To ask the Secretary of State for Employment how many work permits have been issued to citizens of St. Helena for each of the last 15 years; and what proposals he has for numbers in future years.

The number of work permits issued to citizens of St. Helena for each of the years for which figures are available is as follows:

	Number
1986	20
1987	30
1988	28
1989	51
1990	53
1991	30
1992	34

There is no specific number of work permits planned to be issued to St. Helenians in future years. However, the maximum number of permits available to St. Helenians under the special dependent territories quota scheme is 35 in 1993 and 30 in 1994, when the scheme ends.Applications for work permits for St. Helenians outside these arrangements will continue to be considered against the normal work permit scheme criteria.