§ Mr. BayleyTo ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many applications for a work permit to employ a non-EC national were received in April; what proportion of these applications were decided within eight weeks; and what proportion of applications on behalf of entertainers, sportspeople and models were decided within four weeks.
§ Mr. McLoughlinA total of 3,498 applications for work permits were received in April 1992. Of the 3,390 cases processed in that month, 90.3 per cent. had been decided within eight weeks of receipt.
Six hundred and twenty-three of the total applications decided in April 1992 were for entertainers, sportspeople and models; 85.4 per cent. of these cases were decided within four weeks and 97.4 per cent. within eight weeks of receipt.
This exceeds the Department's published standard of 75 per cent. within eight weeks and was achieved at a time when the section responsible for work permits was in the process of relocating to Sheffield.