06/01/2014 Inside Out South East

Ten years on, what has Polish immigration done for Kent and

Sussex? They are entitled to work for less than the minimum wage.

Normally about ?2.30`?3 per hour. It works quite well for us. We

basically use the benefits system to help build our houses.

We meet the Ashwood patients bouncing back from a heart attack.

Keep marching. I think I am the youngest one here. I blame my

father. It is hereditary. It is his fault. And the Brighton and Hastings

that might have been. A very interesting man came up with the

idea to build a sort of tropical garden with a glass house in the

middle. It would have been the biggest glass dome in the world. I

am here with untold stories closer to home from all around the

south`east. This is Inside Out. It is the New Year and we are back

with a new series. To start things off, we are in the cathedral city of

Canterbury. Last week, Britain opened its doors to Bulgarian and

Romanian immigrants to live and work here, but ten years ago we opened

our borders to Poland and other Eastern European countries, so what

impact has that immigration actually had on the people of Kent and

Sussex? Julia is from a small town in Poland

and now lives in Eastbourne. She works as a chambermaid at the Afton

Hotel near the seafront. She came here five years ago with her partner

who had an aunt already living in the town. I came here to England to

find a job. Because I was willing to work. I know at least the basics of

English so I knew I would find a job that would help me. Almost three

years ago I gave birth to my daughter and for now, for her, this

place is home. The south`east has attracted Polish immigrants since

the Second World War. Many Polish servicemen helped the British fight

the Nazis. The Poles have created their own communities with Polish

cafes and shops the most visible sign. In 2004, the nature of

immigration changed. Poland joined the European Union and for the first

time Poles were able to come here as full EU citizens with the same

rights to live, work and claim benefits if necessary. Here you have

ready`made Polish food. Other Eastern Europeans came, too, but

Poles were the biggest single group, more than half a million Poles now

live in Britain and Polish is the most commonly spoken

foreign`language in the south`east. But has their arrival benefited the

economy or, as many people believe, have they taken British jobs and

drained resources? I have grandsons who are in work, in their 20s, and

they have said, we have nothing but Polish people working here. Where do

the others find work? I do not want the country to start becoming racist

or anything, but I think it should tighten up a bit. I feel that they

are sort of taking over. Where is all the English? Economists have

been trying to work out whether European immigration benefits

Britain or not. Doug is from the Centre for Economics and Business

Research and believes it does. We think the economy is about 2% larger

than it would have been if we had had no migration from the rest of

the EU. That comes because people can work harder, more employees

available, employers can get skilled workers, and that comes from the

fact that they contribute more in tax than they take out in public

services. Could there be losers as well as winners with migration?

Migration to expand the labour force tends to push down wages in general

and particularly those groups who are in the same job market as the

people who come into the country. Construction labour, for example.

But the other side of that coin is that countries with a relatively low

share of wages tend to grow a lot faster. Low wages may boost profits

and help the economy, but what is the real impact on workers? One of

the industries in the south`east where low wages paid to Eastern

Europeans has had a massive impact is construction. Steve is a site

manager who is very concerned that young British people are not getting

jobs. Basically all the sites use eastern European workers. The main

reason is cost. Why are they cheaper? The first two years they

come under a tax loophole in which they are entitled to work for less

than the minimum wage. Using the benefits system to supplement their

income, they get housing benefits and medical care. It works quite

well for us. We basically use the benefits system to help build our

houses. Does that strike you as morally wrong? Or do you think it is

OK? It is morally wrong but it is legal. They are paid far less than

British workers. Normally about ?2.30`?3 per hour to work on a

construction site whereas English people will get ?7`?8. Chris is a

UKIP councillor representing Tunbridge Wells East. They are using

the tax credit system to supplement their wages. National Insurance and

tax rates are much lower in eastern Europe and they are still paying

back to their home countries. The Inland Revenue are not happy with

the situation. They describe it as aggressive tax avoidance and it is

very important to understand this. A spokesman for the HMRC denied there

is a legal way to pay less than the minimum wage to workers in Britain.

