We will monitor the impact of the new family migration rules. The Migration Advisory Committee,

in providing advice on the level of the minimum income threshold for the sponsorship of a family migrant, discussed whether the minimum income threshold should vary by region, but advised that there was no clear case for this approach.

Entry clearance visa applications are made from outside the UK. The available information relates to the total number of visas issued and does not provide a breakdown by the location of the visa applicant's sponsor. The numbers issued are given in the following table:

Entry clearance visa applications are made from outside the UK. The available information relates to the total number of visas issued and does not provide a breakdown by the location of the visa applicant's sponsor. The numbers issued are given in the following table:

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Glen Watson, Director General for ONS, to Baroness Hayter, dated January 2013.

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics, I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question asking in the light of the findings of the Electoral Commission's November 2012 report Continuous Electoral Registration in Northern Ireland that changes of address are the key change that needs to be managed by the registration system', and that -continuous registration is not keeping pace with population movement in Northern Ireland'', whether they will set out the average rates of population movement in Northern Ireland in comparison with (1) England, (2) Wales and (3) Scotland. HL4394

A measure of population movement based on this definition can be derived for local authority areas in England and Wales from the ONS's Mid-Year Population Estimates. The table below contains the relevant data. It shows that an estimated 5.5% of the population of England at mid-2010 had moved out of their local authority area (to elsewhere in England, elsewhere in the UK, or to another country) by mid-2011. The corresponding percentage for Wales was 4.0%.

Similar measures for Scotland and Northern Ireland would be a matter for the respective statistical authorities.

Source: ONS

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Glen Watson, Director General for ONS, to Lord Laird, dated January 2012.

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to respond to your Parliamentary Question To ask Her Majesty's Government why they propose to disaggregate the totals for net migration to indicate the student element when the international standard is to include migrating students; whether they will distinguish between students at universities and those at private colleges: and how they intend to improve the quality of data on students leaving the country [HL4423].

ONS does not intend to remove students from official net migration estimates and will continue to use the UN definition of a long-term international migrant.

ONS uses data from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) to estimate long-term international migration (LTIM) with adjustments made for asylum seekers, people whose intentions change with regards to their length of stay, and migration to and from Northern

Ireland. Net LTIM estimates will continue to adhere to the UN definition of a long-term international migrant, which states that a long-term migrant is a person who changes his or her country of usual residence for a period of at least a year. This definition applies to all migrants, regardless of their reason for migration.

Since 2009, student migration forms the largest single category of long-term migration to the UK. Until January 2012, the IPS only collected information on a person's main reason for migrating. This means that a person may have arrived to study, but left several years later for a different reason, such as work. Therefore it was not possible to identify how many migrants who originally arrived to study have since left the UK.

In January 2012, new questions were added to the IPS to ask those leaving the UK what their main reason for migrating was when they originally arrived in the UK. A further new question asks all emigrants if they have studied while in the UK. These changes will provide better information on emigrants who originally arrived in the UK to study or who arrived for another reason but studied while they were in the UK. These new data, relating to the year ending December 2012, will be available in August 2013.

ONS is unable to distinguish between students at universities and those at private colleges as that information is not collected on the IPS.

Since the phasing out of embarkation controls in 1994, no Government has ever been able to produce an accurate figure for the number of people who are in the country illegally. By its very nature, it is impossible to quantify accurately and that remains the case. Information on the number of tourist visitors to the United Kingdom who overstayed their visa over the last five years could be obtained only by the detailed examination of individual case records at disproportionate cost.

e-Borders screens over 64% of passenger movements in and out of the UK (including 100% of commercial aviation routes from outside the EEA). e-Borders enables us to target the most harmful individuals and supports the ability to undertake effective exit checks as passengers leave the UK. It processes in excess of 138 million passenger and crew movements a year across more than 4,300 routes.

e-Borders is one of a comprehensive suite of checks being carried out at the border. Through screening passenger data against wider watchlists and databases, the system has proved successful in detecting previously unknown individuals and providing an intelligence-led basis to undertaking interventions at ports of arrival or departure and elsewhere across the globe.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Glen Watson, dated December 2012:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to respond to your question to ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what the (a) percentage reduction and (b) population decline was in (i) overall net migration to the UK and (ii) applications for student visas to study in UK further and higher education institutions from overseas applicants in the last year for which figures are available (135484).

