24 February 2011 Last updated at 12:32 ET

Net migration rises by 36%, official figures show


The government claims its policies will have an impact on immigration
The level of net migration into the UK rose by 36% last year, Office for National Statistics figures show.

An estimated 572,000 people entered the UK on a long-term basis in the year to June 2010 while 346,000 emigrated.

Ministers want to reduce net migration levels, the difference between the two figures, to tens of thousands by 2015.

To help do this, the coalition plans to cap immigration from outside the European Union, a plan Labour says is "the worst of all worlds".

According to the ONS figures, net migration figures - which include asylum seekers and people whose decide to stay longer than originally intended - have been rising steadily since December 2008.

While the number of people settling in the UK on a long-term basis has fallen slightly, this has offset by a sharp fall in the number leaving.

Figures released on Thursday also show that of migrants granted settlement, the number of asylum-related cases went up to 5,125, compared with 3,110 in 2009. The number of work-related cases was also up, rising 4% to 84,370 compared with 81,185 the previous year.

Economic slowdown

The number of foreign nationals given UK passports was down 4% to 195,130, but the figure remained higher than that seen in the years 2005 to 2007, the ONS said.

“These statistics reinforce once again why we are radically reforming the immigration systemâ€