Latest statistics show net migration up 21%

The latest immigration statistics published by the Office of National Statistics (ONS) indicate that the Conservative plans to reduce net migration to the 'tens of thousands' are failing, as net migration rises 21%.

2010 saw net migration hit 239,000 compared to 198,000 in 2009. This increase came about following a sudden drop off in people leaving the UK and a resurgence of Polish migrants coming to the UK to work.

The number of people leaving the UK has fallen 91,000 (around 22%) from its peak at the end of 2008. In 2010 only 336,000 people left the UK to live abroad. Meanwhile, net migration from the A8 countries - those that joined the EU in 2004 - has risen from 5,000 in 2009 to 39,000 in 2010.

However, whilst net migration has risen sharply in the last year the figures also show that it dropped at the end of the year. The number of people coming into the UK dropped 11,00 between the third and fourth quarters. This does not represent a steady fall yet, but could represent the drastic changes to the immigration system made from last year beginning to have an effect.

Visa caps seem ineffectual

The latest figures show that, despite the Conservative pledge to reduce net migration to the tens of thousands by the next election, the various restrictions and changes made to the Immigration Rules have yet to have an effect on migration numbers.

This includes the temporary caps which were rapidly brought into place after the Coalition came in to power to limit visa application numbers before permanent caps could be introduced in April 2011.

The Home Office have also published their latest statistics which offer some more details. The Immigration Statistics April-June 2011 indicate that the number of work visas, 158,000, may be stabilising, having fallen since 2006; the number of overseas student visas, at 271,000, has fallen from a peak in June 2010.

The Home Office data also shows that the largest single group of people coming to the UK are overseas students. 228,000 came to the UK in 2010, of which 78% came from outside the EU. Conversely, however, the number of people coming to Britain from outside Europe to a definite job has fallen to 110,000 in 2010, its lowest level since 2004.

Settlement and citizenship numbers

The number of people granted settlement in the UK reached a record level of 241,000 in 2010. The Home Office says this is mostly due to its clearance of the asylum backlog under which people who have been in Britain for years have finally been given a legal status. The figures for the June 2010-June 2011 also show the numbers have fallen by 8% to 208,000.

The number of people awarded British citizenship also remains very high with 195,046 grants in 2010; this is slightly lower than the record 203,789 in 2009, but still more than double the level of a decade earlier.

Removals and visa abuse

Despite the Home Office rhetoric surrounding sham marriages, overstayers and other abuses of the visa system, it also seems that less people are being removed from the UK. Immigration removals or voluntary departures stood at 11,388 between April and June 2011, the lowest level since data started to be published in 2001.

Responses

Damian Green took the opportunity to publish a brief press release entitled Net Migration Stable. In this he notes that ‘these statistics cover a period before we introduced our radical changes to the immigration system to bring net migration back down to the tens of thousands.’

‘This explains why the government radically changed immigration policy, from our first months in office, to drive the numbers down with a limit on economic migration and changes to student visas to ensure we attract the brightest and best whilst tackling widespread abuse of the system. We are currently consulting on a range of further measures which will drive down numbers further.’

Some bodies have been more critical, however. As reported in The Guardian, Matt Cavanagh of the Institute for Public Policy Research said that the figures were a reminder that politicians should not promise what they could not deliver and showed how stable immigration had been, both before and after the general election.

He said that the cap on migrants from outside the EU appeared to have had little effect in 2010: ‘Ministers need to be more honest with the public about how much government policy, rather than economic trends and employer preferences, really drives immigration’.

‘Ministers also need to start thinking about how to harness immigration to promote growth. All the indicators show that the immigration cap isn’t helping youth unemployment, which is back up above 20%, with those not in employment, education or training at a record high.’