National statistics

About this release

Published 29 November 2018

The Home Office ‘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 UKVI. It helps inform users such as the government, Parliament, the media and the wider public, and supports the development and monitoring of policy.

The release includes the latest statistics, up to the end of September 2018 on a range of topics including:

• How many people come or plan to come to the UK based on admissions data
• Entry clearance visas, including information on those coming for study, work and family reasons as well as to visit
• Extensions of stay
• Settlement
• Citizenship
• Asylum and resettlement
• Detention under immigration powers
• Returns (both enforced and voluntary returns)

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 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 of Practice, being responsible for their timing, content and methodology.

The Home Office ‘Immigration Statistics’ series forms part of a larger cross Government Statistical Service migration statistics transformation plan to meet changing user needs, and which will begin to put administrative data at the core of evidence on migration.

1. National Statistics

The UK Statistics Authority has designated these statistics as National Statistics signifying compliance with the Code of Practice for Statistics (see the ‘Code of Practice for statistics’ 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 Statistics. Feedback on the release, including any changes, and proposals for future changes, are welcome. If you have any comments, suggestions or enquiries, please email the team at: MigrationStatsEnquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk.

2.1 Deaths in detention and absconds from detention

This release includes, for the first time, data on the number of deaths in detention and absconds from the detention estate. These data will be reported on an annual basis.

Data on deaths in detention include those who died while held solely under immigration powers in detention facilities (such as IRCs, STHF, and PDA). They do not include those who died while being held solely under immigration powers in prison, or after leaving detention.

Data on absconds include those who abscond from detention facilities, and those who abscond while being escorted under immigration powers (for example, from one facility to another). They do not include absconds while being held solely under immigration powers in prison and may exclude cases where individuals have absconded for very short periods of time. The definition of an abscond will be kept under review.

2.2 Consultation on International Migration Statistics Outputs

ONS with the Home Office and Department for Work and Pensions 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 that publish 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 reviewed responses to this consultation and have implemented 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 annual commentary in August 2017. 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. Further changes will be made in due course; see ‘Future changes’ below for details.

If you have any feedback on these changes, please email: MigrationStatsEnquiries@homeoffice.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 set out the statistical implications of the change and how to respond to the consultation, which closed on 2 September 2017. The Home Office is currently reviewing the large number of responses it received.

3.2 Data table development

We intend to review the format of our published data tables in order to make the data more accessible to users. The aim is to allow users more flexibility to use the data in the format they require, while ensuring key statistics are easily accessible. In order to ensure this is possible, some of the existing breakdowns in the data may change. These changes are intended to take effect in 2019. Users are invited to comment on specific uses of the data in order to ensure their needs are met.

3.3 Enforcement data review

The Home Office is reviewing the enforcement data that it publishes in order to ensure it provides a comprehensive overview of the detention and returns system. If you have any comments on the statistics currently published in this section and the associated data tables, including information that you find particularly helpful and information that you would like to see published in the future, please send these to MigrationStatsEnquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk.

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 provide information on proposed changes or improvements to the statistics. The forum is a user-led group with over 200 members and affiliated to the wider Statistics User Forum established by the Royal Statistical Society, which meets annually at its conference, usually held in September/October. Home Office Analysis and Insight uses the user forum for communication with migration statistics users, including providing information on new data and publications.

Details of the next annual conference, any other events and information relating to migration publications will be sent to members of the forum via its distribution list. The distribution list is available to join through the MIGRATION-STATS JISCmail list.

5. Other Home Office research and statistics

This section outlines other relevant migration research, analysis and statistics that have been published by the Home Office.

Experimental statistics on ‘Asylum claims on the basis of sexual orientation’ were published as part of this release. This provides an update to the report published in November 2017 and contains data on asylum claims, initial decisions and appeals of cases where sexual orientation formed part of the basis for the claim.

‘Migration research and analysis’ brings together all documents relating to migration research, analysis and statistics. Reports from the Home Office include analysis of the Social and Public Service impacts of migration; the Student visitor route; the reason for migration and labour market characteristics of foreign-born residents; the impacts of migration on UK native employment: a review of the evidence; and trends in employment and occupational skill levels amongst UK and foreign nationals.

‘Migration transparency data’ include performance data related to areas in the Home Office business plan. They also include data on borders and immigration activity which has been regularly requested from the Home Office by the Home Affairs Select Committee.

In February 2018, ‘Statistics on changes in migrants’ visa and leave status: 2016’ was published. This release is the eighth in the series, and explores migrants’ journeys through the UK’s immigration system.

In August 2018, the ‘Third report on statistics being collected under the exit checks programme’, was published. The report provides data collected on travellers departing and arriving in the UK as part of the Home Office exit checks programme with a particular focus on the requirements for statistical reporting rather than the operational use of the data.

The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has been commissioned by the Home Office to produce a number of reports on skilled work shortages and analyses of the Tier 1 and Tier 2 system.

6. Further information and feedback

The content and format of the quarterly release and associated data tables is currently being reviewed. This means the release may be subject to change in the future. As well as general feedback on the release, we are particularly interested in user views on:

• the level of detail provided in the commentary on a quarterly basis and in the more substantial August release; this follows changes implemented in response to the user consultation that ran at the end of 2016
• accessibility, formatting and usability across the suite of data tables
• key areas of the release that are particularly important to you, and how you use them

If you have any comments, or suggestions for the development of this report, please provide feedback by emailing MigrationStatsEnquiries@homeoffice.gov.uk. Please include the words ‘PUBLICATION FEEDBACK’ in the subject of your email.

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 Bex Newell. 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.