§ Dame Joan Vickersasked the Secretary of State for Employment what steps he is taking to remedy abuses in the admission of Filipino nationals for employment in Great Britain.
§ Mr. Dudley SmithI have consulted my right hon. Friends the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs, and from 9th July my Department has ceased to accept applications to employ Filipino nationals on unskilled or semi-skilled work in Great Britain.
This measure applies to applications for work permits for Filipino workers, whether in the Philippines or already in this country as visitors, students or au pairs.
This will be a temporary measure while the three Departments consult the Embassy of the Philippines on ways of dealing with abuses of the work permit system. I hope that improvements will result which will be in the best interests of Filipino nationals wishing to work in Great Britain.