Councils plead for help over migrant influx

An urgent appeal by town hall chiefs for help to cope with the pressures caused by high levels of immigration will be made this week.

The Local Government Association, which represents more than 450 councils across England and Wales, will claim the surge in population has put pressure on schools, hospitals and housing.

In a report, seen by The Mail on Sunday, the LGA says that in some areas funding for public services is lagging behind rising costs and that cash is being diverted from vital services to make ends meet.

It says: "Migration costs have had to be met at the expense of mainstream budgets."

The LGA also reveals that some councils have had to put "action plans" in place following increased tensions between the new arrivals and their host communities.

The report says that, by and large, local authorities were just "getting on with the job" and although there had been financial-benefits of migration at a national level, the report says it was difficult to "see how far these have passed to the local level and at what rate".

It continues: "We would stress the urgency of addressing this issue, in order that key services can be maintained and developed at an appropriate level - and in order to avoid tensions and conflicts arising from the competition over resource distribution whether real or perceived."

The report was commissioned by the LGA and written by the Institute of Community Cohesion - a group expert in community relations.

The authors conducted an analysis of migrants who had registered to work, based on National Insurance number registrations, and surveyed all 450 councils in England and Wales.

It found that, in some cases, recent arrivals formed up to one in eight of the workforce.

"Migration has many beneficial impacts, particularly in the economic sphere and these were generally recognised by the local authorities," says an executive summary of the report's findings.

"But migration is increasing the population of the UK and, with it, the demands on local services."

The LGA says immigrants are sometimes using accident and emergency departments instead of GPs.

Many councils reported that migrants were more likely to be victims of crime than perpetrators but police in some areas were launching drink-drive information campaigns.

The report adds: "Demand on social housing has, as yet, been low but the costs of increased housing benefit processing and issues of homelessness and destitution are issues in some areas."

Some councils also highlighted disturbances.

"Many respondents reported tensions and different levels of conflict and had to put action plans in place to give information to both migrants and the host communities," it said.

Sir Simon Milton, chairman of the Local Government Association, said: "Official statistics on how many migrants are coming and where they are going are woefully inadequate.

"No one has a real grasp of where migrants are settling so much needed funding for local services isn't getting to the right places.

"The shortcomings of official population figures are placing pressure on services like education and housing and can even lead to unnecessary tension."

In 2004, eight Eastern European countries joined the EU, triggering the biggest influx ever of migrant workers to Britain.

More than 600,000 people have arrived, but official statistics are so shaky that the true number is unknown.

Shadow Immigration Minister Damian Green said: "Schools, hospitals and council workers are being asked to put a sticking plaster over a problem created by the Government's complete lack of control over our immigration system.

"We urgently need stricter controls at our borders."