§ At the end of Questions—
§ Mr. AlexanderWith permission, I will reply to Questions 47 and 48. The Government have carefully reviewed the financial position of officers and other ranks in the Armed Forces. As the House knows, the scales of pay and allowances of ratings and other ranks were designed to secure broad equality between Service emoluments and rates of wages for comparable civilian employment. Industrial wages have risen since 1946, and the Service man has, to some extent, shared in these increases by reason of the increased value to him of the food, clothing and accommodation which he receives in kind. Nevertheless there is evidence of hardship experienced on present emoluments, in particular by married men. It has therefore been decided to grant to other ranks increases in both pay and marriage allowance. I am circulating full details in the OFFICIAL REPORT, and in the circumstances it is not proposed to publish a further White Paper.
I will deal first with marriage allowance. The present rates for other ranks range from 35s. to 45s. a week. In the 1251 case of men serving on voluntary regular engagements the revised range will be from 42s. to 56s. a week, an increase of from 7s. to 11 s.
As regards pay there will be no increase for recruits during their first six months' service, nor for the private soldier or his equivalent without any special trade or other Service qualifications. For men with higher qualifications or higher rank however there will be increases in basic pay ranging from 3s. 6d. a week to as much as 10s. 6d. a week. These arrangements should encourage the recruitment of men with special skill, and provide general incentive to acquire higher qualifications. In all, therefore, the increases for married men will range from 7s. up to 21s. 6d. a week.
The new rates of marriage allowance will not apply to National Service men. They will however be eligible to have their Service emoluments supplemented by a system of Natonal Service Grants, similar to the War Service Grants which were introduced, for the same purpose, during the War. Details are now being worked out. The increases in pay will apply to National Service men after their first year of service. Until they have completed this period of service no improvement in the existing rates of pay is, in our view necessary.
As regards officers, the present rates of pay take account of the special expenses involved in Service life, we have however decided that in present circumstances some further assistance is necessary for married officers. These officers, owing to the present abnormal frequency of postings in the Services coupled with the general housing shortage are exposed to numerous exceptional expenses including, if they are not accommodated in official quarters, very high rents. The rates of officers' marriage allowance will therefore be increased by 6s. a day if they are not accommodated in married quarters, and by 3s. a day if they are so accommodated, or receive special local overseas allowances designed to protect them against high rents. These provisions are related to conditions which may prove in whole or in part to be temporary and they will be subject to review should these conditions materially improve. After full consideration we do not feel that, in present circumstances, increases in the basic pay of officers are justified.
1252 The improvements which I have announced, and which I feel sure will be welcomed by all Members of the House, will take effect from today, and my Service colleagues will do their best to ensure that they are put into payment as quickly as the necessary administrative arrangements can be made.
§ Mr. EdenWhile we on this side of the House would generally welcome the right hon. Gentleman's statement, since we have been pressing for some time the need for some arrangement of this kind if recruiting is to be improved, I am sure that the Leader of the House will understand if we seek an opportunity later for a fuller discussion than is possible by question and answer. I should like to ask if the right hon. Gentleman can tell us what will be the total cost to the State of these increases?
§ Mr. AlexanderThat has been gone into as carefully as is possible at the moment. Until we have every section of the numbers involved, I cannot give a very firm figure, but I should think that the gross amount would be from £12 million to £12½ million.
§ Mr. LowWill the right hon. Gentleman say why it has taken the Government approximately nine months since the so-called "freezing" of civilian wages to appreciate that Service pay has been wholly out of line with post-war civilian earnings?
§ Mr. AlexanderI should have thought that that was apparent from what I said during the Debate in July.
§ Commander NobleIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that we on this side of the House have been pointing out these defects in the pay codes for some two years?
§ Mr. BellengerWhile welcoming this advance in the rates of pay and allowances in the Services, might I ask my right hon. Friend, with respect to the marriage allowances, whether any change is to be made in the principle that the marriage allowance shall be paid to a married man whether he has no children or any number of children? Is it too late to reconsider the principle which we had during the war of a special children's allowance, apart from the marriage allowance?
