UK Parliament / Open data

Student Visas

Backbench debate on Thursday, 6 June 2013, in the House of Commons, led by Adrian Bailey. The answering member was Mark Harper.
Unallotted backbench debate (part two). Motion that this House notes the recommendations of the House of Commons Business, Innovation and Skills Committee, the Home Affairs Select Committee, and the Committee of Public Accounts, together with the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee and the EU Sub-Committee on Home Affairs, Health and Education, for the removal of students from net migration targets; and invites the Home Office to further consider the conclusions of these Committees in developing its immigration policy. Agreed to on question.
Type
Parliamentary proceeding
Reference
563 cc1706-1744 
Session
2013-14
Department
Home Office
Chamber / Committee
House of Commons chamber
Proceeding contributions
Adrian Bailey | 563 c1707 (Link to this contribution)

I beg to move,

That this House notes the recommendations of the House of Commons Business, ...

Keith Vaz | 563 c1707 (Link to this contribution)

Will my hon. Friend give way?


Show all contributions (112)
Adrian Bailey | 563 c1707 (Link to this contribution)

Yes, I could not resist the Chair of the Home Affairs Committee.

Keith Vaz | 563 c1708 (Link to this contribution)

I am grateful to my hon. Friend. I congratulate him on securing the debate and accurately reflect...

Adrian Bailey | 563 c1708 (Link to this contribution)

My right hon. Friend makes an important point. It is not just the regulatory regime, but the lang...

Julian Huppert | 563 c1708 (Link to this contribution)

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman and his Committee on securing this debate on a very important i...

Adrian Bailey | 563 c1708 (Link to this contribution)

I agree. In varying degrees, none of those is right at present.

Before I go on to the subst...

Barry Sheerman | 563 c1708 (Link to this contribution)

I congratulate the Chairman of the Select Committee on this very good report. It meshes well with...

Adrian Bailey | 563 cc1708-9 (Link to this contribution)

The hon. Gentleman addresses an important point. Skills and higher education is now a global mark...

Steve McCabe | 563 c1709 (Link to this contribution)

Does my hon. Friend find it slightly perplexing that we have seen a drop of about 40,000 a year i...

Adrian Bailey | 563 c1709 (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend mentions an important point. I shall deal with that in some depth in a moment.

...
Joan Ruddock | 563 c1709 (Link to this contribution)

I congratulate my hon. Friend on his speech. In London alone, tuition fees are paid by overseas s...

Adrian Bailey | 563 cc1709-1710 (Link to this contribution)

I thank my right hon. Friend for her intervention. I will elaborate on that point in a moment, an...

Bob Stewart | 563 c1710 (Link to this contribution)

I congratulate the hon. Gentleman on securing this debate from the Backbench Business Committee. ...

Adrian Bailey | 563 c1710 (Link to this contribution)

I thank the hon. Gentleman for his intervention, although he has taken half my next point. Perhap...

Adrian Bailey | 563 c1710 (Link to this contribution)

Very quickly, but I have already taken a lot of interventions.

Jeremy Corbyn | 563 c1710 (Link to this contribution)

I appreciate that, and I am grateful to my hon. Friend. He will be aware that I represent the con...

Adrian Bailey | 563 cc1710-1 (Link to this contribution)

Whatever the case for taking action there, the way that it was handled has undoubtedly had consid...

Adrian Bailey | 563 c1711 (Link to this contribution)

Yes, I will take one more intervention.

Virendra Sharma | 563 c1712 (Link to this contribution)

I thank my hon. Friend for giving way and congratulate him on securing this debate. On immigratio...

Adrian Bailey | 563 c1712 (Link to this contribution)

I agree entirely.

I have another example from Wolverhampton university. Six international s...

Lindsay Hoyle | 563 c1712 (Link to this contribution)

Order. Many Members want to speak, so may I gently suggest that they speak for up to 10 minutes? ...

Nadhim Zahawi | 563 cc1712-3 (Link to this contribution)

I shall attempt to take less than 10 minutes, Mr Deputy Speaker.

Ever since Erasmus came to...

Lord Sharma | 563 c1713 (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend is making some valid points. Does he agree that one of the key things that must co...

Nadhim Zahawi | 563 c1713 (Link to this contribution)

I thank my hon. Friend, who is absolutely right that the message has to be that we are open for b...

Jackie Doyle-Price | 563 c1714 (Link to this contribution)

Although I agree with my hon. Friend that we should give the message that we are open to legitima...

Nadhim Zahawi | 563 c1714 (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend is spot on in saying that we have to be robust and I will deal with that later. Sh...

Lord Sharma | 563 c1714 (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend is being very generous in giving way. Should we not be explaining to the public in...

Nadhim Zahawi | 563 c1714 (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend is absolutely right. The disaggregation and further decimation of that information...

Nadhim Zahawi | 563 c1714 (Link to this contribution)

Dissemination, I apologise. I will get my English right eventually. I only arrived here in 1978. ...

