern European children
attending the Primary school is approximately 65,
which represents just over 20% % of the whole school
population of 316 pupils. The school is using a range of
approaches to assist with integration of Roma and other
pupils and staff report that Roma children who attend
pre-school have usually acquired a better standard of
English by Primary 1 than those who have not. The
numbers of children from the Roma communities who
attend nursery is quite low – only 8 Roma pupils are
enrolled at present.
Annette Street Primary
Annette Street is a non-denominational school of
approx. 223 pupils which is right in the heart of Govanhill
and it is the nearest school to most of the streets in
which Slovakian and Romanian nationals live. Annette
Street has always had a very diverse school population.
The ethnic balance within the school has changed
dramatically since May 2004 when A8 and A2 countries
were given accession rights within Europe.
Within the last 8 years, the numbers of Slovakian and
Romanian children attending the school has increased
steadily and the percentage of Slovakian and Romanian
Roma children attending the school is now 67% (149).
●●The use of internal language `bases’ within the
school to support intensive learning of English.
Children are extracted from mainstream classes for
20 |
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The Education Scotland inspection report for the school
(8), highlighted the high quality of leadership and
teaching and learning within the school and stated that
At present, in addition to the Roma population, almost
all children who attend the school have English as an
Additional Language. School staff find it a challenge to
cope with the demands that these additional support
needs generate. Because there are few good English
language models within the school, apart from staff,
pupils are unable to benefit from `total immersion’ and
good English language modelling from their peers. This
is an additional barrier in terms of acquisition of English
language.
The school have developed a number of highly
imaginative ways to cope with the very high numbers of
EAL needs pupils.
Some examples are:
●●The use of Urdu & Slovakian support staff
●●Frequent use of interpreting services
●●EU parents sessions
●●Additional EAL support from the authority
●●Use of Romanian speaking volunteers
●●Use of external Slovakian youth work staff
●●Imaginative use of materials from other sources
●●Efforts to use bilingual solutions wherever possible
●●Triple P programmes in different languages
(mixed level of uptake)
2.3:
Secondary Schools
Shawlands Academy
Shawlands Academy is a large secondary school
(current roll 1146, capacity approx 1250 pupils).
Although the school is located outwith the immediate
Govanhill area,,it is the associated secondary school for
Annette Street and Cuthbertson Primary Schools. There
are 120 Romanian and Slovakian pupils attending the
school and this constitutes approx 10% of the school
population. Shawlands Academy is an `International
School’ with a pupil profile that reflects the ethnic and
cultural diversity of the area. Shawlands staff have a
real challenge with two big issues – teaching pupils
whose acquisition of English language is at a very
early and developing stage, and the challenge of
engagement of young Roma pupils. In 2012, following
consultation with local stakeholders and parents, there
was a reconfiguration of the English as an Additional
Language support service. The service has since
moved to a peripatetic support model with EAL support
staff now deployed in schools across the Holyrood and
Shawlands learning communities.
(8) (http://www.educationscotland.gov.uk/Images
AnnetteStreetPrimaryIns20070314_tcm4-696662.pdf
21 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
Shawlands Academy is involved in very imaginative
initiatives that are designed to promote English
language acquisition and integration. The Senior
Management Team have managed to harness the
natural enthusiasm of modern languages staff in such
a way that they are working in flexible ways that many
other schools would admire. Modern languages staff
are using their experiences of working in a TEFL
environment abroad and using that to deliver ESOL to
S1 to S4 Roma children during some modern languages
sessions.
Roma pupils who arrive at Shawlands Academy in first
year have, on the whole, a developing grasp of English
language. Those who have had 6 or 7 years of primary
school prior to coming to Shawlands have language
skills that are obviously more sophisticated than others
who may have recently arrived in the UK, and there are
other pupils who may have had two or three years of
primary education whose English is at a less developed
stage. Superficially at least, some pupils are able to
demonstrate what appears to be a reasonably high level
of `social’ English language acquisition. However, their
ability to understand or express `higher order’ skills in
English is often quite poor. This creates difficulties in
mainstream classes, because pupils often attempt to
mask their English language difficulties when, in fact,
they may be struggling to access the material that is
being presented. Like many other white Scottish children
pupils who struggle to understand material that is
presented, Roma children sometimes use misbehaviour
to divert the attention of peers and teachers from
the underlying problem and this can compound their
difficulties.
Engaging secondary school pupils remains a major
challenge for all secondary school in Europe. School
attendance of Roma pupils in Shawlands shows a
marked decline from secondary school onwards and this
reflects a trend that has been identified across Europe
(9)
At present, meetings are taking place with the Roma
Children and Families Team (Social Work Services),
Shawlands Academy and members of staff from nongovernmental organisations (Fairbridge Trust and
the Princes Trust) to look at how the issue of nonattendance can be addressed. The Roma Children
and Families Team are currently in discussions with
Strathclyde University and an Italian partner about the
potential for the use of programmes such as Comenius,
Leonardo, Grundvig and Erasmus to take forward a
Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) that will address
this and possibly other issues where Education and
(9) The Situation of Roma in Selected Western European Countries
Report to the OSCE Conference on Anti-Semitism and on other Forms
of Intolerance Cordoba, Spain, June 8-9, 2005, June 2005
Report by the International Helsinki Federation for Human Rights
(IHF – from http://www.unhcr.org/refworld/pdfid/46963b005e.pdf).
Employment can be linked together into a positive
destinations pathways programme for disaffected Roma
young people – see http://ec.europa.eu/education/llp/
actions_en.htm for further details of these programmes.
They are also in discussions with EUROCITIES with
regard to a Cities of Origin project that may help schools
to create better links with educators and schools in the
towns, villages and cities where Roma children and
families have migrated from.
Holyrood Secondary
Holyrood Secondary is a Roman Catholic school
(current roll 2016; capacity approx 2100 pupils). It is
the associated secondary school for Holy Cross and St
Bride’s Primary schools. The school has a high level of
demand for places from parents who live outwith the
immediate catchment area. Many children who attend
the school are not Catholic. The school currently have
approximately 30 children from Slovakia and Romania,
representing 1.5% of the school population. The
relatively low number of Roma children at the school
can be partially explained by the former existence of
the Bilingual Support base at Shawlands Academy.
Since the reconfiguration of the EAL service, in June
2012, Holyrood is now receiving more requests for
educational placements from Roma parents and
children.
meetings are experiencing increasing referral rates in
relation to Roma children. GCC Education staff are
working hard to ensure that the needs of Roma children
are met within mainstream schools. Nonetheless, this
means that demands on mainstream, provision (and
on visiting specialists who work within mainstream) are
higher and the retention of children within mainstream
establishments is an additional challenge for schools.
There are a number of schools for additional support
needs outwith the Govanhill area which support children
from the Roma Community. These are Hollybrook
Academy, iKirkriggs Primary, St Oswalds Secondary
and St Rochs Hearing Impairment Units (Primary and
Secondary).
One of the key issues for Educational Psychologists
who carry out assessments for Roma children is the
language barrier. Another issue is discerning whether
any additional support need that is presenting is due
to lack of developmental or educational opportunities
made available to children in early life, or whether
underlying `organic’ factors are present. The
Educational Psychology Service in South Area are
interested in working with Roma mediators and have
suggested training workers to assist with the process of
assessment.
2.4AdditionalSupportforLearning-Education
In Eastern Europe, children from the Roma community
have traditionally been over-represented in schools
that specialise in meeting additional support needs..
See Amnesty international Report (10) The Amnesty
International Report states that “ Amnesty International
called on the authorities to end the segregation of
Romani pupils at the special school in Pavlovce nad
Uhom, a village in eastern Slovakia near the Ukrainian
border. Nearly half of the Romani children attending
elementary education in the village were being placed
at the special school.” (p.3). Romania has been heavily
criticised for its practices in the regard too.(11). Many
of Slovakian children attending Glasgow schools came
from the Pavlovce Nad Uhom town area.
Glasgow City Council has a number of specialist
services and schools for children who have additional
support needs. Accessing these services is carried out
after assessments to determine the needs of children
and it is undoubtedly the case that there have been
proportionally higher than average numbers of referrals
to multi-disciplinary meetings regarding children from the
Roma community in Govanhill. Each locality in Glasgow
has local Joint Support Teams (JSTs) and these JST
(10) Sep 2010 from http://www.amnesty.org.uk/uploads/documents/
doc_20695.pdf .
(11) (from `Towards quality education for Roma children: transition
from early childhood to primary education’ UNESCO Headquarters,
Paris, 10th - 11th September 2007 UNESCO Division for the
Promotion of Basic Education
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2.5 Early Years & Schools:
Guiding Principles for all Romanet Working Groups
●●Roma representation is essential
●●All working groups within the Romanet LSG should
identify and gather data in order to shape services
for local Roma residents and they should seek input
from Roma service users into the shape and delivery
of services.
●●The LSG should seek participation from key
agencies –eg Education, Housing benefit, Socihal
Work, Job centre, HMRC
●●The LSG should engage Leadership within GCC and
locally elected members
●●Early Years & Care:
Recommendations:
The following recommendations are recent (Dec
2012) and come from the LSG membership. Equality
impact assessments and legal advice required to look
at any major changes suggested. Whilst action with
regard to these schools may impact on equalities and
current GCC policy and UK legislation, current EU
legislation and policy supports the use of de-segregation
measures.
2.5.1 Council receptionists in schools (and social care
offices) in South Glasgow should pilot the use
of services like `Language Line’ or `Happy to
Translate’ This is a service used by the Police
and by GCC Community Relations Officers
(through DRS). The service gives instant access
to any language and is accessed over the
phone – often on `conference call’ to ensure 3
way communication. The Health Service use
a very similar service at GP reception desks.
The Language Line service costs £1 per minute
and is intended for brief discussions only. For
more in-depth, lengthy, discussions Cordia or
Global Interpreter is required. Govanhill Housing
Association use a similar service called `Happy to
Translate’.
2.5.2 Roma and other ethnicity workers should be
employed as mediators/assistants in early
years, and Primary and Secondary schools.
The Education Service visited Manchester
City Council Education Service in 2011 and
the lessons learned there would support this.
This would encourage attendance of parents
and children whose English may be a second
language. The Educational Psychology Service
in South Area are also interested in working with
Roma mediators and have suggested training
workers to assist with the process of assessment.
See point 2.5.9 below.
23 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
2.5.3 Promote intensive English language reception/
induction programmes for new arrivals and
for people whose English is at an emerging/
developing stage. This could be integrated into a
referral pathway that starts at key service access
points – eg. Health, Social Services, Education
or other `third sector’ run locations where families
engage with other services.
2.5.4 Promote second language support Home
programmes aimed at migrant families, including
Roma. These workers should be drawn from
the migrant community, including the Roma
community. Workers would play a home-link and
mediating role.
2.5.5 Increasing nursery provision within Govanhill,
with a specific focus on the provision of quality
childcare that facilitates second language learning
for parents and children together. Look at ways
to increase nursery provision and/or or pre-school
care in partnership with the NGO sector – Daisy
Chain, Crossreach, Crossroads etc. This will have
far more powerful impact on the Roma population
if bilingual Roma staff are recruited as assistants
or mediators.
2.5.6 Enrolment of children at nurseries is hugely
time-consuming. One idea suggested was the
production of a short induction film for nursery
(and primary) enrolment. The video would be
played to parents at enrolment and could be
produced in a variety of languages.
2.5.7 Looking at alternative delivery methods for
parenting programmes. Audit of Triple P trained
staff working in South area would be a good start
but experience of delivering Triple P (even with
educational psychology and interpreter support)
has had minimal impact and adaptation of this
model or looking at other models may be a way
forward.
Primary & Secondary Schools:
Recommendations
2.5.8 It is suggested that we should audit our existing
spending on interpreting services and try to
reduce our reliance on interpreters and start
diverting resources into employing more bilingual
staff, across services, including Health, Education
and Social Care. Interpreting costs are currently
£26 per hour.
2.5.9 Two Slovakian home link staff are employed
across the Shawlands & Holycross learning
community. The staff are `shared’ across the
nursery, primary and secondary sector. The
establishments who have access to these
workers, find them invaluable but they are
clearly stretched far too thinly across these
schools. There is ample evidence from
other European countries (and the UK) that
the role of Slovakian/Romanian speaking
assistants, home-link workers, or school
mediators is a role that has a very positive
impact on integration, improved attendance
and attainment of Roma children. There is an
obvious need for Romanian speaking staff
across all of the schools. Manchester City and
Rotherham Council have employed Romanian
and Slovakian Roma workers as mediators
in schools and, recommendations, from a
number of European studies and reports have
highlighted the benefits of using bilingual staff in
this way.
2.5.10 Initiatives to address non-attendance at Primary
and Secondary are vital. At present, meetings
are taking place with the Roma Children
and Families Team (Social Work Services),
Shawlands Academy and members of staff from
non-governmental organisations (Fairbridge
Trust and the Princes Trust) to look at how the
issue of non-attendance can be addressed. The
Roma Children and Families Team are currently
in discussions with Strathclyde University and
an Italian partner about the potential for the use
of programmes such as Comenius, Leonardo,
Grundvig and Erasmus to take forward a
Lifelong Learning Programme (LLP) that will
address this and possibly other issues where
Education and Employment can be linked
together into a positive destinations pathways
programme for disaffected Roma young people
– see http://ec.europa.eu/education/llp/actions_
en.htm for further details of these programmes.
Stop Press!!!!
A representative of the GCC International Education
Office has recently joined Romanet Glasgow. She
has reported that a Comenius application is being
submitted for 6 schools in the Glasgow South area.
This application would bring assitant teaching staff
from Eastern Europe to at least 4 of the schools in the
Govanhill area.
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Glasgow ROMA-NeT
CommunityEducation/Development
2.6CommunityEducation/Development
In many respects, the original LAP (Sep 2012) that
was drafted by LSG members has been overtaken by
events. There have been very recent opportunities
to participate in 3 major European projects and 1 Big
Lottery bid and these bids meet many of the originals
aims and objectives.
Partners within Glasgow Romanet LSG have had to
move quickly to ensure that the Glasgow LSG was
able to benefit from the funding opportunities that
arose very quickly with very tight timescales. The bids,
if successful, should address many of the issues that
the LAP had pledged to resolve. These projects are as
follows: Romamatrix - a successful transnational bid that
Glasgow City will play a key role in. a 1st stage bid for
European Social Funding (ESF) called ‘Playing Our Part
in Roma Inclusion’ and an Expression of Interest that
has been forwarded to the Open Society and Eurocities.
The new Romanet LSG Plan includes, below, the
following:
Section 2.6.1 to 2.6.6 contains a description of the
community education/development work, relating
to Roma, that is being undertaken by a range of
organisations in the community.
●●Sections 2.6.7 to 2.6.10 contain
a summary
description of the 3 European funding bids, above
and the recent Big Lottery bid by Community
Renewal is outlined but discussed in more detail in
the Employability section 3.1.2
●●Section 2.7 contains the revised Romanet Action
Plan/recommendations from Glasgow Romanet LSG.
See section 2.6.3
2.6.1 Roma related Community Education/Development
activity
2.6.2 ROMANOLAV This is a Slovakian Roma
organisation that was set up and developed by
25 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
Slovakian Roma people in the area. The group
meet regularly and many of the members of
Romanolav have participated in local initiatives
run by Govanhill Development Trust. This group
may have the potential to play a more important
role in civil society within the Govanhill area.
2.6.3 West of Scotland Racial Equality Council
(WSREC)
This non-governmental organisation provides support
to a number of minority ethnic communities. Slovakian
Workers have been recruited by WSREC and they
have been providing a range of services to Roma Youth
through the Roma Youth project. Some of their activities
are listed below:
●●Information on local activities through outreach work
was provided to 120 young Roma people. Advice
and information on service issues through interactive
workshops were provided to 65 young people and
19 young people were signposted/ referred to other
services.
●●WSREC staff have, on weekly basis, provided staff at
the ‘EU youth club’, ‘Play group for Roma children’,
’Roma girls group’ in partnership with Glasgow
Life and ’Music project at Bath’ in partnership with
Govanhill Youth Project.
●●Mentoring support was provided to 6 young Roma
people of school leaving age.
●●25 young people benefitted from weekly school
classroom assistance provided by the project in
4 local schools (Shawlands Academy, Annette
St Primary, Cuthberson Primary and Holyrood
secondary school).
●●Active members of the Slovak and Czech Roma
community in Govanhill (Glasgow) were supported to
organise a Christmas Party for families and celebrate
International Roma Day (in partnership with Oxfam).
●●12 Roma and 10 non-Roma children enjoyed 6
outdoor trips in Mugdock Park and Garrion forest
during the summer holidays.
●●WSREC provided information sessions on ‘How
to become an interpreter’ and initiated a ‘Roma
Employability group’ currently led by Glasgow
Regeneration Agency.
