§ Mr. Churchillasked the Secretary of State for Defence what has been the increase in earnings of Her Majesty's Forces under phases 1 and 2 of the Government's incomes policy; and by how much average industrial and average manual earnings have increased under phases 1 and 2, respectively.
§ Dr. GilbertThe information available is as follows:
Armed Forces per cent. Industry per cent. July 1975—July 1976 9.6 13.9 July 1976—July 1977 4.8 6.0 Sources:
Armed Forces—AFPRB reports.
Industry—DE Gazette, index of average earnings.
Manual earnings are included in the figures for industry, but are not separately identifiable.
* July 1976—February 1977 only seasonally adjusted.
§ Mr. Churchillasked the Secretary of State for Defence by how much the local overseas allowance for Her Majesty's Forces in Germany has been increased in each of the three years up to March 1977; and what has been the corresponding change in allowances for foreign and Commonwealth personnel.
78W
§ Dr. GilbertLocal overseas allowances for Her Majesty's Forces in Germany were last reviewed in 1974. The rates which emerged from the review were introduced in 1975. Except to the extent that the sterling value of the allowances has been increased to offset the fall in value of sterling against the deutschemark there have been no changes since.
Foreign service allowance, the arrangements for calculating which are different from those for calculating local overseas allowance, and which is payable to all United Kingdom-based civil servants abroad, has been uprated in Germany on three occasions since March 1974, apart from adjustments to take account of changes in the value of sterling.
I will write to the hon. Member giving examples of individual changes.