Migrant Workers Meeting Update
An update on the Polish Migrant Workers meeting held with the Head of Equalities.
Minutes:
Mayur Bhatt, Equality and Diversity Manager, Wiltshire Council, provided an update on work with Polish Migrant Workers in Wiltshire and the Trowbridge Community Area.
Between 2004 and 2007 there was a large increase in the level of migrant workers in the county, particularly in Trowbridge and Melksham. Lots of the jobs that migrant workers undertook involved unsociable shift patterns which could affect access to services and support. The migrant workers community felt that it would be very helpful to have some sort of self-help e-facility that would enable them to independently access services and support in their own time.
As part of Wiltshire Council’s corporate commitment to equality, a small grant was provided to help develop an e-facilities initiative for migrant workers.
The Chairman thanked Mayur for his presentation, and a couple of questions and issues arose
In response to a question regarding the demographics of migrant workers, and the focus on the Polish community, Mayur explained that Polish workers made up a large proportion of migrant workers, but that there were also other nationalities such as Ukrainian and Portuguese.
Some concern arose regarding the lack of firm data on the number of migrant workers within the county and the Community Area, which made it particularly difficult to plan and provide appropriately. Mayur acknowledged this and explained that the 2011 Census would hopefully resolve the current gaps in data.