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Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

I declare an interest as a retired academic, although I still have a number of PhD students, some of whom have not completed their PhDs in the requisite preferred three-year period. Happily, at the moment, I have none from outside the European Union, but several of my colleagues at the London School of Economics do. I recognise this clause as an old friend. We have been through this over many years, and my first question has to be whether the Government have fully consulted Universities UK and whether Universities UK has expressed itself happy with this. On previous occasions over at least the past 10 years, we have had problems when those in Government concerned with higher education have taken one view and those in the Home Office concerned with stopping overstayers have taken an entirely different view, and it has been clear that there has not been a coherent government position. I hope that that is not the case now. We recognise that there is a problem with overstayers. Nevertheless, we also recognise that, given the nature of research degrees and the quality of research in this country, it is very difficult to tell people that they will spend only three years examining a particular problem. Very often, when you start out on a research degree, it is very difficult to say how long it will take. Over the years, we have seen limitations on how long people are allowed to enter for and rising costs for renewing their visas when the time comes. We are putting obstacles in front of bright young people who want to study in Britain. Many of us have argued that the answer had to be in the registration of institutions since, as I have understood on several occasions, the problem has been most acute with fly-by-night colleges or second-floor colleges setting themselves up as the London college of whatever it is that attracts people in from obscure parts of the world. It would have been, and remains, relatively easy to sort out which are genuine institutions of further and higher education and which are fly-by-night operations. I am conscious, however, that it is not always as easy as that. I was lobbied on my way home the other night by a woman who used to be my Alexander technique teacher and who is currently training Alexander technique students from Latin America. It takes two to three years to train them through an apprenticeship, and one of her immediate concerns is precisely Clause 47. I therefore register the unhappiness throughout the higher education sector at this whole process and would like reassurance that there has been very full consultation in government with what I think we are now supposed to call DIUS—no doubt it will have a different name in a couple of months—and effective consultation with Universities UK.