Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill [HL]

My Lords, I am pleased to be able to speak at Second Reading of the Borders, Citizenship and Immigration Bill. As many noble Lords will know, higher education institutions will be the biggest users of the new points-based system which this Bill enables and universities take their responsibilities in this area very seriously. Indeed, the Minister will know from his experience as chancellor of Southampton Solent University how important international students are to this country in terms of cultural exchange and the diversity of our institutions. Universities UK, in which I must declare my interest as chief executive, has been very appreciative of the efforts of the Minister in this House and Phil Woolas, the immigration Minister in the other place, for their continuing dialogue over international student issues and immigration. Universities UK has valued its extensive engagement with the Home Office throughout this process. We have certainly learnt a great deal about the pressures and complexities of the immigration system. I should like to focus my remarks on Clause 47 and make some wider points about the new immigration system and its impact on higher education. Higher education institutions support the new provision that student visas will be linked to particular institutions. I understand from briefings I have received that other organisations have concerns about this, but for the universities it will enable institutions to have greater predictability about the international students they can expect to join them. Currently, students may change their minds after obtaining their visa and decide to study at another institution, rather than the one whose documentation they used to obtain their visa. The new system will ask students to decide on a particular institution at an earlier stage; that is, when they make their visa application. That institution will appear on their visa or in future on their ID card. That will bring the student route in line with the employment route, as employees will be linked to employers in the visa. I hope that the Minister will note that I do not support the provisions of this clause being applied retrospectively to any students already studying in the UK under the current immigration arrangements. However, for the new provision to work effectively, it is necessary for Clause 47 to be accompanied by a quick, low-cost mechanism to enable students to move institutions if they decide that they have made the wrong choice, as the noble Lord, Lord Avebury, suggested, or if their circumstances change—for example, if their PhD supervisor moves institution. I am sure that the Minister will agree that these are legitimate reasons. At the moment, the Home Office has not set out the process for how students can move institution quickly. Any delays in the Home Office paperwork will mean that such students will not be able to join their new programme or to continue their studies. There is also a cost issue in relation to this. The only information on costs suggests that it would cost either £295 for a postal application or £500, in person, for a new visa application to change institution. Surely, if a student wants to move between institutions of the same type to do a programme at the same level, such as a post-graduate research degree, it should be a quicker administrative process and, therefore, a lower cost than is required for a new visa. Will the Minister explain the rationale for such a potentially high cost for a simple administrative process? Does he not agree that by adding further costs this might act as a deterrent for international students entering this country? I should also like to take this opportunity to make a few further comments about the new immigration arrangements and their impact on universities. Despite the continuing and positive relationship that we have had with the Home Office, there are still a number of concerns in the higher education sector that the Home Office appears not to have recognised. For example, universities are already half way through the application cycle for the 2009-10 entry. Students have already been applying since September 2008. Under the new system, universities have to provide new documents from the end of March. Universities still do not have the final information from the UK Border Agency to enable them to do that. Any large organisation needs a suitable timescale to implement a new system. Probably, even the Home Office would not welcome being given less than one month to implement a new system, but that is what is being required by universities. Will the Minister explain why they have been given such a compressed timescale? A further issue of concern is the length of the new visas. Currently, students are granted visas for the entire length of their programme, but under the new system they will only be granted a maximum of four years’ leave to remain. This step will mean that students on programmes such as medicine, dentistry, pharmacy, veterinary medicine, architecture and some others, will not have any certainty that after four years of studying in the UK, they will be able to get a visa to complete their programme. There are over 3,000 international medical students in England alone, paying over £100 million in fees. They will be affected by such a measure. Considering the investment of time and resources made by these students in the UK, it seems unjust for them not to be granted visas for the entire length of their programme. Indeed, it may mean that they do not come to the UK in the first place, to the obvious detriment of our health and other professions. I urge my noble friend and his department to reconsider this part of the system. Let me move on to another key change. The new system will require students to provide evidence of maintenance of £800 a month in London or £600 outside. A number of students, including many on overseas government scholarships or those nearing completion of their PhDs, will not have access to this level of funding and could face being refused a visa to complete their programmes. What will happen to them? Do their home countries know this? Has the Home Office discussed the position of these students with high commissions and embassies in the UK? I am not aware that it has. I feel that I have been rather negative about the new system, but let me now be positive. I welcome the decision of the Home Office not to attempt to introduce the new IT system for student visas before it is ready. Students, as I have said, will form the largest group of users for the new system, and the timing of their courses will mean that there are significant peaks and troughs in usage. For instance, it would be disastrous if the IT system did not work for universities and students in July, August and September when we have the highest volume of entrants. Having said that, let me assure the House that universities are doing their best to make sure that the new system works, and it would be a great help if the new system could be communicated extensively through Home Office and FCO networks overseas to prospective students, their advisers and overseas Governments. So far, this necessary information has been somewhat sparse. To conclude, universities have been and continue to be willing partners with the Government and the Home Office to implement the new immigration system. There are over 230,000 non-EU students in our higher education institutions, and over 30,000 non-EU academic staff. Their work makes a major contribution to the continued success of the UK’s higher education sector and to our reputation abroad. I hope that my noble friend will join me and other noble Lords who have already spoken in urging the Home Office to encourage rather than discourage them.