By MATTHEW HICKLEY Thousands of Polish immigrants are applying for UK benefits as the jobs which first attracted them are wiped out by the recession. Figures reveal a sharp rise in applications from eastern Europeans, who are entitled to the full range of benefits once they have worked here for 12 months. Employment agencies and advice services aimed at Poles have reported a surge in enquiries in recent months from those anxious to claim their full entitlements from the welfare state. Many hope to 'ride out' the recession in this country rather than face unemployment at home on lower benefits and a worse standard of living. In the last quarter of 2008, Home Office figures show that 4,049 immigrants from the 'A8' eastern European states which joined the EU in 2004 applied for benefits in the UK - a rise of almost two thirds on the same period in 2007. There were 13,600 benefits claims from A8 citizens last year, up from just 6,287 in 2006. More than half were made by Poles, who represent the majority of eastern European migrants, followed by Lithuanians on 13 per cent and Czechs on 11 per cent. The figures are likely to be a blow for Labour ministers, who faced fierce criticism over their decision to allow unfettered access to Britain's labour market when the EU expanded eastwards-five years ago. At the time, other states such as France and Germany chose to keep migrant workers out. Having lost their jobs in the recession, Polish workers are now joining the queue for British benefits Ministers have also continued to cling to claims that the influx of around a million workers has been good for the British economy, and that the immigrants are not a burden on the taxpayer. Although many of the benefits claims are currently disallowed, with unemployment in the UK nearing the two million mark, the number of applications looks set to rise even further. And despite rising unemployment, the Government has no power to limit the number of eastern European workers arriving in the UK. Any EU citizen who works here for 12 months can claim the full range of state benefits, including child and housing benefit, and jobseeker's allowance. However, in 2011 even that 12-month requirement will be swept away as the seven-year ' transition period' following EU expansion ends. Jan Mokrzycki, of the Federation of Poles in Great Britain, said: 'We think lots of single people who came here may leave but the families will stay for as long as possible. Once they are set up they are qualified for benefits and support, and as EU citizens they will receive it.' Lower benefits payments in Poland means there is 'no reason' for them to return home, he added. Child benefit for a first child in the UK is £20 per week - compared with £3 in Poland. Ania Heasley, who runs an employment agency and advice service for eastern Europeans in London, said Polish workers were becoming 'very well-versed' in the UK benefits system. 'People are now coming to me for advice on whether they are eligible to claim Jobseeker's Allowance, which was unheard of six months ago,' she added. Sir Andrew Green, chairman of the MigrationWatch think-tank, said: 'It is quite possible eastern Europeans will decide to sit out the recession in Britain - on British benefits - rather than in their own countries on a much lower standard of living. 'Even more important is that the Government should renegotiate this whole arrangement before our borders become completely open to the new EU states in two years time, and that the existing restrictions on benefits for their citizens are lifted.' A Home Office spokesman said: 'The Government is doing everything it can to ensure migration is controlled and is working for the British labour market and the country as a whole.' The recession is also forcing office workers to compete with migrants for jobs as fruit pickers and farm labourers. Large numbers of white-collar Britons made redundant in recent months are applying for low-paid seasonal work previously left for Eastern Europeans. Rural businesses say that over the past few weeks they have seen a surge in the number of British applicants for unskilled temporary posts on farms and in factories. Thanet Earth, a vegetable supplier in east Kent claimed that when it advertised for 30 posts last month, all but three of the 217 were British. The jobs pay the minimum wage of just £5.73 an hour. Nicola Outlaw, director of Kent Staff recruitment agency which provides workers for Thanet Earth, said: "A higher proportion of people applying for low-paid agricultural jobs are now British. "Where last year they tended to shy away from temporary jobs, we are now getting good numbers applying. "There has been no noticeable difference in the numbers eastern Europeans, they are still coming here too. Sharon Cross, whose company employs 1,300 seasonal workers around Ely, Cambridgeshire, said: "This time last year we were struggling to fill jobs, now we are having people calling up all the time. "A lot of those who went home before Christmas have come back asking for work. "Seasonal jobs have not been very attractive to British workers in the past, but that is changing." John Hammond, whose firm grows vegetables in Nottinghamshire, said there was no shortage of British applicants. He added: "We employ on a capability basis, not nationality, but there are not m,any alternative jobs at the moment. "We are employing youngsters in their 20s who are anxious to learn. "If you can work hard you can earn £20 an hour." Some employers said many British workers had been shocked at the low wage.Surge in state handouts for credit crunch Poles pushed out of jobs and into UK benefits system
Last updated at 11:36 AM on 14th April 2009
Marshall Evans, who runs the East Midlands Staffline recruitment agency, told The Times,: "We are getting middle-aged people and they are coming to the work from fully-skilled jobs and much higher salaries."
Tuesday, 14 April 2009
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