UK immigration figures are wrong-----COUNCILS

United Kingdom, February 18: Three councils have claimed that official figures revealed by UK immigration are wrong and are nearly 10 
percent below the real immigration numbers in the country.

Councils say there is no truth in the statement by UK ministers that a large number of Eastern European migrants are returning back to their native countries due to economic slowdown. And because of soaring number of immigrants in the country, public services are getting severely hit.

Among the most badly hit public services from excess number of migrants in several towns of the UK include schools. A warning from one of the head teacher in a school in Boston, Lincolnshire stated that sooner, out of every ten pupils, six pupils will be from foreign countries.

The official population is being given a wrong picture and public budgets are already paying a price for the overflowing immigrants in the country, three councils cautioned.

There has been a great inflow of migrants in Slough, Boston and Peterborough in the last few years and the funds for the public services are far less than what is needed for the actual size of population.

The original figures of population in Boston are 75,000 while the official figures from the UK immigration have given a wrong estimate of 62,000 people in Boston.

Similarly, the official numbers given for Slough and Peterborough are far less than the actual figures. As compared to the figures revealed by the UK ministers for Peterborough (164,000) and Slough (124,000), the original population is 184,000 and 140,000 respectively.

Although, public services like social care, municipal facilities and health services for the above named cities of the UK had been coping up with the population, but the increasing numbers are making it difficult to bear the strain any longer.

The cracks have already begun to show up in the local public services, says Peter Hiller of Peterborough city council.

Nearly half of the students in Park Community primary school in Boston are already from overseas and the numbers are going to rise up to 60 percent, warned head teacher of the school, Carol Clare.