Immigration

Debate between Eilidh Whiteford and Mark Simmonds

Monday 12th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mark Simmonds (Boston and Skegness) (Con)]

I recognise—as did the Minister—the significant historical benefits that immigration has brought to this country. However, I strongly agree with the direction of Government policy in this regard. I agree about the necessity to reduce the number of immigrants to tens of thousands by the end of the current Parliament, the necessity for migrants to be able to converse in the English language, and the necessity to clamp down on clear abuses, particularly those relating to student visas. I fear that yet more may need to be done if we are to get a grip on the issue, given that, as my right hon. Friend the Member for Mid Sussex (Nicholas Soames) rightly pointed out—or intimated—abuses are still happening in the system.

During the 18 months or so for which he has been in his post, the Minister has made a significant and positive contribution by trying to address major challenges following an almost complete abdication of responsibility in the years during which the Labour party did not even attempt to control immigration. The word “unlimited”, used by the Minister, encapsulates those years very clearly and accurately. However, we need a sophisticated approach in order not to deter people who constitute highly skilled additions to our work force, particularly in research science. I am thinking especially of stem cell research, the pharmaceutical industry and other scientific technologies about which I know there is great concern. We also need a sophisticated, and detailed, approach if we are not to deter students who genuinely come to the United Kingdom to gain some of their education, especially those from the emerging economies of Brazil, Russia, India and China who may be our future trading partners—or future political leaders, or other significant figures in those economies. They are the people who will go home and have a positive impact on their own countries in relation to the UK.

[Dr Whiteford]

The Scottish universities, which are mostly research-led ancient institutions, are competing with Canadian and Australian universities—the best universities in the world—for the best students. They are concerned about the tone of the Government’s new approach, fearing that it will deter students before they have even gone through the visa process.

[Mark Simmonds]

I understand the concern felt by the hon. Lady and the Scottish universities. I know that there is also concern about some of the main research universities in England, which I share. However, I do not agree with the hon. Lady about the Government’s tone. I think that the tone of the Immigration Minister has been absolutely right: it has been considered, thoughtful, measured and calm. The Minister has tried to strike the important balance between ensuring that we control immigration and ensuring that the right people come to the UK.

I want to make a slightly different contribution to the debate. Rather than talking about immigration in generic terms, I intend to talk—unashamedly and unapologetically —about my constituency, and about the impact that immigration has had on Boston. I do not mean immigration from outside the EU; I mean immigration within the EU and, in particular, from the A8 countries.

Let me explain to those who do not know the Lincolnshire town of Boston that its economy is focused primarily on agriculture, horticulture and the food-processing sectors, and on tangential businesses such as haulage. For some time migrant labour has been essential to the efficient working of the agricultural economy—not just in the fields but in the pack houses—and, increasingly, to that of the tourism industry on the east Lincolnshire coast.

My personal view is that those who have come from within the EU and are here legally and legitimately, paying taxes and making a contribution, should be welcomed into our communities, and that their contribution should be recognised. The shadow Minister, the hon. Member for Rhondda (Chris Bryant), was right to acknowledge that a mistake was made back in 2004 when this country did not adopt the derogation that was adopted by many other EU countries. That has, without question, exacerbated what was already a difficult problem. We must also ensure that migrants from within the EU who come here primarily to work are not exploited, and those who have been involved in stopping that exploitation—particularly the Gangmasters Licensing Authority—should be congratulated on their work. However, none of us must underestimate the pressures and strains on communities and those responsible for trying to deliver our public services.

When a country’s needs are assessed, the fundamental tenet must be the population of a particular area. I have long argued that public sector funding formulas do not reflect the population of my community, and I know that my hon. Friend the Member for Peterborough (Mr Jackson) has advanced the same argument in relation to his constituency. That is just as true of Boston as it is of Peterborough. The problem has been exacerbated by the last Labour Government’s manipulation of the formulae to enable them deliberately to transfer resources away from rural communities.

The House may be interested to know that in its recent report the Office for National Statistics acknowledges that the previous basis for calculating migration numbers—the labour force survey—was not good at capturing migration trends. The ONS uses a much more accurate assessment, even though I believe that it too is an underestimate. It includes calculations of national insurance numbers and flag 4, the patients’ register. Those data take account of children and of people over 65, which the labour force survey did not. It also acknowledges that only 50% of the migrant population register with a GP, and that one third of migrants may be missed. In other words, it already acknowledges that the new statistics that it produced about a month ago were an underestimate.

It used to be very difficult to base the numbers on evidence, but at last the ONS is starting to get to grips with the process. Its report confirms that between 2005 and 2010, the figure for Boston’s cumulative immigration was revised upwards to 218%, and that figure, which is the highest in the country, is not reflected in any funding formula. It is more than twice the percentage increase in the next local authority area, and that too is not reflected in any funding formula.

