§ 49. Sir J. Edenasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he will increase the amount of foreign labour for the hotel and catering industry so as to help overcome the present staff shortages.
§ Mr. John FraserFollowing consultations my Department informed the industry at the beginning of March that certain relaxations would be made in its work permit arrangements for the current year.
The quota of permits for men is being kept at 5,000. Its allocation has been made more flexible by the reservation of 1,600 permits for establishments which have not previously qualified for an individual quota or which can justify an addition to their existing entitlement.
The two years previous experience required for hotel domestics has been reduced to one year.
Employers no longer have to advertise their vacancies before permits are issued and the procedure for checking the availability of local labour has been speeded up. I hope that these measures will help the industry to deal with its staffing difficulties and to continue its efforts to become more attractive to British workers.