Immigration, Asylum and Nationality Bill

My noble friend has day-to-day contact with universities on this matter so he knows that very well, but the point is that the funding is far greater for overseas students and in the universities that I know well it covers the costs. Overseas students account for 11 per cent of all students and they are often paid for by the governments of the countries from which they come, so the governments are watching what happens on this, not just students and their families. Eight per cent of the higher education budget and 38 per cent of the budget of post-graduate students comes from overseas students, so this is a big issue. It is not just costs; these people enormously enrich our universities. The universities in Scotland that I know well would be different places if overseas student numbers were reduced. Overseas students enrich the experience of university for home students and are very valuable to people overseas. Above all, we in this country make friends for ever by providing a satisfactory educational experience for overseas students. This may be Second Reading stuff, but if the Bill stays as it is, the experience will not be a happy one for a large number of people. The most disillusioning thing for students from abroad, and for the countries from which they come, is when they realise that 25 per cent of decisions have been reduced on appeal. That is an alarming figure. What is going on when so many decisions are found on appeal to be wrong? What on earth was going wrong in Sheffield when the figure was 90 per cent? Those figures were given at Second Reading. It is extremely shocking. If that is happening, our reputation will go downhill. We are losing overseas students in this country—the numbers are reducing. The students are going elsewhere and that will continue if we do not do something about it. I think that the Government should take this matter extremely seriously. This is not just university talk; this is a clear issue that really matters. Anyone who is connected with universities knows how much it matters. I hope that the Minister will look at this issue and solve the problem one way or another—either in the way suggested in the amendments or in the way that we discussed earlier.