HOUSE OF COMMONS STAFF (Hansard, 20 May 1975)

HC Deb 20 May 1975 vol 892 cc1216-7 1216

§ Mr. Speaker
Following the answer given yesterday by the Lord President to the hon. Member for Basildon (Mr. Moonman), I propose to circulate in the 1217 Official Report details of the arrangements I shall be making to provide information about the salaries and conditions of service of the House of Commons staff. Thereafter, I shall be glad to talk to any hon. Member who wishes to raise any point arising from these arrangements.

Following is the information: Following the Lord President's answer yesterday to the hon. Member for Basildon to the effect that I would be arranging for information relating to the salaries and conditions of House of Commons staff to be published, I set out below the general rules relating to these matters and details of the action which I propose to take in future. General Rules The basic salaries of all House of Commons grades are linked to the scales paid to appropriate grades in the Civil Service; and the House of Commons rates are consequently revised whenever the Civil Service rates are changed. The Accounting Officer is required to keep the complement, grading and pay of House of Commons staff broadly in line with such arrangements in the Home Civil Service; and subject to the special requirements of the House, the same applies to conditions of service. Salaries The Commissioners for regulating the Offices of the House of Commons have, since 1955, regularly made a report to the House in respect of each financial year. Copies of this report have been made available in the Library. I propose that in future there shall be annexed to each such annual report a complete statement of the complement of staff of the House, showing their rates of pay. I will also arrange for as many copies as are required of this annual report to be made available to Members in the Vote Office. In advance of the next annual report from the Commissioners, I propose also to make available to Members in the same way a separate statement of the current complement and rates of pay of all House of Commons staff. This will be made available as rapidly as possible. Conditions of Service A general statement of the conditions of service has recently been produced by the Staff Board in the form of a "Handbook for New Staff". I am arranging for copies of this handbook to be made available to Members in the Vote Office.