Net migration to UK hits record high

The Office of National Statistics said fewer people were leaving the country from the UK for work-related reasons and more people were entering the country to study.

Total immigration remained steady at 591,000, but there was a drop in the number of people emigrating abroad.

Provisional figures for the 12 months to March 2011 show that overall emigration was at its lowest for 10 years with 339,000 people leaving the UK. Emigration for work fell to its lowest level since 2006.

Education remains the most common reason for people migrating to the UK. Some 238,000 people arrived to study in the UK during 2010, another record high.

The previous record high for net migration was 245,000 in 2004.

The government has promised to cut net migration to dramatically cutting net migration during the course of the current parliament.

Government ‘on course’

Immigration Minister Damian Green insisted that the government remained committed to getting the figure down to the “tens of thousands” during the course of the current parliament.

He said that after peaking in September last year, the numbers had started to come down.

“These figures show that the government was right to take swift action to overhaul the immigration system,” he said.

“Latest quarterly figures show a decrease in the number of student and work visas issued compared to a year earlier – an early sign that our policies are starting to take effect.

“The latest net migration figures are also encouraging, showing a fall since the recent peak in September 2010, but we are clear there is much more to be done.”

Asylum seekers

The net migration statistics came at the same time as new Home Office figures were released showing a sharp drop in the numbers of failed asylum seekers and other illegal migrants leaving the country.

In the three months to September 2011, 13,253 were removed or departed voluntarily – a 13 per cent drop on the 15,261 who left in the same period last year.

But asylum application were up 9 per cent – from 4,276 in the third quarter of last year to 4,912. The Home Office said the rising numbers came from Iran, Syria, and Pakistan.

Answering questions on the migration statistics following a speech on race relations in south London, Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg said people wanted “an immigration system that is tough on abuses – and particularly tough on illegal immigration – but also fair for people who want to make a contribution to this country”.

He added: “When you look at net figures – and I haven’t looked at them in depth yet – you need to work out how many people are leaving as well as how many are coming in and settling.

“We are doing a number of things. We are closing a lot of loopholes which have been abused in the past, installing much better checks on our borders so we know who is coming in and who’s going out.

“This is not a problem that you solve overnight. I think people are quite rightly very, very concerned that they can have confidence in the integrity of our immigration system and that’s what the coalition government is determined to demonstrate.”