§ Mr. AlexanderIt is not proposed to interfere with the principle which is already in operation. Of course, under the new social arrangements there is a small children's allowance under the family allowances scheme for all people with families.
§ Mr. Frank ByersIs the Minister aware that on the face of it that statement will be regarded as quite inadequate and unrealistic. The Government have merely attempted to rectify certain existing hardships instead of designing a scheme which will attract more volunteers and so enable us to reduce the conscript element.
§ Mr. AlexanderIt would be better to examine details of the new arrangements, which apply only to particular categories to see whether or not that assumption is accurate. When Members say that this is quite inadequate, I would point out that, as I have indicated to the Deputy-Leader of the Opposition, the cost is to be substantial.
§ Mrs. MiddletonMy right hon. Friend said nothing about the women's Services. Could he give us some information on that?
§ Mr. AlexanderYes, the women's Service rates are under active consideration. Unfortunately, there has been some little delay, but I hope to make a statement before Christmas.
§ Sir Ralph GlynCould the right hon. Gentleman say whether special attention has been given to the conditions in the Colonies in which British troops are serving, where there are special high costs if they are married people? I ask that question because from his statement I do not think that any particular attention has been directed to that matter.
§ Mr. AlexanderThat has all been taken into account in fixing the rates which I have mentioned today. The present arrangements already provide certain adjustments on account of these high costs to those who are serving overseas. There is a special system of local overseas allowances for that purpose.
§ Mr. ChetwyndCan my right hon. Friend say whether the additional allowances, as against the basic pay increases, are free of Income Tax?
§ Mr. AlexanderNo, Sir. Marriage allowances are subject to Income Tax.
§ Sir R. RossIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that the last time the pay of Naval officers was raised many Naval officers got less than they had been getting up to then, and can he say that no Naval officer will now receive less than he was getting before the last time the pay was raised?
§ Mr. AlexanderI think that I may say that the increases will cost a lot of money already but, whereas the pay code for other ranks in 1945–1946 was definitely related to conditions outside, that was not done in the case of officers. I have meantime very carefully studied the rates of pay and allowances in the officer ranks and they do not compare unfavourably at all, when everything is taken into account, with the rates paid to people of comparable status outside the Services.
§ Mr. Leslie HaleIs the right hon. Gentleman aware that, while the forces will greatly appreciate this decision, which is due to constant pressure from the Labour back benches, it is exceedingly important, in view of the fact that these recommendations are properly being brought in forthwith, and certain anomalies in the marriage allowance do seem to be created, that we should have a very early opportunity of discussing this matter?
§ Mr. AlexanderThat is a matter for the Leader of the House.
§ Mr. GrimstonCan the right hon. Gentleman give the House any estimate as to what is the cost after Income Tax has been reclaimed?
§ Mr. AlexanderIt is rather difficult to commit myself to a figure. I can give only a very rough estimate. I should think it would cost £10,500,000 to £10,600,000 net. But I do not want to be tied to that figure. It may vary a little either up or down.
§ Major GatesCan the Minister say whether skill in the art of combat and the use of offensive weapons will be one of the special skills which will attract additional rates of pay?
§ Mr. AlexanderThe increases which the hon. and gallant Member will find in my statement in the OFFICIAL REPORT are arranged to provide equivalents of certain ranks. We have increased the number of grade stars so as to give the equivalent of rank so that the increases will apply to skill on the military side as well as on the technical side.
§ Sir Ian FraserMay I ask the Minister if retired pay and long service pensions are to be raised pro rata, more particularly since they are traditionally regarded as deferred pay.
§ Mr. AlexanderI think that is a question which should be addressed to the Minister of Pensions.
