Written question asked by James Clappison (Conservative) on Thursday, 23 October 2008, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 28 October 2008. It was answered by Phil Woolas (Labour) on Tuesday, 28 October 2008 on behalf of the Home Office.

Population

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what plans she has to set a limit for UK population size; and if she will make a statement.

Answer: The Government are undertaking sweeping reform of the immigration system. This includes introduction of the points-based system to ensureonly those the UK really needs come here to work. The points-based system is flexible and responsive to the needs of the economy and we will use these levers taking advice from the Migration Advisory Committee on where our economy needs migration and from the Migration Impacts Forum to tell us about the pace of change that is right. We will continue to examine population projections to inform our use of the flexibility inherent in the points-based system.

Secondary information