Westminster City Council is demanding the Government re-calculate migration figures before sharing out £25bn of taxpayer's money. In a hard-hitting report sent to ministers, the council claims current population estimates are inaccurate and leave councils short-changed. The report says current population estimates have not kept pace with migration, and are not fit for purpose for councils experiencing significant levels of migration. It accuses the Government of not recognising the concerns of councils and passing the buck on to the Office of National Statistics (ONS). It follows a ‘Population summit' at the council last month with 19 other authorities over concerns about the way migration is counted and its effects. Westminster's finance and resources director, Nick Bell, said: ‘The alarming truth is that the Government does not know the true number of migrants in the country, where they live or where they intend to go.'