§ Sir I. FraserNo, Sir. With all respect may I say that retired pay and long service pensions are borne on the Service Votes. May I therefore ask the right hon. Gentleman to answer the question?
§ Mr. AlexanderI beg the pardon of the hon. Member. I caught the word "pension" and did not sufficiently understand what the question was. The question of retired pay would I think be treated on the basis on which the Treasury has always treated such matters. There have been many Debates in my memory on that point over the last 25 years. With regard to the future, the operative rates when a man retires will I imagine affect his retired pay.
Vice-Admiral TaylorUnder this new pay code will the grievance over the gap in pay between the higher ranks, chief petty officers, and others be wiped out?
§ Mr. AlexanderIn the basic pay the increase will vary from sixpence to one and sixpence per day on those rates applicable to higher ranks and also in the case of the marriage allowance the differentiation between seven shillings and eleven shillings.
§ Lieut.-Colonel LiptonWill the new code adversely affect the prospects under the star system in the case of private soldiers?
§ Mr. AlexanderI think it is bound to improve the star system. There will be wider grades of stars and better prospects of qualifying.
§ Wing-Commander HulbertWill the Minister give an assurance that, when a decision is reached in regard to increased pay for women, it will be back-dated to the date on which these increases apply and, secondly, has he given consideration to increasing the bounty to auxiliary forces and so increase recruiting?
§ Mr. AlexanderThe first part of the question is a matter for consultation between myself and the Chancellor of the 1256 Exchequer. I cannot commit him in advance, but I sympathise with the point. With regard to the second point I would like to consider that with the Secretary of State for War.
§ Mr. Emrys HughesIn his statement the Minister referred to the housing shortage. Is he aware that in Scotland we think it is better for men to replace houses than go into the Army; and would he give an assurance that he will take no more men into the Armed Forces out of the building industry?
§ Mr. AlexanderI am sorry, I cannot give any such assurance.
§ Mr. DraysonWill the Minister say whether Naval officers at sea and occupying cabins will draw the higher or lower rate of increased marriage allowance?
§ Mr. AlexanderThat is a question that should be addressed to the Parliamentary Secretary to the Admiralty.
§ Brigadier HeadIs the Minister aware that if this step had been taken some time ago, as was constantly advocated from these benches, many members of the Regular Forces who have now left would not have done so had they known of these changes and, secondly, if data had been obtainable about the drawing power of this measure for regular recruiting, it would have been invaluable to the right hon. Gentleman in his reconsideration of National Service?
§ Mr. AlexanderI hope that after the struggle there has been in the present economic circumstances to provide this large sum, we shall not think of politics in this matter, but of doing the very best we can for the Services.
§ Mr. WyattIs the Minister aware that, despite the fact that the Government are paying increased rates of pay to the Services far above anything ever reached by the party opposite, they have still a long way to go before they have built them up sufficiently high to attract enough recruits for the Regular services to be able to keep conscription down to the lowest level possible?
§ Mr. AlexanderWhen we regard the actual rates which will accrue to the higher ranks or specially qualified tradesmen compared with what is paid outside the Services, especially in view of the fact that if the Service is made a career 1257 the man receives a service pension at an early age additional to the social pension, that statement can hardly be justified.
§ Mr. MarloweWhen the right hon. Gentleman says that he thinks these rates of pay are comparable with those paid in civilian life does he mean that he takes the view that the commander of one of His Majesty's ships discharges a task equivalent in responsibility to a manager of a co-operative store?
