Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what estimate her Department has made of the number of international graduates who have remained in the UK via the Graduate Route visa since its introduction; and what assessment she has made with Cabinet colleagues of their contribution to the economy.

Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

The Home Office publishes data on extensions of stay as part of the Immigration System Statistics quarterly release. Data on the number of grants issued under the Graduate route since its introduction are published in table Exe_D01 of the Extensions detailed datasets. The latest data is available up to the end of June 2026.

These statistics relate to grants rather than unique individuals and, therefore, should not be interpreted as a direct count of people. However, they should provide a reasonable proxy for the number of individuals who have extended their stay in the UK under the Graduate route. The data can be broken down between main applicants and their dependants.

Migration Statistics are not currently aware of any estimates of the contribution of these individuals to the UK economy.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of international examples of regional migration schemes, including those operating in Canada and Australia, and their applicability to Scotland.

Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Regional migration schemes would create internal borders within the UK, which operates on a much smaller geographic scale to Canada or Australia and has fewer barriers to people relocating within it. The Migration Advisory Committee has looked at this issue many times and found the labour market needs of the different UK nations to be broadly similar.

Employment is a devolved matter and migration is only a small part of the labour market. However, our approach is to link migration policy and visa controls to skills and labour market policies, so that immigration is not used as an alternative to training or tackling workforce problems in the UK. As such, the Devolved Governments are represented in our new Labour Market Evidence Group to take account of workforce needs in different areas of the UK.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment has been made of whether the current immigration system meets Scotland’s projected workforce needs over the next ten years.

Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

Regional migration schemes would create internal borders within the UK, which operates on a much smaller geographic scale to Canada or Australia and has fewer barriers to people relocating within it. The Migration Advisory Committee has looked at this issue many times and found the labour market needs of the different UK nations to be broadly similar.

Employment is a devolved matter and migration is only a small part of the labour market. However, our approach is to link migration policy and visa controls to skills and labour market policies, so that immigration is not used as an alternative to training or tackling workforce problems in the UK. As such, the Devolved Governments are represented in our new Labour Market Evidence Group to take account of workforce needs in different areas of the UK.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, with reference to clause 23(5) of the Immigration and Asylum Bill, whether her Department intends to carry out individual destitution tests on all refugees or whether a minimum income threshold will be set.

Answered by Anna Turley - Minister of State (Home Office)

The Immigration and Asylum Bill introduces the principle that, where a person has received taxpayer-funded asylum support and later becomes financially able to contribute towards those costs, it is right and fair that they should do so.

The detailed design of the scheme, including repayment thresholds and rates, will be set out in secondary legislation.

The policy intent is that repayment will only begin once an individual reaches a defined threshold for repayment and that deductions will be set at a manageable rate so that recovery remains proportionate and does not cause hardship or destitution.

Any regulations will be subject to parliamentary scrutiny and there will be clear safeguards to ensure the scheme operates fairly.

Draft regulations will be shared during the passage of the Immigration and Asylum Bill through Parliament.

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the impact of UK asylum processing backlogs on Scottish local authority public services.

Answered by Jo White - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)

We have restored order to what was a huge backlog of cases, with a streamlined and stable caseload that can be processed quickly and efficiently, ensuring people spend less time awaiting an initial asylum decision.

At the end of June 2026 there were 40,168 people (relating to 32,401 cases) awaiting an initial decision, 56% less than at the end of June 2025 and the lowest level since June 2019.

The Home Office recognises the importance of a smooth transition for individuals leaving asylum accommodation following a positive asylum decision. We have deployed Asylum Move On Liaison Officers (AMLOs) across the UK, including in Glasgow and Aberdeenshire. AMLOs work with newly granted refugees, local authorities and partner organisations to support successful move on from asylum accommodation.

The Home Office continues to engage regularly with local authorities, Strategic Migration Partnerships and other stakeholders to understand local pressures and address issues raised by local partners.