●●WSREC provided interpreting services and regular
information updates for 3 Slovak Roma parents who
had already joined the Parent Council at Annette
Primary school last year, thus helping Roma people
to engage better with schools.
●●A Highlight from the project would be that Roma
people started taking up public roles. One Roma girl
gave a speech about her educational experiences
and attitudes at the ‘Listen up’ conference in
Edinburgh. The Roma organisation `Romano
Lav’, was formed in partnership with Oxfam. It is
a great shift for the community which is hugely
underrepresented in civic structures. WSRECs
involvement with schools through classroom
assistance changed children’s self-confidence and
attitudes towards the school as reported by teachers
in a questionnaire. The Project initiated new
groups as a reaction to gaps in services or following
recommendations directly from the community. The
‘Roma employability group’ serves as an information
hub and aims to develop strategies to improve
extremely high unemployment of migrant Roma
people. The ‘Young carers English class’ should help
Roma parent to improve their conduct of English
language at the local school in the evening classes.
Furthermore the project has managed to employ a
Roma person as a Sessional Youth Worker.
●●Establishing Homework clubs Roma parents
confided to WSREC that they don’t feel capable
of helping their children with homework in English.
The project then approached the Volunteer Tutor
Organisation (VTO) and established Homework clubs
in 3 local schools with a high intake of Roma kids. 25
children have benefited so far from those clubs and
the numbers still grow as VTO has decided to run
homework clubs in this school year as well.
●●High interest in volunteering with Roma community
The Project has supported 12 Romanian volunteers
to engage with the Roma Romanian community.
It allowed us to extend our community work in
schools and with children under 12 years old. The
Project also took part in additional youth activities
e.g. national photography project ‘Dream makers’
focusing on Gypsy, Roma and traveller young
people.
2.6.4 Romanian Roma Sub Group (South East
Integration Network) This group has been
meeting since May 2012 and was set up to look
at the specific needs of Romanian Roma in
Govanhill. Romanian people have no recourse
to public funds and are not allowed to work until
Jan 2014 when the restrictions on working will
be lifted. The SEIN Romanian Roma Sub Group
have produced a `mapping’ document that is an
easy guide for anyone who wants to know what
services are available to assist Romanians in
Glasgow. The sub group meets every two months
and is an information sharing group that may
develop into something more if partners decide
that specific action should be taken to stimulate or
launch new initiatives.
26 |
Glasgow ROMA-NeT
2.6.4
OXFAM
Oxfam have been involved in community development
work with the Roma population in Govanhill for many
years and, with partners, have produced two very
highly influential reports that have highlighted issues
for the Roma community. The first report was (12)
commissioned and funded by the Glasgow South East
Community Health and Care Partnership and Oxfam.
This report brings together research on a number of
complex and interrelated issues regarding the social
exclusion of Roma minority groups in Europe and
has a particular focus on the significant Slovak Roma
community in Govanhill.
The report concludes that: “ It is the view of the authors
of the Report that to build on the successes already in
evidence in the Govanhill area through the initiatives
and support by the South East Community Health
Partnership that Glasgow planners, policy makers,
service commissioners and providers will need to take
continued care to focus on the specific needs of the
Roma - recognising them as a distinct, albeit internally
diverse, social group with particular requirements in
relation to service provision - whilst also ensuring
that their needs are met in addition to, and not at the
expense of, other groups living in Govanhill. The main
findings of the research were as follows:
●●Governments, both at UK and Scottish level, have
not only failed to play their part in safeguarding the
rights of the Roma as a recognised ethnic group in
Europe, but have also failed to promote and raise
awareness of Roma rights within the UK.
●●Many of the problems of the Roma stem from their
deliberate exclusion from citizenship in the EU
countries from which they originate. This exclusion is
a result of deep-rooted racism at all levels of society.
●●Given the Roma’s on-going persecution and
exclusion in Slovakia and the Czech Republic, it is
not unreasonable to view the Roma as a group that
continue to be ‘pushed’ abroad as much as being
‘pulled’ by the promise of employment.
●●Roma are mainly in part-time, temporary
employment, outwith mainstream structure as
a result of their exclusion from public sector
employment services and reliance on ‘gangmasters’
for work and housing. As a result of they are often
unable to access the basic in-work benefits such as a contract of employment, a minimum wage, pension
rights, paid holidays, maternity leave, and paid sick
leave.
●●In housing, Roma are particularly vulnerable to
private sector dependency due to their employment
situation and consequently they experience high
rents, sub-standard conditions and non-existent
tenancy agreements. This leads to overcrowding as
families are forced to pool their resources, evictions,
and strained community relations as a result of
increased noise and waste.
●●Barriers to accessing health services centre around
language and culture. These barriers impact on
the Roma’s ability to register with GPs and on
their understanding of protocols such as booking
appointments. Health care professionals have found
growing levels of malnutrition amongst children,
overcrowding and infestation, all of which carry with
them significant public health risks.
●●Roma families live in dilapidated conditions in
Govanhill,Glasgow.
●●At secondary school level the challenge of increased
numbers of Slovak Roma in Govanhill has been even
more profound. Here the main issue appears to be
attendance and retention.
●●A poor level of commitment to secondary schooling,
reflecting cultural and economic realities, hinders the
success of the Bilingual Support Unit.
Many young people, including those with a good
command of English, are also disadvantaged by the
lack of encouragement they receive from parents
and the lack of educational material especially where
whole families share one room, as is the case for the
overwhelming majority”.
The second report (13) written alongside Govanhill
Law Centre and looked at the barriers faced by
the Roma Community in Govanhill when accessing
welfare benefits, and the implications of the
obligations contained within the section 149 of the
Equality Act 2010.
The report concluded that “ Administrative delays,
inefficiencies, barriers and inequality are endemic
within the UK public authorities (HMRC, DWP, local
government) charged with administering welfare
benefits for Roma European Union (EU) citizens
in Glasgow. These administrative failings cause
real poverty to our Roma clients and represent a
fundamental denial of their rights under EU law.”
Oxfam have employed a Slovakian Roma worker for
some years and this has helped them to work with
local Roma people in the Govanhill area. Oxfam’s
main aim in terms of their work with the Roma
communities in Glasgow has to been to support and
sustain Roma people’s efforts to take a more active
role in civil society.
(12) (Report on the Situation of the Roma Community in Govanhill, Glasgow Authors: Lynne Poole and Kevin Adamson, School of
SocialSciences,UniversityoftheWestofScotland)AvailableAThttp://policy-practice.oxfam.org.uk/publications/situation-of-the-romacommunity-in-govanhill-glasgow-112456
(13)(p5,from`UnequalandUnlawfulTreatment-BarriersfacedbytheRomaCommunityinGovanhillwhenaccessingwelfarebenefitsand
theimplicationsofsection149oftheEqualityAct2010By:LindsayPaterson/LauraSimpson/LorraineBarrie/JitkaPerinovaDecember
2011 from http://www.govanlc.com/UUTR.pdf)
27 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
2.6.5
Community Renewal
Keep Well Outreach and Engagement Service
In June 2011 Community Renewal were successful in
winning the contract to continue to provide an outreach
and engagement service to Glasgow Community
Health Partnership (CHP) and West Dunbartonshire
Community Health and Care Partnership (CHCP). This
initiative is described further in the Health & Social care
section of this report.
People’s History Project - Govanhill
This project explores the social and cultural heritage of
the Govanhill neighbourhood in Glasgow. It focuses
on the waves of migration into the area beginning
with industrial workers in the second half of the 19th
Century to its continuing role as a reception or ‘arrival’
locus for Glasgow and Scotland. Roughly in sequence,
the main migration from the mid 19thC to 1960s was
Lowland Scots, Highland Scots, Irish, Jewish, Italian,
followed since 1960s by South Asian, and more
recently East European, including the largest Roma
community in Scotland, as well as young professionals,
students, artists, both single and families from across
UK. Its continuing diversity is unique in Scotland. LAP
Romanet Objective 3.c: The Romanet Group support
the `Govanhill History Project’ which will gather an
oral history of migration into Govanhill over the past
50 years. One of its objectives is to promote better
understanding and improve relationships between
communities.
Key aims of the project:
To demonstrate to the existing diverse Govanhill
population how the district has always played a key role
in Glasgow’s economic and social development, being
a place of entry for new arrivals where, although some
have experienced difficulties and challenges, most have
seen it as a place of hope and personal development
To train and support local people in the following:
understanding the social meaning and value of local
history and heritage learning how to conduct and
preserve an oral history project producing learning
materials and disseminate these in the community
Acting as an intergenerational bridge between the
various communities. Young people in particular will
be encouraged to take part as interviewers and to
disseminate the results.
To bring together people of all ages and cultural
backgrounds so that we can challenge accepted myths,
improve understanding of peoples’ lifestyles and beliefs
and improve community cohesion.
To celebrate both this history and Govanhill’s continuing
importance to the city’s dynamism in ways which
will attract, excite and involve large numbers of the
community.
To increase awareness both within Govanhill and
Glasgow as a whole of its unique social and economic
role in the city, and, as a consequence, help influence
the direction of allocation of resources, policy
development and community activity
Project Delivery
The project combines archival research (from 1840s),
digitally recorded oral testimonies and photographic
images. We are in the process of training 15 local
volunteers who will be recruited from the diverse
communities (and ages) in Govanhill.
Young people have especially been targeted. They
will carry out approximately 225 interviews and help
create 8 focus groups (300 people) with existing
residents (and some who have moved elsewhere) and
some institutions. The birth dates of the respondents
will enable us to provide eye-witness evidence of the
changing community from the1930s to the present day.
Community Health Leaders course (see section 4.1.4)
28 |
Glasgow ROMA-NeT
Employability Project for Glasgow Roma - Community
Renewal are currently at stage 2 of a Big Lottery bid
to develop a workplace placement project as public
sector intermediaries. This is described further in the
Employability section of this report.
Employability Safety Net
This new service will be an area-based approach to
provide longer term employability case management for
14-19 years old with additional support needs: (leaving
care, substance misuse, young mums and pregnant
teens, living in homeless accommodation, offending
behaviour and gang membership.)
Community renewal have plans to do the following in the
future:
Develop Keep Well Outreach Service to include more of
the patient Journey
Develop a community canteen concept to provide
support and affordable healthy food for people
experiencing poverty. This is likely to be in Govanhill
Community Renewal are also leading a bid for GRUBB
(Gypsy Roma Urban Balkan Beats) to come to to
Govanhill. GRUBB is a show created by young Roma
(14-20) and by international artists. Using traditional
Roma music and dance the young performers create
a contemporary theatrical experience. The show,
blending contemporary hip hop and Roma music,
29 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
deals with themes of first love and friendship, and the
day to day struggle against poverty and prejudice.
The show features 25 performers including a brass
band, dancers, singers and rappers. RPOINT is an
organization founded and registered in the UK in 2006.
They run educational and artistic programmes, working
predominantly in Serbia, with Roma children and young
people. RPOINT’s aim is to further their education in
order that they may access mainstream employment.
GRUBB is produced by RPOINT Production CIC, a
social enterprise registered in the UK.
2.6.6. Crossroads
Crossroads – have recently employed a new Community
Project Worker to engage and involve Slovak and
Czech speaking people in community development work
in Govanhill. The postholder is working with individuals
and groups who have settled in the Govanhill area
and originating from EU accession countries and her
primarily focus is people from the Roma community.
The postholder is involved in the researching and
gathering information and statistics relating to the needs
of the local population, in particular with regards to the
following:
●●Access to play facilities and activities for pre-school
and early years children.
●●Children over the age of 8 years, for example young
people failing or not attending school, provision of
appropriate support to address language barriers
●●The worker also deals with referrals from statutory
agencies, for example, Social Work and Community
Police in relation to child protection issues,
harassment and exploitation by private landlords
●●Liaising and working in partnership with key
organisations, including the Social Work Department
and local schools.
●●Working
in partnership with other individuals and
organisations present at the groups and involved in
similar work.
●●Working with the team from Crossroads, Govanhill
Free Church and Crossreach to run weekly evening
drop-in aimed at supporting Slovakian & Czech
people with a variety of needs.
●●To be involved in the Understanding Each Other
project, a migration awareness programme delivered
in local primary schools.
The Ministry of the Interior Dept in Slovakia have also
provided some (EU sourced) funding to Crossroads so
that they can help to deliver an anti trafficking project
and Social Work Services and Crossroads are working
together on this.
2.6.7 Romamatrix: EU Funded project to tackle
racism and discrimination Towards Roma.
RomaMatrix-MutualActionTargetting
Racism, Intolerance and Xenophobia
This year, Glasgow City Council, with the support of
Romanet, successfully bid to be part of a European
Union funded project called Roma Matrix. Roma Matrix
is a partnership of 19 organisations in 10 EU member
states which contain 85% of the European Union’s
Roma populations. The total funding to be spent on this
project amounts to just over 161,000 Euros. The project
will begin in April 2013.
The aim of Roma Matrix is to combat racism, intolerance
and xenophobia towards Roma and increase integration
though a programme of action across Europe. The
unique cross-sector partnership includes local and
regional authorities, NGOs/ civil society, private
organisations and a university. Importantly for this
project, the partnership includes significant numbers of
Roma-led organisations and Roma staff working in other
organisations to shape the direction of the work, provide
a voice and ensure that it is not ‘for the Roma, without
the Roma’. In order to achieve the aims of the project,
Roma Matrix has four broad but interconnected themes
(workstreams):
●●Research and Understanding
●●Reporting, Redress and Support
●●Combating Racism Through Inclusion
●●Public Media Campaign
Partners will carry out a range of activities under
these themes, which are similar but delivered slightly
differently to focus upon local need. Workstream
partners will work closely together to plan and
deliver their activities. Themed meetings will explore
workstreams in depth, forge closer partnerships and
overcome barriers. There are thirteen activities under
these workstreams, delivered by between 4 and 19
partners:
●●Research and understanding, exploring anti-
gypsyism and how policies and procedures are
experienced by Roma
●●Reporting and care centres, support and redress
for Roma victims of racism, xenophobia and
discrimination
●●Providing information to Roma about reporting,
redress and rights, to improve understanding
●●Improving redress mechanisms with law
enforcement, judicial authorities and other public
authorities
●●Policy, practice and dissemination networks, to work
with different organisations to raise the profile of the
issue and work collaboratively
●●Preparation for Roma children leaving care to live
independent lives and integrate
●●Integration of Roma children and young people, and
parents
●●Employment programmes
●●Cross-community mediation, to improve integration
and reduce discrimiantion
●●Roma women community health mediators improving
health and community engagement of Roma women
●●Roma mentoring in public authorities, to improve
access, interaction, understanding and engagement
between public authorities and Roma
●●Public Media Campaign, to directly combat racism,
xenophobia and discrimination
●●Promoting positive images to challenge negative
views of Roma
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Roma Matrix partners have long track-records of
collaborative working, projects with Roma in locally
and nationally and delivering at the European-level.
The partnership provides the best way for the activities
to be delivered because the range of organisations
will offer different perspectives, approaches and
understandings and be responsive to local need. A
key activity of Roma Matrix is the development of
networks which will increase the reach of the project
and collaborative working far wider than just the formal
partnership. There are many deliverables in the project
which will be disseminated widely. To ensure greatest
impact there will also be expert input in developing best
practice guides across all activities, partner support on
providing a rights-based approach and dissemination to
key European networks and institutions. Roma Matrix
tackles racism, xenophobia and exclusion through a
wide but inter-connected range of activities collectively
implemented, tailored to local needs and delivered
by a cross-sector partnership. The project will have a
significant impact in each local area, country and will
have a European-wide impact. It gives an opportunity to
understand a range of approaches to similar activities,
working collectively to develop products, providing best
practice and learning material applicable across all
organisations and member states.
Working with existing apprenticeship/mentoring
staff within Glasgow City Council, we will employ
4 Roma workers for a period of 6 months in entry
level positions. This will be in key departments of
Social Work, Education, Land and Environmental
Services or Development and Regenerations Services
or, if appropriate in one of the Roma Net partner
organisations such as Strathclyde Police or the
local housing association, and could cover a range
of functions. We will work in partnership with local
advocacy and employability projects to identify relevant
candidates.
2.6.9
TechnicalAssistanceBid
The European Commission (EC) is committed to
Roma integration / inclusion and it a requirement of
the EC that Member States (MS) create a National
Roma Integration Strategy and reflect this as a priority
in the new Partnership Contracts and Operational
Programmes for the period 2014-2020. This Technical
Assistance (TA) project will ensure that Scotland is
better prepared to meet the Commission’s Roma
inclusion requirements. It will provide a solid foundation
of knowledge, sustain the already established networks
(national, UK and trans-national) and guarantee the
capacity to develop needs based Roma inclusion
interventions for the future.