§ Mr. AlexanderI do not think there is any need to introduce satirical questions of that kind in this matter. I will say,
| REVISED SCALES OF PAY AND ALLOWANCES FOR THE ARMED FORCES | ||
| I.—Basic Pay | ||
| Following are the new daily rates of basic pay for members of the Forces below officer rank, excluding National Service men of less than 12 months' service. Increases over existing rates are shown in brackets. | ||
| ROYAL NAVY AND ROYAL MARINES | ||
| Ordinary ratings (direct entry) while under training, and R.M. recruits | … | 4/- (Nil) |
| Ordinary ratings (ex-Boy and direct entry) on completion of training | … | 5/- (Nil) |
| A.B. rates, and Marines (First Class) | … | 6/6 (6d.) |
| Leading rates, and Corporals R.M. | … | 8/6 (1/-) |
| Petty Officers and Sergeants R.M. | … | 10/6 (1/6) |
| Chief Petty Officers and Colour Sergeants R.M. | … | 12/- (1/6) |
| R.M. N.C.O's above Colour Sergeant | … | +1/6 on present rates |
| Notes.—(i) The same increases will be applied according to the equivalent rating held, to rating pilots and aircrew (Naval Aviation). |
| (ii) Incremental pay will remain as at present. |
| ARMY | |||||
| At present soldiers in the rank of Corporal and below, who have completed six months service and have made satisfactory progress, are classified for pay according to one, two, or three star qualifications as described in para. 7 (ii) of Cmd. 6715. Each additional star carries 1/- a day extra pay. Limitation to three "stars" has in practice given rise to difficulties in the classification of tradesmen and made it impossible in some cases to give a man who acquires additional qualifications a higher "star" grading with a corresponding increase in pay. The increases now given if applied to the three star system would accentuate these difficulties and the opportunity has therefore been taken to introduce a more refined classification involving six "stars" which will it is hoped largely overcome them. The following pay scales result: | |||||
| Tradesmen | Non-Tradesmen | ||||
| Group A | Group B | Group C | |||
| Recruit | … | 4/- (Nil) | 4/- (Nil) | 4/- (Nil) | 4/- (Nil) |
| Private, 1 star (= present 1 star) | … | — | — | — | 5/- (Nil) |
| Private, 2 star (New classification) | … | — | — | 5/6 (6d.)* | 5/6 (New qualifications). |
| Private, 3 star (= present 2 star) | … | — | 6/6 (6d.) | 6/6 (6d.) | 6/6 (6d.) |
| Private, 4 star (New classification) | … | 7/- (1/-)† | 7/- (1/-)† | 7/- (1/-)† | — |
| Private, 5 star (= present 3 star) | … | 7/6 (6d.) | 7/6 (6d.) | — | 7/6 (6d.) |
| Private, 6 star (New classification) | … | 8/6 (1/6)‡ | — | — | — |
| Lance-Corporal | As in the present system, soldiers appointed lance-corporals will receive a lead of 6d. over their existing star rate. Corporals will continue to have a lead of 2/6 over the corresponding star rates for privates. | |||||||||
| Corporal | ||||||||||
| Group A (Class 1) | Others | |||||||||
| Sergeant | … | … | … | … | … | … | 13/6 | (1/6) | 12 | (1/6) |
| Staff-Sergeant | … | … | … | … | … | … | 16/- | 13/6 | ||
| Warrant Officer, Class II. | … | … | … | … | … | … | 16/6 | 14/6 | ||
| Warrant Officer, Class I. | … | … | … | … | … | … | 18/6 | 16/6 | ||
| * 6d. increase over existing 1 Star rate. | ||||||||||
| † 1/- increase over existing 2 Star rate. | ||||||||||
| ‡ 1/6 increase over existing 3 Star rate. | ||||||||||
| Note.—Incremental pay will remain as at present. |
§ however, that a high ranking civil servant might very well be compared to the commander of a ship.
§ Air-Commodore HarveyDoes the right hon. Gentleman realise, while taking into account the new marriage allowance, that a squadron-leader or a wing-commander who is married with two children is worse off than he was two years ago under the old Pay Code?
§ Mr. AlexanderI should like to see that statement on paper. I do not accept it at first sight.
