HC Deb 03 July 1967 vol 749 cc1267-8
40. Mr. William Hamilton

asked the Lord President of the Council how many extra clerks have been recruited to service the anticipated new specialist and other committees as from the beginning of the next Session.

Mr. Crossman

The question of additional staff for the Clerk's Department, in order to ensure that the House is properly served next Session, is under urgent consideration.

Mr. Hamilton

Is my right hon. Friend aware that if the staff are not recruited now there is no hope of getting the increased number of specialist committees which he and I are agreed we ought to have? Can he make a specific statement as to how many clerks he has in mind as needing to be recruited for the plans which he has in mind?

Mr. Crossman

I do not underestimate the seriousness of the situation. It is not only a question of recruiting new clerks for further committees. It is a question of recruiting sufficient clerks to maintain even the present level of our work. I am glad to say that I am having an urgent talk with the Chancellor of the Exchequer this week about it.

Sir J. Langford-Holt

Can the Leader of the House assure the House that it is this House which decides how many clerks we need to perform the duties and nobody else, and also that we decide how much they shall be paid?

Mr. Crossman

Of course it is this House which decides how many clerks we need. The question of how much they should be paid is more complex. We have to relate the pay of clerks here to the pay of civil servants outside, and others, and to keep it in accord with the prices and incomes policy.

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