Net migration to UK plunges to below 250,000 after exodus of European workers in wake of Brexit

Staff reporter(wp/es):

Warnings of skills shortages were issued today after net immigration fell due to an exodus of European workers after the Brexit referendum.

Construction firms said new housing and infrastructure was under threat by a growing shortage of bricklayers, carpenters and other skilled construction workers from eastern Europe.

Experts said London’s restaurants, hotels and coffee shops could have to “rethink their business models” if the loss of young Europeans becomes worse. Leading universities also echoed fears of losing key staff.

Official figures released this morning showed net long-term immigration falling in 2016 below a quarter of a million for the first time in nearly three years.

There were 248,000 more arrivals than departures, down by 84,000 compared with 2015, said the Office for National Statistics. They included an increase in emigration by EU citizens, up 31,000 to 117,000.

But the most striking change was a big fall in net migration from Poland and the other seven central and eastern European countries that joined the EU in 2004. Immigration from these EU8 countries was down by 25,000 to 48,000, while the numbers leaving shot up 16,000 to 43,000.

While the fall in overall numbers was a relief to Theresa May, who has promised to cut levels, business leaders said they endangered economic growth and her ability to deliver manifesto commitments on housing.

Brian Berry, of the Federation of Master Builders, said eastern European labour was “a vital part” of a workforce suffering growing skills shortages.

“Nowhere is this truer than in London, where migrant workers make up nearly half of the industry’s workforce,” he said.

“Over the last decade, those workers have typically been coming in from Eastern European countries. While it’s too early to say for sure whether these latest figures demonstrate a permanent reversal of this trend, there is a concern that they do.”

The Resolution Foundation think tank said all firms that rely on overseas workers would have to adapt - but the hospitality industry would need to rethink the way it does business altogether.

At the Russell Group of leading universities, Sarah Stevens said: “We would be concerned if this national trend reflects a loss of talented EU staff working in UK higher education due to uncertainty over their future rights.”

Sean McKee, at London Chamber of Commerce and Industry, said: “This leads to serious questions about how we can build the houses we so desperately need as well as a supporting infrastructure to remain a competitive global city.”

Net immigration from non-EU countries was estimated to be 175,000 - far above the “tens of thousands” level promised by Theresa May for overall immigration even though these numbers can in theory be controlled by the Government because non-EU citizens do not enjoy freedom of movement rights.

Business groups urged Mrs May to drop the target. Jasmine Whitbread, of business group London First, warned:  “Without a clear, fact-based understanding of what we need, turning people away risks damaging our economy at a time when the UK should be firing on all cylinders.”

Edwin Morgan, deputy director of policy at the Institute for Directors, said: “The figures confirm once again how unlikely it is that the Conservatives will hit their tens of thousands target if they are re-elected.”

Tube accidents soar to record high of almost 5,000 a year

Pic:Figures show a sharp increase in accidents on the Tube
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The number of accidents involving passengers on the Tube has risen to a record high of almost 5,000 a year, the Standard reveals today.

It spiralled to 4,928 last year, an 11 per cent increase from 2015, amid fears that overcrowding and fewer staff at smaller stations are fuelling the rise.

There was a sharp increase in accidents at several busier stations, including Baker Street, Bank/Monument, Bond Street, Westminster, Southwark and Tottenham Hale.

Small rises were recorded at dozens of other stations.

The figures for Zones 1-4 led to calls for Transport for London to ensure that the Tube is the “safest in the world”. 

As passenger numbers rise, its bosses are investing millions to improve capacity at key stations including Bank, Bond Street, Victoria and Tottenham Court Road.

There will be more frequent services on several lines to reduce crowding. An extra 325 station workers are being recruited this year after a staffing review that followed ticket office closures.

There were 4,517 accidents in 2014 and 4,439 in 2015, before the sudden increase of 489 last year to 4,928.

Tom Brake, Liberal Democrat parliamentary candidate for Carshalton  and Wallington, said: “London Underground must redouble their efforts to make the Tube the safest in the world.”

Richard Freeston-Clough, of London TravelWatch, said: “The figures would suggest that smaller stations with fewer staff around are recording more accidents because staffing is likely to have been reduced.

"Conversely, accidents at bigger stations like Bank/Monument and Baker Street are also increasing because the growth in usage is making them more crowded.”

He said the rise  in accidents highlighted the need for extra staffing and congestion relief.

“Customer fall in gap” accidents were slightly down last year but 62 out of the 282 were at one station, Baker Street.

The high number there has been blamed on the arrival of S-stock trains level with the platform, to aid wheelchair access. This widens the gap at stations with curved platforms.

Dr Karen McDonnell, occupational safety and health policy adviser for the Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents, said TfL had a “duty of care” to passengers.

She added: “If a rise in incidents is taking place, then organisations must investigate the causes and do all they can to mitigate the risks.”

Steve Griffiths, the Tube’s chief operating officer, said safety was its “top priority”, with the number of injuries running at one in every four million trips.

