asked the Secretary of State for Employment how many persons are employed in the tanning industries in Scotland and England, respectively.

My Department's employment statistics are analysed according to the Minimum List Headings of the Standard Industrial Classification. This provides a Heading (MLH 431) for Leather (Tanning and Dressing) and Fell-mongery but does not identify tanning separately.At June 1975, the latest date for which detailed estimates of employees in employment are available for Scotland and the regions in England, there were 1,800 employees in Scotland and 16,200 in England employed in leather tanning and dressing, and fellmongery.