The overall objective is to contribute to the EC’s Roma
integration objectives and to ensure that Scotland meets
the EC requirement that Roma integration/ inclusion is
appropriately reflected in the Operational Programmes
31 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
for the period 2014-2020. To ensure that Scotland is
recognised at European levels for playing an active part
to meet the Commission’s Roma integration objectives.
The project purpose is to inform the Scottish Government
how ESF/ ERDF should be applied, in terms of priorities
and needs, to Roma integration in Scotland and to better
prepare Scotland to meet the requirements of the next
programming period by building our understanding of
the localities and needs of the Roma population living
in Scotland. Also by increasing knowledge about the
individual and institutional capacity that exists to apply EU
funds for the social and economic inclusion/ integration of
the Roma populations.
The expected results of the project are :
●●that the Roma integration priorities and needs are
identified to support the 2014 – 2020 Operational
Programmes for Scotland
●●a clear insight into the ESF/ERDF priorities and needs
that will underpin Roma inclusion in Scotland - based
on a mapping of where the Roma population are
located in Scotland, their situation and on what local
organisations and practitioners, are working with Roma
populations in Scotland, including local authorities and
community organisations
●●an ‘archipelago’ type project developed, relevant
for either ESF or ESDF, developed that will bring
together all the areas with Roma populations and
their neighbouring populations across Scotland to
work in partnership on a relevant set of activities
focused on the social and economic inclusion of Roma
populations in Scotland
●●A pan-Scotland communications strategy to create
awareness and influence at policy, operational and
hyper-local level, including an understanding of the
push and pull factors behind their continued movement
across Europe
●●established sustainable links between the Scottish
network and the UK network and transnational
●●secured political commitment and support at
senior level in Scotland through the development
of understanding of Roma in Scotland and transnationally
The project will ensure that future initiatives are based on
clearly identified need and are relevant for the operational
environment. The main activities from the technical
assistance project will be applied in the following four
main pillars, detailed more fully in Annex A. We have
also provided a Log Frame at Annex B to outline the
programme fully.
Pillar 1: To develop a national map of the Roma
population in Scotland
Pillar 2: To map the operational framework of the
statutory and civil societyorganisations
currently working with Roma.
Pillar 3: An awareness raising process – through the
development of a national Communications
Plan
Pillar 4: Maintaining our transnational net-working will
be achieved by our involvement in Euro-cities
Roma Task Group. This allows Scotland to
develop wider partnership links to a larger
number of European Cities with a Roma
population.
The total Technical Assistance bid project costs are
just over £100,000. A announcement about the bid is
expected in January 2012.
2.6.10 Eurocities Expression of Interest
Glasgow City Council have submitted an expression
of interest for a new initiative that is being taken by
EUROCITIES Roma Inlcusion Task Force and the
Open Society Foundation. This is a joint initiative on
`East-West Cooperation’ and will involve a number of
municipalities across Europe. Glasgow City Council
are already members of Eurocities. GCC reps will be
attending a Eurocities meeting about this initiative in
January 2013.
An extract of the expression of interest is outlined below.
Glasgow City Council are a partner in an URBACT
project called ROMANET. See http://urbact.eu/en/
projects/active-inclusion/roma-net/homepage/.
We have about 2500 - 3000 Roma people living mainly
in the Govanhill area in Glasgow - a neighbourhood of
approximately 15,000 people. There are `pockets’ of
other parts of the city where Roma are living and there
is some evidence that small numbers of Roma people
are moving to neighbouring areas. The Roma families
are mostly Slovakian nationals from the Mihalovce
district, (Pavlovce Nad Uhom area in particular) which is
in the Kosice region of South Eastern Slovakia.
We would be interested in developing cooperative
working relationships with the Regional staff in Kosice
Region and the District staff in Mihalovce - particularly
those involved in the provision of statutory services
in Social Care and Health Care Services, Education
and Housing and agencies who are concerned with
Employment. We would hope that we could also engage
with any non-governmental organisations in Kosice
Region (and Mihalovce District) who have a relevance to
these fields. We have smaller numbers of Czech citizens
living in Glasgow too, but we are less clear at this stage
about commonality in terms of cities or regions of origin.
We would also be interested in developing closer
working relationships with the Central Authority staff
in Bratislava who are responsible for the exercise of
the provisions contained within Articles 55 and 56 of
the Council Regulation (EC) No 2201/2003 of the 27th
Nov 2003. These provisions relate to the duties and
responsibilities of member states to cooperate with one
another in relation to matters of parental responsibility
and the placement of children in respective member
states. We would also like to develop closer ties with the
Centre for the International Legal Protection of Children
and Youth - http://www.cipc.sk/ in Bratislava.
The Romanian nationals who live in Glasgow (about
1000- to 1500) are from a variety of areas in Romania
but we think mainly from the Western Romanian/
Hungarian border area - Arad, Bihor, Salaj and
Timisoara, but there are others from Cluj and other parts
too. We recently visited Arad in Romania to discuss
transnational cooperation - see report on : http://
urbact.eu/fileadmin/Projects/Roma_Net/outputs_media/
Case_study_p-to-p_Glasgow_to_Arad.pdf and we
have previously been in touch with Timisoara. We
are very interested in developing cooperative working
relationships with key professionals (governmental and
non-governmental) in Romania who have an interest in
Social Care and Health Services, Education, Housing
and Employment. Arad have already completed a
successful INTEREG III project (see link above). Mr
Levente the Vice Mayor is happy to discuss a future
partnership and he discussed the city’s involvement
in this INTERREG III funded, project – CASE – Cities
Against Social Exclusion. This involved The 7 cities
of Arad (Romania), Gelsenkirchen and Hamburg
(Germany), Komarno (Slovakia), Krakow (Poland),
Olomouc (Czech Republic) and Pecs (Hungary). Many
of the discussions and reports from this partnership
touch on work that has been done with Roma
communities and it is worth considering whether or not
the networks of `Romanet’ and Eurocities and `CASE’
cities can be connected usefully.
2.6.11 Children on the Margins Research
Strathclyde University and the Glasgow City Council
education service have just been jointly awarded a grant
by the British Academy for piece of research relating to
Roma children. Here is a summary of the proposal.
Title: Children on the margins: Roma migrant children’s
experiences of schooling and other services (British
Academy funded in conjunction with Strathclyde
University)
Abstract: This project aims to address a clear need for
in-depth knowledge in relation to a new ethnic group
recently arrived in Britain, that of Eastern European
migrant Roma. Roma families and their children
are one of the most marginalised and discriminated
against ethnic groups in Europe. It aims to examine
the role of formal education in supporting migrant
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Roma children integrate, while also exploring wider
issues in terms of Roma children’s marginalisation,
through low achievement, low attendance and poor
educational outcomes. The project will identify the key
issues in Roma children and parents’ cultural identity
and attitudes to and expectations of schooling and
other services. Data will be collected through a range of
quantitative and qualitative methods, including children’s
and parents’ voices through in-depth focus groups and
case studies. The project will identify current challenges
in terms of Roma families’ access to and engagement
with public services and produce knowledge useful to a
range of users, from Roma parents, to practitioners and
policy makers
Proposed Programme: Several recent reports highlight
Roma families’ extensive marginalisation and social
exclusion from a range of services in countries across
Europe and their exposure to a range of risks and
deprivations (Unicef, 2007; Agarin and Brosig, 2009
(14). This means that migrant Roma families often flee
from a life time of persecution and discrimination. In
schools, attainment of Roma children is the lowest of all
ethnic minority groups, and research has emphasised
the need to tackle racism in schools, challenge teachers’
expectations and attitudes and address Roma pupils’
social and emotional needs across Europe(Unicef,
2012). A pilot project conducted by Glasgow City
Council in 2012 has confirmed that after migration,
patterns of disengagement with formal education are
manifest in the form of lower levels of attendance, low
parental engagement, low aspirations and generally low
attainment (Glasgow City Council, 2012).
Research aim and objectives: This study aims to explore
barriers that affect migrant Roma families’ successful
engagement with formal education and other services,
as well as their attitudes to formal provision and
experiences of engaging with services. This project is
exploratory in nature and aims to identify:
●●what are Roma migrant families’ perceived
needs and experiences in relation to key services
(education, health, leisure);
●●what are the main challenges for service providers
in engaging Roma families (cultural, linguistic, social
etc.);
●●what are Roma migrant children and parents’
expectations and cultural attitudes to formal
education;
●●what are the factors that influence Roma migrant
families’ engagement with public services;
●●what are the perceived barriers in Roma migrant
children’s education and achievement and how
can these be tackled through formal and informal
provision.
(14) Attendance issues report available from GCC Education Service
Planning Performance and Research Unit (19th March 2012)
33 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
Nicola Sturgeon Deputy First Minister (Scottish Government)
addressing Roma-Net Conference Glasgow 2012. The
Scottish Government have provided funding to support
Sistema Scotland see 2.6.12 below.
2.6.12 Sistema Scotland
Sistema Scotland’s Big Noise project aims to transform
lives through music, and it is a programme that has
the potential to improve confidence, wellbeing, health,
education and community safety. The programme
is expected to deliver real benefits to individuals,
communities and wider society. It has improved the
personal and social development of children in Raploch
in Stirling as well as their confidence, self esteem, social
skills and ability to concentrate.
Sistema Scotland has been allocated £1.325 million
to aid its expansion to Govanhill where it will establish
a Big Noise Orchestra. The organisation has already
transformed the lives of hundreds of children through
a similar scheme in Raploch, Stirling. The four year
funding package was announced by Deputy First
Minister Nicola Sturgeon and Culture Secretary Fiona
Hyslop during a recent visit to Holy Cross Primary
School in Govanhill.
Sistema Scotland funding spans 2012-2016, with
contributions from four different Scottish Government
portfolios: Children and Young People, Culture and
External Affairs, Education and Lifelong Learning
and Health and Social Care. A further application for
£250,000 from the Infrastructure and Capital Investment
portfolio’s People and Communities Fund is currently
under consideration. Further funding will be esential
over the life of the period.
Sistema Scotland and the Big Noise Orchestra were
set up and are running with funding from the Scottish
Arts Council and now Creative Scotland - including
cash from the National Lottery, BBC Children in Need
and a number of charitable trusts and private donors
including the Paul Hamlyn Foundation, Esmée Fairbairn
Foundation and others.
The project is aimed at all children in the Govanhill and
Roma children will be actively encouraged to participate.
Sistema are already looking at ways to adapt their
project so that cultural and language issues can be
successfully addressed.
2.6.13 Colleges & ESOL
Increase informal community based ESOL classes.
Langside College report a number of specific ESOL
initiatives over the past 5 years for the Roma in the
Govanhill area. The initiatives start with good numbers
but quickly drop off. There is an issue with sustaining
interest/enthusiasm and therefore progress is rarely
made. Langside College set up a taster ESOL class for
parents at St Bride’s in 2011, but only one Roma parent
came. The Glasgow Community Planning Partnerships
has recently reviewed ESOL provision across the city.
ESOL provision within the Backcourts Initiative worked
well, possibly because there are good incentives for the
participants.
2.7
CommunityEducation/Development–
Romanet Recommendations
Guiding Principles for all Romanet Working Groups
●●Roma representation is essential
●●All working groups within the Romanet LSG should
identify and gather data in order to shape services
for local Roma residents and they should seek input
from Roma service users into the shape and delivery
of services.
●●The LSG should seek participation from key
agencies –eg Education, Housing benefit, Socal
Work, Job centre, HMRC
●●The LSG should engage Leadership within GCC and
locally elected members
2.7.1 Support for community activities (e.g. arts, music,
Il Sistema, sports, advice, information etc) that
enable and encourage Roma people to participate
in community life and progress towards becoming
more integrated.
the Roma communities
2.7.4 Using the possibility of bringing the GRUBB
Roma music festival event to Glasgow as a
catalyst around which to progress community
development with young Roma in the arts and
music, with this work spanning pre and postGRUBB event periods.
2.7.5 Develop a pro-active communications plan to
generate a flow of positive coverage
2.7.6 Deliver training to change negative attitudes of
organisational staff towards people from Roma
communities
2.7.7 Support the Govanhill History Project which will
gather an oral history of migration into Govanhill
over the past 50 years and has, as one of its
objectives, to promote better understanding and
improve relationships between communities
2.7.8 Participate in a new EU-funded project to tackle
racism and discrimination towards Roma.
2.7.9 Increase provision of informal community based
ESOL classes in Govanhill, appropriate for people
with limited literacy skills.
2.7.10 Research what front line service staff know and
need to know about Roma communities, and what
support they require to deliver services equitably
and effectively.
2.7.11 Develop a training programme, including work
shadowing, for front line staff on working with
people from Roma communities.
2.7.12 Develop a resource pack to support staff
to deliver services to people from Roma
communities and ensuring fair and equitable
application of rules
2.7.13 Roma-Net partners will establish connections
with front line services, with a specific focus
on engaging with equality and diversity
representatives, to ensure that key frontline staff
are targeted during any awareness raising activity.
2.7.2 Improving Cultural Awareness and Understanding
Researching models of community development
that could be used for working with people from
the Roma communities
2.7.3 Researching models of community development
that could be used for working with people from
34 |
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35 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
Chapter 3 Employment
3.0
Introduction
Roma workers face a number of structural barriers
in terms of accessing the labour market. In Eastern
Slovakia and Romania, Roma people face near 100%
unemployment and this is a powerful motivating factor
when making the big decision about leaving either
country to live and work abroad. (15)
A recent piece of research carried out in England noted
that the primary motivations for Roma people leaving
their country of origin and settling in the UK was for work
(58.7%), for a better life for their children (27.1%) or
because of discrimination in their own country (15.4%).
(16)
People coming to the United Kingdom from European
Economic Area (EEA) countries do not have unrestricted
access to the right to live (and therefore work) in the
UK. Since 2004, access to the right to work for EEA
nationals has depended on whether they have a ‘right
to reside’ here. The ‘right to reside’ requirement is
part of a `Habitual Residence Test’. Having a ‘right to
reside’ does not simply mean that a person can live in
a particular country. Broadly speaking, a person who
moves from one EEA country to another has a right to
reside if they are economically active, or are able to
support themselves. This applies to people from the ‘old’
EEA countries as well as those from the new ‘accession
countries’.
(15) (from The Glass Box – European Roma Rights Centre – Feb 2007
from, http://www.errc.org/cms/upload/media/02/14/m00000214.pdf)
(16) (from The movement of Roma from new EU Member States: A
mapping survey of A2 and A8 Roma in England Patterns of settlement
and current situation of new Roma communities in England A report
prepared for DCSF European Dialogue
August 2009` from http://equality.uk.com Resources_files/movement_
of_roma.pdf (p.7)
Until recently, most nationals of A8 accession countries
(this included Slovakia) were subject to the additional
requirement to register with the Worker Registration
Scheme (WRS) and could not access out-of-work
benefits until they had been in registered employment
for 12 months. EEA Member States were however only
allowed to impose transitional arrangements on access
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Glasgow ROMA-NeT
to their labour markets for up to seven years, so on 1
May 2011 the WRS ended. A8 nationals are now subject
to the same rules as nationals of other EEA countries,
apart from Romania and Bulgaria (the A2 states).
Transitional controls on access to the UK labour market
were to remain in place for A2 nationals until December
2011, but the UK government chose to extend these
controls until Dec 2013. In a recent judgment, the
Supreme Court held that while the right to reside test
was indirectly discriminatory on the basis of nationality,
the discrimination was justified as a proportionate
response to the legitimate aim of protecting the public
purse. However, the European Commission has
concluded that the test is discriminatory, contrary to EU
law, and on 29 September 2011 issued a ‘reasoned
opinion’ under EU infringement procedure. At Work and
Pensions Questions on 28 November the Minister for
Employment, Chris Grayling, said that the Government
were “formally rejecting in the strongest possible
manner” the Commission’s reasoned opinion.
In summary, Slovakian nationals are now legally allowed
to work and Romanian nationals are not, until at least
the end of December 2013. If Slovakian nationals are
working they have a right to reside in the UK. They
can claim job seekers allowance, if they can pass the
`Habitual Residence Test’ (HRT). This is not an easy
test to pass and can depend on the point of view that is
taken by employability officials, especially in a situation
where a Slovakian national has little or no English and
is unable to demonstrate that he or she may have a
reasonable likelihood of obtaining employment in the
near future. If a Slovakian national is looking for work
and they have registered as a jobseeker at Jobcentre
Plus, they have a right to reside. However, they still
have to take the HRT and prove that they intend to settle
in the UK. Jobseeker status usually lasts for six months.
However, this period can be extended if a they can
prove that they have a genuine chance of finding work.
Romanians and Bulgarians are, in the main, not allowed
to work or to have recourse to public funds and are only
allowed to remain in the UK if they are self employed or
self financing. Self-employment cannot be `marginal or
ancillary’ in nature but some Romanian nationals have
successfully used full-time Big Issue selling as evidence
of self employment.