He confirmed that it is aware of a loophole where employers can avoid

paying employers' National Insurance for workers by using an overseas

agency. It is planning to close the loophole in April. 20`year`old

Jordan considers himself a victim of the construction industry that

prefers to employ cheap foreign labour. Despite studying carpentry

at college for three years, he has been unable to get a job on any

local site. They have all said, there is no vacancies. We do not

need to take any new members on. I have been forced to work here as a

job because I need money. I cannot live life without work. I need money

to survive. It is gutting. I did not go to college for three years to

believe you're going to do a certain job and I am not in that job. Some

construction companies are already attempting to address the problem of

young people losing out to foreign workers. On this site in Tunbridge

Wells the developers are committed to ensuring that 20% of their

workers are local. That meant Sonny was able to get a job as an

apprentice but not without a struggle. How easy was it to get an

apprenticeship? Extremely hard. It took maybe about 50 applications

from September last year. Was that surprising to you? No. It is a kind

of known fact. Ten years of immigration from Poland and other

Eastern European countries has meant local councils having to meet their

needs with increased services. Kent County Council commissioned a

special report into the impact of that demand. The experience has been

mixed. We have struggled to keep up with the pace of investment in

schools to expand schools. I know the health service has been

creaking. There is an element of benefit tourism as well. New

European countries coming into this country. Generally the workforce has

contributed towards the Kent economy and the UK economy, so there are

mixed blessings with pressures on public services and contributions

towards the economy. Provided of course we get the strivers and not

the spongers. There seem to be particular concerns in the

construction industry where Eastern Europeans are able to come over and

undercut local workers. How much of a concern is that? There is a large

amount of that going on when Eastern European workers are undercutting

the standard rate of pay for traditional trades in the

construction industry. They come over here, live in very cheap

accommodation for six months at a time, and distance commute from

their home in Eastern Europe. How much of a problem is that and what

can you do about it? That is a good question. What can you do about it?

So`called benefit tourism is something worrying the government.

It wants to restrict immigrants' ability to claim when they first

arrive but what is the real impact on the economy? It could be a

problem if enough are attracted, but so far we have already had the

opening up to some quite poor countries, relatively speaking, and

the net effect has been positive. Because far more have come to work

than claim benefits. I have found two girls from Lithuania willing to

start any time. One business that wants to use hard`working people is

this recruitment agency in Maidstone. Paula employs an average

of 700 workers a day on the minimum wage, mostly on Kentish farms. She

recruits in Poland and sometimes arranges coaches to bring the

workers to Britain. She says she would not be able to run her

business without them as British workers do not want her jobs. I

think it is because the sort of jobs we offer are quite mundane. They are

working on lines where they are packing fruit or working on

piecework and it is physically demanding and I think in general the

British people really do not want to do those sort of jobs any more. If

they come over for something seasonal like fruit picking, what

happens when that job finishes? A lot of them know it is only until

perhaps the beginning of November or mid`November and they have planned

for that so they are ready to go home. However, some people that

perhaps have come over for the first time find that they want to make a

life over here. We help them find other jobs. What if they cannot find

other jobs? We met this group of Polish people at a day centre for

the homeless in Canterbury. They found themselves on the streets

after they had worked on fruit farms in Kent. When the work dried up they

did not have enough money to support themselves and for the moment are

relying on British charity and benefits. TRANSLATION: If it was not

here, for this place, I would not eat at all. Sometimes I do not eat

at all. What is it like here compared to what you thought it

would be like before you came? TRANSLATION: I just did not think.

But suddenly there is no work for you. Yet they are still getting

people from Poland and that is the thing. They are still getting people

from Poland and they are telling us there is no work. Terry runs the

centre and says around one in ten of the people he helps are Eastern

European. He is expecting more this year. I think they are little bit

surprised and a lot of them are quite disappointed. They were

hoping, for many of them, they were hoping for it to be a new start. We

have helped some to go home, but that is whether or not there is

anything for them at home. Some of them might not have family at home.

If they are going back, they are going back to rough sleep in Poland.

