30-10-2007
Government revises foreign worker statistics
News by Adfero for Simply Business - independent providers of business insurance, business finance, landlord insurance, buy-to-let mortgages & commercial mortgages.
The UK government has upwardly revised its official statistics recording the number of foreign workers present in the UK.
According to reports, although the government had initially thought that Britain is home to an additional 800,000 foreign workers since 1997, this figure has since been increased by 300,000 to a new total of 1.1 million.
The discrepancy has been explained by Peter Hain, the secretary for work and pensions, as the result of a change in the definition of what constitutes a foreign employee.
"Of course it is bad that these figures are wrong and ministers have apologised for that, I am sorry about that," said Jacqui Smith, the UK's home secretary to the BBC.
However, Chris Grayling, the Conservative spokesman for work and pensions, added: "The fact that the government did not know the true number of overseas workers who have come to the UK in the past ten years is profoundly worrying."
Data released by the Department for Work and Pensions shows that of those working in the UK, between seven and eight per cent are the nationals of another country.
The original figure of 800k didn't take into account foreign nationals married to British nationals, and those who were not in employment in 1997 but who are now employed.