A very recent survey (Dec 2012) of 112 A8 Romani
migrants was undertaken by Peter Crkon a Slovakian
member of staff from Development and Regeneration
Services (DRS) in Glasgow City Council.(18) The
survey concluded that over half of Romani A8 nationals
were out of work and those who were working were
in very low skilled and often unregulated employment
such as car washing or cleaning. Almost half of those
employed were working in a potato processing factory.
Of those surveyed, only 17% could speak English
adequately or fluently. Adequate literacy in written
English was present among only 10% of the population
surveyed and only 12% for reading. Spoken and written
English was significantly poorer amongst women than
men.
The survey concludes that “The combination of low
education, lack of language skills, and little signs of
economic assimilation into the UK labour market over
time presents a barrier to employment particularly at
the job search and recruitment stage> Moreover, there
is a plentiful supply of equally or better qualified (nonRomani) A8 workers willing to accept positions in the
low skilled sector who act as direct competition to Roma
for regular job opportunities> In these circumstances,
the presence of ethnic penalties in the job market puts
Romani migrants at a further disadvantage compared to
white A8 migrants, constraining their options to a limited
number of employment opportunities of an informal,
insecure and irregular nature “ The report concludes
that the following actions need to be taken:
●●Active English language tuition for Romani adults
●●Skill development and job-seeking seminars
●●Voluntary or paid work experience
●●2nd generation young people should be encouraged
to stay on in full time education beyond Primary
school in order to acquire UK qualifications
●●Suitable post migration development opportunities
should be made available by local authorities,
effectively promoted and clearly explained to the
Romani community.
In Govanhill, the unemployment rates amongst Roma
people are not known because `Roma’ as an ethnicity
category does not exist at local authority level or within
agencies such as JobCentre Plus. Romanian Roma are
probably not recorded at all as they are ineligible for
employability support from JobCentrePlus. The Soros
Foundation report `No Data No Progress’, June 2010
(17) ,
(17) from The Soros Foundation report `No Data No Progress’,
June 2010 Roma Initiatives, OPEN SOCIETY FOUNDATION http://
www.opensocietyfoundations.org/sites/default/files/no-data-noprogress-20100628.pdf .
37 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
(18) (Crkon, P., Dec 2012, p. 13. – available through DRS, Glasgow
City Council ).
3.1: Training and Employment initiatives
to progress Roma labour market Integration
3.1.2
CommunityRenewalBid
After consultation with Romanet, Community Renewal
have formulated a bid for Big Lottery Funding for a
project called Roma Social Enterprises. The bid is now
past the first stage and further work is required before
a second stage application can be made. The project
involves the creation of a support agency for the Roma
community in Glasgow run as a social enterprise and
staffed mainly by Roma intermediaries or mediators.
The mediators will provide a link between members
of the Roma community and local services such as
health, social work, housing, education, employment
and the police, as well as other community,voluntary
and arts based projects. The work tasks will be to
provide information, refer enquiries, act as assistants
and advocates and develop community based user
groups. Work in schools will include liaison between
the education authorities, the school students and their
families.
The project will employ 10 staff at any one time drawn
from Slovakian and Romanian Roma (estimated 24
people over the project life of four years), and include
young people (16-24) and women as employees, in
order to ensure relevant engagement across the Roma
community and encourage peer group structures based
on their specific life experiences
Examples of job roles:
●●Classroom assistants/ schools attendance officers
●●Support to Health Visitors, Social Work, Care and
Childcare
●●Youth, Community and Arts
●●Money
workers
Workers
and Employment Advice and Support
The paid employment will be accompanied by an
intensive training programme covering: English,
literacy, knowledge of mainstream and public services,
advice and support techniques, negotiating skills,
community work and group work skills, presentation
skills, reporting, and administrative skills, IT. Along with
the work experience gained, employability support will
be provided to enable participants to move on into the
wider labour market, with an anticipated average length
of employment within the project of 21 months. The
key to the success of this project is recruitment from the
Roma community. This will be the only way to build trust
within the community and reduce the existing barriers
with formal organisations. It will also provide role models
to encourage and enable Roma to escape from low
expectations, unemployment and poverty. One of the
objectives of setting up this project as a social enterprise
is to create sustainable employment opportunities for
Roma in higher level jobs than presently available to
them. By the end of the project the aim will be to have
demonstrated a degree of professionalism and good
practice as well as wider impacts and outcomes so that
the new agency will be able to bid successfully for other
grant funding or tenders to deliver services. These could
come from NHS, Housing Associations, Social Services,
Youth Work ,Employment Services, and the Creative
Arts. Other commercial opportunities will be researched.
In this way a number of additional, new sustainable jobs
will be created. The project will kick start what is likely
to be the first Roma led and managed social enterprise/
small business in Scotland
3.1.3 The Roma Project – Glasgow Regeneration
Agency
●●Glasgow’s Regeneration Agency (GRA) through P5
Pipeline, established a consortium of organisations
including Crossroads and Govanhill Law and
Money Advice Centre (Crossroads Consortium) to
deliver the P5 Roma Support Project’; a City Wide
Project which engages with people from the Roma
Community resident in Glasgow. Through this
project eligible clients are provided with a range of
Advocacy support that will assist them to gain access
to appropriate services that will stabilise their chaotic
lifestyles. GRA Employability Team, consists of 3
Employability Advisors and 1 Advocacy Advisor who
deliver the service from a base in Samaritan House,
79 Coplaw Street, Govanhill. The project is funded
from 1st of December 2011 to 30th of June 2013.
●●The project provides a one stop shop to all GRA
services. GRA encourage clients to access
mainstream employability service provision that
will improve their ability to capitalise on training
and employment opportunities and assist them to
compete for work in the current labour market in
Glasgow. GRA therefore take each client through
an appropriate employability pathway, from initial
engagement, encouraging clients to take part in
various positive activities, and helping clients to
develop a CV. GRA provide job search and interview
techniques to support clients into suitable and
sustainable training and employment opportunities.
●●Clients can access a variety of services in addition
to Employability, for example Youth Employment
Service (YES), Business Start up Advice, Bridging
services, Learning & Training, ALN (Literacy &
Numeracy), Child Care Support, etc. The priority
target groups for this project are people from the
Roma Community living in Glasgow.
38 |
Glasgow ROMA-NeT
interpreting and also supporting activities such as
job search, and referrals to other partners in order
to offer a one stop shop for Roma Clients. 3 service
users progressed to further training opportunities
through an Intermediate Labour Market route
(ILM) 3 service users secured temp contracts with
Crossroads, and a further 4 secured temp contracts
with GRA.
●●In addition GRA have recently introduced a service
Beata Surmajova and Monika Surmajova, GRA Service users
●●Key Objectives:
The service aims to stabilise the
lives of people from the Roma community and assist
them to deal with a range of issues that prevent them
from focussing their efforts on securing employment.
The support provided assists people from the Roma
community in:
nn
making choices about how they access and
receive service;
nn
asserting and securing their rights;
nn
understanding procedures and policies and
representing their views;
nn
playing more active role in the community; and
nn
progressing toward employment.
●●In March 2012 following a review of their
commitments and objectives, Crossroads withdrew
from the consortium to concentrate on their core
service delivery. This led to GRA reviewing their own
service delivery they identified the need to increase
the levels of language support, and at the same
time decided that they could improve their services,
by encouraging service users to become involved
in service delivery. Initially GRA decided to offer
volunteer opportunities within GRA’s own service
provision, in order to help to improve communications
between GRA and the Roma Community and also to
show clients that GRA recognised that they have the
skills, knowledge and ability to secure employment.
●●Through the introduction of service user involvement
GRA have been able to make improvements in their
services, they have increased referral interest, they
have been able to communicate more effectively
with clients on a daily basis. The 7 service users
supporting this have been able to develop their
skills, and now have a better understanding of
employability, and the levels of support GRA can
offer Roma clients.
●●Through introducing the service user involvement
GRA are able to communicate directly with clients
through service users being able to provide basic
39 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
user focus group focus group (pilot commenced
in July), with support from 2 University Interns to
encourage a group of Roma Clients to help them to
evaluate their service provision, and by obtaining
their feedback on what Roma Clients need in relation
to voluntary, training and employment opportunities
in order to meet the needs of the Roma Community.
●●The GRA Roma Project works closely with a number
of partners in order to raise awareness of the Roma
Community, and increase opportunities for clients.
●●In June 2012 GRA recruited a new member to the
team in order to provide 1-1 Advocacy support to
clients. This advocacy support is very much in
demand by clients, we help with a variety of issues,
which include health, benefits and housing. By
having direct 1-1 Advocacy support we are also able
to allow 3 service users to shadow/support advocacy
activity, and also provide guidance and training to
help service users to develop their knowledge of
interpreting and increase opportunity to develop
their skills and increase their confidence to apply for
similar training or employment opportunities.
●●GRA has implemented ESOL Training to address the
language barrier initially offering a 13wk programme,
which consisted of 2 sessions per week, 15 clients
per session. The demand for ESOL has resulted
in GRA contracting further ESOL training, we now
offer (3 sessions per week, for 8 weeks) to allow
us to increase the number of clients accessing this
provision. All ESOL has been provided by the City of
Glasgow College.
●●GRA also work in partnership with Govanhill
Housing with regards to Environmental Volunteer
Programmes, Clean Green Team and Back Court
Initiatives by supporting recruitment of Roma
Candidates to opportunities and by supporting
language/interpreting through service users.
●●The experience gained by Roma Clients involved
in Environmental Volunteer and ILM initiatives have
allowed clients to show their commitment to finding
employment and also allowed them to showcase
their skills and their abilities to carry out a recognised
job role that also helps to improve local community.
●●To maximise on employment opportunities GRA
also provide a 1-1 Job Broker service, to job -ready
clients, in order that the Job Broker can meet/
screen and profile clients, match to vacancies and
to market clients to employers. In addition GRA
provide Business Start up Advice/Support to clients
who are interested and have the potential to consider
self employment. All of which is aimed to maximise
Roma clients opportunities of securing employment.
●●GRA
are also in the process of providing additional
practical training to clients which will result in
qualifications being achieved. Clients will be able
to access Basic First Aid, Health & Safety, Food
Hygiene and CSCS.
●●Through ESOL provision, GRA encourages clients
to use English when accessing their services and
also to use English at home to help develop their
children’s understanding and communication using
English.
●●GRA have also seen an increase in young (16
z-18) clients accessing their services, 1 of which
recently joined the service-user involvement
support, thus increasing our service user support to
4 clients working with our project supporting basic
interpretation, job search etc.
●●By having young people involved in our service
delivery, we hope that they may use the skills
obtained to progress to other training, volunteer
opportunities and possibly consider registering their
interest in becoming classroom assistants, to provide
support to schools and pupils in order to increase
children’s interest/confidence in learning the English
Language.
3.1.4
Roma Interpreter Training
The LSG agreed that we need to create Romani
interpreters and that we should actively look for
opportunities to recruit Roma people to carry out this
work. Cardonald College and GRA are in discussions at
present, looking at a course that could possibly start in
the year 2013.
Course Proposal A - Basic Interpreters Course
Possible funding stream identified through Skills
Development Scotland ( SDS) & Cardonald College
which would support young people identified by Roma
Children and Families Service staff, local EL school
staff and Romanet. The young people need to be aged
between 16 and 25, from the Glasgow area, have left
school and currently not working. The course consists
of 192 hrs of learning and 192 hrs of work placement.
Possible work placements could include local schools
and nurseries using established contacts. If sufficient
numbers of students have been identified (approx
16) then this course would be provided by Cardonald
College free of charge.
Course Proposal B - Basic Interpreters Course As a
pilot project targeting a wider audience of learners form
the Roma community. Cardonald College could provide
a 20 hour course which can be delivered over a number
of sessions which require to be agreed with an external
funder. . These could be held either during the day (
Mon - Fri) or in the evening ( Wed, Thur) at the college
or in a community venue. This course would require
funding.
●●We currently have 4 Service Users supporting
project 2 are new volunteers, assisting Employability
Advisors and Advocacy Advisors with basic
interpreting (communications) and supporting our
group work activity. Service users also gaining
valuable administration experience, in addition to
customer service experience in order that they gain
the experience, skills, qualification to allow them to
compete in labour market opportunities.
Stats From Jan 2012-Dec 2012
●●Clients Registered - 329 Clients
●●Into Education/Training - 16
●●Receiving Literacy/Numeracy Support – 64
●●Receiving Money/Debt Advice
●●Received ESOL support– 45
●●Completed ESOL - 32
●●Completed Food Hygiene Training - 22
●●Completed First Aid Training – 19
●●Completed Training for Work ILM –
●●Achieved Qualifications - 43
●●Moved into Employment – 7
●●Sustaining Employment beyond 13wks – 5
●●Sustaining Employment beyond 26wks – 2
40 |
Glasgow ROMA-NeT
David Zabiega Sustainable Communities Coordinator
Govanhill Community Development Trust
3.1.5
GovanhillCommunityDevelopmentTrust
As part of its activities to develop and support the local
Roma community, Govanhill Community Development
Trust has a focus on the training and employment of
local Roma people.
Govanhill Backcourts Employment and Environmental
Improvements
The recent Backcourts Initiative saw 24 local
Slovakian and Czech Roma employed as part of a
wider Environmental Improvement and Employability
Project. The initiative involved physical improvements
made to the backcourts of 4 tenement quadrants in the
unimproved housing stock area of Govanhill. This area
is predominantly made up of tenement flats for let and is
home to the majority of Govanhill’s Roma population.
Participants in the Backcourts Initiative received a 4
week block of training in construction skills, during which
time they continued to receive any relevant benefits.
Trainees then began a 13 week paid placement during
which they received the minimum wage. The paid
placement saw participants receive training in soft and
hard landscaping and complete a horticultural training
programme. This training was supplemented by work
experience with the contractors delivering improvements
in the backcourts, as well as with other employers
41 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
across Glasgow.
Roma participants in the project received support to
develop their English through an ESOL programme.
Glasgow’s Regeneration Agency also provided
employability support for Roma participants through the
P5 initiative.
The initiative was carried out using £1.8m awarded
by the Scottish Government. £1m was used for
capital works, with £500k being awarded for property
acquisitions and £300k being used for the development
of the Govanhill multi-agency service hub. Glasgow
City Council provided £250k towards the project, with
additional funds released through the duration of the
project. The work was carried out by Govanhill Housing
Association through Govanhill Community Development
Trust and GREAT Gardens – the Association’s two
subsidiaries – as well as Glasgow’s Regeneration
Agency and Oxfam.
In October 2012, the Scottish Government awarded
Govanhill Housing Association a further £1m for a
second phase of backcourts improvements. Glasgow
City Council has also committed a further £250k to
the second phase. Physical works are likely to get
underway in May 2013.
The second phase will differ from the first in that,
from January 2014, Romanian Roma will be able to
participate. It is anticipated that a significant amount of
community development and engagement resources will
be required in advance of Romanian Roma participation.
Clean Green Team
The ‘Clean Green Team’ was a pilot project which
supported a group of 10 local Czech and Slovak Roma
to complete a 12-week programme of street cleaning,
refuse uplift and tree planting in Govanhill. Members
of the team volunteered for 25 hours each week.
They spent 15 hours delivering local clean up and
planting activities. The group spent the rest of their
time receiving employability support from Glasgow’s
Regeneration Agency to develop employability skills/
tackle barriers to employment and also receiving ESOL
lessons.
Over the 12 week period the group were involved
in street sweeping, litter picking and removing bulk
waste. They have also supported a local environmental
group and primary school in activities locally as well as
Govanhill Residents Group in a project to improve front
gardens in Annette Street. The group were involved in
planting around £8,000 of trees which have been made
available through Oxfam’s Unwrapped programme.
The Team also distributed translated leaflets to several
hundred local Czech and Roma households in an effort
to raise awareness of waste and recycling among the
wider community.
deliver future projects of this nature. We are seeking
funding to support initiatives like the Clean Green Team
to exist on a more permanent and sustainable basis in
the area.
Govanhill Training and Community Garden
In partnership with GREAT Gardens - Govanhill Housing
Association’s other subsidiary company - Govanhill
Community Development Trust is exploring opportunities
to develop a plot of land adjacent to Samaritan House,
the Association’s headquarters. The intention is for
the space – an unusually shaped brownfield site – to
be transformed into a lively community garden, a base
for GREAT Gardens and a training centre in soft/hard
landscaping and horticulture. The intention would be for
a significant number of local people to be trained and
supported each year within the training garden, and it
is envisaged that a large number of participants will be
from across the Roma community. It is likely that any
trainees based on site would also be deployed across
Govanhill to maintain local backcourts, develop gap
sites and look after existing greenspaces.
