A scheme to register migrant workers in the UK is being shunned because of the 'unreasonable burden' it places on applicants, unions claim.

Numbers of migrant workers registering with the Worker Registration Scheme (WRS) have halved in the past twelve months, leading to fears that workers are simply bypassing it and entering the informal economy.

The scheme requires workers from outside the European Economic Area to pay £90 and submit their passports before they are eligible for formal employment.

Around 965,000 applications have been made under the WRS since its inception in 2004. However, according to Home Office statistics, only 29,000 applications were made in the final quarter of 2008, representing an annual decline of 54 per cent.

The scheme had been scheduled to end on 30 April. The Government announced this month it will run until 2011.

Trade unions are opposed to the extension of the scheme. Brendan Barber, General Secretary of the TUC, told The Times:

“This scheme was never designed to limit the number of workers coming to the UK. Keeping it will make no difference to their numbers. The decision to prolong it is therefore perplexing as it serves no real purpose. It would have been more sensible to allow this unhelpful scheme to expire.”

The Home Office claims the scheme is designed to monitor how many foreign workers are in the country and the sectors in which they work. Mr Barber believes the fall in the number of people registered under the WRS is down to employers being unwilling to formally declare their staff numbers, allowing them to pay less than the minimum wage.

“If workers do not register they are denied all employment rights, leaving them open to abuse by unscrupulous employers. This in turn threatens the pay and conditions of other workers,” he said.

Mark Boleat, chairman of the Association of Labour Providers, said the scheme penalised migrants who were seeking to work legitimately. He has asked the European Commission to commence infraction proceedings against the Government extension.

“Our main interest has always been the wholly unreasonable burden that the scheme puts on low paid workers who have to pay £90 as soon as they arrive in the UK, and surrender their passports at a time when they most need them,” said Mr Boleat.

The Government’s decision to extend the scheme follows the publication of a report by the Migration Advisory Committee, which stated: “It would be sensible to retain the Worker Registration Scheme for two more years due to the possibility of small but adverse labour markets abolishing it.”

“It is clear that the WRS creates burdens for employers and immigrants. While we do not wish to trivialise these, they need to be assessed against the benefits of the scheme.”

A Home Office spokeswoman said: “Migration only works if it benefits the British people, and we are determined to make sure that is what happens.

“That is why we are keeping in place restrictions which mean we can continue to count how many people are coming here, and which limit Eastern Europeans’ access to benefits.”

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