HC Deb 13 November 1980 vol 992 c272W
Mr. Arthur Lewis

asked the Secretary of State for Employment what check is kept upon foreign nationals from the EEC landing in the United Kingdom to take jobs; and how many natives from the EEC are at present employed in the United Kingrdom.

Mr. Jim Lester

Nationals of European Community member States may come to the United Kingdom to take or seek work without having to obtain work permits. They are normally admitted for an initial period of six months. Should they wish to extend their stay for a longer period, they are required to obtain a residence permit. For nationals of other European Community countries employed in the United Kingdom, the latest estimate relating to May 1979 and derived from the European Community labour force survey shows that about 410,000 other European Community nationals were in employment, of which 300,000 were nationals of the Irish Republic. Although the 1979 survey results show a small increase over the 1977 survey results for the number of European Community nationals employed in the United Kingdom, this change is within the range of the survey sampling errors and is not significant.

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