We have better services for rough sleepers in this country. When Julia

first arrived in Britain, she found nothing but a warm welcome, but in

recent years she has perceived a slight edge in some of her

relationships with British people. Some of the people sometimes joking

to me about where I come from, things like that. It is maybe for

some of them just a joke, but I take it a little bit unwelcome. A decade

of mass immigration from Poland and other Eastern European countries has

had a profound effect on the south`east. With new migrants from

Bulgaria and Romania now expected to come to Britain, that experience

could change again. Coming up, the rehab centre for the

heart. It is the best way to rehabilitate the heart, to keep it

pumping, keep it working. I find that this is very helpful. I did not

think that I could do it. We know what Brighton and Hastings

looked like now, but what if the dreams and schemes of two of the

main architects had gone all the way? Brighton and Hastings. In their

prime these were the Monte Carlo and Nice of their time. But these

resorts were not just a playground for the rich. Architects loved them

too. They were places that welcomed radical and quirky ideas. Designs

that might look out of place inland but somehow suited the seaside. I am

taking a look at the grand plans of two men who you have probably never

heard of, but the chances are if you live along the Sussex coast you see

their work every day. The first is Brighton's forgotten architect,

instrumental in shaping the city as we know it. Today I am taking a walk

on the wild side. Amon Henry Wilds to be precise. Responsible for

building much of Regency Brighton. David is vice`chairman of Brighton's

Regency Society. He says Wilds does not get the recognition he deserves.

You cannot walk around the centre of Brighton without passing his

buildings. The early part of the 19th`century, known as the Regency

period, was when Brighton blossomed, transforming from a small fishing

village into a large and fashionable town. This was the place for fun and

the architecture reflects that. Brighton soon became the Prince

Regent's favourite destination outside of London. He built the

famous Pavilion, helping to make the town fashionable and creating an

early 19th`century property boom. Always full of pioneering ideas, he

designed the first square by the seaside, enabling more homes to have

a sea view. So important was this idea of having a room with a view

that they started using bow windows and then the whole front of the

house was bowed so for the first time you get a bow front. As is true

of all architects, many of his ambitious plans never made it off

the drawing board. Kevin is from Brighton and Hove Pavilion Museum.

This is a selection of prints we have in the collections which do not

record necessarily what was there but what might have been. This is a

scheme that did not come off by Amon Henry Wilds. The original proposal

for a grand estate stretching from the seafront, where Oriental Place

is now, stretching north over Western Road, one of the main

shopping streets in Brighton. A very interesting man called Henry

Phillips, who was a horticulturalist, came up with the

idea to build a sort of tropical garden with a glass house in the

middle, and that glass house would have been a huge glass version of

the Brighton Pavilion. So it was in an oriental style. In the end they

only raised enough money to build the two rows of houses and the whole

dome project failed. A few years later, another opportunity arose to

build something very similar. It would have been an Eden Project or

Millennium Dome of its day. It would have been the biggest glass dome in

the world. As it was nearing its opening, there was a falling out

because the contractor wanted to remove the supporting pillar. Wilds

resigned from the job. The pillar was taken away and within 24 hours

the dome came crashing down. It became a tangled mess of steel and

glass and nobody was prepared to shift it and it stayed there for 20

years. It was the West Pier of its day, this huge mass of metal. 100

years after the Regency period ended, another innovative architect

brought his radical vision to a town just along the coast. Although

Hastings was a popular seaside resort, by the late 1920s it was

struggling. Borough engineer Sidney Little had a vision for the future.

This man believes Little was a revolutionary. He completely took

the whole of the front line of Hastings and modernised it. He

brought it into the 1930s, screaming, sometimes. Little's

favourite building material, believe it or not, was reinforced concrete,

that earned him the title The Concrete King. Using it to build

among other things a two tier promenade. These bays would have

been glazed in because he had glass shutters that could move out so

people could sit in the sunshine enjoying themselves. But Sidney did

not want his new promenade littered with cars so he built a place to put

them. Underground car parks in the 1930s? How visionary was that? How

many people have cars? You have to ask, who was he attracting to come

to stay in Hastings? People with money. As well as attracting the

rich to Hastings, Sidney cashed in on the sun`worshippers. The Hastings

and St Leonard's bathing pool was one of the biggest in Europe. It

opened in 1933, attracting around 30,000 visitors on its first day.

Sadly it suffered a slow decline and was filled in in the 1990s. One of

Sidney Little's grandest plans was not actually realised. We come to a

city. Its name Hastings. Clean streets, modern buildings, traffic

well`controlled. It is a place where vision and the planners have worked

together, where the result is pleasing, futuristic and safe.

