Migration Impacts Fund in Yorkshire and Humber

The Migration Impacts Fund [MIF] is a national fund to manage the short term impacts of migration on local communities. In part, the fund was created by certain migrants paying an additional contribution to that which they already make through taxes, to support the communities in which they live.

All regions of England receive a proportion of the funding. The amount each receives was weighted towards the areas where international migration has had the greatest short term impact.

The Yorkshire and Humber region was allocated nearly £3m over the 2009-2010 period. Central Government has confirmed that the funding for Migration Impacts Fund projects from April 2010 will be for six months [April to September 2010], rather than the 12 months originally indicated.

How was the fund allocated?

All applications to the fund in this region were considered by an appraisal panel drawn from policy leads from Government Office and other partners, including the Yorkshire and Humber Regional Migration Partnership. This panel considered packages of bids from Local Strategic Partnerships, and some regional partners, and made recommendations on levels of funding to Ministers, who had the final decision.

What is the money being used for?

Funding in Yorkshire and Humber is focused on projects which identified innovative solutions to migration-related pressures - where possible involving and benefiting a number of local services.

The projects being supported all had to demonstrate how they bring benefits to the settled as well as the migrant community in an area. For example, getting migrants to register with GPs will stop the current overuse of Accident and Emergency services for relatively minor illnesses. This results in better health for migrants and shorter waiting times for all users of Accident and Emergency. 

Which projects are receiving funding?

MIF is funding projects in this region on subjects such as volunteering and citizenship; English language; private sector housing issues; employment; education; information and advice; health and GP registration; interpretation; and community safety.

There are MIF funded projects all around the region:

• There are Local Strategic Partnership led projects in Barnsley, Bradford, Calderdale, Doncaster, East Riding, Hull, Kirklees, Leeds, North Lincolnshire, North Yorkshire, Rotherham, Sheffield, and Wakefield.
• There are also 2 regional projects: one run by the Police [dealing with translation services] and one by the Northern Refugee Centre [dealing with information and advice services].

A list of all the supported projects in the region is available on our MIF network page.

What is the role of the Partnership?

See also

Regional covering report for Spring 2010 MIF self-assessment returns - Yorkshire and the Humber