Number of jobless Romanians and Bulgarians has soared 15-fold in Britain in just eight years

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Home affairs chairman Keith Vaz calls for more scrutiny when dealing with jobless migrants

A total of 46,000 working age migrants are out of work compared with just 3,000 in 2006 – the year before the countries became a part of the European Union.
Newly released figures show one in five migrants available for work from both European nations is unemployed.
But their 80 per cent employment rate is still higher than that of British workers, which stands at just 72 per cent.
More than 250,000 people from the two countries are now based in the UK and are coming to British shores at a rate of close to 50,000 a year.
The figure is an increase of around six-fold in eight years according to findings from Oxford University’s Migration Observatory.

Although most of the people who have come here have come to work, the UK is also an attractive place for people who want to claim benefits and that problem has not been solved

David Green, directer of the think tank Civitas

The situation has led to increasing concerns as to the impact of migrant workers heading to the UK to work after restrictions were lifted on them this year.
David Green, director of the think tank Civitas, said: “Although most of the people who have come here have come to work, the UK is also an attractive place for people who want to claim benefits and that problem has not been solved.”
Now, around 252,000 Romanians and Bulgarians are living in Britain following the changes to residency restrictions it has emerged following a closer look at the official Labour Force Survey.
Out of that figure, a total of 189,000 are employed – leading the employment rate to stand at 80 per cent.
Back in 2006, there were around 43,000 migrant workers here, with 36,000 of the 39,000 who were able to work in employment – leading to a 92 per cent employment rate.
Keith Vaz, chairman of the Commons home affairs select committee, said: “It is my impression that people come to work but it appears that as communities get settled they may not have work as their first objective and start bringing in dependants.
“We need to study this carefully and work out how we can ensure those who come are able to come for work and not to be unemployed.