ONS estimates of overall net migration to the UK are for long term international migrants and adhere to the UN definition stating that a long-term migrant is a person who changes his or her country of usual residence for a period of at least a year. Net migration is calculated by subtracting emigration flows from immigration flows.

Latest available data show that the percentage reduction in overall net migration to the UK between the year ending March 2011 and the year ending March 2012 was 24.6 per cent. The decline in overall net migration to the UK in this period was 60,000; from +242,000 in the year ending March 2011 to +183,000 in the year ending March 2012. These long-term international migration (LTIM) estimates are provisional for the year ending March 2012 and final for the year ending March 2011. The published tables of provisional LTIM estimates for the year ending March 2012 can be found here:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/publications/re-reference-tables.html?edition=tcm%3A77-280887

The Home Office advise that to apply for a student visa, individuals must use a confirmation of acceptance for studies from a sponsoring educational institution.

The data available by education sector relates to use of certificates of acceptance for study in entry clearance visa applications under Tier 4, referred to below as sponsored visa applications.

In the year ending September 2012, there were 211,001 sponsored visa applications (main applicants), a fall of 29% compared with the previous 12 months. This included an increase of 1% for the university sector (UK-based Higher Education Institutions, to 155,821), and a fall of 67%, in the further education sector (Tertiary, further education or other colleges to 32,900).

The data are provided in the table in the accompanying spreadsheet.

The data on sponsored visa applications by education sector is published in the quarterly Immigration Statistics (tables cs.07 and cs.07.q), a copy of which is available from the library of the House of Commons or from the Home Office's website at:

www.homeoffice.gov.uk/science-research/research-statistics/migration/migration-statistics1/

I refer the hon. Gentleman to the answer given to him by the Parliamentary Secretary for the Cabinet Office, my hon. Friend the Member for Ruislip, Northwood and Pinner (Mr Hurd), on 12 December 2012, Official Report, columns 378-80W.

No assessment of these figures has been undertaken.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Glen Watson, dated December 2012:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to respond to your Parliamentary Question to Her Majesty's Government, to ask the Minister of

the Cabinet Office how many people (a) have moved residence to Wales from Scotland, England and Northern Ireland and (b) have moved residence from Wales to Scotland, England and Northern Ireland in each of the last five years. [133522].

The tables show the estimated number of people who have moved residence to Wales from Scotland, England and Northern Ireland; and from Wales to Scotland, England and Northern Ireland for the years 2007-2011. This is the latest year for which internal migration data is available.

The estimates are produced using a combination of data from the National Health Service Central Register, Patient Register Data System and Higher Education Statistics Agency. A detailed description of the methodology used to create internal migration estimates is available at:

http://www.ons.gov.uk/ons/guide-method/method-quality/specific/population-and-migration/estimating-internal-migration-customer-guidance-notes.pdf

The Secretary of State for the Home Office can confirm that financial contributions made by the UK Border Agency (UKBA) to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in financial year 2011-12 consist of the following:

A membership payment to IOM, half of which is paid for by the Department for International Development (DFID), the other half of which is paid by the UK Border Agency.

The amount calculated and invoiced is for calendar years, but the amount calculated due from both parties for the financial year 2011-12 was £1,941,190.34.

Payment to IOM for running the UKBA Assisted Voluntary Returns (AVR) programme in Afghanistan for 2011-12 amounted to £718,635.67. This represents a payment on account for services receivable during the period August 2011 to August 2012.

Payment to IOM for running a Facilitated Return Scheme (FRS) in 2011-12 amounted to £396,176.27. This represents a payment on account for services during the period April 2011 to March 2012.

An amount of £28,978.34 was also paid in financial year 2011-12 in relation to payments for moving refugees.

The Home Office is not undertaking any research into domestic violence among (a) migrant families and (b) families where one spouse is a migrant.

The information requested falls within the responsibility of the UK Statistics Authority. I have asked the authority to reply.

Letter from Stephen Penneck, dated September 2012:

As Director General for the Office for National Statistics (ONS), I have been asked to respond to your question concerning what level of reduction in UK net migration from 2010 to 2011 would have been regarded by the Office for National Statistics as statistically significant (121381).

On August 30, ONS published provisional estimates of Long Term International Migration (LTIM) for 2011. Estimates from the International Passenger Survey (IPS) are the main component used to calculate LTIM. As with all survey estimates, they carry a degree of uncertainty due to sampling variation. The uncertainty around the IPS based migration estimates was expressed as a confidence interval in this publication. A confidence interval provides an upper and lower limit in which we would expect the true value to lie with 95% probability.

