§ 8. Mr. Lewisasked the Minister of Works the number of employees in his Department whose wages or salaries are automatically governed by a rise or fall in the cost-of-living figure; and by how much his annual wage bill will rise by virtue of the rise to the cost of living during the last twelve months of 1s. 6d. in the £.
§ Mr. Buchan-HepburnThe wages of 4,760 industrial employees of my Department are automatically governed by a rise or fall in the cost-of-living figure. The increase in the annual wage bill by virtue of the rise in the cost of living during the last twelve months is about £50,000.
§ Mr. LewisWill the Minister draw the attention of the Chancellor of the Exchequer to this matter, and point out to him that there are hundreds of thousands of workers in thousands of industries in the country whose wages and conditions are governed by the rise and fall in the cost of living? If the Chancellor is really concerned, will he, rather than make a "phoney" appeal to the trade unions, do something to implement the promises made consistently by the present Government since 1950 to reduce the cost of living? When are we going to get a reduction in the cost of living?
§ Mr. Buchan-HepburnThat question, which I see was addressed vicariously to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, is well-known to my right hon. Friend, quite apart from his reading of HANSARD.