§ 13. Mr. Gwilym Robertsasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity if, in view of the productivity criteria applied within the prices and incomes policy, she will make arrangements for researches into methods of measuring the productivity of technologists, scientists, teachers and other professional people.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerInquiries into the measurement of the productivity of these and other categories of employees may be made as appropriate by the National Board for Prices and Incomes or the Research and Planning Division of my Department.
§ Mr. RobertsWould my hon. Friend not agree, however, that some of us who initially supported a prices and incomes policy now feel that some of the recent decisions, including the pantomime over 16 university teachers' salaries, are such that the Board, its authorisation and its criteria are now in complete disrepute and that the whole thing should be looked at again from scratch?
§ Mr. WalkerNo, Sir.
§ Mrs. EwingCan the hon. Gentleman give even one example of how he could propose to measure the productivity of teachers or other professional persons?
§ Mr. WalkerThere are undoubtedly difficulties in measuring the productivity of many professional groups, but continuing experience shows that there is more scope for this than was originally thought. An indication is given in the recent N.B.P.I. Report No. 86 on the pay of staff workers in the gas industry. The Manpower and Productivity Division of my Department is now preparing to look at the possibilities of starting ways and means of increasing productivity in these fields.