Govt defends EU worker policy

Home Office insists letting EU workers into Britain is benefiting the economy

Friday, 07, Jul 2006 12:00

The government has defended its policy to allow eastern European citizens to work freely in the UK, after new research suggests many more have taken advantage of the offer than previously thought.

A survey of 500 Poles in Britain for Newsnight suggests that just 64 per cent had signed the workers' register, which the government uses to monitor the number of people coming from the ten new European Union member states to work in Britain.

This means that while official figures show 375,000 people were registered to work between May 2004 and the end of March this year, the number of eastern Europeans actually in British jobs could be 187,000 higher.

Shadow home secretary David Davis warned the number of eastern European immigrants was now more than half a million, "much more than what the government now claim and dramatically more than the 13,000 a year that was originally forecast".

He warned of the extra pressure this could put on housing and public services, adding: "This is just the latest in a long line of examples showing how the government patently does not have control of the immigration system.

"The government has no hope of establishing an immigration system that is fair and credible until it actually takes control."

However, a Home Office spokeswoman rejected the criticism, saying that 97 per cent of registered workers were in full-time work and therefore were contributing to the UK economy, not putting extra strain on public services.

"They are going where vacancies exist, particularly in construction, hospitality and catering, agriculture, manufacturing and food processing," she said, noting that the latest figures showed about 600,000 job vacancies in the UK.

But she added: "The government strongly encourages accession nationals who are working without registration to apply.

"Failure to register means workers will not be eligible for any in-work support, or for a residence document after 12 months in the UK, nor will they be able to rely on certain employment protections, such as the national minimum wage."

The government has yet to announce whether workers from Romania and Bulgaria, which are due to join the European Union on January 1st next year, will have the same full working rights as other EU citizens from the outset.