Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to attract international workers with science, technology, maths, and engineering qualifications to the UK.

Attracting international talent is a key component of our global points-based immigration system. We have a very generous immigration offer, which enables talented scientists, academics and creatives to come to the UK through several different routes, including Global Talent, Skilled Worker, Creative and Temporary Worker Government Authorised Exchange (GAE) routes.

The new Points-Based System is working well, attracting skills the UK needs, as demonstrated by the latest Immigration Statistics for yearend September 2021 with issuance of work visas across all routes is up on both 2020 and 2019 (pre-pandemic).

Since its launch in 2020 the Global Talent route has seen a significant increase in applicants compared to the predecessor route, despite the impact on international travel caused by the pandemic. The number of visas granted on this route has continued to grow from 422 between its launch in February 2020 to year end September 2020, to 1,709 applicants for the year ending September 2021.

A new High Potential route will launch later this year, to further enhance our excellent offer to talented individuals with qualifications in sectors such as science, technology, maths and engineering.