§ 24. Dr. Strossasked the Minister of Labour how many of the 96 districts have junior factory inspectors who possess a technical qualification; and how many have no one who is technically qualified.
§ Mr. WoodThere are now 97 districts. In 76 of these there are inspectors with technical qualifications, including 63 in which there are junior inspectors with such qualifications. In the remaining 21 districts the inspectors have no technical qualifications.
§ Dr. StrossDoes the hon. Gentleman agree that it is not a happy situation to have any district with no one at all who has any technical qualification? Are there any plans in mind for finding a remedy for this situation?
§ Mr. WoodI know the hon. Member's interest in this matter, and we may have opportunities to discuss it in greater detail shortly in Committee. I am sure that he would agree that the difficulty is that the general inspectorate needs people both with and without technical qualifications, and it is difficult to know exactly what the balance should be. There is a certain amount to be said for having those with technical qualifications spread as widely as possible, and a good deal to be said for what we are trying to do at the moment, which is to give each division qualified personnel. But it is difficult to give to each district those with the right technical qualifications, even if we give them all technically qualified inspectors.
25. Dr. Stressasked the Minister of Labour the difference in pay per annum between the initial salary of a grade II inspector and the Works Group scale of payment.
§ Mr. WoodThe initial salary of a Works Group entrant, at the age of 25, is £85 per annum above that of Her 1176 Majesty's Inspector of Factories Class II at the same age.
§ Dr. StrossDo I gather that it is the difference in salary scales that is responsible for the problem which I mentioned in previous Questions, and that if we could give a rise which would make the scale approximate to the Works Group scale we should be able to solve that problem quite easily? May I put it this way? If the Minister is not prepared to see the scale rise in this way, would he at least accept that it is desirable to go half or three quarters of the way?
§ Mr. WoodThis has been frequently discussed and, as the hon. Member probably knows, members of the specialist branches of H.M. Inspectorate are paid on these higher scales, but not members of the general inspectorate. The whole point is that higher scales are paid to certain classes throughout the Civil Service who have professional qualifications and are doing work of a professional character.