National Statistics

About this release

Published 24 August 2017

Immigration Statistics April to June 2017 content page.

The Immigration Statistics quarterly release gives an overview of work on immigration control, entry clearance, asylum and enforcement within the Home Office, including the work of UK Border Force, Immigration Enforcement and UK Visas and Immigration. It helps inform users including the government, Parliament, the media and the wider public, and supports the development and monitoring of policy.

The release includes the latest statistics on how many people come or plan to come to the UK based on admissions and visa data, including information on those coming for study work and family reasons as well as just to visit. Other topics covered are extensions of stay, settlement, citizenship, asylum, resettlement, returns (both enforced removals and voluntary departures) and detention under immigration powers. Detailed tables of figures provide data up to the second quarter of 2017 (April to June).

The Immigration Statistics release is a National Statistics output produced to the highest professional standards and free from political interference. It has been produced by statisticians working in the Migration and Borders Analysis Unit within the Home Office Analysis and Insight Directorate in accordance with the Home Office’s ‘Statement of compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics’ which covers our policy on revisions and other matters. The Chief Statistician, as Head of Profession, reports to the National Statistician with respect to all professional statistical matters and oversees all Home Office National Statistics products with respect to the Code, being responsible for their timing, content and methodology.

1. National Statistics

The UK Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics (see Code of Practice for more details).

Once statistics have been designated as National Statistics it is a statutory requirement that the Code of Practice shall continue to be observed.

The Assessment Report (No. 177) and letter of confirmation as National Statistics can be viewed on the UK Statistics Authority website at Publications: Assessment Report.

2. Changes to the release

The information published in the quarterly Immigration Statistics is kept under review, taking into account the needs of users, and burdens on suppliers and producers, in line with the Code of Practice for Official Statistics. Feedback on the changes detailed below, and proposals for future changes, are welcome. If you have any comments, suggestions or enquiries, please contact the team via email using: MigrationStatsEnquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk.

2.1 Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme

On 21 April 2016, the government announced they would work with UNHCR to resettle vulnerable children at risk and their families from the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region. The Vulnerable Children’s Resettlement Scheme (VCRS) aims to support vulnerable children at risk and their families, with a view of resettling up to 3,000 individuals over the course of this parliament. Figures on the number of people resettled in the UK, by nationality, under this scheme were published for the first time in August 2017 and can be found in Asylum Table as_19_q.

2.2 Consultation on International Migration Statistics Outputs

The Office for National Statistics (ONS) ran a consultation on International Migration Statistics Outputs that closed on 23 December 2016. Although ONS published the consultation, it included questions on presentation of statistics from other government departments (Home Office, Department for Work and Pensions and Her Majesty’s Revenue and Customs) that contribute to the ONS Migration Statistics Quarterly Report or that are published as separate National Statistics relating to migration.

The purpose of this consultation was to gather insight and seek views on the presentation and timing of the government’s international migration statistics outputs and, specifically, what products are used, why and what other data could be published. ONS published a summary of responses to the ‘Consultation on International Migration Statistics Outputs’ on 17 March 2017.

The Home Office Migration Statistics team have reviewed responses to this consultation and have started to implement changes based on the feedback received. The first change was to introduce a shorter quarterly overview of emerging trends, first introduced in May 2017, complemented by a detailed commentary once a year. These changes relate only to the commentary accompanying the release. The consultation did not propose any reduction in the content of the underlying data which continues to be published in the usual way.

If you have any feedback on these changes, please email: MigrationStatsEnquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk.

3. Future changes

3.1 Landing cards

On 5 August 2017, the Home Office launched a consultation on a proposal to end the requirement for non-EEA passengers to present a paper landing card on arrival into the UK from 1 October 2017. The consultation sets out the statistical implications of the change and how to respond to the consultation, which closes on 2 September. It can be found at Home Office’s immigration statistics – arrivals data.

4. Migration Statistics User Forum

The Migration Statistics User Forum has been established for discussion of international migration statistics, allowing users to discuss their need for and use of the data and for producers to consult on presentation and changes. The main focus is on figures for the UK, but this would not exclude discussion of migration statistics for other countries. Home Office Analysis and Insight intends to use this list for communication with users, including data and release developments. The Forum is a user-led group with over 200 members, and has now been affiliated to the Royal Statistical Society.

Copies of the presentations made at the last annual conference of the Forum, held on 21 September 2016, are available from the Royal Statistical Society at Conference of the Migration Statistics User Forum.

The next conference of the Migration Statistics User Forum is on 27 September 2017. The distribution list is available to join through the MIGRATION-STATS JISCmail list.

5. Further information and feedback

We welcome feedback on Immigration Statistics. If you have any comments, suggestions, enquiries or need assistance in accessing the data, please email them to: MigrationStatsEnquiries@homeoffice.gsi.gov.uk.

Or write to:

The Editor, Immigration Statistics
Migration Statistics
14th Floor Lunar House
40 Wellesley Road
Croydon
CR9 2BY

Press enquiries should be made to:

Home Office Press Office
Peel Building
2 Marsham Street
London
SW1P 4DF
Tel: 020 7035 3535

The Home Office Responsible Statistician is Chris Kershaw. The Home Office Migration Statistics mission statement is:

We produce timely, accurate and objective statistics on immigration to support effective delivery of Home Office objectives and to inform government, Parliament and the public.