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Mark Field |
An accurate population count is more than a numbers game
The increase of homelessness in London has been caused partly by enlargement of the European Union,
argues Mark Field
SUMMER brought with it not only gloomy weather but grim predictions of the economic and political skies for the year ahead.
Having been in parliament now since June 2001, I cannot remember a time during the past seven years when MPs of all parties had faced the parliamentary recess with such concern for the British economy.
As politicians, however, it has been vital for us to use this recess to keep an eye on, and carefully consider, some of the less immediate but similarly important issues that will need to be confronted when parliament returns.
This month, I am preparing for a debate I have secured on population estimates in Westminster. Population figures form a key part of the calculation used by the government to distribute grants to councils for local services. However, in an area such as central London where we have a transient population with large numbers of migrants arriving each year, this data can be particularly difficult to collect and keep up to date.
The result? Westminster City Council believes that the government has severely underestimated our population and calculates that the borough loses at least £6million every year in paying for services for people unaccounted for – the equivalent to a £50 increase on average council tax bills for a band D property.
The Office for National Statistics does not include in its population figures migrants who say they intend to stay for less than 12 months, a significant omission in an area such as Westminster. More than 16,000 working migrants were accepted on the Workers Register in Westminster between May 2004 and March 2007 and independent research suggests that Westminster has more than 13,000 illegal migrants at any one time within its borders.
The arrival to these shores of hard-working, committed, law-abiding men and women who are willing and able to contribute to skilled, unskilled and semi-skilled employment has clearly been a great boost to the UK’s economy. But I see the impact of the underfunding of our enlarged population on a daily basis in my postbag.
I am regularly contacted by constituents living in overcrowded conditions, trying to get places for their children at schools or disappointed with the treatment they have received in local hospitals. I have also spent a great deal of time highlighting the increase of homelessness in our city which has been caused partly by the enlargement of the European Union.
A small but sizeable minority of nationals from recent EU accession states (A8 nationals from countries who joined the EU in 2004 such as Poland, and A2 nationals from the 2007 accession of Bulgaria and Romania) has fallen into rough sleeping due to insecure working conditions, a lack of recourse to public funds or an inability to secure employment before arrival.
A failure by the government to sufficiently support local authorities in funding their populations will only see current difficulties exacerbated and could potentially increase tensions where resources are limited.
The government currently issues three-year grant settlements that lock councils into long-term underfunding because of poor migration estimates, making it almost impossible for local authorities to plan ahead. While the government announced a transitional fund to provide income to fund local public services under pressure, the Communities and Local Government Select Committee believes the money will not be enough.
The committee would like to see a contingency fund established which would respond effectively to additional pressures in the short term. But in the long term, the city council believes it is vital to have a fundamental and radical reform of population measurement between censuses.
I intend to press this issue with the government at the debate in October with the aim of securing Westminster and its long and short-term residents the funding they need – and indeed pay for through their taxes – to provide top level services in the city. Unless the government grasps the nettle, confused and inaccurate population estimates will continue to dog not just Westminster but other boroughs experiencing similar changes for years to come.
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