Asked by: Baroness Lawlor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government how many migrants who have arrived in the UK in the past three years for which figures are available are (1) overseas students who are taking (a) undergraduate degrees, (b) post-graduate degrees, and (c) other courses, and (2) the families or dependents of overseas students; what proportion of legal migrants each of those categories represents; and what arrangements are in place for monitoring their departure.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
Table: Sponsored study visas by visa routes, applicant type, and course level
| Year ending March 2022 | Year ending March 2023 | Year ending March 2024 | Total (last 3 years) |
Student visas (of which): | 451,467 | 611,685 | 544,231 | 1,607,383 |
Main applicants (of which): | 379,542 | 463,365 | 432,750 | 1,275,657 |
Bachelors level | 100,996 | 107,819 | 106,545 | 315,360 |
Below bachelors level | 19,102 | 22,711 | 22,193 | 64,006 |
Doctoral level | 10,434 | 10,085 | 10,347 | 30,866 |
Masters level | 233,857 | 313,670 | 283,595 | 831,122 |
Other and unknown2 | 15,153 | 9,080 | 10,070 | 34,303 |
Dependants | 71,925 | 148,320 | 111,481 | 331,726 |
Child student visas | 13,248 | 13,158 | 14,174 | 40,580 |
Total - sponsored study visas | 464,715 | 624,843 | 558,405 | 1,647,963 |
There were 3,646,179 visas granted on routes that typically enable migrants to come to the UK ‘long-term’1 between Q2 2021 and Q1 2024, with sponsored study (both for main applicants and dependants) representing 45% of these.
Footnotes:
Departures from the UK are recorded for most journeys. However, there are instances in which a departure may not be recorded, for example those who travel via the Common Travel Area. Those who do remain in the UK after their permission has expired will be considered as overstayers and will be liable for detention and enforced removal.
Asked by: Baroness Lawlor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what proportion of migrants arriving in the UK in the past five years have tried to seek asylum.
Answered by Lord Hanson of Flint - Minister of State (Home Office)
The Home Office publishes data on asylum on gov.uk as part of the ‘Immigration System Statistics Quarterly Release’. Data on the number of people claiming asylum is published in table Asy_D01 of the Asylum detailed datasets. In the five years up to the end of March 2024, 333,282 people claimed asylum (including main applicants and dependants). Individuals must be in the country to apply for asylum; some will apply immediately upon arrival, but others may be in the country for a period of time before applying.
It is not possible to estimate precisely what proportion of migrants claim asylum in the UK. However, ONS estimate that in the last 5 years, 4.82 million people immigrated to the UK for 12 months or more. This includes EU, non-EU and British nationals. It will not include people who arrive irregularly and do not claim asylum, nor short-term migrants (i.e. those coming to the UK for less than 12 months).
Asked by: Baroness Lawlor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to encourage the Bank of England to measure money growth and report annually on the quantity of money, so that steps can be taken to maintain price stability and prevent inflation.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The independent Monetary Policy Committee (MPC) of the Bank of England have operational independence of monetary policy, so the Government rightly does not comment on the conduct of monetary policy.
The MPC regularly monitors money growth and the quantity of money in developing monetary policy, as confirmed by the Governor to the Lords Economic Affairs Committee in February 2024.
The Bank publishes a quarterly Monetary Policy Report which sets out the economic analysis and inflation projections that the MPC uses to make its interest rate decisions. The latest report, published in May 2024, includes an assessment of recent developments in broad money.
Asked by: Baroness Lawlor (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask His Majesty's Government which EU financial services laws have been repealed to promote the international competitiveness and growth of that sector and its contribution to the UK economy under the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023.
Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)
The Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 repeals assimilated law (formerly known as retained EU law), replacing it with rules set by financial services regulators, operating within a framework set by government and Parliament. This repeal is subject to commencement by the Treasury.
As of July 2024, 350 instruments relating to financial services have been replaced – 45% of the total number of instruments. HM Treasury has made or laid instruments to replace assimilated law in areas including Solvency II, the Prospectus Regime, Data Reporting Service Providers, and Securitisation.