§ 29. Mrs. Castleasked the Secretary of State for the Colonies why Africans in the Senior Executive and Accounting Division of the Nyasaland Civil Service are paid from £500 to £600 a year less than Europeans in the same grade.
§ The Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies (Mr. Julian Amery)The higher rates payable to Europeans include an 1086 expatriate factor which is designed to attract essential and suitable staff from overseas.
§ Mrs. CastleIs the hon. Gentleman aware that that is the opposite of what I was told by the Chief Secretary when I inquired into this matter in Nyasaland eighteen months ago, when it was agreed by the spokesman of the Nyasaland Government that the present situation was quite intolerable because this extra £500 is being paid to Europeans regardless of whether they come from outside the Federation or Protectorate or are within it? Therefore, it cannot be called an expatriate allowance. I was told then this matter was being examined. Can the Under-Secretary say when?
§ Mr. AmeryI cannot help thinking that the hon. Lady may have misunderstood what was said to her. Proposals are under consideration for a locally-based Civil Service in Nyasaland. This would provide for identical salaries and conditions of service for all locally-domiciled persons irrespective of race, but where expatriate civil servants have to be introduced it is necessary, if we are to attract them, to make this payment.