§ Mr. RosindellTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many people from Montserrat were resident in the UK in the last year for which figures are available. [122200]
§ Beverley HughesInformation on the number of people from Montserrat resident in the UK is not routinely recorded and is currently unavailable.
Information is available, however, on the number of people from Montserrat who have been granted settlement and so are allowed to remain indefinitely in the UK. The most recent data available are shown in the table.
Year Number of grants 1996 5 1997 5 1998 2,495 1999 235 2000 250 2001 100 Note:
Figures rounded to the nearest five.
The sudden increase in grants of settlement in 1998 reflects those Montserratians who arrived in the UK under the Government's voluntary evacuation scheme, which was introduced due to the severity of the volcanic activity on the island. There is no information available on whether or not those people granted settlement chose to remain in the UK.