§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons, for the longest and most convenient stated period of time, have requested his 441W Department to assist them in obtaining a move to or work in any of the Common Market countries, under the Treaty of Rome provisions on the free flow of labour; and to what extent these efforts have proved successful.
§ Mr. Peter MorrisonI am informed by the Manpower Services Commission that, under European Community regulation 1612/68 governing the free movement of workers within the European Community, 1,380 speculative applications for employment were made by job seekers in the United Kingdom and sent to the public employment services of other Community countries between January 1 and December 31 1980. The breakdown of these applications and the results to date in respect of each Community country are shown in the following table:
Country where employment sought Applications made Job offers to date Belgium 26 — Denmark 30 1 Federal Republic of Germany 771 202 France 154 — Republic of Ireland 47 — Italy 28 — Luxembourg 4 — Netherlands 320 — Total 1380 203 Many job seekers are also assisted by the public employment service to get work in the other countries of the European Community, both for British and non-British companies, as a result of firms' recruiting initiatives with local jobcentres and employment offices, and by the MSC's professional and executive recruitment—PER—service. Statistics of placement do not distinguish country of employment, but it is known that the majority of such movement is to the Federal Republic and the Netherlands.