§ Mr. Biffenasked the Minister for the Civil Service what percentage income increases have recently been concluded 35W for non-industrial civil servants in the engineering, architectural, surveying and other professional fields; and to what extent was comparability a factor in these increases.
§ Mrs. HartThe pay of the works group of professional classes has been increased by 5.2 per cent. with effect from 1st January, 1969, and these civil servants will receive on average a further 6.9 per cent. on 1st January, 1970. The pay increases are being implemented in two stages to conform with the requirements of the White Paper on Prices and Incomes Policy in 1968 and 1969, Cmnd. 3590. These grades, having last been surveyed in 1964, were surveyed during 1968 by the Civil Service Pay Research Unit, an independent, fact-finding body. The rates which will be reached on 1st January, 1970, are based on the evidence of rates paid for comparable work outside the Civil Service on 1st January, 1969, adjusted to take account of differences in conditions such as hours worked, leave and superannuation, in accordance with the recommendations of the Royal Commission on the Civil Service, 1953–55.