A massive rise in immigration
next year could trigger a devastating crisis in Britain's schools, housing and
welfare services, according to a secret Government report leaked to The Mail on
Sunday.
The document reveals that every Government department has been ordered to draw
up multi-million-pound emergency plans after being told public services face
catastrophe as a result of the hundreds of thousands of Eastern Europeans
pouring into Britain.
Special investigation
• Polish children dumped by parents heading for Britain
It also warns that a 'step change' in the level of immigration next year could
make things even worse, triggering an angry backlash across the country.
The disclosure comes as The Mail on Sunday reveals that the new wave of
immigration is causing as much social strife in Eastern Europe as it is in
Britain.
Our investigation found Poles are dumping children in local care homes so they
can travel to Britain. Some reportedly killed themselves after being left
behind.
The leaked document, written by Home Office Minister Joan Ryan, is entitled
Migration From Eastern Europe: Impact On Public Services And Community Cohesion.
In stark contrast to the Government's repeated assurances that immigration is
under control, it warns:
• Ministers may be forced to abandon their refusal to grant council houses and
welfare benefits to workshy new arrivals, creating what Ms Ryan describes as an
extra 'pull factor' attracting further immigrants seeking handouts.
• A new army of English language teachers is required to deal with a huge rise
in the number of Eastern European children since last September.
• East European immigrants living rough are becoming drunk and aggressive, and
flooding homeless hostels.
• The influx of cheap labour is forcing British workers to take pay cuts with
'serious implications' for social tension.
• East European patients are 'blocking' hospital beds because they are
ineligible for social care and benefits if they leave.
• Towns and cities hit hardest by the new immigration are demanding millions of
pounds of extra money to cope.
The document, marked 'restricted', was written by Ms Ryan on July 19, the day
after she submitted a separate report warning that 45,000 'undesirable' migrants
from Romania and Bulgaria may settle in the UK when the two nations join the EU
next year.
The number of immigrants to Britain since Poland and seven other East European
countries joined the EU two years ago is now put at 600,000, compared with the
Government's original prediction of between 5,000 and 13,000 a year. Ministers
expect this number to rise by up to another 140,000 next year.
Warning of potential chaos for schools, housing and health, Ms Ryan's report
says: "All departments have been asked to consider contingency plans...in case
of a further step change in the number of new migrants."
One of her biggest fears is that the courts may force the Government to scrap
its restrictions on East European immigrants applying for council houses or
benefits. At present, they receive some benefits only if they register for work
- which one in three don't do - and earn full benefit rights after they have
worked for a year.
Ms Ryan says: "The legal basis for this is precarious and there is a strong risk
of a successful challenge. This is a concern."
Many East European immigrants end up homeless, partly because of the welfare
curbs. "This leads to antisocial behaviour, street drinking and aggressive
begging' as well as 'tensions' between vagrants, the report warns. One in six
places in homeless hostels in London is now taken up by Eastern Europeans, who
often arrive with no plans for a job or home.
Ms Ryan says some councils are demanding an end to the ban on housing and other
benefits so they can get people off the street. But the report warns that
dropping the restrictions could create a new 'pull factor for people to come to
the UK unprepared for work'.
Areas with the most East European arrivals - including Slough and parts of
London - are demanding more cash for public services, says the report.
And schools desperately need more help following a sudden rise in the number of
East European children, many of whom do not speak English. Some primary schools
have accommodated up to 50 extra Polish children in one term.
Ms Ryan calls for action - and cash - to recruit extra English language
teachers. "Schools often find it hard...because of large numbers of new
arrivals," her report said.
The document says foreign workers have helped fill jobs other workers refused to
do. But it adds: "There is anecdotal evidence, particularly from Southampton, a
port of entry for Eastern Europeans, that the effect of migration...has been to
depress wages for low-paid workers. If this were widely true, or that perception
were to spread widely, the implications for community cohesion would be
potentially serious."
There were few signs of social disorder involving Eastern European workers but
they "feature increasingly in tension reports...and were a recurrent grievance
in far-right extremists' material during recent (local) elections".
Some migrants are living in hospitals and mental health units because "there is
no ability to provide access to benefits or housing in which on-going care
duties could be met".
In conclusion Ms Ryan says: "There are areas in which strains are evident."
Despite the Government's underestimate of the number of migrants, public
services had generally coped, the report concluded. But the expected influx of
Romanians and Bulgarians meant that this "optimistic assessment may not continue
to hold good in, say, a year's time".