HC Deb 25 February 1943 vol 387 cc303-4
60. Mr. Sutcliffe

asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether, in view of the serious burden incurred by ratepayers through the making up of wages and salaries of local government employees now serving in the Forces, he will consider making a grant to each local authority concerned, to enable them to meet such extra cost which has been imposed on them by Parliament?

The Chancellor of the Exchequer (Sir Kingsley Wood)

The making-up of any difference between Service pay and earnings in civil employment is a matter for the employer, and I regret that I can see no sufficient reason to depart from this principle where the employer is a local authority.

Mr. Sutcliffe

Is my right hon. Friend aware that as a result of recent legal decisions local authorities are now virtually compelled to make up this pay, and that in the case of many of the smaller local authorities this means a special increase in the rates, and the position arises that the majority of ratepayers called upon to pay this increase will not themselves be receiving any such benefits?