§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Minister of Technology whether he will give an assurance that all staff employed by his Department, other than those affected by the Government's recently announced increases to the higher paid civil servants, have had a 3½ per cent. per annum cumulative minimum increase in their wages and salaries since the introduction of the Government's incomes policy.
§ Mr. BennI am afraid that in the time available it has not been possible to assembly the information which would be needed to answer this question. To do so would involve analysis of the pay scales of over 300 grades and this would require a disproportionate expenditure of time and effort.
However, the policy in relation to the pay of the staff to whom the question refers is laid down in agreements between the Civil Service Department and the Staff Associations. Pay is reviewed regularly in accordance with these agreements. Since the Government's income 139W policy was announced a number of agreements have been reached involving increases of pay in conformity with the Government's policy.