The Government’s failure to identify the number of illegal immigrants in the UK is fuelling widespread anxiety about numbers in the country, a report claimed last night.

MPs said fears about the impact of those here unlawfully is able to ‘grow unchecked’ because of a lack of official information.

They said many perceive the ‘long-standing paucity’ of figures as representing official ‘indifference’ on a matter of huge public interest.

The Government’s failure to identify the number of illegal immigrants in the UK is fuelling widespread anxiety about numbers in the country, a report claimed last night

Members of the Home Affairs Select Committee said Ministers must do more to ‘reassure’ voters that the issue is being taken seriously.

In a wide-ranging report, they said illegal migration can only be tackled effectively if the true ‘scale and nature’ of the problem is identified.

And they called for exit data and other sources to be used to produce an annual estimate of the numbers who have breached immigration rules.

They also stressed the importance of effective enforcement, highlighting how large numbers of foreign nationals, including convicted criminals, have disappeared.

MPs said the Government cannot rely on its ‘hostile environment’ policy as a solution for enforcement and building confidence.

It came as the newly-appointed Immigration Minister reaffirmed the Conservative commitment to reducing net inward migration to ‘tens of thousands’.

Caroline Nokes said the Government is duty bound to honour the ‘very clear message’ from voters in the Brexit referendum for the target to remain.

Speaking on the Sunday Politics show, she said: ‘They want to see us reducing immigration to sustainable levels.

‘And we’re doing exactly that… it was there in the manifesto so that is the direction of travel.’

She added that the Home Secretary has also been ‘very clear,’ adding: ‘We are going to get these numbers down and do it in a manageable and sustained way.’

Officials insist it is not possible to accurately quantify the number of overseas nationals in the country illegally.

Last year a former immigration enforcement chief claimed the figure was likely to run to more than a million.

Thirteen years ago a Home Office assessment put the total unauthorised migrant population living in the UK in 2001 at 430,000.

A report published by think-tank Civitas last June suggested illegal immigration is running at a minimum of 150,000 a year.

This would include those who remain in the country beyond the period allowed under their visas, or after asylum claims are rejected, as well as people who arrived with no legal entitlement in the first place.

The Commons report made a string of recommendations, including an annual report setting out a rolling three-year plan for migration.

It said a new ‘framework of targets’ should replace the Government’s net migration target and myths and inaccuracies about immigration should be challenged.

Officials insist it is not possible to accurately quantify the number of overseas nationals in the country illegally

MPs said: ‘We recognise the Government’s concern that to create an official estimate of overall illegal immigration without any reliable evidence would not add value to the debate.

‘However, we also believe that more analysis of the scale and nature of the problem of illegal immigration is needed in order to develop appropriate policy responses and reassure the public that the issue is being addressed seriously.’

A separate report published alongside the MPs’ work found high-profile failures erode public trust in the Government to control immigration.

Participants in a large-scale study highlighted difficulties in deporting foreign national prisoners at the end of their sentences.

Researchers for campaign group Hope Not Hate found many people feel migration is uncontrolled because they do not trust the Government to enforce immigration policy.

Labour MP Yvette Cooper, who chairs the Commons committee, said: ‘Most people think immigration is important for Britain, but they want to know that the system is under control, that people are contributing to this country and that communities and public services are benefiting rather than facing pressures.

‘We believe people should be working together to build consensus on the benefits and address concerns about problems on immigration.

‘Immigration has always been an important part of our history, economy and culture and will continue to be a crucial policy area for our future.’

A Home Office spokeswoman said: ‘We are making it harder than ever before for those with no right to be here to remain in the UK.

‘Whether it is working, renting a property, opening a bank account or driving a car, we are now taking tougher action on those who flout the law.

‘This is for the benefit of the whole of society as illegal migration drives down wages, allows rogue employers to undercut legitimate businesses and puts pressure on taxpayer-funded public services.

‘Vulnerable people living here illegally can also find themselves at the mercy of exploitative employers or landlords.

‘However, by its very nature, it is not possible to estimate the size of the illegal population and so we cannot make any official estimates.’