UK migration stats ‘flawed’ claim Lords

THE Government’s migration statistics were slammed as “wholly inadequate” by peers last night.

A House of Lords Economic Committee report warned that Britain will be “in the dark” over border controls after Brexit due to its “flawed” data.

Ministers have no accurate measure of how many migrants leave and enter the country each year, the report claimed.

It said the figures do not give any assessment of how long many migrants stay in the UK.

It means the Home Office will struggle to impose new border controls and cut net migration below the Government’s annual target of 100,000 after Brexit, the committee said. The group also called for the official statistics system to be overhauled.

The report said: “The available data on migration is extremely poor. They fail to provide an accurate number of migrants entering or leaving the country or the number in work.

Inadequate

“The data, based on flawed sample surveys, is wholly inadequate for policy making and measuring the success or otherwise of policies adopted.

“The Government must prioritise plans to improve the long-standing flaws in the data if it is to take effective control of migration.”

Tory peer Lord Forsyth, chairman of the committee, said: “The Government must have reliable statistics on migration before it formulates new policy, otherwise it will be making crucial decisions – of vital importance to the country’s businesses – in the dark.”

A Government spokesman said: “We are collaborating with the Office for National Statistics to develop a system to provide a richer statistical picture of EU nationals in the UK.

“The Government is also working to develop a future immigration system which acts in the country’s best interests.

“We will ensure businesses and communities are given the opportunity to give their views.”