FEWER FOREIGNERS MOVING TO COV AFTER BREXIT

THE number of foreigners moving to Coventry plummeted after the Brexit referendum, figures have revealed.

Some 8,674 “longterm” international migrants - defined as those who stay for at least a year - arrived in the city from overseas between mid-2016 and mid-2017, according to estimates published by the Office for National Statistics.

That was down from 10,416 the previous year.

The Brexit referendum took place in June 2016 - in other words, right at the start of the period being measured.

The data shows that the number of people leaving Coventry to move abroad long-term also fell - but far less sharply.

Between mid-2016 and mid-2017, 2,368 people left the city - down from 2,764 the previous year.

The figures do not reveal how many of those 2,368 were foreign-born, or the countries they moved to.

It means net long-term international migration to the city dropped from 7,652 in the 12 months to mid-2016, to 6,306 in the 12 months to mid-2017.

The trend in Coventry was replicated in other parts of the region, and the country.

The number of longterm international migrants arriving in the wider West Midlands dropped by 9,566 from 54,885 in the year to mid2016, to 45,319 in the year to mid-2017.

There were a number of places - including Cumbria, Warrington and Cheltenham - where the number of people leaving the UK long-term outstripped the number of people arriving.

The ONS figures are, ultimately, an estimate, since statisticians have no way of measuring the exact number of foreigners arriving in each town or city.

The estimates are based on a number of sources including applications for National Insurance Numbers and registrations at GP surgeries.

The figures do not include foreigners moving to Coventry from another part of the UK. That is classed as “internal”, rather than international migration.

It has also been revealed that the number of foreigners undergoing British Citizenship Ceremonies in Coventry plummeted by a nearly a quarter last year.

Citizenship Ceremonies are the required final step in becoming a UK citizen.

In order to arrange one, a person must first have spent five years in the UK, or three years if they are the spouse of a UK citizen.

They must also have permanent residence and show sufficient knowledge of the country - generally by passing the Life in the UK test.

Home Office data released shows there were 578 Citizenship Ceremonies in Coventry in 2017, down from 763 in 2016.

That is a fall of 24.5 per cent in just one year.

The figure peaked at 1,322 in 2009 and dropped until 2015, when it stood at 542.

It then rose again in 2016 - potentially because of a rush to claim citizenship after the Brexit referendum before last year’s fall.

Across the UK as a whole, the number of Citizenship Ceremonies fell by 25 per cent, from 111,596 in 2016 to 84,070 in 2017.

The Citizenship data was published by the Home Office as part of a raft of immigration figures released last week.

They also showed net migration to the UK from the EU has fallen to its lowest level in more than five years.

Around 87,000 more long-term migrants arrived from the bloc than left in the year to the end of March.

This is the lowest figure since January to December 2012.

That fall was, however, offset by a significant rise in the number of immigrants from outside Europe.

Overall, net long-term international migration was estimated at 271,000, which is below record levels seen around 2015 and 2016 but still well above the Government’s target of below 100,000.

Year-on-year, net migration was up by just under 30,000, but statisticians attributed the rise to an anomaly in previous estimates of student immigration.

Nicola Rogers, of the Office for National Statistics’ Centre for Migration, said: “The figures show that around 270,000 more people are coming to the UK than leaving, so net migration is continuing to add to the UK population. Net migration has been broadly stable since peak levels seen in 2015 and 2016.

“Looking at the underlying numbers we can see that EU net migration has fallen, as fewer EU citizens are arriving in the UK, and has now returned to the level last seen in 2012. Previously we had seen a decline in the number of EU citizens coming who were looking for work, however this seems to have stabilised.”