Parliamentary Search

Written question asked by Lord Laird (Ulster Unionist Party), in the House of Lords. It was answered by Lord Wallace of Saltaire (Liberal Democrat) on Wednesday, 28 March 2012 on behalf of the UK Statistics Authority.

Migrant Workers: Romanians and Bulgarians

Question
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 19 March (WA 142–3), whether in their calculations for overall long-term international migration figures they have used International Passenger Survey figures whose standard error percentages mean that they are not considered reliable for practical purposes; if so, why they did so; and what are the Annual Population Survey figures for Romanian population stocks resident in the United Kingdom since 1 January 2007.
Answer

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply. Letter from Stephen Penneck, Director General for ONS, to Lord Laird, dated March 2012. As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking, further to the Written Answer by Lord Wallace of Saltaire on 19 March (WA 142–3), whether (1) in ONS calculations for overall Long-Term International Migration figures we have used International Passenger Survey figures whose standard error percentages mean that they are not considered reliable for practical purposes; if so, why we did so; and (2) what are the Annual Population Survey figures for Romanian population stocks resident in the United Kingdom since 1 January 2007. (HL16655). In response to the first question, published estimates of long-term international migration (LTIM) are calculated from international passenger survey (IPS) data with adjustments for asylum seekers, people whose intentions change and migration to and from Northern Ireland. The IPS estimates that are incorporated in the published estimates of LTIM are considered reliable according to their standard error (SE) percentages. At the national level, IPS estimates are considered very reliable (SE 3%), but this reliability decreases as estimates are calculated for lower levels of detail, for example by geography, age, sex or nationality. An IPS estimate is not considered reliable for practical purposes when it has a standard error of larger than 25%. This applies when IPS data are used to calculate estimates of small groups of migrants. In response to the second question, Table 1 below shows the estimated Romanian population living in the UK from 2007 to the most recent year available from the annual population survey.

Table 1—Romanians resident in the UK by year since 2007
thousands
Romanian Country of birth Romanian Nationality
Year Estimate CI+/- Estimate CI +/-
January - December 2007 23 6 19 6
January - December 2008 41 8 36 8
January - December 2009 56 10 53 10
January - December 2010 79 12 74 12
July 2010 - June 2011 87 13 84 13

"Note: CI = Confidence Interval""Source: Annual Population Survey""(APS), ONS" "Source: Annual Population Survey""(APS), ONS" "(APS), ONS"

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
16655; 736 c272-3WA
Session
2010-12
Related items
Migrant Workers: Romanians and Bulgarians
Monday, 19 March 2012
Written questions
House of Lords
Subjects
Immigration Migration Statistics Romania
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk