Romanians and Bulgarians working in UK rises 26%

The number of Romanians and Bulgarians working in the UK rose by nearly 26% between April and June, figures have revealed.

The Office for National Statistics said 141,000 had been employed in that period, compared with 112,000 in the previous three months.

Campaigners for tighter controls claim there will be a bigger rise next year as rules on the type of jobs people from the two nations can do expire.

The Home Office said citizens of the countries made up 0.3% of UK employees.

BBC political correspondent Susana Mendonca said the issue of migration from Romania and Bulgaria was a controversial one.

The government has not said how many more migrants it expects once the labour market is open fully to the two countries later this year.

Labour urged the government to do more to address the potential impact on infrastructure and public services.

The number of Romanian and Bulgarian workers coming to the UK between April to June increased at a greater rate than other nationalities.

But the Home Office said overall more people from western EU countries had come to work in Britain in the period.

Bulgarians and Romanians have had the right to visa-free travel to the UK since 2007 when their countries joined the EU. But there have been temporary restrictions on the kind of jobs they could take.

Access to the UK labour market was limited to the registered self employed, and under a quota system to people working in low skilled jobs in food processing and seasonal agricultural work. Companies could also employ skilled staff if they obtained a work permit.

The restrictions will be dropped at the end of the year in accordance with EU rules.

Diplomats from Bulgaria and Romania have repeatedly stressed that they are not expecting a "wave" of migration from their countries.

'No soft touch'

The UK government is considering limiting migrants' access to benefits, healthcare and housing.

A Home Office spokesman said: "We welcome those that want to come here to work and contribute to the economy."

But he added: "Those who are tempted to come here to try and abuse public services should know that we are not a soft touch.

"We are focusing on cutting out the abuse of free movement between EU member states and addressing the pull factors that drive European immigration to Britain.

"Across government, we are working to ensure that our controls on accessing benefits and services, including the NHS and social housing, are amongst the tightest in Europe to protect the UK from abuse."

Shadow Immigration Minister Chris Bryant said ministers needed to publish their own estimates of the numbers they expect to arrive so local authorities can make "proper plans".

He added: "They should be taking action now to prevent any increase in exploitation of migrant workers distorting the labour market yet further next year.

"And they are still doing nothing to address enforcement of the minimum wage, use of agencies targeting only foreign workers, or training and skills shortages in key sectors like hospitality."

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