To support local planning and preparedness, the Home Office shares the Discontinuation Prediction Tool (DPT) on a weekly basis. This provides a forward look of cases expected to enter the discontinuation process and the potential number of individuals who may seek support from local authorities following a positive asylum decision.

Following notification from the Home Office that a decision has been served, accommodation providers notify local authorities within two working days. The Home Office continues to work with accommodation providers to support consistent and timely notifications across all areas.

The steps we have already taken to streamline the asylum process and increase our efficiency are paying off and is an important achievement in building an asylum system that is efficient, sustainable and flexible.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what discussions officials in her Department have had with a) the Scottish Government and b) representatives of Scottish universities regarding the fall in overseas student numbers since Brexit.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Education is a devolved matter. As such, the Scottish Government is responsible for higher education (HE) policy in Scotland

The independent regulator of the English HE sector, the Office for Students (OfS), is responsible for monitoring the sector’s financial position. We work closely with the OfS to understand emerging issues and risks within the sector. As HE providers in England are independent of government, they are responsible for managing their own finances. All providers must continue to adapt their business models as necessary to safeguard their long-term financial sustainability.

Our world class HE sector rightly attracts students from across the globe, who positively impact our HE sector, economy, and society as a whole and become global ambassadors for the UK.

The UK government’s International Education Champion, Sir Steve Smith, is a member of the Scottish government’s International Education Strategy Governance Group and there are regular engagements between officials of both governments on matters pertaining to international students.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of trends in the number of overseas university students enrolling in UK higher education institutions since the UK’s departure from the European Union.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Education is a devolved matter. As such, the Scottish Government is responsible for higher education (HE) policy in Scotland

The independent regulator of the English HE sector, the Office for Students (OfS), is responsible for monitoring the sector’s financial position. We work closely with the OfS to understand emerging issues and risks within the sector. As HE providers in England are independent of government, they are responsible for managing their own finances. All providers must continue to adapt their business models as necessary to safeguard their long-term financial sustainability.

Our world class HE sector rightly attracts students from across the globe, who positively impact our HE sector, economy, and society as a whole and become global ambassadors for the UK.

The UK government’s International Education Champion, Sir Steve Smith, is a member of the Scottish government’s International Education Strategy Governance Group and there are regular engagements between officials of both governments on matters pertaining to international students.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of reduced numbers of EU students on the financial stability of higher education institutions across the UK.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Education is a devolved matter. As such, the Scottish Government is responsible for higher education (HE) policy in Scotland

The independent regulator of the English HE sector, the Office for Students (OfS), is responsible for monitoring the sector’s financial position. We work closely with the OfS to understand emerging issues and risks within the sector. As HE providers in England are independent of government, they are responsible for managing their own finances. All providers must continue to adapt their business models as necessary to safeguard their long-term financial sustainability.

Our world class HE sector rightly attracts students from across the globe, who positively impact our HE sector, economy, and society as a whole and become global ambassadors for the UK.

The UK government’s International Education Champion, Sir Steve Smith, is a member of the Scottish government’s International Education Strategy Governance Group and there are regular engagements between officials of both governments on matters pertaining to international students.

Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment her Department has made of the potential impact of reduced numbers of EU students on the financial stability of higher education institutions in Scotland.

Answered by Josh MacAlister - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Education)

Education is a devolved matter. As such, the Scottish Government is responsible for higher education (HE) policy in Scotland

The independent regulator of the English HE sector, the Office for Students (OfS), is responsible for monitoring the sector’s financial position. We work closely with the OfS to understand emerging issues and risks within the sector. As HE providers in England are independent of government, they are responsible for managing their own finances. All providers must continue to adapt their business models as necessary to safeguard their long-term financial sustainability.

Our world class HE sector rightly attracts students from across the globe, who positively impact our HE sector, economy, and society as a whole and become global ambassadors for the UK.

The UK government’s International Education Champion, Sir Steve Smith, is a member of the Scottish government’s International Education Strategy Governance Group and there are regular engagements between officials of both governments on matters pertaining to international students.

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