HC Deb 30 April 1940 vol 360 cc539-40
62. Mr. R. C. Morrison

asked the Postmaster-General whether he is aware that the weekly rate of pay for the lower grades of Post Office employés, cleaners, porters, labourers and liftmen is £2 15s. 6d. weekly, and after deducting insurances, etc., £2 13s. 8d.; and as many of these employés are married ex-service men with families to keep, high rents to pay, and travelling money of 3s. to 6s. weekly, with the result that they and their families are short of many necessaries of life, will he give this matter his immediate attention?

Captain Waterhouse

The rate of pay to which the hon. Member refers was introduced under an award made by the Civil Service Arbitration Tribunal in December, 1938. The only subsequent change in circumstances has been the rise in the cost of living since the commencement of the war. This, however, is a question which affects the Civil Service as a whole, and I would refer to the hon. Member the answer of my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer to a Question on the subject of Civil Service pay by my hon. Friend the Member for Rusholme (Mr. Radford) on 2nd April, of which I am sending him a copy.

Mr. Morrison

Will not the hon. and gallant Gentleman, pending the considering of the whole question of the Civil Service, give some attention to the urgent case of these lower-paid people, who are really unable to live on the money they are getting?

Captain Waterhouse

This raises the question of the Civil Service as a whole, and it would be invidious for the Post Office to deal with a section. It would, too, be outside their powers so to do.

Mr. Morrison

Does the hon. and gallant Gentleman appreciate that a large proportion of these lower-paid people are below the standard of subsistence now?

Captain Hammersley

Is it not a fact that these lowly paid people in the Post Office are suffering very severe hardship, and is not their position a matter for examination, apart from the general question of the cost of living of the whole Civil Service?

Captain Waterhouse

I do not think it is. This matter was dealt with by the Civil Service Arbitration Tribunal and since then there has been no material change of conditions other than the wartime rise in the cost of living.

Sir Percy Harris

Is the hon. and gallant Gentleman aware of the high cost of living in London, particularly for travelling, and will he consider making special allowances in certain areas to meet the hardship on the lower-paid workers?

Captain Waterhouse

I am well aware of the cost of living, but it is not a rise peculiar to the Post Office.

Mr. Thorne

Is the hon. and gallant Gentleman aware that there are cases as low as £2 2s. 4d. a week?

Captain Waterhouse

Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will let me have them.