Press Story

Responding to today's figures on immigration, Matt Cavanagh, IPPR Associate Director, said:

"Politicians shouldn't promise what they can't deliver, particularly on immigration. Before the election, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats said immigration was out of control; afterwards, they said they would cut it dramatically. Neither was true.

"Today's figures reinforce how stable immigration has been both before and after the election: the ONS estimate non-British immigration for 2010 at 455,000, compared to 437,000 in 2009 - and broadly stable since 2006.

"Emigration has continued to fall, down over 20% since 2008, meaning that "net inward migration", the Conservatives' chosen target, remains high at 239,000, a 21% increase on 2009.

"The immigration 'cap' on migrants from outside the EU does not seem to have had any overall effect in 2010, with rises in the estimates of migrants from both outside and inside the EU.

"Immigration from Eastern Europe was up from 52,000 to 71,000 in 2010, and emigration back to Eastern Europe down from 47,000 to 31,000.

"More recent figures show over 187,000 national insurance numbers allocated to Eastern European nationals in the year to March 2011, an increase of 24% on the previous 12 months; and 700,000 NINOs allocated to all non-UK nationals in the year to March 2011, an increase of 23% on the previous 12 months.

"A survey this week from the CIPD suggests that, if the cap has any effect in future months, it is unlikely to deter employers from hiring migrant workers - it is more likely to make them hire migrants from inside the EU rather than outside.

"The Government's policies on student migration appear to have had little effect so far, with 358,000 student visas granted in the year to June 2011, a reduction of 1% from the year to July 2011.

"Ministers need to start thinking about how to harness immigration to promote growth. All the indicators show that the immigration cap isn't helping youth unemployment, which is back up above 20%, with NEETs at a record high."

Notes to Editors

Today's migration figures: http://www.statistics.gov.uk/pdfdir/mig0811.pdf

CIPD survey: http://www.cipd.co.uk/pressoffice/_articles/schoolleavers230811.htm

Contact

Richard Darlington, 07525 481 602, r.darlington@ippr.org

Tim Finch, 07595 920899, t.finch@ippr.org