Before Clean Green Team clean up
In doing this they were trained and supported by GREAT
Gardens – a local social enterprise and subsidiary of
Govanhill Housing Association.
The Team have been hugely successful in their objective
of cleaning and greening Govanhill. £8000 of trees
were planted and 1800 hours of street clean-up and
planting activities took place. The team also received
1200 hours of personal development. Many local
residents have commented on the huge difference the
team have made and they have challenged commonly
held perceptions that the local Roma population are at
the root of many of Govanhill’s environmental problems
and also do not want to get involved in community life.
The Clean Green Team picked up a Keep Scotland
Beautiful award for their activities and also won the
Evening Times’ Street Champions Award. Additionally,
the Daily Record and Evening Times also ran 2-page
spreads on the Team. The project has also enabled 7
members of the team to move into employment through
a local initiative – the Backcourts Initiative – something
which might not have been possible without the
additional English support and capacity building through
the Clean Green Team.
Govanhill Community Development Trust intends to
After Clean Green Team clean up
42 |
Glasgow ROMA-NeT
Roma Employability Group
GCDT chairs the local Roma Employability Group.
The group exists to tackle poverty by supporting and
developing opportunities for training, development
and employment in Glasgow’s Roma community. In
particular the group will seek to support the local Roma
community by:
●●Developing understanding and raise awareness of
the employment rights of local Roma people
3.2
Employment: Romanet Recommendations
Guiding Principles for all Romanet Working
Groups
●●Roma representation is essential
●●All working groups within the Romanet LSG should
identify and gather data in order to shape services
for local Roma residents and they should seek input
from Roma service users into the shape and delivery
of services.
●●Developing understanding of and skills in relation to
●●The LSG should seek participation from key
●●Developing and supporting activities which enable
●●The LSG should engage Leadership within GCC and
Maximising opportunities for the creation and delivery of
training, development and employment activities
3.2.1 Provide interpreting services for small
community organisations working with people
from Roma communities that do not have bilingual
staff. Also, encourage the recruitment of recruiting
people from the Roma communities to become
interpreters. (original LAP Obj 4.a)
employability and the labour market within the local
Roma population
people to become ready to enter the labour market.
Recent focuses of the group have included support
for the development of the Social Enterprise project,
support to develop the Roma Interpreter training
programmes, exploring issues in relation to Roma
volunteering and general sharing of information, good
practice and experience.
agencies –eg Education, Housing benefit, Socal
Work, Job centre, HMRC
locally elected members
3.2.2 Create a training and employment programme
for people in Roma communities to work as
intermediaries, for example in areas of health,
social work, education, welfare benefits, housing
and employment. (Original LAP Obj. 7b)
3.2.3 Research and identify good practice in
maximising employment opportunities for peoplein
Roma communities (original LAP Obj 7c)
3.2.4 Provide/promote classroom language and
cultural mediators in local schools
3.2.5 Active English language tuition for Romani
adults
3.2.6 Skill development and job-seeking seminars
3.2.7 Voluntary or paid work experience
3.2.8 2nd generation young people should be
encouraged to stay on in full time education
beyond Primary school in order to acquire UK
qualifications
3.2.9 Suitable post migration development
opportunities should be made available by local
authorities, effectively promoted and clearly
explained to the Romani community.
43 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
Chapter 4 Health & Social Care
4.0 Health & Social Care: Introduction
Training was delivered by The Roma Children and
Families Team and Welfare Rights Officers from Glasgow
City Council Social Work service and Govanhill Housing
Association. (20/6/12).
Access to healthcare and the support of social care
services is a basic right in Europe but the reality for
many Roma families is not a positive one. Many Roma
find health care services either unsuitable or difficult to
access, for a range of complex personal, cultural and
institutional reasons. Negative experiences from the
past and exclusionary attitudes from ‘public authorities’
makes many Roma reluctant, even afraid, to approach
doctors, health care professionals or to engage with
social care providers.(19)
For many ROMA-NeT partners these issues were not
widely understood. But engagement with front-line
health and social care professionals has improved
understanding and made partners better equipped to
challenge how services are currently being offered to
Roma communities.
Common behaviour for Roma people is to ignore an
illness until it becomes severe, even life threatening,
before they present themselves at a hospital emergency
facility for immediate treatment. Preventative healthcare
is not normal practice for Roma people, especially in
segregated communities.
Fear over child protection issues stemming from
negative experiences, for example seeing children
removed from families, and a feeling of being unfairly
treated, all generate the lack of trust that many Roma
have in health and social care professionals. Such
experiences perpetuate the belief among Roma
communities that approaching medical or social care
authorities will not be helpful but may exacerbate their
already difficult living situations.
For many Roma, caring for family members is the
most important part of their lives and culture, so being
unable to access healthcare can develop into a vicious
(19) from http://urbact.eu/fileadmin/Projects/Roma_Net/outputs_
media/ROMA_miniguide_HEALTHCARE.pdf
44 |
Glasgow ROMA-NeT
cycle, where individuals experience further isolation
and exclusion because they are either too sick to work
or have caring responsibilities for other sick family
members. This creates less opportunity to improve
their own health or that of family members and means
fewer chances to find work, participate in education or
cope with day-to-day family life. All of these are made
significantly worse when people live in sub-standard and
overcrowded housing and in poverty.
Additionally, because some Roma have no residency
rights in the country they are living in, access to basic
healthcare and social care support may be impossible to
obtain anyway. Some ROMA-NeT cities have innovative
and interesting interventions in place in health and
social care, many of which involve outreach work and
health mediators. These areas of good practice should
be shared between cities and those that show positive
results should be rolled out similarly in those cities
where they may have a relevance and fit.
4.1
Glasgow City Community Health Partnership
- South sector
Since 2004, and the expansion of the EU, Govanhill
has seen the introduction of a large number of Roma
people from Slovakia, the Czech Republic and most
recently from Romania. The current number is estimated
to be between 2,000-3,000 based on registration with
local GPs. This population increase is not captured in
current census data, and as such is not recognised in
resource allocation formulas used for health and social
work services. This population increase, and the specific
needs presented have placed additional demands on
both health and social work services. In response the
CHP has put in a specific measures to try to improve
health and wellbeing amongst migrants from the EU, in
particular Romanian and Czech/Slovak people.
Because on language and cultural issues it is estimated
that consultations with Roma patients take three times
longer. Additional translation support is therefore
required. for patients attending the health centre and
other GP practices in Govanhill to assist with the
delivery of health services to Roma patients.
4.1.2
The EU Health Team
The main focus of the EU health team is to support
families from the European Union who have children
who are Pre 5. The team assist many Roma families
and help them to engage with many local services as
well as providing support in registering with GP. They
also provide screening and immunisation services,
child health services, chronic disease management
and other support to local GP practices. Here are some
examples of the ways that they (and the Community
Health Partnership generally) have adapted their service
provision to meet the needs of Roma families.
45 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
●●Separate Drop in clinics have been created for both
Romanian and Slovakian patients, supported by
interpreters.
●●Each GP receptionist has access to Language Line
and an interpreter can be booked for non-English
speaking patients
●●Parenting advice and guidance is given by EU Health
Team staff
●●Bilingual members of staff are employed by the team
●●Separate immunisation clinics for Roma
●●Provide additional support to GP Practices with their
Roma patients
4.1.3
South Sector Health Improvement
●●Roma Anticipatory Care Pilot.
This is a joint pilot
programme with the `Keep Well’and the `Equally
Well’ test site to engage with the Roma population
via an Anticipatory Care programme Keep Well
(KW). Keep Well is a free health check for people
aged 40-64 years of age who live in certain areas of
Scotland. It involves a health check and suggestions
for ways to improve an individual’s health and well
being. This programme is delivered by a bi-lingual
Health Improvement Support Worker in conjunction
with the NGO, `Community Renewal’ who provide
an outreach service in which they raise awareness of
Keep Well and assist individuals to book their Keep
Well Health check appointments.
●●Support is also currently being provided to the three
practices within Govanhill Health Centre around
using Keep Well outreach methodology to engage
with Roma patients on certain chronic disease
registers.
●●Smoking Cessation Drop In – the health service are
currently developing a community smoking cessation
drop in service for both Slovakian and Czech
communities.
●●Booze Busters’ - provision of booze busters
programme which is a 4 week alcohol awareness
programme within all Primary Schools (P6 &P7) in
Govanhill. This is developed in partnership with local
youth voluntary organisations and is supported by
the Roma Health Improvement Support Worker.
●●Bike Ability Cycle Proficiency Programme – available
to the 4 Primary Schools within Govanhill. Bikes
have been purchased for schools and two schools
are cycle proficiency hubs.
●●Govanhill Community Alcohol Campaign -
diversionary programme of activities that will divert
young people from drinking at key times. In addition
mobile SOS bus which provides information around
alcohol, tobacco and sexual health.
●●Tentative scoping in conjunction with Smokefree
Services and Stirling University around social
marketing in relation to alcohol and tobacco within
ethnic minority communities in South Glasgow. The
Roma community will be included within this strand
of research.
●●`Get Cooking - Get Shopping’ classes - have been
offered to local people via English as an Additional
Language classes.
●●Working in partnership with the Social Work Welfare
Right Officers (WRO’s) and NGO `Money Matters’
staff on a benefit take-up campaign in the 4 Primary
Schools in Govanhill. The aim is to maximise free
school meals entitlement as a passported benefit.
Additional oral health and nutrition resources
and support are provided to the Slovakian and
Romanian drop in sessions. In addition to the above
programmes there are a range of generic health
improvement programmes/activities that the Roma
Community can access and participate within.
4.1.4
Community Health Leaders
The NGO `Community Renewal’ are involved in a
Community Health Leaders Project, which is an `assetbased’ approach to finding and training people who
have the potential to become community activists and
leaders.
They recruited around ten people who live in Govanhill
to participate on this course which is a hybrid of Health
Issues in the Community, a university accredited
community health course, and learning community
development and research techniques. Part 1 of the
course was run in 2011 and part 2 in 2012.
Six women have completed part two of the course. They
are all very active in the community As their final project
they organised a film show about community relations
and racism. They showed the film “Class Divided” A very
harrowing film showing young children coming to terms
with racism. The women’s group showed the film to a
cross section of young people 10-14 years old from all
the cultural communities The young people then took
part in a debate about racism and discrimination in
Govanhill and reflected on their collective experience
The young people decided to organise a series of film
show/discussions The main racial tension seems to
between the Roma and the Asian children. This is the
first time we have done both parts of Health Issues in
the Community within a particular community and seen
the process all the way through to the community project
stage
4.2
Romanet Recommendations
Guiding Principles for all Romanet Working Groups
●●Roma representation is essential
●●All working groups within the Romanet LSG should
identify and gather data in order to shape services
for local Roma residents and they should seek input
from Roma service users into the shape and delivery
of services.
●●The LSG should seek participation from key
agencies –eg Education, Housing benefit, Socal
Work, Job centre, HMRC
●●The LSG should engage Leadership within GCC and
locally elected members
4.2.1 Look at the advantages of Roma mediators in
the health service - this could be possible through the
Romamatrix programme that starts in April 2013.
4.2.2 Maintain and improve links with health services
in Slovakia, Romania and Czech republic - possibly
through Eurocities/Romamatrix and other routes
4.2.3 Continue to share good practice with colleagues
nationally and transnationally
4.2.4 Use communication aids, such as Pictorial
health improvement materials – the EU Health Team
are keen to use these methods.
4.2.5 Continue to support GPs in delivering services
to Roma families
Community Health Leaders course (see section 4.1.4)
46 |
Glasgow ROMA-NeT
4.3
Social Care
4.3.1 Roma Children & Families Team, Social
Work Services
The arrival of 2500 to 3000 Slovakian and Romanian
Roma people in Glasgow since 2004 has created
additional demand for services from Social Work.
Overcrowding, poor health and chronic poverty amongst
this population are real issues and many of the families
moving from Romania and Slovakia arrive with very little
and are vulnerable to exploitation by those involved in
people trafficking. With no legal right to work and no
recourse to public funds, Romanian Roma are the most
impoverished and vulnerable in the community.
In order to meet the expansion of need that this has
created within social services, an additional Team
Leader and three qualified social workers have
now been deployed into the Govanhill area to work
specifically with Roma children and families. Funding
is also in place for the recruitment of additional Support
Workers for this team and a further social worker was
added to the team in January 2013.
There are four main primary schools in Govanhill where
Slovakian/Czech and Romanian Roma children are
enrolled. The social work team are aligned in three
ways:
●●through a very direct and close working partnership
with the four Primary schools in Govanhill
●●through a very close and direct alignment with pre5’s through the EU Health Visiting Team and
●●through a close alignment with local secondary
schools and EAL (English as an Additional
Language) services.
Whilst the team are handling social work casework,
they are also developing innovative ways of working
using an `early intervention’ model that is designed to
support families and keep them together. The Roma
Children and Families Service has only been up and
running since March 2012 and they are learning new
things about working with Roma families every day. The
work is challenging, but very rewarding. But it is clear
that the creation of a specialist team for Roma children
and families is helping to keep Roma children out of the
care system, it is helping to support them better in the
community and the team are also tackling the underlying
causes of the need that make them social work service
users in the first place.
The Team are also involved in developing transnational
links with the service providers in cities and counties of
origin for Roma people. Romanet have facilitated a visit
by the Team Leader to Arad in Romania and to Kosice
47 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
in Slovakia where these visits have improved relations
and resulted in improved transnational cooperation over
information exchange and joint working. The Open
Society also facilitated a trip to Budapest to attend
the MERI conference this year and this visit has led
to a further development that is just beginning a joint
initiative with EUROCITIES and with the Open Society.
This is described below.
Transnational Working
The Roma Children and Families Team drafted
the recent Expression of Interest (see 2.6.10) in
the EUROCITIES/Open Society Foundation Roma
Inclusion Task Force East-West Cooperation initiative.
This initiative should improve our ability to work more
cooperatively with Social Work, Health, Education and
Employability staff in Slovakia, the Czech republic and
Romania.
The Roma Children and Families Team, with the
support of both Romanet and The Open Society, have
also made direct contact with Kosice City in Slovakia
and with Arad County in Romania and with the Central
Authority in Bratislava. These direct contacts are helping
us to resolve very complex cases involving children and
adults from these cities and counties or origin.
RomaAwarenessRaising&WelfareRightsTraining
Multi-agency awareness-raising training was delivered
to a diverse range of staff in the Govanill area during
the year 2012. Training was delivered by The Roma
Children and Families Team and Welfare Rights Officers
from Glasgow City Council Social Work service and
Govanhill Housing Association. (20/6/12).
●●In addition to the above, awareness raising training
has been delivered to the Senior Management
Team (23/10/12) and the teaching staff team at
Holyrood Secondary (5/11/12), all the Team Leaders
and Service Managers (and Head of Service) for
Social Work at the Local Management Review
meeting (2/10/12), and to a multi agency grouping
at Strathclyde University – at an ESSRC event
called `Delivering Services for Migrants in Times of
Austerity’. Additionally awareness raising training
was delivered during the `La Sistema’ launch
(26/10/12). A further input was delivered to the local
GoCa group and the Homeless Team in the months
of December 2012 and Jan 2013.
4.3.2
Ensuring access to free school meals
There are approx 2934Eastern European children
attending the four primaries in Govanhill. The Roma
Children and Families team carried out a brief survey in
May 2012 and discovered that only 25% were in receipt
of free school meals. This is below the Glasgow City
average, which is approx 36%. The social work service
believed that this figure should have been much higher
and they believed that there were an unknown number
of other children who were also missing out. Many
of these children’s parents needed help to maximise
their income and claim free school meals. In order to
address this problem Education, Health and Social
Work services embarked on a welfare rights/free
school meals drive across the four key Primary Schools
in Govanhill. The social work service Welfare Rights
Team released three welfare rights officers (WROs)
initiative and the Health Service matched this and
are contracting staff from a local NGO called `Money
Matters’ to support the drive.
The drive started in October 2012 and includes Roma
but is not exclusively targeted at Roma and will ensure
that all children in these four Primary Schools; and
their parents; will have an opportunity to maximise their
income or claim free school meals/after establishing
entitlement.
We hope that the impact of this drive will be:
1. More children entitled to free school meals & clothing
grants.
2. Improved health/nutrition levels.
This is something
that we need help with from our partners within the
health service. We also hope that health indicators
could include wider indicators of well being.
3. SIMD (Scottish Index Multiple Deprivation) /child
poverty indicators for schools positively affected
- as the SIMD uses the number of school meals
registered as one means to test for other additional
resources in schools.
4. Better attendance. A recent Education Report
highlights that children going home at lunchtime
and not returning is an issue. If a large percentage
of these children can successfully claim free school
meals then this may impact positively on afternoon
attendance levels.
5. Better Integration. If children can be encouraged to
stay at school over lunchtime it may help them to
integrate more successfully through play and the
formation of friendships.
