§ Mr. George Cunninghamasked the Minister for the Civil Service what is the answer to the Question of the hon. Member for Islington, South and Finsbury to which the Minister replied on 2nd December if the word "limit" in the 182W Question were taken in its normal meaning of an upper restriction but not a lower minimum; and why he chose to adopt a different meaning for the purposes of his earlier reply.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisI regret that exact figures for all the public services are not available. However, for the Civil Service, if the pensions increase of 13.8 per cent. had been subject only to a maximum of £4 a week, the gross saving would have been about £5½ million. The tax lost would have been at least £1,925,000.
In his previous Question my hon. Friend referred to the limit equivalent to the rise in income permitted by the current pay policy. I am afraid I do not agree with him that the word "limit" in this context includes a maximum increase but precludes a minimum increase. My Answer on 2nd December therefore showed the effect on public expenditure if both limits were applied.