Applications by migrants from Eastern Europe for the right to work in Britain have plunged since the vote for Brexit.
A leading think-tank has found that the number of workers from Poland and seven other former Eastern Bloc countries registering for employment have fallen to a record low.
The count of those who asked for National Insurance numbers (NINos) – necessary for anyone who wants a job legally in the UK – fell by around a third in a year.
Applications by migrants from Eastern Europe for the right to work in Britain have plunged since the vote for Brexit (shown in graph). EU14 refers to those from countries that were EU members before 2004; A8 shows the countries that joined the EU in 2004 – Poland, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Slovenia - while A2 workers are from Romania or Bulgaria
The count of those who asked for National Insurance numbers (NINos) – necessary for anyone who wants a job legally in the UK – fell by around a third in a year
The report revealed NINo applicants from the so-called EU8 ex-Soviet satellites - Poland, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Slovakia and Slovenia – plummeted from 40,000 in the first three months of 2016 to about 26,000 in the same period this year.
This is the lowest restrictions on the free movement of workers were lifted when the countries joined the European Union in 2004. It was also a fraction of the 2007 peak when there were 111,000 NI registrations.
The new analysis suggests the historic vote to leave the Brussels bloc is having an effect. It will hand hope to Prime Minister Theresa May that her pledge to control the country’s borders and cut net migration to the tens of thousands is achievable.
But it will alarm employers who have warned that some sectors of the economy, such as construction, agriculture and horticulture, rely heavily on EU workers and could struggle if the labour supply dries up.
The figures by the University of Oxford’s Migration Observatory mirror the spectacular fall in the level of net migration from the EU8 last year to just 5,000 - a record low since 2004.
Dr Carlos Vargas-Silva, acting director of the respected think-tank, said: ‘We are seeing indications that the UK has become less of an attractive destination for migrants from Poland and the other A8 countries since the referendum on leaving the EU.’
The paper suggested the fall was linked to the strength of the pound.
It said: ‘The referendum result led to a wave of concern in global financial markets about the UK economy, which immediately resulted in a decline in the value of the pound against other major currencies - reducing the relative value of wages for foreign workers in the UK.’
Focus has also fallen on the status of more than three million EU nationals in Britain following the Brexit vote, as well as how immigration from the bloc will be managed following the UK's departure.
The report said: ‘The reduction in the net number of EU migrants has occurred even though there has been no actual change in their legal status.
‘This suggests that for many EU workers uncertainty related to future residency rights, the value of the pound and the political environment of the UK are likely to play a major role in migration decisions.
‘Uncertainty about these three aspects is unlikely to decrease in the near future.’
SOURCE: Daily Mail
