Persistently low levels of emigration from the UK combined with an increasing number of immigrants from Africa, Asia and the Caribbean have contributed to the net migration rate remaining stable at a quarter of a million being added to the UK population each year, despite government efforts to bring net immigration down.
The data, released on Thursday by the Office of National Statistics, showed that 593,000 people entered the UK and 343,000 departed in the year to June 2011, resulting in a net inflow of 250,000. This represents an increase of 15,000 during the coalition government’s first year in office.
Home Office ministers are battling to reduce the net figure in order to meet the Conservatives’ election pledge of bringing net immigration down to the tens of thousands by the end of the parliament. They have already introduced reforms to immigration policy for those who come to the UK to work and study, and are due to announce more changes on migrants coming to join their families in the next month.
However, the task of reducing the headline immigration level is made difficult by ongoing immigration from European Union countries and unusually low numbers of Britons leaving the country to live or work abroad. Neither of these is under government control.
The latest data show a record number of 170,000 migrants coming to the UK from African Commonwealth countries and the Indian subcontinent, a group sometimes called the “new Commonwealth” as opposed to the “old Commonwealth” of Canada and Australia. Two thirds of these came to study. Overall, education remains the most common reason for migration to the UK, and is responsible for around 40 per cent of the total inflow.
Damian Green, immigration minister, drew attention to separate Home Office data showing that visas for study and work had decreased by 6 per cent to the year ending June 2011.
“Our reforms are starting to take effect,” Mr Green said on Thursday. “Figures from the second half of last year show a significant decrease in the number of student and work visas issued, an early indicator for the long-term direction of net migration.”
“This government remains committed to bringing net migration down from the hundreds of thousands to the tens of thousands over the course of the parliament,” Mr Green confirmed.
However Scott Blinder, senior researcher at Oxford’s Migration Observatory, cautioned that “many factors” contribute to determining immigration levels, and that a drop in visa issuing may not be entirely due to recent policy changes.
“Policies are important – for example, changes to the shortage occupation list might make a big difference, even though the cap on work visas gets more attention,” Mr Blinder said. “But political and economic conditions matter as well, both here and globally. Visas issued for work have in fact been declining since 2006, and the reasons why are not clear.”
Chris Bryant, shadow immigration minister, said Thursday’s figures showed that net migration was going in the “wrong direction” despite the Home Office’s reforms. “We need honesty and competence from this government on immigration. Instead we get tough rhetoric not matched by the reality on the ground,” Mr Bryant said. “The country deserves better than that.”
Monday, February 27, 2012
Reforms fail to dent net immigration rate
6:56 AM
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