§ 33. Mr. ERNEST BROWNasked the Financial Secretary to the Treasury whether he will inaugurate a uniform method throughout the service of the payment of the salaries of all officers established as the result of the Lytton and Southborough examinations; whether he can see his way to abolish the present practice of paying such salaries at the monthly rate of 8 per cent. to the nearest £1 below; and whether he will consider the desirability of substituting payment at the rate of one-twelfth of the annual salary each month?
§ The FINANCIAL SECRETARY to the TREASURY (Mr. Ronald McNeill)Two systems are at present in force in Civil Departments generally for paying monthly advances of salary in the first two months of each quarter. One system is that indicated by the hon. Member. Under the other system, monthly advances are calculated to the nearest £ below one-third of the net quarterly amount payable, after all necessary deductions for Income Tax, insurance, etc., have been made. Heads of Departments are free to choose between these two systems, provided that whichever system is chosen is adopted uniformly throughout the Department. In practice, these systems differ little from the system suggested by the hon. Member, and I see no reason to fetter the discretion of heads of Departments by a definite limitation to the arrangement proposed by the hon. Member.