Towards Reliable Migration Statistics for the United Kingdom: Response to the House of Commons Public Administration Select Committee Call for Evidence on Migration Statistics

Abstract

Executive Summary• This document discusses main sources of migration and asylum statistics in the United Kingdom in the international context, and makes recommendations considering the needs of data users.• In order to estimate detailed breakdowns of immigration flows, administrative data sources and statistical modelling should be used to augment the International Passenger Survey estimates.• To provide better estimates of emigration and immigration in the longer term, alternative sources of data, such as the e-Borders scheme, should be additionally included in the estimation.• Recording the timing of events during the asylum process would enable detailed policy evaluation and allow asylum seekers to be correctly incorporated into international migration estimates.• Meeting the requirements of the European law can be improved by combining migration data from other countries, alternative data sources and expert opinion, within a statistical framework.•Measures of uncertainty in migration statistics should be reported to the users of data, possibly in conjunction with a bespoke decision advice