§ 5. Mr. Skinnerasked the Secretary of State for Employment whether he is satisfied that the salary paid to the new 1108 part-time Chairman of British Leyland is in accordance with the current pay policy.
§ Mr. SkinnerDoes my hon. Friend take the view that trade unionists who have been subject to the £6 pay policy—and who knows what will happen next?—are appalled by the decision to set on the 62-year-old Sir Richard Dobson at a salary of £22,500 for a three-day week? Will they suggest, incidentally, that he will do even less work once he gets to know the way to the building? Does it not make matters worse to know that Sir Richard Dobson was handed about £80,000 by the firm for which he previously worked?
§ Mr. BoothI should certainly be surprised if there were many part-time workers in Bolsover or Barrow-in-Furness who would be offered a salary as high as this. It is within the pay policy because it is exactly the same salary as was paid to Sir Richard Dobson's predecessor. As to the salary he received from the British-American Tobacco Company, I understand that that salary was fixed before the current pay policy.
§ Mr. StokesAs jobs in the public sector are usually a bed of nails, how can we expect good men to take them unless they are paid the market rate for the job?
§ Mr. BoothI do not defend the salary or advocate it on the ground that it is the market rate for the job. I merely say that it is consistent with the pay policy because it was established in terms which complied with the pay policy.
§ Mr. PriorWhy is the right hon. Gentleman so coy about someone who is 62 years of age? Is not 62 rather a good age at which to take on new responsibilities?
§ Mr. BoothI am not coy about the age of 62; I am worried about the unemployment of people whether they are over or under 60 years of age.
§ Mr. Kilroy-SilkMy hon. Friend is aware that Sir Richard was at a loss to know what to do with the £80,000 he received from his previous employer. Would my hon. Friend suggest that he should donate it to the Social Services Department in my constituency?
§ Mr. BoothIt is not for me to suggest how people should spend their present or previous salaries. Being involved in questions of pay policy, I have enough difficulty in determining what those salaries are to be.
§ Mr. RidsdaleIs it not dangerous to snipe at higher salaries, bearing in mind that the failure of an American company to find a chief executive in this country has led to the removal of the company's headquarters to the Continent?
§ Mr. BoothNo. Decisions on the location of company headquarters do not depend solely or mainly on salary considerations. They raise factors which are of great importance to the economy of this country and its manufacturing industry.