Captain TERRELLasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer whether salaries and bonuses of the Civil Service are not regulated by Statute and alterations in them do not require legislative sanction, and that increases can be voted by the different Departments without prior sanction for them being obtained from the House in the form of Estimates; whether, if this be the case, the Government will undertake not to vote further increases in salaries or bonuses without first submitting to the House Estimates making provision therefor; and whether, in submitting such Estimates, each Department will be requested to notify specifically to the House the proportion of such Estimates which are needed for recommended increases in salaries or bonuses?
Mr. YOUNGWhen Parliament has voted on the Estimates a round sum for the salaries and expenses of a Department, the Executive have power to deal with the rate of those salaries (not being statutory salaries), and to increase them so long as savings are available on the Department's Vote. If savings are not available, then the excess, like any other excess, requires a Supplementary Vote. In the rare case where a salary is statutory, any increase (whether bonus or permanent) requires specific Parliamentary authority, either by a new statute, or, as a temporary measure, by specific provision of an "extra statu- 915W tory" grant on an Estimate. The present form of Estimates shows bonus separately in one lump, and a comparison (as given in the original Estimate) shows the increased provision for each class of salaries. I do not consider that a change is warranted in this form.