§ Mr. DismoreTo ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what assessment he has made of the likely impact of the fee for registering under the EU workers registration scheme(a) on Jobcentre Plus services and (b) on illegal working; and if he will make a statement. [175032]
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§ Jane KennedyThe UK Government support the free movement of people and workers within the EU— providing our citizens with the opportunity to work elsewhere, as well as allowing our economy to benefit from the productive potential of workers from the new member states.
The UK has one of the most successful and flexible labour markets in the EU with unemployment at its lowest level for 30 years. The UK labour market has upwards of 550,000 vacancies, and around 15 per cent. of UK trend economic growth depends on migration. Indeed studies show that migrants paid £2.5 billion more in taxes in 1999–2000 than they consumed in benefits and services. Hence the UK is well placed to absorb additional workers from accession states.
But just as UK nationals have the responsibility not to abuse our benefit and social protection system, so we would expect our neighbours and partners in the EU not to abuse the system. That is why we have allowed free movement of labour but brought in regulations to prevent exploitation of our benefits.
It costs £50 to register for the first time under the worker registration scheme. The fee has been set at this level to cover some of the administrative costs of running the scheme, in accordance with other charged services. Registration enables those nationals from the eight accession states who were working in the UK without authorisation prior to 1 May to regularise their status and move into the formal economy. We do not believe that a one-off fee of £50 will act as a deterrent to registration by them or by others arriving in the UK. Similarly, we foresee the introduction of this fee having no impact on the services provided by Jobcentre Plus.