4.3.3 Romanian Roma Sub Group – South East
Integration Network (SEIN)
The Romanian Roma sub group of the SEIN has been
formed because of the particular needy situation that
Romanian Roma find themselves in. As A2 nationals
Romanian nationals are not allowed to work in the
UKuntil the law changes in Dec 2013. Until then, they
remain the poorest and most vulnerable group of Roma
in Glasgow. This sub group was formed in response to
a growing awareness of this need and to try, to some
extent, to redress a perception of imbalance in service
provision, as most of the services organised to date
have been oriented around the needs of Slovakian
Roma.
This group is at an early stage of development but
already it has published the results of a Mapping
Exercise that has mapped and listed contact details for
services that are available to help Roma Romanians in
Glasgow.
4.3.4
Advocacysupport
Positive Action in Housing project
Positive Action in Housing have been running a
continued advocacy/welfare rights service for Romanian
Roma on Thursdays.
Govanhill Law Centre
GLC provides legal advice to the local community
which is where the majority of Roma clients reside. The
agency employs a Czech or Slovak speaking worker
trained in welfare rights.. Govanhill Law Centre has a
strong record of advocating and acting on discrimination
against the Roma community. Oxfam commissioned
the GLC to produce the report called ‘Unequal and
Unlawful Treatment’ (Ref) directly touching on Roma
discrimination by public institutions in the UK.
GRARomaproject.
GRA provide advocacy support to their own service
users.
GAIN GAIN (Glasgow’s Advice and Information
Network)
GAIN is a network of agencies that gives free,
confidential and impartial debt advice. It includes
voluntary agencies, citizens advice bureaux, legal,
housing and independent money advice agencies. GAIN
can give advice on a wide range of financial issues
including debt, money management, benefits advice,
and housing issues as well as providing free legal
advice.
People and Communities bid
Crossroads Advocacy project was providing a valuable
service to mainly Slovakian/Czech nationals who
required help with a range of advocacy difficulties.
This service had to stop in June 2012 due to funding
issues. Since that time, an application has been made
to the People and Communities Fund by Govanhill
Development Trust for a Slovakian speaking welfare
rights worker.
48 |
Glasgow ROMA-NeT
Free School Meals campaign
Social Work WROs and Money Matters staff operating
drive across 4 primary schools Oct 2012 to Oct 2013.
(see 4.3.2)
4.3.5
Roma Children’s Working group
The South Locality Children’s Planning Group is a
group that is represented by Heads of Service from
Social Work, Education and the Health service and other
organisations who have an interest in strategic planning
for children in the South of Glasgow.
This group reports to the Children’s Services Executive
Group (CSEG), which is a group that includes
representation from the Directors of key services, such
as Education, Health and Social Work. The reporting
relationship is shown below
Children’sServicesExecutiveGroup–Directorsof
Social Work, Education and Health
ä
South Locality Children’s Planning Group – Heads of
Service from Education, Health & Social Work
ä
RomaChildren’sWorkingGroup.Diagonalcrosssection of staff from Health, Education and Social Work,
including Romanet Chair.
The Roma Children’s Working Group have been asked
to carry out work that will identify and address need and
to make positive suggestions that will inform strategic
planning. A key influence on this process will be the
highly developed recomendations of Romanet and LSG
members. The Romanet Action Plan will be presented to
these groups for consideration early in 2013.
4.3.6
HumanTrafficking
Human Trafficking is a form of modern day slavery in
which persons, most often women and girls, are forced,
threatened, coerced or deceived for the purpose of
labour exploitation, commercial sexual exploitation or
servitude. There are concerns that Roma adults and
children are a very vulnerable group that can be easily
exploited by people who are involved in the commercial
exploitation of human beings.
A number of supports are available for Roma people
who are victims of trafficking. In general within Glasgow
City Council area and Glasgow City Council Social Work
Service has been at the forefront of developments in this
sphere. The Child protection Team at social work HQ
49 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
in Glasgow have been particularly active in this respect
and have produced written guidance and day to day
support for the city on human trafficking. The Roma
Children and Families Team are members of the Child
Protection Committee sub group on Trafficking. The
Roma Children and Families Team also work directly
with adults or children who have been trafficked and
work transnationally with the authorities in Romania and
Slovakia to ensure that children and adults are safe.
Local NGO `Crossroads’ have recently successfully
sourced funding for a 0.25 FTE Slovakian worker to
work on an anti-trafficking project . The funding is
provided by the Ministry of the Interior in Slovakia, who,
in turn accessed this funding through European funding
sources. The funding is intended to help create audio
visual materials that can be used both in the UK and in
Slovakia to raise awareness about human trafficking.
It is hoped that this material will be seen by Slovakian
citizens in Slovakia and Glasgow and that it will prevent
some people falling prey to traffickers in the future.
Crossroads and the Roma Children and families Service
are working very closely together with regard to this
programme.
For adults who have been trafficked, there are other
supports available through the the Glasgow Community
Safety Services (GCSS) funded , TARA project
(Trafficking Awareness Raising Alliance). This project
provides support to women who have been trafficked
for the purposes of prostitution, pornography, lap
dancing and stripping. The team have a mental health
service attached to the project provided by COMPASS.
The team can provide the following help to women
recovered across Scotland: support to access safe
accommodation. First Responder for the National
Referral Mechanism, emotional support, advice and
guidance, advocacy, safety and care plans.
In addition GCSS participates in UK and Scottish
Government working groups tackling Human Trafficking
and works closely with all Scottish Police Forces to
facilitate women’s engagement with the Criminal Justice
process.
4.3.7
Govanhill Hub
Govanhill Hub facilitates is a Neighbourhood
Management approach to service provision coordination
within Govanhill. A team meeting that takes place daily
with a variety of partners, including Strathclyde Police,
Govanhill Housing Association, Community Relations
Officers, Environmental Health staff, the Strathclyde
Fire Service and DRS. Education, Social Work and the
Health Service also participate and social work staff
are co-located at the same base as the Hub and are
consulted as and when required. Through the Hub,
partners discuss and plan collaborative responses to
local concerns on a daily basis. Often this may mean
a ‘same day’ joint visit or response to an issue or case
raised within the Hub. Furthermore the Hub is based
in the Govanhill Housing Association offices within
Samaritan House in Govanhill, allowing partners a
convenient local base from which to work. The Hub was
born out of a Health Service facilitated `Equally Well’
development session which was held on 28 January
2010. The session allowed local partners to reflect on
the progress of the test site at that point. It was agreed
that a new direction of work would capitalise on the
strong partnership ethos developed within the test site.
Partners were unanimous that closer, more responsive
partnership working would enable greater effectiveness
and efficiency in addressing the complexity of
issues affecting Govanhill. Partnership working and
approaches are clearly not new in Scotland or Glasgow
City, but what sets the Govanhill Hub apart is that public
and third sector partners are co-located in the same
office space and meet and work together every week
day.
The creation of the Hub means that many community
difficulties can be tackled, including any community
tensions that may exist between the new Roma migrant
population and the local indigenous population. Issues
relating to Roma residents take up some of the time
of the Hub meeting, but the majority of the meeting
is dominated by other issues that have no direct
connections to the migrant Roma population.
Partners decided that a shared premises operational
service Hub was the method to realise this vision. The
Hub came into existence on 6 April 2010 and at the time
of writing has progressed over 800 individual cases.
The main operation of the Hub is characterised by daily,
Monday to Friday 10am meetings. The meetings are
chaired by Glasgow City Council (Property Dept.) and
the format of the meetings involves a ‘round robin’ of the
table, where individuals in attendance are each asked
if they have any issues or cases they would like to be
raised, considered and progressed in partnership within
the Hub. The Health Service conducted an internal three
month formative review of the Hub which was presented
in August 2010.
Developments within the Hub over the course of the
Equally Well test site are encouraging. In June 2010
the Scottish Government endorsed the progressive
approach taken within the Hub; announcing funding
for additional Hub staff. As of January 2012, the Hub
has opened to direct referral from the public. This had
been seen by many test site partners as the ‘missing
dimension’ within the Hub’s service delivery model
and it is regarded locally as a pivotal step in the Hub’s
development. Until January 2012 the cases progressed
through the Hub were initiated by Hub partners and
not members of the public. The Hub has survived,
developed and endured amidst a turbulent political
landscape.
developmental stages. Evaluation evidence suggests
that the Hub’s success has been dependent on a group
of important characteristics:
●●A supportive, informal and honest ethos has been
cultivated within the Hub and is conducive to
effective partnership working.
●●A learning culture has proven vital within the Hub;
partners learning from each other and learning from
what works and what doesn’t work locally.
●●Encouraging, flexible and intelligent facilitation within
the Hub is essential; a multi-disciplinary overview
and understanding is also pivotal to this role.
●●The empowerment of frontline staff to respond
quickly and act autonomously is fundamental to the
Hub’s operation.
●●Recognition that local priorities must be defined
locally; responding directly to community concerns.
Based on extensive analyses, findings indicate that
the Hub represents the very embodiment of service
redesign and partnership working described in `Equally
Well’. It has transformed and redesigned local public
services within Govanhill to ensure a collective response
to people who require multiple forms of support and
whose needs are so complex that engagement with
services individually is insufficient. It is an approach
that prioritises early intervention to break into cycles
of poverty as well as social, environmental and
health inequalities that have become entrenched
in the area. The Hub approach reduces Govanhill
residents’ exposure to factors in the physical and social
environment that cause stress, are damaging to health
and wellbeing, and lead to health and other inequalities.
The hub also assists cross-sectoral working which
cultivates changes to the culture and practice of public
services operating in the area.
In relation to Roma people in the community, the Hub
approach has helped Roma migrants to adapt to the
new environment in which they live, and it has eased
tensions between the indigenous community and Roma
people, making future integration more of a possibility
than would have otherwise been the case.
Analysis suggests that the Hub was not fully recognised
or supported by all partners especially during its
50 |
Glasgow ROMA-NeT
Stephen McAllister Strathclyde Police Area Commander
4.3.8
Policing
Strathclyde Police are the only European Police Force
to participate in the Romanet project. Strathclyde Police
report that “The Roma-Net project was the first time that
all of these agencies had come together to exchange
issues, good practice and new ideas in the specific area
of Roma integration; despite the fact that these were
issues all agencies had been dealing with separately for
some time “
The catalyst for Police participation in this project is
based upon community consultation in which tackling
anti-social behaviour was viewed as a priority for the
local Policing plan. This supported force priorities in
tackling such behaviour. The partnership grew from the
Govanhill multi-agency hub established in April 2010,
featuring representatives from a number of different
agencies working together to create sustainable
solutions to a myriad of problems. The local Police
were faced with a difficult operating environment due to
rapid migration of Roma people predominately from the
Czech Republic and Slovakia. This migration produced
tensions within the indigenous community, resulting
in increased reports of anti social behaviour and the
danger of inter-ethnic conflict. The new arrival of Roma
people placed significant pressures upon a variety
of service providers within Govanhill in terms of their
physical ability to deliver their services but also policies
and procedures which underpinned such delivery.
51 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
Participation in Roma-Net has given Strathclyde Police
an opportunity to demonstrate good practice in how they
work with the community as a whole, including Roma
who are traditionally used to suffering discrimination
and even abuse from the Police in many of their
countries of origin. The way that the Police work in
Govanhill is building trust with the Roma community
who have settled there. In policing terms this has helped
in reducing anti-social behaviour, youth disorder and
improved child protection.
Participating as a partner in the Roma-Net LSG has
assisted the local Police team in Govanhill area to
manage youth disorder, anti-social behaviour and child
protection issues within the Sub-Division.
Police `Beat’ statistics show a reduction in reports of
anti-social behaviour within Glasgow East across the
five year average of 24.4%, 7328 compared with 5538,
a reduction in reports of youth disorder of 55%, 1182
compared with 532 (as of 31 December 2012). In
addition there was a reduction in reports of racism from
114 to 89 a reduction of 22.3% (all figures year to date).
There was a reduction in figures relating to cruel and
unnatural treatment of children from 18 in 2010/11 to 6
in 2011/12.
As a partner in Roma-Net the Glasgow East Police
service has been on a steep learning curve, working
with local and transnational partners. It has helped
the local CPT to better understand the needs of the
local community that it serves as well as the push and
pull factors that bring Roma migrants to Scotland.
Additionally, members of Strathclyde Police have had
a range of opportunities to speak in Glasgow and in
other cities and to experience the problems facing other
cities in this regard. Much of this knowledge was new to
Strathclyde Police and has helped to inform how cultural
barriers could be broken down and has encouraged
Police cooperation with both the local Roma community
and community based organisations working on behalf
of the Roma.
Participation in the project from other organisations has
also resulted in a range of exciting new innovations
in partnership working and essentially has created
a phenomenal working group of partners; including
Strathclyde police; who are now able to call upon each
other for support with specific cases and incidents
involving both the Roma community and the wider
community of Govanhill across all themes: education,
healthcare, housing, employment and policing. This has
led to a more harmonious community.
The message used by the Glasgow East Police service
throughout the project has been that enforcement is
easy and engagement hard, however engagement is the
path that produces better community integration. This
has been used as good practice across all nine RomaNet partner cities.
4.4 Social Care: Romanet Recommendations
Guiding Principles for all Romanet Working Groups
nn
Roma representation is essential
nn
All working groups within the Romanet LSG
should identify and gather data in order to shape
services for local Roma residents and they should
seek input from Roma service users into the
shape and delivery of services.
support and sustain key community based
services that provide essential crisis support and
advice to people from Roma communities (LAP
Obj. 5a)
4.4.4 Empower and enable people from Roma
communities to become self sustaining (LAP Obj.
5b)
4.4.5 Enable greater interaction, coordination and
service planning between key community based
service providers. (LAP Obj 5 c)
4.4.6 Source good quality & appropriate shared
premises facility (LAP Obj. 5d)
4.4.7 Lobby Home Office for change in worker
authorisation and NI number proactive (for
Romanian Roma) – eg more flexibility in allocation
of NI number
4.4.8 See also rec 2.5.1 in Education section. Council
receptionists in social care offices in South
Glasgow should pilot the use of services like
`Language Line’ or `Happy to Translate’. This
is a service used by the Police and by GCC
Community Relations Officers (through DRS).
The service gives instant access to any language
and is accessed over the phone – often on
`conference call’ to ensure 3 way communication.
The Health Service use a very similar service at
GP reception desks. The Language Line service
costs £1 per minute and is intended for brief
discussions only. For more in-depth, lengthy,
discussions Cordia or Global Interpreter is
required. Govanhill Housing Association use a
similar service called `Happy to Translate’.
nn
The LSG should seek participation from key
agencies –eg Education, Housing benefit, Social
Work, Job centre, HMRC
nn
The LSG should engage Leadership within GCC
and locally elected members
4.4.1 Develop appropriate up to date information
materials for Roma communities about services
available. (Sep 2012 LAP Obj 4.c)
4.4.2 Consolidate, sustain and support essential
community-based services that provide bilingual
advocacy and support services to people from
Roma communities e.g. Crossroads, Law Centre,
GRA Job Club, Positive Action in Housing, and
Glasgow Life.(LAP Obj. 4.d)
4.4.3 Ensure that adequate funding is in place to
52 |
Glasgow ROMA-NeT
53 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
Chapter 5 Housing
5.0
Housing and Roma
Segregation and ‘ghettoisation’ of Roma communities is
the reality that many regions and cities in Europe face.
Segregation, camps and spatial concentrations of Roma
populations are where the challenges lie for the ROMANeT partner cities.
Segregation often creates unmanageable problems
that are a significant barrier to adequate provision
of housing, healthcare, education and employment
services. It also has an impact on how the community
is policed, how the media reacts to the community and
it compounds discrimination and stereotypical views
from the majority population. It also generates a culture
of ‘out of sight, out of mind’, where nothing changes,
public investment is absent and little is done to tackle or
change the situation on the ground.
Some of the residential segregation that exists today,
although often viewed as informal and even unlawful by
the authorities, is not accidental but rather an outcome
of deliberate and exclusionary public policies in the
past. Segregation rather than integration causes more
disengagement from the wider community. It leads to a
‘them and us’ culture, often perpetuated by the media,
and can lead to negative, reactive policing policies
such as ‘zero tolerance’ campaigns. It can also make
communities susceptible to violent attacks. Although
not the same in all regions and cities, segregation is still
prevalent and demands the attention and focus of city
administrations, as they are best placed to lead the
pathway towards positive and sustainable change.
The ROMA-NeT cities are all facing some kind
of challenge in relation to housing and the living
conditions of the Roma populations in their city. There
is no short-term quick fix for such a complex and
integrated set of problems. ROMA-NeT partners are
now much more aware that the provision of integrated,
quality living accommodation is a significant factor for
Roma inclusion. Public authorities tend to see Roma
populations as transient and temporary communities
and often fail to acknowledge that most Roma
communities are now sedentary populations living in
segregated sub-standard conditions and in poverty.