Boston is the only local authority outside London that has featured in the figures for the top 20 increases in immigration in each of the last five years. That is not reflected in any funding formula. Boston is second only to Newham in percentage terms when it comes to upward revisions of the 2010 mid-year population estimates. That is not reflected in any of the public sector funding formulae. The published projected population increase in the borough of Boston was 0.4% but, according to the latest ONS report, the actual figure is 8.7%. As I have said, I believe that that is an underestimate. None of that is reflected in the funding formulae. That raises serious questions about the capacity of infrastructure to cope and the efficient provision of public services.

There is a significant mismatch between the population and the funding that is supposed to cope, which leads to stress and tension in communities. I wish to give the House three specific examples of the impact, the first of which relates to the Lincolnshire police authority. Some in this House with long memories will recall the riots that took place in Boston in 2004, which were partially but not solely driven by migration issues and pressures. In November this year, a proposal was made for an anti-immigration march in Boston, to be organised by those with local concerns about the scale of migration. I must put on the record the fact that the organisers reflected responsibly on this when they heard that the anti-fascist league was going to march at the same time and that their march was sucking in extreme and far-right individuals who would not have been welcome in Boston.

Complex policing issues and additional costs are not reflected in the funding formula: community tensions; significant crime and disorder issues, although it must be said that the vast majority of crime in Boston and Lincolnshire is still committed by UK citizens; additional costs for interpreter services—6,500 hours’ worth in Lincolnshire in the 2010-11 financial year; and significant road policing issues, such as a lack of insurance and people not understanding our drink-driving laws. That is all in the context of Lincolnshire having the lowest number of police officers per head in the country and the lowest funding of any police force.

The second area that I wish to discuss is the health service. The proportion of births to non-UK mothers has more than doubled in Boston since 2001. That trend suggests that an increasing number of migrants are not transient and are choosing to settle in Boston and in Lincolnshire with their families. In 2001, 5% of babies in Boston were born to non-UK mothers, whereas the figure is now 35%—significantly above the national average—and 81% of those are from EU accession countries. That trend is accelerating, not decelerating. Last year, the borough of Boston had its largest number of national insurance registrations—nearly 2,500—with Lithuania and Latvia topping the nationality poll.

That creates pressures: migrant populations finding it difficult to access health services and mental health services, with all the subsequent, associated challenges; enormous strain on the sexual and reproductive health services; greater pressure on community services; language barriers; major causes of morbidity and mortality, which are especially driven by lifestyle choices; and severe pressure of local health service utilisation, especially at general practitioner surgeries and at accident and emergency attendances when migrant populations do not know how to access primary care.

The third and final example that I wish to give the House relates to the pressures on Boston borough council, which estimates that at least 10,000 more migrants are living in the borough than the official statistics state—The Times guide to the House of Commons estimates that there are 17,500 more. Considerable issues arise as a result, some of which relate to licensing, because operators from central and eastern Europe are now opening their own shops. They are of course welcome and perfectly entitled to do that, but they must operate within the law and they do not necessarily understand the law relating to the sale of alcohol. Several stores have had to be closed, and hon. Members will remember the tragedy that took place just before the summer recess when five migrants were killed in my constituency when an illegal still exploded. Other issues that have to be addressed relate to unlicensed taxis; environmental health—those issues are too numerous to mention, but they include the safety, origin, preparation and storage of food; a significant increase in noise complaints; antisocial behaviour; and illegal campers—single male foreign nationals of no fixed abode.

One of the real problems we have in Boston relates to the very good point that my hon. Friend the Member for Canterbury (Mr Brazier) made about housing. The houses in multiple occupation are a significant problem, particularly in the small streets with terraced housing that occupy the centre of the historic town in Boston. The council is hopelessly insufficiently resourced to deal with it and with the associated car parking and van parking problems.

Other hon. Members have dealt with the issue of primary education, so I have not even mentioned it. However, there are two or three primary schools in the centre of Boston where 50% of the pupils have English as a second language, and that causes intense educational issues. To be fair, the schools have had some support from Lincolnshire county council, but they require more.

In conclusion, Ministers must focus both on reducing net migration and on providing resources and support to communities with large EU-migrant populations—that is not regularly discussed. Ministers must adjust public sector funding formulae, insisting on accurate and fair funding that reflects the populations that are actually in a geographical area. I sometimes hear the argument that it is too complex to open the funding formulae up again. I do not accept that argument and the ONS report makes it very clear in which areas populations have dropped. We need to acknowledge that there must be a balance between populations and funding formulae and in the borough of Boston the imbalance is acute because there are insufficient resources to deal with the much-needed economic migration to drive economic growth in rural Lincolnshire.