§ Mr. Churchillasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is the net take-home pay, after stoppages and rent, of a married RAF senior aircraftsman with four school age children, two of them teenagers, following the most recent pay review; and if he will give a break-down of this figure, and the percentage increase which this represents in net weekly take-home pay.
§ Mr. Wellbeloved, pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 22nd May 1978; Vol. 950, col. 437–38], gave the following information:
In assessing the senior aircraftsman's "lead" over the man receiving supplementary benefit, I previously gave the hon. Member two figures, the lower relating to the Band 1 SAC, the higher to the SAC with the more demanding Band 3 job. Both were on Scale C, which goes to men with long service or long commitment. The figures below apply to the same two categories. One change has, 178W however, been made in the mathematics: the amount of income tax likely to be payable by the Band 1, Scale C SAC as a result of the Finance Act has been reassessed and reduced, thus somewhat increasing his take-home pay, and of course his "lead" over the supplementary beneficiary. The difference is only about 40p a week.
Perhaps the hon. Member will forgive me if I repeat that only one in 400 SACs has a family fitting his specification, that almost all SACs have a smaller family or none and that the normal "lead" possessed by airmen is accordingly far greater than the range I gave in my previous correspondence.
The percentage increase in take-home pay is, as the hon. Member can see, rather less than the average gross percentage of the April pay award, but this was bound to be the case, given that the net income other than pay was reduced by the pay increase and the incidence of tax. In all the circumstances perhaps the only surprising—and certainly gratifying—thing is that the percentage difference is so small.
S.A.C. TAKE-HOME PAY AFTER 1978 PAY AWARD Band 1 Band 3 Scale C Scale C £ £ Basic pay 60.34 70.84 Rent rebate 2.40 — Child benefit 9.20 9.20 Gross total 71.94 80.04 Less: M.Q. Charge 9.59 9.59 Income Tax 6.00 9.60 National Insurance 2.42 2.77 Total deductions 18.01 21.96 Net income 53.93 58.08 Net income before pay award 48.32 51.54 Percentage increase 11.6 12.7