§ 42. Mr. Wrigglesworthasked the Minister for the Civil Service if he will consider shortening the number of increments on the pay scale for clerical officers.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisThe present incremental scale for clerical officers is agreed with the staff associations concerned, and does not fall to be reviewed until 1976.
§ Mr. WrigglesworthThere is general support for the principle of incremental scales. Is my hon. Friend aware that there is hope that these will not be restricted by the current discussions between the Government and the TUC but that the increments in the clerical officer and clerical assistant grades are so long that it takes almost a decade to reach the top point of the scale and that they are therefore almost meaningless?
§ Mr. MorrisI understand and appreciate the concern my hon. Friend has expressed, particularly since I was once a civil servant in a grade which at that time had 18 points on the incremental pay scale. I appreciate the irritation and frustration felt by civil servants in such grades.