§ Mr. Stanbrookasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will give the figures of the total numbers of work permits issued for each year since 1975, respectively, and for this year up to the latest convenient date.
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§ Mr. Jim LesterThe number of work permits issued and permissions given is as follows:
Year Longterm Shortterm Grandtotal 1975 18,664 11,414 30,078 1976 11,925 8,545 20,470 1977 10,613 7,801 18,414 1978 9,686 9,463 19,149 1979 8,344 9,649 17,993 January to June 1980 3,137 4,083 7,220 Long term permits and permissions are those given for an initial period of 11 months and 12 months and may lead to settlement; short term permits and permissions are those given for shorter periods. The figures do not include overseas student employees and trainees for whom permission was given for limited periods of supernumerary employment or for employment which was essential to a course of study.
The 1976 figures are incomplete owing to industrial action affecting the compilation of these statistics; about 10 per cent. of cases overall were not recorded.