§ Following are the details:
1259| ROYAL AIR FORCE | |||||||
| Aircrew | |||||||
| Rank | Pilots and Navigators | Signallers, Engineers and Gunners | |||||
| A | B | ||||||
| Aircrew IV | … | 12/- | (1/6) | 11/6 | (1/6) | 10/- | (1/-) |
| Aircrew III | … | 14/- | 13/6 | 12/- | |||
| Aircrew II | … | 16/6 | 16/- | 14/- | (1/6) | ||
| Aircrew I | … | 19/- | 18/6 | 15/6 | |||
| Master Aircrew | … | 21/6 | 21/- | 18/6 |
| Ground Airmen | |||||||||
| —— | Group A | Group B | Group C | Group D | |||||
| Recruit | … | 4/- | (Nil) | 4/- | (Nil) | 4/- | (Nil) | 4/- | (Nil) |
| A.C.2 | … | 8/- | (1/6) | 6/6 | (6d.) | 5/6 | 5/- | ||
| A.C.1 | … | 8/6 | 7/- | 6/6 | (6d.) | 6/- | (6d.) | ||
| L.A.C. | … | 9/- | 8/- | (1/-) | 7/- | 6/6 | |||
| Corporal | … | 11/- | 10/- | 9/- | (1/-) | 8/6 | (1/-) | ||
| Sergeant | … | 13/6 | 12/- | ||||||
| Flight Sergeant | … | 16/- | 13/6 | (1/6) | |||||
| Warrant Officer | … | 18/6 | 16/6 | ||||||
| Note:—Incremental pay will remain as at present. |
| II.—Marriage Allowances (Other ranks) | |||
| Following are the new weekly rates of Marriage Allowances for members of the Forces below officer rank excluding National Servicemen. Increases over the existing rates are shown in brackets. | |||
| Leading Seaman/Corporal and below | … | 42/- | (7/-) |
| Petty Officer/Sergeant | … | 49/- | (9/-) |
| Chief Petty Officer/Staff Sergeant/Flight Sergeant | … | 52/6 | 10/- |
| Army and R.A.F. Warrant Officer/Sergeant Major/R.M. Quartermaster Sergeant | … | 56- | (11 -) |
| III.—Marriage Allowances (Officers) |
| Married officers aged 25 and over will receive (over the present rates of marriage allowance set out in para. 37 of Cmd. 6750) increases of 6s. a day if they are not accommodated in married quarters and 3s. a day if they are so accommodated. Certain officers serving overseas who receive special local allowances which are designed, among other things, to compensate them for the high rents of private accommodation will be treated for this purpose as if they were accommodated in official quarters and will receive the lower rate of increase in marriage allowance. Married officers under the age of 25 will, as at present, receive the highest "other rank" rate of marriage allowance which, as explained above, is to be increased from 45s. to 56s. a week. |
| IV.—War Excess and Supplementary Marriage Allowances | |
| Under the arrangements described in para, 51 of Cmd. 6715 and para. 66 of Cmd. 6750: | |
| (a) | Members of the Forces below officer rank whose total pay and War Service increments under the pre-1945 Code exceeded that payable under the new Code were allowed to retain the old rates, the excess being absorbed as pay under the new Code increased. |
| (b) | Similarly ratings and other ranks were allowed to retain marriage allowances on the pre-1945 basis where it exceeded that payable under the new Code, the excess being similarly reduced or absorbed as marriage allowance under the new code increased or as children ceased to be eligible under the old rules. |
| (c) | Officers of the rank of major (or equivalent) and below (and Lieutenant-Colonels in the Army) and senior N.C.O.'s with children whose then existing net emoluments were reduced on the introduction of the new code in 1946 because of the taxation of marriage allowances, were granted special supplementary marriage allowances on a diminishing scale which will disappear on the 1st April, 1950. |
| The war excesses described at (a) and (b), where they still exist, will be absorbed in or offset by the increases now granted but the supplementary marriage allowances described at (c) will continue on their present basis, decreasing on 1st April, 1949, and finally disappearing on 1st April, 1950, as set out in Cmd. 6750 (para. 66). |