Net migration to Bradford has dropped since Brexit

The Office for National Statistics estimates that from July 2015 to June 2016, the month of the EU referendum, 1,831 more long-term migrants arrived from abroad in Bradford than left.

However, in the 12 months after the Brexit leave vote, that figure dropped by 146. In total, 3,777 people moved to Bradford from abroad and 2,092 left, leaving the latest net migration figure at 1,685.

That means Bradford’s migrant population is still rising, but at a slower rate than before the referendum.

Fewer people are moving to Bradford from abroad. While the Bradford figures do not give details of where migrants came from, the latest national figures, for 2017-18, show EU migration is at its lowest level since 2012.

Madeleine Sumption, director of the Migration Observatory at the University of Oxford said: “The UK has clearly become a less attractive country for EU migrants since the referendum.

“The lower value of the pound means that workers coming here for higher wages are getting less than they were in the past, and economic conditions in many of the key EU countries of origin have improved a lot over the past few years. Uncertainty about the implications of Brexit may have played a role.”

Nicola Rogers, of the ONS’ 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.”

It is still well above the Government’s net migration target of 100,000. Non-EU net migration to the UK is now almost three times higher than from the EU, the ONS says. Meanwhile, the first applications from EU nationals wishing to stay in the UK post-Brexit were set to be submitted yesterday.

People working or studying at 12 NHS trusts in north-west England, and students and staff from three Liverpool universities, were invited to make applications for “settled status” as part of a pilot scheme.

The “managed live trial” will involve up to 4,000 people and will allow officials working on the scheme to test the system using real applicants and make improvements ahead of a phased roll-out towards the end of this year.