Home Office Publish WRS Accession Monitoring Report to March 2006

The UK Government has published the most up-to-date data on the Worker Registration Scheme (WRS) in the Accession Monitoring Report, May 2004-March 2006, which monitors the entry of A8 EU Member State citizens into the United Kingdom.

Data collected by the UK Home Office, shows that migration from A8 Member States of the EU (the Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Slovakia and Slovenia) is continuing.  The data contained in the report relates to the UK in the main, but it is possible to look at certain data pertinent to Scotland:

• Since May the 1st 2004, a total of 27,290 A8 migrants have registered to work in Scotland through the WRS
• 3,270 workers applied in the first quarter of 2006, a rise of 30% over the first quarter of 2005
• The overwhelming majority of migrants come to work - data shows that less than 1 per cent of all WRS registered workers since May 2004 have applied for tax-funded, income related benefits