Sir, The Government’s belated admission that it has mishandled immigration and underestimated the pressure it places on local services is a step in the right direction but it doesn’t disguise that it still has no idea how many migrants are coming to the country or where they are distributed (“Ministers admit: we got it wrong on immigration”, Nov 2).

Its latest population figures, for example, do not include the number of short-term migrants coming to the UK for less than 12 months or illegal migrants. This is a key concern for local authorities nationwide who use this data in planning services.

At my own local authority of Westminster, we believe that there could be more than 24,000 people “hidden” from these estimates, costing local taxpayers £6 million per year or £50 on Band D council tax.

There are no quick and cost-free fixes to getting migration measurement right. Ministers need to take a strategic long-term view and concentrate on getting the next Census, in 2011, right. The alternative is to continue down a path of confusion and miscalculation that ultimately deprives our local communities of the resources they are owed.

Colin Barrow
Leader, Westminster City Council

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