“We continue to work hard to reduce this even further, with staff on hand to help customers,” he said.

“We have introduced flashing blue lights to draw attention to gaps between trains and platforms at key locations and we’re investing heavily in adjusting platform edges to narrow gaps.”

Office of Rail and Road statistics indicate that the Tube is the safest big railway in Europe, TfL said.

From this month, the frequency of Victoria line services has risen from 33 trains an hour at peak times to 36. From 2019, lines including the District, Circle, and Metropolitan will have more trains.

The amount of passengers using the Tube is rising, TfL said, up from 1.3 billion in 2014/15 to 1.35 billion in 2015/16.

The number of “fall in gap” cases was just over 280 last year, compared with 293 in 2015 and 269 in 2014.

Some key stations have seen falls in the number of overall accidents — also thought to include people slipping over and falling down stairs — such as Victoria, down from 126 in 2014 to 72 last year, and Oxford Circus, down from 133 to 118.

Manchester bombing appeals raise £2.3m for victims' families

Pic:Tributes left in central Manchester to the victims of Monday night’s bomb attack. 
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Fundraising pages set up for the families of those killed in the Manchester attack have raised more than £2.3m in an outpouring of compassion for victims, JustGiving has said.

More than 200 people have set up JustGiving pages for individual victims of the terrorist atrocity, which left 22 people dead and more than 60 injured.

Members of the public have also set up 185 pages to raise money for all the victims of the attack. JustGiving said all the money raised by individuals for specific victims was being held in quarantine while checks were carried out to ensure the fundraisers were legitimately raising money for families.

The money raised so far does not include a pledge of £1m from the city’s two football clubs.

A spokesman for JustGiving said in most cases where fundraising pages had been set up for individual victims, the company would work with Greater Manchesterpolice to try to pass the money straight to the families rather than to the fundraisers.

The money raised includes donations to an appeal set up by the Manchester Evening News and another by the British Red Cross. These have reached £1.3m and £808,000 respectively.

The pages set up by members of the public have raised more than £200,000.

JustGiving emailed fundraisers on Wednesday night to inform them that the money would be placed in quarantine while checks were carried out to verify that those behind the fundraising had connections with the families involved and were not involved in any fraudulent activity.

“We will start speaking to the individuals who have set up pages for specific victims about whether they have personal links with the families,” said a spokesman for JustGiving. “We are working with Greater Manchester police and we think in the vast majority of cases the page owner will say can you pass the money on.

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“None of this money will be released until we are satisfied and if someone refused to allow us to pass money on to the families ourselves then obviously that would raise concerns with us.

“In 99 out of 100 cases crowdfunding pages are set up by friends of the families, people with a connection to the family, but it is slightly different with the Manchester attack because there has been an outpouring of compassion from people who might not necessarily know the family involved.”

More than 30 concerns have been raised by members of the public about the legitimacy of JustGiving pages set up for victims’ families. The complaints are being investigated by members of JustGiving including fraud experts.

“It is a very complex thing from our side because it is very hard to make judgment on someone’s intentions which is why we have taken the preventative step of putting everything into quarantine while we establish the intentions of those behind the pages,” the spokesman said.

JustGiving charges commission fees of 2% and 5% to manage the pages. The company has made a donation of £50,000 to the British Red Cross appeal page.

Rail inquiry verdict on Gatwick passenger death

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Investigators say they have found no evidence to explain why a passenger put his head out of a train window, which led to his death when he was struck by a signal gantry.

Simon Brown was on a Gatwick airport to London Victoria train when the accident occurred near Balham, south London. The Gatwick Express train was travelling at about 61mph at the time of the incident on 7 August last year, the Rail Accident Investigation Branch (RAIB) said.

A post-mortem report found no traces of drugs or alcohol, and evidence suggests Brown, 24, was not taking photographs, according to the report.

The window was in a door opposite a guard’s compartment and was not intended for passenger use, although it was accessible to anyone travelling on the train.

Investigators noted that a yellow sticker on the door warning people not to lean out of the window when the train was moving was in a “cluttered environment” among other information signs. “It is not possible to say whether the lack of conspicuity of the warning notice was a factor in the accident,” the RAIB said.

The distance between the section of the window where Brown’s head was positioned and the signal gantry, believed to have been installed in 1952, was found to be 26cm. Although the clearance complied with standards for existing structures, it was less than an industry-recommended minimum for new structures where there are trains with opening windows.

The report recommended that Network Rail, in collaboration with train operators, introduce a process for sharing data regarding clearances between structures and trains at window height so that operators can make “more informed decisions” about the management of risk associated with opening windows.

Brown was pronounced dead at the scene by ambulance staff. British Transportpolice treated the incident as non suspicious.

Brown was described by friends as a “lifelong railway fanatic”. Originally from East Grinstead, West Sussex, he had volunteered on the Bluebell Railway as a nine-year-old and had recently taken up a position as an engineering technician with Hitachi Rail Europe in Bristol.