This guide is intended to assist local authorities and their partners in developing local
population and migration estimates and trends, with particular reference to:
• the role of international migration and its impact on local populations;
• early warnings of trends in such migrant flows and the extent of population churn.
It is hoped that the guide will assist users by bringing local migration information together in
a central place by providing:
• a critique of the value and use of official census, survey and administrative sources
which can be used to inform local population and migration estimates; and
• a review of other possible sources of information and intelligence from public,
voluntary and private sectors which supplement central government sources.
A focus on international migration at local level is important because such migration can
have substantial impacts on population size and composition, on the labour market and on
community cohesion. The substantial increase in international migration in recent years has
presented challenges for the provision, funding and delivery of public services at the local
level, where the resources to respond fully might not be available.
The guide is presented in three parts.
• Part 1 addresses the strategic importance of migration
• Part 2 provides details of key sources of information and intelligence, as well as
addressing generic issues in using migration data sources
• Part 3 provides further information on using migration data – including examples of the
use of different data sources and links to further information and reference sources on
migration.