'South West labour market has shifted since Brexit'

A North Devon charity which provides English language lessons has noticed a shift in the demographic of the South West labour market since Brexit, bosses say.

Latest government figures show a decline in the number of National Insurance Numbers (NINos) being issued to people born in the EU and an increase in those for people born in Africa and Asia.

Dr Ben Brindle, researcher at Oxford University's Migration Observatory, said the shift was a result of "the post-Brexit immigration system".

Natali Guevara, engagement officer at Sunrise Diversity, said the Devon charity was supporting "a lot of people from Africa and India" and fewer people born in European Union countries.

The government's statistics show there were more than 11,500 NINos allocated to people born overseas and living in Devon, Cornwall, Dorset and Somerset in the year to September 2024, about 1,000 more than 10 years ago.

The proportion of NINos issued to people born in EU countries fell from 85% in 2014, to 8% in 2024.

Over the same 10-year period the proportion issued to people born in Asian countries increased from 7% in 2014, to 52% in 2024.

Dr Brindle said the number of people from non-EU countries coming to the UK had "sharply risen" since the end of freedom of movement for people born in the EU in 2020.

He said restrictions preventing migrants from claiming benefits meant the majority of people being allocated a NINo would be working.

In the year to September 2024, 16 people from overseas per 1,000 people in Exeter were allocated a NINo. That was double the rate of the next highest council in the region, Plymouth, with eight per 1,000.

The England average was 11 per 1,000 people. In London, 25 were issued per 1,000. In Somerset, the figure was four, while in both Cornwall and Dorset it was three per 1,000.

Dr Brindle said it was difficult to be certain about the cause of the difference between the rate in Exeter and Plymouth, but international students were likely to be a significant factor.

In the 2022/23 academic year, there were 11,790 international students in the South West, making up 25% of the student population at the University of Exeter; 15% at the University of Plymouth; and 6% at Falmouth University, according to the Higher Education Statistics Agency.

Another factor could be people coming from Ukraine, said Dr Brindle.

"More [Ukrainians] came to Exeter relative to the size of the population than Plymouth," he said.

Sunrise Diversity provides free English classes three times a week in Barnstaple for people living in North Devon.

Natali Guevara from the charity said: "At the moment, we've got 20 different languages spoken.

"We've got people from Egypt, Turkey, Africa... and people from Brazil... we have a lot of people from Ukraine".

She said sometimes the people they were supporting were "filling up any jobs local people don't want to do", but she said many were highly skilled.

Alongside its English classes, Sunrise Diversity organises activities aimed at "celebrating diversity, challenging discrimination and changing attitudes in North Devon."

Ms Guevara said people attending the charity's events included "solicitors and a qualified barrister" and many others worked in the NHS, including surgeons, anaesthetists and midwives.

"It's important to integrate the community, it's important we stick together, we all bring different things," she said.

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