Nadhim Zahawi | 563 cc1714-5 (Link to this contribution)

The hon. Gentleman is quite right.

We can do three things to solve this problem. First, we ...

Jeremy Corbyn | 563 c1715 (Link to this contribution)

I understand the point that the hon. Gentleman is making about bogus colleges, but does he have s...

Nadhim Zahawi | 563 cc1715-6 (Link to this contribution)

The hon. Gentleman is right to point out that innocents get caught out in those situations. The b...

Paul Blomfield | 563 c1716 (Link to this contribution)

It is a pleasure to speak after the hon. Member for Stratford-on-Avon (Nadhim Zahawi), just as it...

Nadhim Zahawi | 563 c1716 (Link to this contribution)

The hon. Gentleman is always welcome.

Paul Blomfield | 563 cc1716-8 (Link to this contribution)

I am not sure that I will make a habit of it. We made the point then and we make it again today t...

Richard Bacon | 563 c1718 (Link to this contribution)

I am listening with great interest to the hon. Gentleman and I commend him for his work with my h...

Paul Blomfield | 563 c1718 (Link to this contribution)

I absolutely agree with that point, which I raised earlier in passing. I commend the hon. Gentlem...

Lord Barwell | 563 cc1718-9 (Link to this contribution)

I pay tribute to all three previous speakers, who have set out clearly the arguments relevant to ...

Lindsay Hoyle | 563 c1720 (Link to this contribution)

Order. The hon. Lady has just walked into the Chamber. Normally Members would give it a little bi...

Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford | 563 c1720 (Link to this contribution)

I apologise, Mr Deputy Speaker. You are very kind, as is my hon. Friend.

Does my hon. Frien...

Lord Barwell | 563 c1720 (Link to this contribution)

That is something we could consider. The key is building public confidence in the system.

Jim Cunningham | 563 c1720 (Link to this contribution)

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Lord Barwell | 563 c1720 (Link to this contribution)

If I can make progress, I will come back to the hon. Gentleman.

I will not go into too much...

Chris Bryant | 563 c1720 (Link to this contribution)

Unfortunately, that includes the Head of State of Syria.

Lord Barwell | 563 c1720 (Link to this contribution)

It does include Syria—clearly, educating Heads of State will not be a benefit universally, but th...

Jim Cunningham | 563 c1720 (Link to this contribution)

Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

Lord Barwell | 563 c1721 (Link to this contribution)

I will take one more intervention because I am conscious that other hon. Members wish to speak.

Jim Cunningham | 563 c1721 (Link to this contribution)

No one would disagree with a number of the hon. Gentleman’s points. For the record, I have always...

Lord Barwell | 563 c1721 (Link to this contribution)

The hon. Gentleman finished his intervention just before the bell, I believe, Mr Deputy Speaker.<...

Lord Barwell | 563 cc1721-3 (Link to this contribution)

I will come to the hon. Gentleman’s substantive point at the end of my speech, but on his point o...

Andrew Smith | 563 c1722 (Link to this contribution)

I would like to join in congratulating my hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich West (Mr Baile...

Roberta Blackman-Woods | 563 c1722 (Link to this contribution)

My right hon. Friend is making a powerful speech. Does he agree that it is simply no good for the...

Andrew Smith | 563 c1722 (Link to this contribution)

Indeed. That the Prime Minister felt he had to say that was a tacit acknowledgement of the damage...

Jackie Doyle-Price | 563 c1722 (Link to this contribution)

It is my understanding that applications from overseas students to Oxford university have gone up...

Andrew Smith | 563 c1724 (Link to this contribution)

The problem is that not enough is being done to encourage it to thrive. As was pointed out earlie...

Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford | 563 c1724 (Link to this contribution)

As a fellow Oxford MP, the right hon. Gentleman will know that I share some of his concerns about...

Andrew Smith | 563 c1725 (Link to this contribution)

I will take those comments as warm and strong support for the points I have made about the damage...

Damian Hinds | 563 cc1725-6 (Link to this contribution)

In the media, international students at our universities are generally seen though one of two len...

Damian Hinds | 563 c1726 (Link to this contribution)

Thank you.

All in all, about one fifth of the top 100 universities and about one fifth of t...

Roberta Blackman-Woods | 563 c1726 (Link to this contribution)

Does the hon. Gentleman agree that holding that share is becoming more difficult, because of the ...

Damian Hinds | 563 cc1726-7 (Link to this contribution)

The hon. Lady brilliantly anticipates my next point. Of course, she is absolutely correct. As my ...

Jackie Doyle-Price | 563 c1727 (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the abuses under the old system, but there are tw...

Damian Hinds | 563 cc1727-8 (Link to this contribution)

I absolutely agree with my hon. Friend. It must indeed be a clear priority.

I welcome the a...