These confidence intervals were published alongside inflow, outflow and net flow estimates. The change seen in the net migration estimates from 252,000 in 2010 to 216,000 (provisional) in 2011 was described as not statistically significant. This is because the confidence intervals for the IPS component for each estimate overlapped and the difference between the figures could have been due to sampling variation.

The 2011 provisional estimate for net migration would have needed to be below 180,000, for ONS to regard the change from 2010 as statistically significant. The upper limit of the confidence interval associated with an estimate below 180,000 is less than the lower limit of the 2010 estimate, so the confidence intervals do not overlap and the difference between the two estimates is considered to be statistically significant.

I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for Education.

'Statutory arrangements are in place to identify children who are in need or at risk or who have special educational needs and their families. Should any families with such children have to move as the result of changes to housing allowances and the introduction of universal credit then schools and local authorities will have the duties to transfer information.

Schools are under a duty when a pupil changes school to transfer the pupil's educational records and the Common Transfer File, which includes information on a child's special educational needs. Where a child has a statement of special educational needs moves between authorities local authorities are under a duty to transfer the statement to the new authority and may also transfer any opinion they have received under the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986 that the child is disabled. Upon transfer of the statement, the new authority becomes responsible for maintaining the statement and for providing the special educational provision specified in it.

No guidance has been specifically given to local authorities about children identified as in need or at risk as a result of families migration.

Statutory guidance, ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children’ and the ‘Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families’ provides clear guidance for professionals to follow when they suspect a child may be suffering or likely to suffer harm, or is in need. Local authorities have a statutory duty under the Children Act 1989 to promote the welfare of children and carry out an assessment if they suspect a child may be suffering harm.

This guidance is currently the subject of a national consultation. While professionals' basic responsibilities will not change, revised guidance aims to clarify these roles and responsibilities and to reduce bureaucracy, giving them more scope to focus firmly on the needs of the child.

Statutory arrangements are in place to identify children who are in need or at risk or who have special educational needs and their families. Should any families with such children have to move as the result of changes to housing allowances and the introduction of universal credit then schools and local authorities will have the duties to transfer information.

Schools are under a duty when a pupil changes school to transfer the pupil's educational records and the Common Transfer File, which includes information on a child's special educational needs. Where a child has a statement of special educational needs moves between authorities local authorities are under a duty to transfer the statement to the new authority and may also transfer any opinion they have received under the Disabled Persons (Services, Consultation and Representation) Act 1986 that the child is disabled. Upon transfer of the statement, the new authority becomes responsible for maintaining the statement and for providing the special educational provision specified in it.

No guidance has been specifically given to local authorities about children identified as in need or at risk as a result of families’ migration.

Statutory guidance, ‘Working Together to Safeguard Children and the Framework for the Assessment of Children in Need and their Families’ provides clear guidance for professionals to follow when they suspect a child may be suffering or likely to suffer harm, or is in need. Local authorities have a statutory duty under the Children Act 1989 to promote the welfare of children and carry out an assessment if they suspect a child may be suffering harm.

This guidance is currently the subject of a national consultation. While professionals' basic responsibilities will not change, revised guidance aims to clarify these roles and responsibilities and to reduce bureaucracy, giving them more scope to focus firmly on the needs of the child.

On 15 March 2012 the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) published information on the reassessment of incapacity benefits claimants to employment and support allowance (ESA) on a national level for the first time. The report can be found at the following link:

http://statistics.dwp.gov.uk/asd/workingage/index.php?page=esa_ibr

A date for the next release is not yet available. As for all DWP Official Statistics, once a release date exists this is pre-announced on the UK Statistics Authority publication hub in accordance with Code of Practice for Official Statistics. This can be found at the following link:

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/hub/index.html

The release date will also be announced on the DWP webpage at the first link above.

I have been asked to reply on behalf of the Department for International Development.

We have had no reports of the Sudanese Government establishing camps in Sudan to temporarily accommodate South Sudanese. A recent report following a comprehensive interagency assessment has recorded 40,000 South Sudanese currently living in temporary settlements in Khartoum. The majority of these people are waiting to return to South Sudan. The UK is supporting the talks in Addis Ababa and urging both governments to reach an agreement on citizenship rights.