We are clear that uncontrolled immigration makes it difficult to maintain social cohesion, puts pressure on public services and can drive down wages for people on low incomes.

That is why across government we are working hard to bring net migration down and address the factors which draw people to the UK for the wrong reasons. This government has clamped down on nearly 800 bogus colleges, slashed 45,000 visas from the further education route; and cut family visas by nearly a third since it came to power. Our reforms have cut net migration from outside the EU by nearly a quarter since 2010 – close to levels not seen since the late 1990s.

Our reforms have also made it more difficult for EU migrants to claim benefits in the UK and, through the landmark Immigration Act, made it tougher for illegal immigrants to remain by restricting access to work, housing, benefits, healthcare, bank accounts and driving licences and making it easier to remove those who have no right to be here by reducing the number of appeals.

On 28 November the Prime Minister made a speech in which he set out a number of measures a future Conservative Government would take to address EU migration to the UK. The measures proposed include a four year residency requirement before an EU national can access in-work benefits or social housing in the UK, the removal of child benefit for non-resident children of EU nationals, and stronger powers to deport EU criminals and tackle abuse.

Local authorities are responsible for planning and securing sufficient school places in their area. Supporting local authorities to create school places where they are needed most is one of the Department for Education’s main priorities. That is why we have committed £5 billion in capital funding between 2011 and 2015 to help local authorities to create new school places. In addition we have announced an additional £2.35 billion in capital funding to help create new school places that will be needed by September 2017.

This support has already enabled local authorities to create 260,000 additional pupil places between May 2010 and May 2013, including 212,000 primary places, with more in the pipeline for September 2015. We have also stripped out bureaucracy to make it easier for schools to expand to offer more places, if they so wish.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

In 2013, the Government of Pitcairn and Her Majesty's Government commissioned two independent pieces of analysis – into the appetite amongst the Pitcairn diaspora for return to the island, and on the broader economic potential of the island. Both reports recognised that unless the population of the island increases, it will be a challenge to maintain the longer-term viability of the community.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Glen Watson, dated July 2014:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office how many people in each (a) constituency in England and Wales and (b) local authority area in Scotland were listed as aged 18 or over in (i) the 2011 Census and (ii) the most recent Office for National Statistics estimate. (205691)

(a) (i) The numbers of people aged 18 or over in each UK parliamentary constituency in England and Wales from the 2011 Census have been extracted from the published table KS 102EW and are shown in the attached spreadsheet.

(a) (ii) The most recent estimate of those aged 18 or over in each constituency in England and Wales are shown in the attached spreadsheet which have been taken from the published Mid-2012 Parliamentary Constituencies for England and Wales data released on 26 November 2013:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/sape/parliament-constituency-pop-est/mid-2012/index.html

(b) (i) The numbers of people aged 18 or over in each local authority area in Scotland have been extracted from the published table KS102UK and are shown in the attached spreadsheet.

(b) (ii) The most recent estimate of those aged 18 or over in each local authority area in Scotland are shown in the attached spreadsheet and have been taken from the published Mid-2013 estimates released on 26 June 2014:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/pop-estimate/population-estimates-for-uk--england-and-wales--scotland-and-northern-ireland/2013/index.html

A copy of the tables will be placed in the Library of the House.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the Authority to reply.

Letter to Lord Hodgson from Glen Watson, Director General for ONS, dated June 2014.

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics I have been asked to reply to your question to Her Majesty’s Government asking what estimate they have made of the future population level of each

English region, in the light of the Office for National Statistics’ mid-year forecast of the population of England by 2034 [HL361].

Estimates of future population are available as population projections. The most recent subnational population projections are based on mid-year population estimates for 2012 can be found on the ONS website here www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/snpp/sub-national-population-projections/2012-based-projections/index.html . Figures for English regions at mid-2034 are given in the below.

Subnational population projections are not forecasts and do not attempt to predict the impact of future government policies, changing economic circumstances or the capacity of an area to accommodate a change in population. They provide an indication of the future size and age structure of the population if recent demographic trends continued.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Glen Watson:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics I have been asked to reply to your Parliamentary Question asking the Minister for the Cabinet Office what estimate he has made of the population in (a) 2025 and (b) 2050 of those built-up areas showing a population of 100,000 or more in the 2011 Census. [196960]

Estimates of future population are available as population projections but ONS does not produce them for built up areas.

Population projections are available for local authorities in England which usually project forward for a 25 year horizon. However, the most recent set of projections are based on the population in 2011 are only available to 2021. These can be found at:

www.ons.gov.uk/ons/rel/snpp/sub-national-population-projections/Interim-2011-based/index.html

Updated population projections, based on more recent information and covering a period to 2037, will be published on the 29 May.

The Country and Regional Analysis (CRA) published in November 2013, provides country level splits of identifiable public expenditure on a total as well as per capita basis over a five-year outturn period from 2008-09 to 2012-13. The data within the CRA can also be adapted to show expenditure as percentages on a total as well as per capita basis. The answers to the data request are summarised in the tables below;

Population Estimates from the ONS for England and for Wales are based upon the 2011 Population Census

Population Estimates from NISRA for Northern Ireland are based upon the 2011 Population Census

Population Estimates from GRO for Scotland are based upon the 2001 Population Census for mid-2008 to mid-2010

Population Estimates from GRO for Scotland are based upon the 2011 Population Census for mid-2011 & mid-2012

Local authority (sub-national) population projections are produced by the Office for National Statistics. The next update will be the 2012-based projections to be published this year. These will be the first to provide a full update of trends following the 2011 Census and are consistent with the 2012-based national populations published in November 2013. They are consulting with local authorities to improve the quality of these projections.

My Department plans to produce 2012-based household projections following the publications of the sub-national population projections. These household projections will take account of the most recent information on trends in household formation including the 2011 census.

Statistics provided by the St Helena Government show that since the start of the airport construction population levels have steadily

increased. The latest data showed a resident population in St Helena of 4,158 in September 2013. It is expected that population numbers in St Helena will increase in line with economic growth following the opening of the airport in 2016.