MP Simmonds tells Commons of Boston's struggle to cope with immigration

As we mentioned on Friday, local MP Mark Simmonds brought Boston to the fore in last week’s parliamentary debate on immigration.

He told fellow MPs that he intended to talk “unashamedly and unapologetically” about the  the impact that immigration from within the EU and, in particular, from the A8 countries (Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) had had on Boston.
He said that those who had come from within the EU and were here legally and legitimately, paying taxes and making a contribution, should be welcomed and their contribution recognised.
But he went on to say that no-one must underestimate the pressures and strains on communities and those responsible for trying to deliver our public services.
Here are some of the key points that Mr Simmonds made.
• “When a country’s needs are assessed, the fundamental tenet must be the population of a particular area. I have long argued that public sector funding formulas do not reflect the population of my community ….
• “In its recent report the Office for National Statistics acknowledges that the previous basis for calculating migration numbers — the labour force survey — was not good at capturing migration trends. The ONS uses a much more accurate assessment, even though I believe that it too is an underestimate. Its report confirms that between 2005 and 2010, the figure for Boston’s cumulative immigration was revised upwards to 218%, and that figure, which is the highest in the country, is not reflected in any funding formula …
• “Boston is the only local authority outside London that has featured in the figures for the top 20 increases in immigration in each of the last five years. That is not reflected in any funding formula …
• “The published projected population increase in the borough of Boston was 0.4% but, according to the latest ONS report, the actual figure is 8.7%. … That raises serious questions about the capacity of infrastructure to cope and the efficient provision of public services. There is a significant mismatch between the population and the funding that is supposed to cope, which leads to stress and tension in communities …
• “Complex policing issues and additional costs are not reflected in the funding formula: community tensions; significant crime and disorder issues, although it must be said that the vast majority of crime in Boston and Lincolnshire is still committed by UK citizens; additional costs for interpreter services—6,500 hours’ worth in Lincolnshire in the 2010-11 financial year; and significant road policing issues, such as a lack of insurance and people not understanding our drink-driving laws. That is all in the context of Lincolnshire having the lowest number of police officers per head in the country and the lowest funding of any police force ...
• “The proportion of births to non-UK mothers has more than doubled in Boston since 2001. That trend suggests that an increasing number of migrants are not transient and are choosing to settle in Boston and in Lincolnshire with their families. In 2001, 5% of babies in Boston were born to non-UK mothers, whereas the figure is now 35%—significantly above the national average—and 81% of those are from EU accession countries. That trend is accelerating, not decelerating. Last year, the borough of Boston had its largest number of national insurance registrations — nearly 2,500 — with Lithuania and Latvia topping the nationality poll. That creates pressures: migrant populations finding it difficult to access health services and mental health services, with all the subsequent, associated challenges; enormous strain on the sexual and reproductive health services; greater pressure on community services; language barriers; major causes of morbidity and mortality, which are especially driven by lifestyle choices; and severe pressure of local health service utilisation, especially at general practitioner surgeries and at accident and emergency attendances when migrant populations do not know how to access primary care.
• “The third and final example … relates to the pressures on Boston Borough Council, which estimates that at least 10,000 more migrants are living in the borough than the official statistics state —the Times guide to the House of Commons estimates that there are 17,500 more. Considerable issues arise as a result, some of which relate to licensing, because operators from central and Eastern Europe are now opening their own shops. They are of course welcome and perfectly entitled to do that, but they must operate within the law and they do not necessarily understand the law relating to the sale of alcohol. Several stores have had to be closed, and hon. Members will remember the tragedy that took place just before the summer recess when five migrants were killed in my constituency when an illegal still exploded. Other issues that have to be addressed relate to unlicensed taxis; environmental health — those issues are too numerous to mention, but they include the safety, origin, preparation and storage of food; a significant increase in noise complaints; antisocial behaviour; and illegal campers — single male foreign nationals of no fixed abode ...
• “The houses in multiple occupation are a significant problem, particularly in the small streets with terraced housing that occupy the centre of the historic town in Boston. The council is hopelessly insufficiently resourced to deal with it and with the associated car parking and van parking problems.
• “ … there are two or three primary schools in the centre of Boston where 50% of the pupils have English as a second language, and that causes intense educational issues. To be fair, the schools have had some support from Lincolnshire county council, but they require more ...
• “ … ministers must focus both on reducing net migration and on providing resources and support to communities with large EU-migrant populations—that is not regularly discussed. Ministers must adjust public sector funding formulae, insisting on accurate and fair funding that reflects the populations that are actually in a geographical area … We need to acknowledge that there must be a balance between populations and funding formulae and in the borough of Boston the imbalance is acute because there are insufficient resources to deal with the much-needed economic migration to drive economic growth in rural Lincolnshire.”
Your can read all of  Mark Simmonds's contriibution to the Immigration debate by clicking here and following the links provided.

You can write to us at boston.eye@googlemail.com   Your e-mails will be treated in confidence and published anonymously if requested.
Our former blog is archived at: http://bostoneyelincolnshire.blogspot.com