FEATURES Did the Early A8 In-migrants to England go to Areas of

ABSTRACT This paper analyses the local incidence across England of migration flows from the eight Accession (A8) countries of east and central Europe immediately following the 2004 expansion of the European Union. It examines not only the total inflow of A8 migrants but also the three largest nationality groups, as well as three large groups defined by the type of job they gained. The distributions of these migrant groups are related to labour market conditions to see how far migrants were attracted to areas with tight labour supply. Migrant group distributions are modelled to take into account other potential drivers such as the patterns of earlier migrant populations. Datasets on the A8 migrants have limitations, and these are noted because policy development may be hindered as a result. Recent pronouncements from the British Government have stressed that immigrants make substantial contributions to the national economy, not least in the form of additional labour supply for tight labour markets (e.g. Home Office, 2005). This paper seeks to move the debate forward by looking at the local distribution across England of one recently very important international contribution to Britain’s labour supply. The aim is to establish how far this migrant stream went to tighter labour markets, as is implied by the view that such migrants help solve labour bottlenecks