THE EQUALITY IMPLICATIONS OF BEING A MIGRANT IN BRITAIN
migrants – Poland (66 per cent for the period), Lithuania and Slovakia – see an improvement in their economies and lower rates of unemployment. The declining value of the pound against their currencies and the alternatives now available in other EU countries, which have either opened up or eased their conditions of entry since May 2006, will also play a part. It is estimated that about half of the arrivals between 2004 and 2007 have returned home (Pollard et al, 2008). However, as immigration from Central and Eastern Europe remained buoyant at the time of the entry of Bulgaria and Romania into the EU, the Government decided to restrict access to the labour market for these two nationalities, though both may apply for work permits for skilled workers and arrive as highly skilled or self-employed migrants. In addition, there is a quota of 16,250 per annum for temporary seasonal agricultural work. In the fourth quarter of 2007, 4,990 registration certificates were issued to Bulgarians and Romanians exercising Treaty rights (as self-employed or highly skilled migrants) and 860 accession cards were issued for skilled or other work. Overall, 7,521 new National Insurance numbers were allocated to all categories of Bulgarians and Romanians in 2007. One of the major issues, especially for local authorities seeking to provide services, is to know how many migrants there are at a particular time and in a particular place (Convention of Scottish Local Authorities, 2008; Institute of Community Cohesion/Local Government Association 2007; Welsh Local Government Association, 2007). Intentions about length of stay are notoriously unreliable and variable and are likely to depend on the location of the survey. For example, one study showed 31 per cent of migrants intended to stay for less than two years, 13 per cent between two and five years, about the same percentage over five years but not permanently, and 15 per cent intended staying permanently (CRONEM, 2007). A study by Blake Stevenson in Glasgow in 2007 found that just over a third intended staying more than five years but that 38 per cent did not know how long they would stay. Especially in rural areas with more seasonal employment, many may wish to remain in the UK but move elsewhere (Zaronaite and Tirzite, 2007). The Polish Federation (in 2007) estimated that about 20 per cent were settling. We do have evidence of increasing long-term residence, even if not permanent settlement, since 2004 through, for example, the numbers claiming benefits and children attending schools, as well as increasing numbers of migrants as measured by the Labour Force Survey (LFS). A significant difference to the earlier period of post-colonial and Irish immigration has been the geographical distribution of the Eastern Europeans. Areas which had previously not experienced high levels of immigration have now become some of the main destinations for Eastern Europeans, who have increasingly taken up 4