Baroness Blackwood of North Oxford | 563 c1728 (Link to this contribution)

Does my hon. Friend agree that one reason for that ongoing perception might be the efficiency, or...

Damian Hinds | 563 c1728 (Link to this contribution)

As always, my hon. Friend makes her point clearly and well. I do not have enough knowledge about ...

Damian Hinds | 563 c1728 (Link to this contribution)

We took over from Labour.

So long as we are reasonably good at that, it is only growth in t...

Chris Bryant | 563 c1728 (Link to this contribution)

It is an absolute pre-condition of any student visa that that person is unable to make any claims...

Damian Hinds | 563 cc1728-9 (Link to this contribution)

I am conscious of the time and I do not want to get into a long debate about this, but any person...

Sharon Hodgson | 563 cc1729-1730 (Link to this contribution)

I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich West (Mr Bailey) on opening this impor...

Roberta Blackman-Woods | 563 c1730 (Link to this contribution)

My hon. Friend is making an important point about students in the north-east adding to diversity—...

Sharon Hodgson | 563 cc1730-2 (Link to this contribution)

That is exactly the nub of the matter. We have to factor in those extra elements, including the c...

Jeremy Corbyn | 563 cc1732-5 (Link to this contribution)

I am pleased that we are having this debate, as it will enable us to draw attention to a number o...

Chris Bryant | 563 c1734 (Link to this contribution)

Let me first pay tribute to my hon. Friend the Member for West Bromwich West (Mr Bailey) and all ...

Andrew Smith | 563 c1734 (Link to this contribution)

Does my hon. Friend think that the Home Office still has Erasmus’s passport?

Chris Bryant | 563 cc1734-6 (Link to this contribution)

That is a point well made.

Another hon. Member—I cannot remember who it was—referred to the...

Jason McCartney | 563 c1736 (Link to this contribution)

The hon. Gentleman just mentioned Sandhurst, and I ask him not to forget the royal naval training...

Chris Bryant | 563 cc1736-7 (Link to this contribution)

Indeed, that is an important point. If we look at the number of people from Latin American milita...

Mark Reckless | 563 c1737 (Link to this contribution)

Does the hon. Gentleman accept that not only have we had bogus colleges, but quite a lot of colle...

Chris Bryant | 563 cc1737-9 (Link to this contribution)

I want to see more evidence of precisely what the hon. Gentleman mentions. I believe he has been ...

Mark Harper | 563 c1739 (Link to this contribution)

I congratulate the hon. Member for West Bromwich West (Mr Bailey) and others who signed the motio...

Mark Harper | 563 c1739 (Link to this contribution)

I hope that the hon. Gentleman will forgive me if I finish this point before I give way to him. I...

Mark Harper | 563 cc1739-1740 (Link to this contribution)

Let me make some progress first.

The Government have been clear about the need to bring con...

Paul Blomfield | 563 c1740 (Link to this contribution)

I was expecting the Minister to anticipate my question and respond to it, but as he has not, let ...

Mark Harper | 563 cc1740-1 (Link to this contribution)

I do not agree, for the following reason. The point was best made by my hon. Friend the Member fo...

Joan Ruddock | 563 c1741 (Link to this contribution)

I want to relay to the Minister my experiences and those of my constituents in respect of those m...

Mark Harper | 563 c1741 (Link to this contribution)

The point the right hon. Lady makes about in-country performance is absolutely right; it is true ...

Chris Bryant | 563 c1741 (Link to this contribution)

The Minister slipped in the words “academic progression”. I fully understand why, in the vast maj...

Mark Harper | 563 cc1741-2 (Link to this contribution)

I was referring to people who, as I have seen when we have removed them, have been in the UK for ...

Jeremy Corbyn | 563 c1742 (Link to this contribution)

I am grateful for that information and look forward to receiving the Minister’s letter. Does this...

Mark Harper | 563 c1742 (Link to this contribution)

It might be more sensible if, rather than trying to answer a lot of specific questions, I set out...

Jason McCartney | 563 c1742 (Link to this contribution)

On the theme of positive news, will the Minister join me in welcoming the good news from the awar...

Mark Harper | 563 c1743 (Link to this contribution)

That is a helpful point, which has been mentioned by several hon. Members—for example, the hon. M...

Mark Harper | 563 c1743 (Link to this contribution)

Yes; I think I am allowed to give way briefly.

Andrew Smith | 563 c1743 (Link to this contribution)

Before the Minister concludes his remarks, will he tell the House how he intends to respond to th...

Mark Harper | 563 cc1743-4 (Link to this contribution)

The right hon. Gentleman knows that the Government have responded to the Select Committee reports...

Adrian Bailey | 563 c1744 (Link to this contribution)

Conscious of the time, I will be brief. I thank everyone who contributed to the debate. When I ap...

Subjects
Immigration
Entry clearances
Higher education
Overseas students
Migration
Statistics
Visas
Link
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