§ Mr. Jim CunninghamTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many British people moved to other parts of the EU in the last year for which figures are available; how many of them were of working age; and how many moved from the West Midlands. [64479]
§ Ms HewittThe information requested falls within the responsibility of the Director of the Office for National Statistics. I have asked him to reply.
Letter from Tim Holt to Mr. Jim Cunningham, dated 17 December 1998:
As Director of the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent question asking about estimates of British people moving to other parts of the EU.It is estimated that 52.2 thousand British citizens migrated from the United Kingdom to other EU countries in 1996. Of these, 34.1 thousand were of working age. A total of 5.6 thousand persons migrated from the West Midlands to the EU. Due to sample size it is not appropriate to disaggregate the estimate further to identify British citizens.A migrant from the United Kingdom is defined as a person who has resided in the UK for a year or more, and who states on departure the intention to reside abroad for a year or more.22WEstimates of migrants are derived from the International Passenger Survey (IPS), a continuous voluntary survey which covers the principal air and sea routes between the United Kingdom (UK) and countries outside the British Isles. The routes between the UK and the Irish Republic are excluded, as is all movement of diplomats and armed forces personnel. Estimates derived from the IPS are subject to both sampling and non-sampling errors. As an approximate guide, the standard error for an estimate of five thousand migrants is around 35 per cent., whilst for an estimate of 40 thousand migrants this is reduced to around 10 per cent.