Most Roma people want to be part of a legitimate
economy and to contribute to the wider community
of which they are part. The provision of integrated
quality accommodation is a major factor in achieving
this. Almeria, Torrent and Budapest provide examples
of positive housing interventions and other partner
cities like Udine and Bologna continue to work through
the challenges of Roma families living in segregated
camps. Glasgow and Karvina struggle with the issue
of exploitative practices of housing companies and
private landlords and Kosice has the challenge of a
large urban ghetto. • Almeria and Budapest have both
used an integrated and area-based approach to housing
regeneration and new build. Almeria in La Chanca
and Budapest in the Magdolna area have involved
both the Roma and non-Roma communities during the
planning stages for area regeneration and in the actual
building or refurbishment of properties. In La Chanca,
Gitanos (Roma) now live side-by-side with non-Roma
populations in decent and affordable social housing.
Over the years, Torrent in Spain has taken a number of
housing actions, for example the dismantling of camps,
into ghettoised segregated housing in apartment blocks.
Now Torrent is experimenting with an inclusive dispersal
programme where they offer intensive support to Roma
families to help them move from segregated housing
to high-quality integrated housing alongside non-Roma
families. A similar, very successful programme has been
operating in Madrid since 1998 and this programme has
been very well evaluated by the Fundamental Rights
Agency. (20) Summarised and referenced in
http://urbact.eu/fileadmin/Projects/Roma_Net/
documents_media/Case_study_rehousing__ES_
May2011.pdf
(20) Summarised and referenced in http://urbact.eu/fileadmin/Projects/
Roma_Net/documents_media/Case_study_rehousing__ES_May2011.
pdf
54 |
Glasgow ROMA-NeT
Govanhill & Roma
In recent years, the Govanhill area of Glasgow has
become home to the majority of Scotland’s Czech,
Slovak and Romanian Roma EU migrants. This small,
but densely populated neighbourhood in the south
east of the city is Scotland’s most ethnically diverse
community, and historically has always been an area
of settlement for inward migration. A recent Social
Survey identified 52 ethnicities in the area and over
30% of the local population is from a Black & Minority
Ethnic background, mainly Asian of Pakistani origin.
The arrival of between 2,000 and 3,000 Roma migrants
has presented additional challenges and pressures,
particularly in relation to housing this new migrant
community.
Govanhill is epitomised by its pre-1919 Victorian
sandstone tenements. In the mid-1970s, this private
sector housing stock had fallen into disrepair, similar
to other areas of the city, and community-controlled
Housing Associations were established to acquire,
improve and repair Below Tolerable Standard properties
in partnership with the City Council. Govanhill Housing
Association is now the primary provider of affordable,
social housing in the area with 2,300 houses in its
ownership. In addition, the Association has improved a
further 600 houses for private owners. The Association
also provides Factoring/Property Management services
to over 1000 private residential and commercial owners
within this improved stock.
Over £100million has been invested in the physical
improvement of this sub-standard tenement stock over
the past 35 years through the successful Housing Action
Area for Improvement programme promoted by the City
Council and delivered by Govanhill Housing Association.
This programme has not just improved the quality of the
stock but has provided affordable, social housing whilst
redressing housing mix imbalances to meet the needs of
the community. However, since 2006, due to changing
government legislation, this comprehensive programme
of works could no longer be continued.
Consequently, there are still some 12 tenement blocks
55 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
in the south-west of the Govanhill area that have
had no such intervention in terms of comprehensive
improvements & repairs and it is in this stock that the
new Roma migrants are residing, the vast majority in
privately rented accommodation. It is the supply and
availability of this private rented accommodation that
has made the area so attractive to migrants but the
general quality of this private sector stock is poor with
a significant number of properties still Below Tolerable
Standard or in Serious Disrepair. There is a direct
correlation with this poor quality stock to the number
of Private Landlords, many of whom fail to comply with
their property maintenance obligations or re-invest in the
stock. In such cases, the level of private renting is as
high as 80% in some of the worst tenement blocks.
Since 2008, Glasgow City Council has been using its
statutory powers to promote Common Repair schemes
over the worst of this private sector stock, investing
some £3m per annum from its Private Sector Housing
Grant budget. This represents approximately one-third
of the annual PSHG budget. The programme seeks to
secure repairs and replacements to the common parts
of the tenements either on a voluntary or statutory basis
but is unable to have the same effect and impact of a
more comprehensive, area approach
In addition, there is a significant number of rogue Private
Landlords who exploit tenants through substantial rental
charges for sub-standard accommodation, retaining
deposits and illegal evictions. This kind of exploitation
seems to be directed particularly at Roma residents,
who have no option but to live in overcrowded conditions
with several Roma families sharing individual flats.
The effect of this is to have a significant impact on the
local quality of life for residents in this part of Govanhill
with frequent complaints about anti-social behaviour,
dumping and misuse of refuse facilities.
The poor quality of this private sector housing stock
is the result of the lack of proper maintenance and
re-investment by owners over many years. This
includes the communal areas and backcourts which,
together with increases in overcrowding, have seen
environmental conditions deteriorate to unacceptable
levels in a number of these ‘unimproved’ blocks. Such
living conditions have become a breeding ground for
infestations of cockroaches and bedbugs with the
concomitant health issues. Pest control complaints
of this nature in Govanhill are 500% higher than the
average of all the neighbourhoods in Glasgow with
infestations and treatments concentrated within the
poorer quality housing stock.
Govanhill Housing Association petitioned the Scottish
Parliament in 2008, ” calling on the Scottish Parliament
to urge the Scottish Government to conduct an inquiry
into the responsibilities of private landlords, the levels
of housing which remain Below Tolerable Standard,
and the impact ‘slum’ living conditions has on the
health and wellbeing of both residents and the wider
community, and whether such conditions should merit
Housing Renewal Area status and additional Scottish
Government funding.”
The Petition was continued for 3 years and resulted in
positive legislative changes by the Scottish Government
and increased powers to the City Council, as well
as recognition of Govanhill as an area with unique
challenges and issues. Additional Scottish Government
funding, augmented by funding from the City Council,
enabled the Govanhill Backcourt Improvements &
Employability Initiative to be delivered which not only
improved backcourts and communal areas but created
opportunities for unemployed local people, including
Roma residents, to receive training in landscaping,
gardening and grounds maintenance. The additional
grant funding from the Scottish Government also
supported property acquisitions by Govanhill Housing
Association and the further establishment of the
Govanhill Service HUB.
5.1 Housing and Fire Safety
Strathclyde Fire & Rescue Service are partners involved
in supporting Glasgow City Council and Romanet.
The Fire and Rescue service are committed to providing
community safety advice, fire safety education and
public reassurance
The fire and rescue service will:
●●Provide a free Home Fire Safety Visit service
●●Fit free smoke detectors as required to homes
●●Provide Fire Safety Advice and Education (Alcohol,
safe cooking, drugs misuse, general advice)
●●Raise awareness of the dangers of fire from refuse in
common areas
●●Provide additional support for those individuals who
are elderly, infirm or particularly vulnerable from the
risk of fire
●●Provide vital home safety advice to non
English language speaking members of our
community.
The Roma population must consider the risk of fire in
their living accommodation and ask for help, support,
advice and guidance from their local fire and rescue
service.
For a free home fire safety visit call Freephone 0800
0731999 or text “Check” to 61611 from your mobile
phone.
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5.2 RomanetLocalActionPlanrecommendations:
Guiding Principles for all Romanet Working Groups
●●Roma representation is essential
●●All working groups within the Romanet LSG should
identify and gather data in order to shape services
for local Roma residents and they should seek input
from Roma service users into the shape and delivery
of services.
●●The LSG should seek participation from key
agencies –eg Education, Housing benefit, Socal
Work, Job centre, HMRC
●●The LSG should engage Leadership within GCC and
locally elected members
5.2.1 Encourage GCC to enforce private landlords
to improve properties
Glasgow City Council, supported through funds from
the Scottish Government, actively works within the
area with many other partners through the Govanhill
Service HUB. This public/social partnership initiative
involves co-working with Strathclyde Police, Govanhill
Housing Association, Strathclyde Fire and Rescue and
many departments from the City Council itself, including
Private Landlord Registration, Environmental Health,
Development and Regeneration Services, Anti-Social
Behaviour Officers, Cleansing Services and Glasgow
Community & Safety Services.
Govanhill Housing Association, together with its
subsidiary Govanhill Community Development Trust,
supports this initiative by making office accommodation
available at its Samaritan House office in the heart of
the Govanhill Community. This makes it accessible to all
residents in the area and a point where they can report
problems and issues which affect their quality of life
within the community. This can range from anti- social
behaviour to difficulties with their private landlord which
may need a multi-agency response. The HUB team can
provide assistance or even enforcement action to deal
with problems such as disrepair of the private rented
properties.
●●Properties failing the “Repairing Standard” or
considered to be “Below the Tolerable Standard”
can be investigated and inspected with enforcement
and improvement notices served by the City
Council to have the properties brought to an
acceptable standard. Failure to do so can lead to
rent abatement notices being served against the
landlords concerned, preventing them from collecting
rent until the maintenance issues are rectified.
●●Ongoing support is required to private rented tenants
in terms of advice about how to access assistance
and make complaints to the Private Rented Housing
57 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
Panel. This is particularly relevant to the Roma
population in the city, who can be unaware of their
housing rights or how to seek assistance to have
problems rectified, and who also have to overcome
language difficulties in many cases. In Govanhill,
there are other local agencies that can provide
support in this regard such as Govanhill Law Centre
and Crossroads Community Association, also based
within Samaritan House.
●●The provision of additional outreach services
could fundamentally assist in the under-reporting
of problems within the Govanhill area and help
Roma residents concerned with their current
housing problems to receive support into more
appropriate accommodation through housing options
assessments. Govanhill Housing Association’s
GOSIP project currently provides outreach services
to Black & Minority Ethnic residents but could be
extended to include services to the local Roma
community.
●●Closer working relationships should be developed
between the City Council and the Private Rented
Housing Panel with lobbying of the Scottish
Government for legislative change to increase and
simplify the reporting of Private Landlords to the
PRHP.
●●Increase the use of enforcement action by Glasgow
City Council against intransigent private landlords
in terms of complying with their Common property
maintenance obligations through statutory action
such as Maintenance Orders, Maintenance Plans
and the appointment of Managing Agents as
appropriate.
5.2.2
Encourage wider policy debate about Roma
access to good quality social rented
housing.
The Roma population in Govanhill is mainly housed in
poorer quality private rented accommodation, often in
overcrowded situations and with little support from their
landlords. This is because of the perception that there is
no other housing option or choice.
●●A sustained approach is required to increase the trust
in Registered Social Landlords such as Govanhill
Housing Association, and improve awareness among
Roma residents on how to access affordable, social
housing.
●●To do so, additional bi-lingual support is required
to augment existing outreach services, preferably
through the employment of a Slovakian or Czech
and Romanian Roma Workers working in compliance
with the professional translation and interpreting
standards set by Happy to Translate which many
Registered Social Landlords and the Scottish
Housing Regulator are members of.
●●The current level of access to Social Rented
accommodation by Roma residents is low within
the Govanhill area and is believed to be negligible
elsewhere in the city. A key objective of the plan
would therefore be to pro-actively engage with the
Roma community and to work with it to increase
access to social housing as successfully happened
with the Asian community in Govanhill. This will take
a number of years of intensive work to achieve this
outcome.
●●Govanhill Housing Association successfully
engaged, through its outreach work and housing
options appraisals, with the minority communities
in its locality to increase its applicant base from
Black and Minority Ethnic communities in the late
1990’s of below 10% of applications to in excess
50% of declared applicant’s ethnic origin on its
Housing List at present. This position represents
a proportionate and balanced level of applications
from its operational area accessing the Association’s
properties.
Govanhill Housing Association’s Applicant Base, Current
Operational Year Lettings and Tenant base by declared
Ethnic Origin (as at 18.09.12)
Ethnic Origin
Applications
Minority Ethnic
White (UK)
Not Disclosed
40.8%
40.1%
19.1%
Applications
Housed
44.1%
55.9%
0%
Tenants
18.4%
55.5%
26.1%
Of those with declared that they were from a Minority
Ethnic background, the level of Roma and A8 access to
Govanhill Housing Association’s Housing List is slowly
increasing. More focussed work through appropriately
funded long term outreach workers are however
required.
Ethnic Origin
Applications
Minority Ethnic 40.8%
of which
A8/A2
1.8%
Other European 8.3%
Applications
Housed
44.1%
Tenants
7.6%
7.6%
2.4%
2.4%
18.4%
●●The main ethnic backgrounds of A8/A2 migrants
accessing Govanhill Housing Association’s social
housing are Polish followed by Slovakians (who
are all believed to be Roma). Govanhill Housing
Association saw an increase in the number of
applicants following a small piece of pro-active
work, with support from Oxfam, with members of
‘Romalav’. This resulted in the number of Slovakian
Roma rise from one to seven on the Association’s
Housing List of which three households have now
been re-housed in social housing due to the level
of assessed housing need they were in, through
overcrowding and poor property conditions in the
Private Rented Sector.
●●Key to the sustained access of Roma residents to
social housing is not only the awareness and support
to apply for housing, but the need to provide an
appropriate level of lets to those seeking to move
into the social rented sector. Within the primary
settlement locality of Govanhill, there is a lack of
larger accommodation in both the Social and Private
Rented Sectors. Scottish Government legislation
requires Local Government to intervene and
resolve overcrowding in the Private Rented Sector
from 2013 with Govanhill being a pilot area for its
implementation.
●●To provide long term housing solutions to the Roma
community and other larger families, investment is
required to address this shortfall. It is proposed that
the undernoted potential solutions are investigated
within year one of the Local Action Plan by Glasgow
City Council in partnership with Registered Social
Landlords to increase supply, particularly within the
primary Roma settlement area of Govanhill:
●●Capital funding for the acquisition of vacant
properties by Registered Social Landlords along
with funding to undertake vertical and horizontal
amalgamations to form larger accommodation units.
●●Identification and acquisition of sites for new build
housing and the development of suitable social
housing to meet housing needs through realistic
development funding.
●●Consideration of developing self-build housing for
the Roma community which provides construction
training and employment as well as affordable homes
to stay in.
●●Engagement with Glasgow and West of Scotland
Forum of Housing Associations to lobby Scottish
Government and Glasgow City Council for increased
funding to address the shortfall of family housing
within the city and raise the profile and understanding
of Roma residents to other Registered Social
Landlords in order to allow equal access to the
allocation of social housing.
PotentialKPIs:
●●Number of Govanhill Service Hub referrals received
from Roma residents within the Govanhill area
compared to other reports in relation to property
condition issues, and the % that are satisfactorily
responded to by Glasgow City Council
●●Number of inspections carried out to Roma occupied
properties within the Govanhill and other areas in
relation to property conditions
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Glasgow ROMA-NeT
●●Number of Abatement Notices served by Glasgow
5.2.3
●●Number of these Notices abated by landlords and
The IRIS programme in Madrid is a programme that
has been running since 1998 and well evaluated by the
Fundamental Rights Agency.(21)
City Council to Roma occupied properties
number requiring statutory enforcement action to
abate
●●Number of Rent Abatement Notices served on
Landlords with Roma tenancies compared to other
Landlords in the areas of Roma settlement within the
city
●●Number of Maintenance Orders served by Glasgow
City Council
●●Number of additional social rented homes
made available to the Roma community by the
development of new and existing housing.Number
of Roma applicants on Registered Social Landlords’
Housing Lists to be proportionate to the level of
Roma settlement in their general localities within the
city
●●Target the increase of Roma housing applications on
Govanhill Housing Association’s Housing List to at
least 100 and for this level to be maintained within
the Plan period
●●Number of Roma lets to be proportionate to the
number of Roma applications on each Registered
Social Landlords’ Housing Lists
●●Number of Roma households receiving
homelessness assistance through Glasgow City
Council
●●Number of Section 5 (Homelessness) Referrals
made by Glasgow City Council to Registered Social
Landlords
●●Number of successful Section 5 Referrals which
resulted in Scottish Secure Tenancies being granted
by Registered Social Landlords
DesegregationMeasures
Families have the opportunity of voluntarily opting into
a multi agency programme that will help them to move
out of housing that is below tolerable standard. The
aim of the IRIS programme was to re-house 2,900
socially excluded, mostly Roma families living in slum
accommodation, into non-segregated areas of the city,
while also facilitating their social integration into their
new living environment.
To avoid over concentration of re-housed families
inside the city, and thus the generation of new, spatially
segregated, areas a system was set up to define
a balanced distribution of programme participants
across the districts. Social Work support, education,
training and employment measures were offered in
parallel to the families involved and a special emphasis
was placed on mediation of any conflicts between
the re-housed former slum dwellers and their new
neighbours. The programme offered long-term support
for beneficiary families by preparing them to participate
in the programme, relocating them to their new living
environment and then facilitating the adoption of their
new circumstances.
