asked the Secretary of State for Employment what was the total number of work permits granted in each of the last five years for which figures are available to (a) Commonwealth citizens, (b) United States citizens and (c) Japanese citizens.

The numbers of work permits issued—including permissions to take employment for those already here—were as follows:

	Long term	Short term
1974
Commonwealth nationals	6,693	1,843
United States nationals	2,506	3,114
Japanese nationals	835	209
1975
Commonwealth nationals	6,292	1,943
United States nationals	2,205	3,036
Japanese nationals	806	114
1976
Commonwealth nationals	3,930	1,633
United States nationals	1,935	2,938
Japanese nationals	601	146
1977
Commonwealth nationals	3,613	1,590
United States nationals	2,011	2,900
Japanese nationals	623	132
1978
Commonwealth nationals	3,907	1,762
United States nationals	2,038	3,830
Japanese nationals	671	184

"Long term" permits or permissions are those given for the maximum initial period of 12 months; "short term" refers to those given for periods of less than 12 months.