§ 17. Dr. Brayasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer to what extent he treats Civil Service pay agreements which are not contracts as morally binding on the Treasury, in view of the decision in the cases of Dudfield v. Ministry of Public Building and Works and Faithful v. the Admiralty.
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterIn accordance with the principles enunciated in a National Whitley Council Agreement of 1921, the Government regard such agreements as morally binding, subject always to the discharge of their ultimate responsibility for determining what the public interest requires and to the overriding authority of Parliament.
§ Dr. BrayIs the Chief Secretary aware that the qualifications he has just put to his reply will strike the lower paid civil servants with a great deal of alarm? Is he aware that this particular case, in which the Attorney-General, appearing for Ministers of the Crown, pleaded that the Treasury was not to be trusted has totally undermined the joint negotiating procedure on wages?
§ Mr. Boyd-CarpenterI do not think it would cause alarm to any official who is aware of what is the position and has been the position for over 40 years. If the hon. Gentleman will study the 1921 Whitley agreement to which I referred, he will see it was made clear, and it has always been made clear, that the Government can neither waive nor escape responsibility for the public well-being, nor, equally, can the Government effectively bind Parliament necessarily to vote money in any particular case.