Town halls have called today for a £250 million emergency fund to help local authorities to cope with the increasing pressure on public services from immigration.

A report from the Local Government Association claims that official population statistics seriously underestimate the number of immigrants in large areas of the country.

In some rural areas, such as Boston, Lincolnshire, the number of migrant workers is nine times the number cited in official statistics, according to the first study of all local authorities.

The document argues that although immigrants bring significant benefits to the national economy, the workers and their families are also imposing huge burdens on services.

Health, police, education and housing provision are all under pressure, while language problems and the absence of translators can make it difficult for immigrants to gain access to key services. In some cases social tensions between migrants groups have also arisen where one national group is victimised by another.

Because local council grants are based on national census figures, many of the new migrants, particularly those who move on within a year, are not reflected in annual cash allocations.

The influx of immigrants from the eight European accession countries since 2004 have skewed figures further because these people are settling and not following traditional immigration patterns.

Poles, Lithuanians and Czechs are now moving out of cities to rural areas in East Anglia, Yorkshire, Norfolk, Lincolnshire and Cumbria to take up farming and fruit-picking jobs.

The study, carried out for the LGA by the Institute of Community Cohesion and based on more than 100 respondents, found that many A8 citizens went to hospital A&E departments rather than registering with a doctor because they do not understand how health care operates in Britain.

In addition, some hospitals were failing to recoup the cost of treating citizens from A8 countries, such as Poland and Lithuania, which joined the EU in May 2004.

Children of some immigrant workers were working longer hours than permitted legally and many schools found it difficult to cope with frequently changing populations from widely different backgrounds. There were also too few English-language classes. Many immigrants were living in overcrowded homes which were in poor repair and often a safety risk.

Council leaders argue that data such as GP registrations, national insurance numbers and school census records should be used to give a more accurate picture of the number of migrants.

Sir Simon Milton, LGA chairman, claims that at least 24,000 people are missed out of census figures in Westminster City Council, where he is leader. Sir Simon agreed, however, that the report showed that migration benefited the country by generating £40 billion a year.

“The problem is that the money that is being generated isn’t necessarily finding its way back down to the local level,” said Sir Simon.

“No one has a real grasp of where or for how long migrants are settling, so much-needed funding for local services isn’t getting to the right places. The speed and scale of migration, combined with the shortcomings of official population figures, is placing pressure on funding for services like children’s services and housing. This can even lead to unnecessary tension and conflict.”

Sir Simon said that a special migration contingency fund, set at £250 million a year, should be set up to allow councils expecting high rates of immigration to apply for extra money.

Hazel Blears, the Communities Secretary, acknowledged the impact of immigration on public services but claimed that councils had been given significant additional resources, including a £50 million fund to help to manage cohesion and integrate services.

“The effects of migration can put a strain on public services, especially when there is a large movement into an area in a short space of time and we recognise that some individual local authorities are experiencing more challenges than others,” she said.

David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, said the report showed that Labour’s “open door” approach to immigration was placing huge pressure on public services and housing. “This is being made worse by shoddy government statistics which underestimate the numbers and have left councils short of the resources to take this increased strain,” he said.

He added that a Conservative government would make statistics independent of government and introduce an explicit annual limit on the numbers of economic immigrants coming to Britain, taking into account the impact on local public services and housing.

Sir Trevor Phillips, chairman of the Equality and Human Rights Commission, today will back the LGA’s call for extra cash. “In channelling money back into mainstream services, such as housing, education, information and advice, it will help local authorities deliver equality and fairness at precisely the time when they are coming under the most pressure,” he will say in Birmingham today.

But he will claim that David Cam-eron’s policy of capping numbers is the wrong solution.

“He is asking the 21st-century question about immigration. But unfortunately he is giving the 20th-century answer in proposing that all of these issues can be solved by capping numbers.”

The changing figures

800,000 foreign nationals take up work since 1997. October 8, 2007
1.1 million foreign nationals take up work since 1997. October 29, 2007
1.5 million overseas-born take up work since 1997. October 30, 2007

Net migration

145,000 a year for next 25 years 2004
190,000 a year for next 25 years 2007

Migrants from Poland, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia

Estimate May 2004 - 2005: 13,000
Actual May 2004 - June 2005: 232,000 arrive and registe3r for work

Times Recommends

• Oh no, Mr Darling: you have failed
• BBC survives dogfight over Kennel Club expose
• Where the Rosetta belongs can’t be set in stone