Asked by Lord Holmes of Richmond To ask Her Majesty's
Government whether they will now consider removing international
students from the net migration statistics. Lord Holmes of Richmond
(Con) My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in
my name on the Order Paper. In doing so, I declare my interest as
set out in the register....Request free
trial
Asked by
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To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they will now
consider removing international students from the net
migration statistics.
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(Con)
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my
name on the Order Paper. In doing so, I declare my interest
as set out in the register.
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The Minister of State, Home Office (Baroness Williams of
Trafford)
My Lords, migration statistics are produced by the
independent Office for National Statistics, which follows
international best practice. The Government do not intend
to seek to influence this. There is no plan to limit the
number of genuine international students who can come to
the UK and, in 2017, the number of university-sponsored
visas issued rose by 6%.
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My Lords, international students contribute well over £20
billion to the economy —an economic boon for Britain.
Currently, more than 50 Heads of State or Prime Ministers
were educated in UK higher education. Show me a more
successful piece of soft power. In light of this, will my
noble friend consider the pilot for named UK universities
for visas and going back to the department and
reconsidering removing international students from the net
migration figures?
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My noble friend is nothing if not consistent. I am very
pleased to tell him, as he mentioned the pilot study, that
a further 23 institutions have been selected on the basis
of having a consistently low visa refusal rate for their
region. The pilot means that universities are responsible
for eligibility checks, so students applying for their visa
can submit fewer documents alongside their visa
applications. The pilot also helps to support students who
wish to switch to a work route and take up a graduate role
by extending the leave period following the end of their
study by up to six months.
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(Lab)
My Lords, in congratulating the noble Lord, , on his
Question and supplementary, with which I agree totally,
does the Minister agree with Dame Julia Goodfellow,
president of Universities UK, who says that,
“it is important to remember that international students
also enrich our campuses and the experience of UK students,
both academically and culturally Many return home having
built strong professional and personal links here that
provide long-term, ‘soft power’ benefits for the UK”.
I declare an interest as Her Majesty’s Government’s trade
envoy to Taiwan, which, I am happy to say, sends the UK
more than 16,000 students a year.
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I am very happy to agree with both the noble Lord and, of
course, my noble friend. We absolutely acknowledge that
international students enrich the economy and, indeed, this
country. We have no plans at all to cap the numbers—in
fact, we encourage them, hence we are expanding the pilot.
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(CB)
My Lords—
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(CB)
My Lords—
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Noble Lords
Hannay!
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The Minister of State, Ministry of Defence (Earl Howe)
(Con)
My Lords, it is an invidious choice between the noble
Lords, Lord Hannay and Lord Green, but I think the noble
Lord, Lord Green, was attempting to rise to his feet
earlier.
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I am grateful to the noble Earl, and I hope that I may also
be nothing if not consistent. Is the noble Baroness aware
that the number of foreign nationals in the UK who arrive
to study is, according to the Labour Force Survey, 1
million? In that case, is it not surely essential that they
should be included in the migration statistics, as the ONS
intends and as the Royal Statistical Society has
recommended? It is a question not of who is allowed in but
of counting them as they come and go.
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The noble Lord is absolutely right. Earlier this year, the
Royal Statistical Society agreed with that approach and
said that,
“we believe it is imperative for due attention to be paid
to the international definitions of migration, which lead
to the inclusion of students in the figures”.
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(Lab)
My Lords, is it not a fact that the combination of Home
Office measures has had a dampening impact on overseas
recruitment and we are losing market share? Coming back to
the issue of statistics, the Minister’s own department’s
official statistics in August last year showed that 95% of
international students coming from outside the EU were
fully accounted for, either by leaving to go back home or
by receiving an extension of their leave to be here because
they are extending their studies. What is the problem with
the Home Office in coming to a sensible resolution of this?
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The noble Lord is absolutely right that 95% of students—I
thought it was slightly more—are compliant. However, I
dispute his point about discouraging students. As I said in
reply to the original Question, student numbers were up 6%
this year. However, if people come here and require services
such as housing or other sorts of public services, those
figures have to be considered in all sorts of ways when
planning for the population that is resident here.
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(LD)
My Lords, will the Minister consider that what may be gained
in the numbers is lost by the message as it is heard:
foreigners are not welcome, and the British do not understand
the international nature of learning?
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My Lords, the message that is going out appears to be from
your Lordships’ House and is not being heard internationally.
Much has been made of applications from India. Last year, the
numbers granted increased by 28%. I dispute that students are
not feeling welcome in this country. They are applying in
their droves.
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(Con)
My Lords, my noble friend will acknowledge that this House
has repeatedly discussed this issue in great detail and with
near unanimity. What is the real obstacle to separating the
students from those who are coming indefinitely? Doing so
would be sensible; it would encourage our universities; and
it would give a message that the doors really are open for
students throughout the world.
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My Lords, I think I have explained that, given the increases
in visa applications and grants that have happened in the
last 12 months—in fact, since 2010—students are not deterred
from coming to this country to gain a world-class education.
I think I have explained, too, that if students were not
counted, we may not be able to plan accordingly for some of
the vital services that people who live here use.
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