The programme provided families with public rental
housing with subsidised rents, much below market price.
The target was to accommodate about 200 slum dweller
families per year in public rental housing. To meet this
target, the number of public rental accommodation
had to be increased, as there was a lack of available
housing. Therefore IRIS purchased units and renovated
them before renting them out to the families participating
in the programme.
●●Number of Roma Scottish Secure Tenancies
sustained beyond the first year of the Let both in
Govanhill and other areas of Glasgow
●●Number of overcrowded Roma households provided
with assistance by Glasgow City Council and other
agencies to move to more suitable secure, quality
housing
(21) http://fra.europa.eu/sites/default/files/fra_uploads/605-090210ROMA_Housing_Case-final-ENES.pdf
59 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
The process of relocation and integration consists of :
●●Researching and documenting details of the slum
properties and families who might be potential
beneficiaries of the programme
●●Multi agency preparation work with families by
programme social workers, teachers and health
workers
●●Finding and renovating properties that are suitable
It is proposed that, in Glasgow, first steps should
be taken to discuss potential re-housing and wider
integration measures with Glasgow City Council and
local Housing Associations within the South Sector of
the City. The successful model used in Madrid may
be a model that can be adapted to the circumstances
that prevail in Glasgow and there may be funding
opportunities that are accessible through European
Structural Funding during the next funding period 2014
to 2020.(22)
destinations for families
●●Assigning properties through social workers &
rehousing the families
●●Follow up support from social services and mediation
work in neighbourhoods where required
Allison Street Govanhill
(22) from http://urbact.eu/fileadmin/Projects/Roma_Net/outputs_
media/ROMA_miniguide_HOUSING.pdf
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Chapter6ConclusionsAndFuturePlans
6.0
CONCLUSIONSANDFUTUREPLANS
Potential sources of funding have been either
been identified for a good number of the Romanet
recommendations or they may be progressed by
existing service providers.
Some of the LAP’s proposals do require external
funding, and key stakeholders are actively engaged in
identifying new resources to support Roma inclusion
and integration work.
For example:
●●The Scottish Government has released a further £1m
for a continuation of the Backcourts Initiative that has
proved to be an important component in improving
Roma Employability and in changing local attitudes
towards Roma in a positive direction.
●●Govanhill Housing Association has been awarded
£1.5m to purchase new property (which costs
approximately £80k per housing unit) which will
contribute to reducing the density of private landlords
in the area (where the problem of overcrowding and
poor conditions is concentrated).
Potential new sources of funding and support to
helpimplementtheLAPcouldbeforthcomingfrom:
The Govanhill Partnership – the Govanhill Partnership
brings together statutory bodies to look at ways to
regenerate the Govanhill neighbourhood. A strong
element of this partnership is the involvement of RomaNet and the inclusion of necessary measures to ensure
the issues faced by the Roma community are included
in the plans for the local area. `
61 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
EU Technical Assistance Fund – is available for bids that
will support the development of capacity of organisations
to promote Roma integration (e.g. intelligence gathering,
training, etc). Glasgow City Council has submitted a
bid to provide Scotland with the necessary knowledge
and understanding of Roma in Scotland to produce
Roma inclusion initiatives. This will include mapping the
Roma in Scotland, mapping the operational framework
of the statutory and civil society, awareness raising and
maintaining transnational links, especially to areas that
are the source of migration for Roma. Details of this bid
are referred to in the Community Education part of this
report (within Education section - 2.6.9).
EU Structural Funds - Within the next 6 to 10 months
there needs to be a concentrated effort to engage in
discussions with the Scottish Government on the new
European Structural Fund programme for 2014-2020.
Roma Net would like assurances that there will be a
more integrated approach to the allocation of funds
where large, holistic and strategic projects can be
delivered that cover physical, social and economic
objectives. We will also be encouraging the Scottish
Government to ensure the 20% social inclusion rule
is maintained within the Scottish Chapter of the UK
Framework. This would allow us to tailor targeted action
at some of the “softer” activities that have historically
been excluded from ESF or ERDF support e.g. health,
social work, community engagement or early education
and intervention. If Glasgow is successful in obtaining
technical assistance this will improve opportunities to
access this funding.
The National Lottery – Community Renewal are
progressing a Big Lottery bid (see Employment
Section).
Roma MATRIX – Glasgow City Council and 17 other EU
partners have been successful in bidding to be part of a
new EU project dealing with racism and discrimination.
The involvement of Glasgow in this significant new
project has come about because of the City’s role in
Roma-Net. The Roma Matrix project is funded by EU
Justice and will commence in April 2013. This initiative
is described in the Community Education section of this
report.(see 2.6.7)
Glasgow City Council have submitted an expression
of interest for a new initiative that is being taken by
EUROCITIES Roma Inlcusion Task Force and the
Open Society Foundation. This is a joint initiative on
`East-West Cooperation’ and will involve a number of
municipalities across Europe. Glasgow City Council
are already members of Eurocities. GCC reps will be
attending a Eurocities meeting about this initiative in
January 2013.(see 2.6.10)
New URBACT Project – there is a strong appetite within
the LSG to bid again for resources to support Roma
integration work should a new funding stream become
available under URBACT (possibly in 2014), this time
with GCC as the lead partner.
The governance of Roma inclusion and integration
needs to be considered at three interlinking levels: local,
city wide, and Scottish-wide.
area is available to the city as a whole as migrant Roma
move to new parts of the city as as the population of
Roma people increases as it is expected to over te
coming years.
At a city wde level, Glasgow City Council will seek to
to ensure this plan is developed and that all efforts are
made to ensure that appropriate resources are targeted
at activities within this plan.
To enable the LSG to perform this ongoing role, and
to strengthen its ability to speak for the range of
services that impact on Roma, there is a strong case
to look at how the LSG can be further supplemented
by participation from key bodies that have not been
involved to date, such as DWP and JobCentre Plus.
At the national level, by building upon and sustaining
the work of the LSG, Glasgow would be in a strong
position to advise and influence the development of
national policy towards Roma in Scotland. This would
in effect continue the start that GCC and the LSG made
in February of 2012 when it hosted a Scottish-wide
conference of local councils on the emerging issue of
Roma migration to Scotland.
Romanet Working Groups
At the last Glasgow Romanet LSG, 4 working groups
were created - Education, Employment, Health & Social
Care and Housing. Each working group has a lead.
At the local level, there is an appetite to maintain
the effort that the LSG has built up, with this group
continuing to meet beyond the life of the project. Its
role would be to oversee the implementation of the
LAP, reviewing and updating the Plan as required, and
to ensure that the knowledge built up in the Govanhill
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Chapter 7 Summary of Recommendations
Guiding Principles for all Romanet Working Groups ,1 Roma representation is essentia,l 2 All working groups within the Romanet LSG should
identify and gather data in order to shape services for local Roma residents and they should seek input from Roma service users into the shape and
delivery of services,. 3 The LSG should seek participation from key agencies –eg Education, Housing benefit, Socihal Work, Job centre, HMRC, 4
The LSG should engage Leadership within GCC and locally elected members
Education
2.5 Early Years & Schools:
●●Early Years & Care:
Recommendations:
2.5.1 Council receptionists in schools (and social care
offices) in South Glasgow should pilot the use
of services like `Language Line’ or `Happy to
Translate’ This is a service used by the Police
and by GCC Community Relations Officers
(through DRS). The service gives instant access
to any language and is accessed over the
phone – often on `conference call’ to ensure 3
way communication. The Health Service use
a very similar service at GP reception desks.
The Language Line service costs £1 per minute
and is intended for brief discussions only. For
more in-depth, lengthy, discussions Cordia or
Global Interpreter is required. Govanhill Housing
Association use a similar service called `Happy to
Translate’.
2.5.2 Roma and other ethnicity workers employed as
mediators/assistants in early years, and Primary
and Secondary schools. The Education Service
visited Manchester City Council Education
Service in 2011 and the lessons learned there
would support this. This would encourage
attendance of parents and children whose English
may be a second language. The Educational
Psychology Service in South Area are also
interested in working with Roma mediators and
have suggested training workers to assist with the
process of assessment. See point 2.5.9 below.
63 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
2.5.3 Intensive English language reception/induction
programmes for new arrivals and for people
whose English is at an emerging/developing
stage. This could be integrated into a referral
pathway that starts at key service access points
– eg. Health, Social Services, Education or other
`third sector’ run locations where families engage
with other services.
2.5.4 Second language support Home programmes
aimed at migrant families, including Roma.
These workers should be drawn from the migrant
community, including the Roma community.
Workers would play a home-link and mediating
role.
2.5.5 Increasing nursery provision within Govanhill,
with a specific focus on the provision of quality
childcare that facilitates second language learning
for parents and children together. Look at ways
to increase nursery provision and/or or pre-school
care in partnership with the NGO sector – Daisy
Chain, Crossreach, Crossroads etc. This will have
far more powerful impact on the Roma population
if bilingual Roma staff are recruited as assistants
or mediators.
2.5.6 Enrolment of children at nurseries is hugely
time-consuming. One idea suggested was the
production of a short induction film for nursery
(and primary) enrolment. The video would be
played to parents at enrolment and could be
produced in a variety of languages.
2.5.7 Looking at alternative delivery methods for
parenting programmes. Audit of Triple P trained
staff working in South area would be a good start
but experience of delivering Triple P (even with
educational psychology and interpreter support)
has had minimal impact and adaptation of this
model or looking at other models may be a way
forward.
2.5.8 It is suggested that we should audit our existing
spending on interpreting services and try to
reduce our reliance on interpreters and start
diverting resources into employing more bilingual
staff, across services, including Health, Education
and Social Care. Interpreting costs are currently
£26 per hour.
2.5.9 Two Slovakian home link staff are employed
across the Shawlands & Holycross learning
community. The staff are `shared’ across the
nursery, primary and secondary sector. The
establishments who have access to these
workers, find them invaluable but they are clearly
stretched far too thinly across these schools.
There is ample evidence from other European
countries (and the UK) that the role of Slovakian/
Romanian speaking assistants, home-link
workers, or school mediators is a role that has
a very positive impact on integration, improved
attendance and attainment of Roma children.
There is an obvious need for Romanian speaking
staff across all of the schools. Manchester
City and Rotherham Council have employed
Romanian and Slovakian Roma workers as
mediators in schools and, recommendations, from
a number of European studies and reports have
highlighted the benefits of using bilingual staff in
this way.
are taking place with the Roma Children
and Families Team (Social Work Services),
Shawlands Academy and members of staff from
non-governmental organisations (Fairbridge
Trust and the Princes Trust) to look at how the
issue of non-attendance can be addressed. The
Roma Children and Families Team are currently
in discussions with Strathclyde University and
an Italian partner about the potential for the use
of programmes such as Comenius, Leonardo,
Grundvig and Erasmus to take forward a Lifelong
Learning Programme (LLP) that will address this
and possibly other issues where Education and
Employment can be linked together into a positive
destinations pathways programme for disaffected
Roma young people – see http://ec.europa.eu/
education/llp/actions_en.htm for further details of
these programmes.
2.5.10 Initiatives to address non-attendance at Primary
and Secondary are vital. At present, meetings
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Community Education/
Development
2.7
CommunityEducation/Development–
Romanet Recommendations
2.7.1 Support for community activities (e.g. arts, music,
Il Sistema, sports, advice, information etc) that
enable and encourage Roma people to participate
in community life and progress towards becoming
more integrated.
2.7.2 Improving Cultural Awareness and Understanding
Researching models of community development
that could be used for working with people from
the Roma communities
2.7.3 Researching models of community development
that could be used for working with people from
the Roma communities
2.7.4 Using the possibility of bringing the GRUBB
Roma music festival event to Glasgow as a
catalyst around which to progress community
development with young Roma in the arts and
music, with this work spanning pre and postGRUBB event periods.
2.7.5 Develop a pro-active communications plan to
generate a flow of positive coverage
2.7.6 Deliver training to change negative attitudes of
organisational staff towards people from Roma
communities
2.7.7 Support the Govanhill History Project which will
gather an oral history of migration into Govanhill
65 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
over the past 50 years and has, as one of its
objectives, to promote better understanding and
improve relationships between communities
2.7.8 Participate in a new EU-funded project to tackle
racism and discrimination towards Romamatrix.
2.7.9 Increase provision of informal community based
ESOL classes in Govanhill, appropriate for people
with limited literacy skills.
2.7.10 Research what front line service staff know and
need to know about Roma communities, and what
support they require to deliver services equitably
and effectively.
2.7.11 Develop a training programme, including work
shadowing, for front line staff on working with
people from Roma communities.
2.7.12 Develop a resource pack to support staff
to deliver services to people from Roma
communities and ensuring fair and equitable
application of rules
2.7.13 Roma-Net partners will establish connections
with front line services, with a specific focus
on engaging with equality and diversity
representatives, to ensure that key frontline staff
are targeted during any awareness raising activity.
Employment
3.2 Employment: Romanet Recommendations
3.2.1 Provide interpreting services for small
community organisations working with people
from Roma communities that do not have
bilingual staff. Also, encourage the recruitment of
people from the Roma communities to become
interpreters.
3.2.2 Create a training and employment programme
for people in Roma communities to work as
intermediaries, for example in areas of health,
social work, education, welfare benefits, housing
and employment.
3.2.3 Research and identify good practice in
maximising employment opportunities for peoplein
Roma communities
3.2.4 Provide/promote classroom language and
cultural mediators in local schools
3.2.5 Active English language tuition for Romani
adults
3.2.6 Skill development and job-seeking seminars
3.2.7 Voluntary or paid work experience
3.2.8 2nd generation young people should be
encouraged to stay on in full time education
beyond Primary school in order to acquire UK
qualifications
3.2.9 Suitable post migration development
opportunities should be made available by local
authorities, effectively promoted and clearly
explained to the Romani community.
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Health and Social Care
4.2
Health: Romanet Recommendations
4.2.1 Look at the advantages of Roma mediators in the
health service - this could be possible through the
Romamatrix programme that starts in April 2013.
4.2.2 Maintain and improve links with health services in
Slovakia, Romania and Czech republic - possibly
through Eurocities/Romamatrix and other routes
4.2.3 Continue to share good practice with colleagues
nationally and transnationally
4.2.4 Use communication aids, such as Pictorial health
improvement materials – the EU Health Team are
keen to use these methods.
4.2.5 Continue to support GPs in delivering services
to Roma families
4.4Social Care: Romanet Recommendations
4.4.1 Develop appropriate up to date information
materials for Roma communities about services
available.
4.4.2 Consolidate, sustain and support essential
community-based services that provide bilingual
advocacy and support services to people from
Roma communities e.g. Crossroads, Law Centre,
GRA Job Club, Positive Action in Housing, and
Glasgow Life.
4.4.3 Ensure that adequate funding is in place to
support and sustain key community based
services that provide essential crisis support and
67 | Glasgow ROMA-NeT
advice to people from Roma communities
4.4.4 Empower and enable people from Roma
communities to become self sustaining
4.4.5 Enable greater interaction, coordination and
service planning between key community based
service providers.
4.4.6 Source good quality & appropriate shared
premises facility
4.4.7 Lobby Home Office for change in worker
authorisation and NI number proactive (for
Romanian Roma) – eg more flexibility in allocation
of NI number
4.4.8 See also rec 2.5.1 in Education section. Council
receptionists in social care offices in South
Glasgow should pilot the use of services like
`Language Line’ or `Happy to Translate’. This
is a service used by the Police and by GCC
Community Relations Officers (through DRS).
The service gives instant access to any language
and is accessed over the phone – often on
`conference call’ to ensure 3 way communication.
The Health Service use a very similar service at
GP reception desks. The Language Line service
costs £1 per minute and is intended for brief
discussions only. For more in-depth, lengthy,
discussions Cordia or Global Interpreter is
required. Govanhill Housing Association use a
similar service called `Happy to Translate’.
Housing
5.1
Romanet Local Action Plan recommendations:
5.1.1 Encourage GCC to enforce private landlords to
improve properties
5.1.2 Encourage wider policy debate about Roma
access to good quality social rented housing.
5.1.3 Desegregation Measures
It is proposed that, in Glasgow, first steps should
be taken to discuss potential re-housing and wider
integration measures with Glasgow City Council
and local Housing Associations within the South
Sector of the City. The successful model used
in Madrid may be a model that can be adapted
to the circumstances that prevail in Glasgow
and there may be funding opportunities that are
accessible through European Structural Funding
during the next funding period 2014 to 2020.
68 |
Glasgow ROMA-NeT
Development and Regeneration Services
Glasgow City Council
229 George Street
Glasgow
G1 1QU