What value does the 'big society' place on work supporting migrants and refugees?

Are a Vietnamese support organisation in London and a Manchester-based Chinese women’s group the ‘big society’ in action? Since May 2010, the migrant and refugee support sector has been debating prime minister David Cameron’s notion of the big society, and asking what implications it has for work supporting new communities in the UK. The start of the new, austere financial year this month – and substantial funding cuts for many migrant and refugee support services and community organisations – gives this debate particular relevance.

At one level, the idea of a big society clearly holds some potential for migrant and refugee support work. According to the government, it envisages a stronger role for civil society, rather than the state, in taking responsibility for social processes and outcomes. Ministers argue that this would encourage innovative and locally tailored responses to social problems by non-governmental groups, and would enable the wider community to contribute their practical and financial support to this work. At the level of rhetoric at least, this amounts to positive recognition of the creative and committed work carried out by many civil society organisations.

Although there has been no explicit mention of the work of refugee and migrant community organisations, this could be seen as an opportunity to highlight work supporting diverse communities in the UK. Civil society work in support of refugees and migrants has been underway for many years, demonstrating how good practice can be achieved with scarce resources. There is plenty that advocates of the big society could learn from what is being done already on the ground within diverse communities.

But why is it that the vision of a thriving civil society addressing the needs of the most vulnerable seems, for many, to be moving further away rather than nearer? An estimated £6 billion worth of council-run services are being cut during the 2011/12 financial year, increasing the pressure on existing community support organisations. Many of these groups are also facing direct funding cuts for their work, making them less rather than better able to fill the gaps left by contracting state services. For some organisations, this feels like ‘sink or swim’ – the pace of change means that we can expect many smaller organisations, including within migrant and refugee communities, to disappear over the coming months.

Two new reports from the migrant and refugee support sector shine a critical light on the pressing need for the work carried out by local groups, intensified at a time of budget cuts to the work of many smaller organisations. Both reports also stress the importance of underpinning the big society with the principles of equality and fairness to ensure that the needs of the UK’s many vulnerable communities, who may have fewer rights or weaker voices, are not forgotten.

Migrant communities and the big society: struggling to survive in the age of austerity, has been produced via a collaboration between the Migrant and Refugee Communities Forum (MRCF) in London and the Migrants Rights Network. This report showcases the work of five migrant and refugee support organisations in London, and makes the case for this work in meeting needs and contributing towards social integration of diverse communities. Rather than being showcased and developed as good practice in developing the ‘big society’, these organisations are facing substantial funding cuts which would reduce and undermine their work.

This report asks for explicit recognition of the contribution made bymigrant and refugee community organisations to the big society, and involvement of migrants and refugees in this conversation. It urges that the changing context should not mean that vital support work, or the fundamental principles of equality and fairness underpinning this work, is wiped out altogether.

Similar messages come out of the report from One North West (a regional BME network), called ‘Equality at the heart of big society: The BME voluntary and community sector delivering for our communities’. This report also highlights the good practice among select community support groups such as the Wai Yin Chinese Women’s Society and the Liverpool-based Family Refugee Support project, and calls for this work to be recognized and supported. One North West emphasizes that cuts in services, grants and commissioning can erode equal access to opportunities by diverse communities – it is critical for the big society vision to be as inclusive as possible. 

All this should be real food for thought for David Cameron and his team. A ‘big society’ that works for the UK’s diverse communities will need a great deal more than big talk – and it would do well to begin by valuing and supporting the critical community support work that is already underway.