Sidney had a vision of the town centre on two tiers. He actually

presented a plan to the council. He was told, Mr Little, we employ you

to repair the town, not to build new ones. Unfortunately that never got

off the drawing board but it would have been wonderful. Here is a

double`decker tower of tomorrow. His vision of Hastings was cut short

when World War II broke out. He joined the Admiralty where his

expertise was called upon to design the concrete Mulberry harbours used

in the D`day landings. Vast artificial harbours secretly

fabricated in Britain by thousands of workers helped to make possible

the invasion of Normandy. Today, much of what Sidney Little and Amon

Henry Wilds built does survive. Many would like to see the buildings

revived and protected. And the foresight and legacy of the two men

properly celebrated. Maybe someone somewhere will look at this part of

the front line and say, perhaps we can spend some money on it. I know

there would be an awful lot of people in the town very happy. I am

struck by how scruffy Brighton looks. This would not happen in a

place like Bath. It would not happen on the continent. I think there is a

very strong case for Brighton and Hove the city to seek World Heritage

status. At this time of year many of us feel

the need to work off some of that festive flab but for some getting

fit is more than a New Year resolution. It is a wholehearted

commitment. Over at the Westminster Hospital,

another breakthrough in life`saving techniques is being tested. Over the

years the NHS has used all sorts of high`tech machinery to help people

recover from heart problems. The patient is sealed in and pure oxygen

at twice the normal atmospheric pressure is inhaled. The additional

oxygen is forced into the patient's tissues. In recent times, new

technology has come into play. And a whole new approach. If you are

recovering from a dicky ticker, instead of getting told to lie down

and relax, heart patients are told to stand up, sit down and stand up

again and give me 20 more reps. Welcome to cardiac rehab. The first

rule of cardiac rehab is that you must be an NHS patient recovering

from a serious heart condition. Some patients have had heart attacks.

Some have had stents put in and some have had bypass surgery. They have

done an excellent job, as you can see. The cardiac rehab revolution

began back in 2000 but Ashford was one of the first places in the

country to take patients out of the hospital and into the community.

That is why any patient who has suffered a recent cardiac event can

come here and work their heart out twice a week. When I first worked on

the wards people having a heart attack were in hospital for ten or

12 days and sent home and told to get on with it. They check your

heart when you come in and when you leave. You cannot leave until your

heart rate is where it should be. It is the best way to rehabilitate the

heart, to keep it pumping. To keep it working. It is amazing how

quickly patients move from serious illness to serious workouts. Finding

themselves here just two weeks after a heart attack or six weeks after

surgery. They have no idea this actually exists until I go round and

see them at home, initially, following their heart attack. They

have no idea they are able to do all of these exercises. A lot of them

have never exercised before in their lives. I think I am the youngest one

here. I blame my father. It is hereditary. That is my dad over

there. It is his fault? Yes. Same stretch, other side. Many of the

classes are led with military precision by Keith. He puts his

troops through their paces with their heart rate closely monitored

throughout. The aim is to make the hard work hard but to keep smiling

and enjoy it. It is as much about the emotional rehabilitation as it

is about the cardiac rehabilitation. The patients come from all walks of

life and in all shapes, sizes and ages, from early 30s onwards. If it

was not for this class and the good people here I would probably be

stuck and it would have taken a much longer time for me to get to the

level of fitness I am now. Despite years of evidence showing how

cardiac rehab improves patients' lives, some people are not prepared

to change their lifestyle so do not take up the chance to come here.

Many of those who do enjoy it so much they stay on as volunteers. By

the time I left this unit I was able to go into the gym, which I now do

three days a week, and do an hour and a half each session. Perhaps the

best advert for cardiac rehab is Keith. Keep marching. In 2003, at

the age of 34, he suffered a heart attack. Cardiac rehab got him back

on his feet and took his life in a whole new direction. I had young

kids at the time. I had visions of not being able to bounce them on one

knee and take them out places so the rehab team gave me a massive amount

of support and I thought, I have an opportunity to give some back. I

did. In a short space of time I thought, this is my second chance.

This is what I should be doing. I continued to volunteer and having a

heart attack saved my life. If you want any more information

about tonight's show, you can visit our website. You can also watch the

show on iPlayer. Coming up next week, what exactly

went wrong when Kent and Sussex flooded? We have a special report.

The secret underground town of Ramsgate in World War II. They were

comforting each other. They were frightened and they came down here

because they felt safety in the depths of these tunnels.

When prostitutes are victims of crime. You thought when you were in

there that he was going to kill you? I did. The only reason I managed to

escape was because he fell asleep. That is it from Canterbury. See you

next week. Hello, I'm Ellie Crisell with your

90 second update. There are more spending cuts on the

way. The Chancellor says ?25 billion worth of savings need to be made

after the next election. At least half of it is likely to come from

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