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Rise in foreign born UK residents East European worker influx slows
(about 2 hours later)
The number of people born overseas and resident in the UK rose to 6.5 million in the year to June 2008, says the Office for National Statistics (ONS). There has been a big fall in the number of East Europeans registering to work in the UK, official figures show.
That figure was an increase of 290,000 on the 12 months to June 2007. Some 720,000 National Insurance numbers were issued to foreign workers in the year to September 2008, the Office for National Statistics has said.
Some 720,000 National Insurance numbers were issued to foreign nationals in the year to September 2008, new official figures also show. That is 7% down on the previous year, with the biggest decline - 21% - coming from new EU nations such as Poland.
That is 7% down on the previous year - with a 21% fall for people from east Europe and other new EU states. But figures also show a 290,000 rise in overseas-born UK residents, which hit 6.5 million in the year to June 2008.
The Annual Population Survey showed 4.1 million foreign nationals living in the UK in the year to June 2008, compared with 3.8 million in the year to June 2007.
But separate figures suggest the number of migrants applying to work in the UK from Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Hungary, Slovakia, Slovenia, Estonia and the Czech Republic, is at its lowest level since those countries joined the EU in 2004.
'Good news'
This was mainly explained by a drop in approved Polish applicants for work, which fell to 16,000 in the final quarter of 2008 from 36,000 in the same period in 2007, the Home Office said.
Border and Immigration Minister Phil Woolas said: "The number of Eastern Europeans coming here to work is dramatically falling and research suggests that many of those that came have now gone home.
"Nevertheless, the government is doing everything it can to ensure migration is working for the British labour market and the country as a whole."
The figures were welcomed by a cross-party group on migration, headed by Labour MP Frank Field and Conservative Nicholas Soames.
In a joint statement, they said: "This is good news. As we predicted immigration from the European Union is coming down.
"The government must, like us, now focus on immigration from outside the EU, which is now the main source of immigration."
Asylum removalsAsylum removals
The Annual Population Survey showed 4.1 million foreign nationals resident in the UK in the year to June 2008, compared with 3.8 million in the year to June 2007. Other figures released earlier reveal the number of people from outside the EU granted the right to settle in the UK, was 145,965, an increase of 17% on the previous year.
But the number of short-term migrants entering England and Wales for employment or study purposes for stays of between one and 12 months fell to 374,000 in the year to mid-2007, a 13% decrease from the mid-2006 estimate. This was largely down to an increase in the number of people allowed to stay because of their job, which returned to 2005 levels.
Asylum applications were 10% higher in 2008 at 25,670 but there was a 5% increase in removals and voluntary departures compared to 2007, with 66,275 leaving the UK that way.Asylum applications were 10% higher in 2008 at 25,670 but there was a 5% increase in removals and voluntary departures compared to 2007, with 66,275 leaving the UK that way.
But the figures show a 2% reduction in applications in the fourth quarter of 2008. But figures for the final quarter of 2008 suggest a slight fall of 2% in the number of asylum applications and removals.
The number of people granted settlement rights in the United Kingdom, excluding EU nationals, was 145,965, an increase of 17% on the previous year. There was also 37% fall in the number of asylum seekers in receipt of government support in the final quarter of 2008, from 44,495 to 32,580.
This was largely down to an increase in the number of people granted settlement because of their job, which returned to 2005 levels. But there was a significant increase in the number of failed asylum seekers given emergency help with food and accommodation, which went up to 2,580 in the final quarter of 2008, an increase of 63% on the same quarter in 2007.
The figures also suggest that the Home Office met its target for the removal of foreign national prisoners.
Points-based systemPoints-based system
On Sunday Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she was "raising the bar" for non-EU workers seeking skilled jobs. On Sunday Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she was "raising the bar" for workers from outside the EU seeking skilled jobs.
Immigrants should not be able to take them unless they had been advertised to British workers first, she told the BBC.Immigrants should not be able to take them unless they had been advertised to British workers first, she told the BBC.
Non-EU workers have to go through a points-based system to seek work but most EU citizens face no restrictions.Non-EU workers have to go through a points-based system to seek work but most EU citizens face no restrictions.
Ms Smith told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show that it was right the government made sure that the points-based system was "responding to the current economic circumstances".Ms Smith told BBC One's Andrew Marr Show that it was right the government made sure that the points-based system was "responding to the current economic circumstances".
"I'm proposing, for example, that it shouldn't be possible for somebody to come into this country to take a skilled job unless that job has been advertised to a British worker through Jobcentre Plus.""I'm proposing, for example, that it shouldn't be possible for somebody to come into this country to take a skilled job unless that job has been advertised to a British worker through Jobcentre Plus."
From April, non-EU workers wanting to come to Britain without securing a job beforehand must have a master's degree - rather than a bachelor's degree, as currently - and a previous salary equivalent to at least £20,000.From April, non-EU workers wanting to come to Britain without securing a job beforehand must have a master's degree - rather than a bachelor's degree, as currently - and a previous salary equivalent to at least £20,000.
The Conservatives say the government is only tinkering at the edges of the problem and say a cap on immigrants from outside the EU is needed.The Conservatives say the government is only tinkering at the edges of the problem and say a cap on immigrants from outside the EU is needed.