MIGRATION rates in Barnsley have started to slow according to new data but the two most popular wards for new settlers remain to be the town centre and Kingstone.

The migration picture for Barnsley is painted in the latest report published by Migration Yorkshire, summarising the main trends for the borough. It shows the overall number of new migrant workers arriving in 2016 fell by about 270 to 1,900.

Much of this decrease was due to a fall in arrivals from accession countries, which are those in the process of joining the EU. The greatest change was a drop of about 120 arrivals from Romania.

Migration Yorkshire's report states: "Romania remains the top country of origin overall with 1,044 new arrivals. Poland is in second place with 461.

"The report also reveals the latest data available for asylum seekers housed and supported in Barnsley through the Home Office dispersal system. At the start of January this year, 465 people were being supported in the borough while awaiting a decision on their claim, known as section 95 support. Of those, 461 were accommodated and four received subsistence only support (no accommodation).

Those granted protection by the Home Office are allowed to stay in the area as refugees. Information about the diversity of the town shows five per cent of the borough's population was born outside the UK, and have settled particularly in the Central and Kingstone wards.

Just over 1,250 pupils at schools in Barnsley have a first language that is not English. This is equivalent to five per cent of primary pupils and four per cent of secondary pupils - both figures are an increase on the previous year.

Six in every 1,000 new GP registrations in Barnsley are made by people who previously lived abroad while births to mothers who were themselves born outside the UK is among the lowest is the region, at nine per cent of all new births compared with an average of 20 per cent for the region.