§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what estimate he has made of whether the merit system proposed by Megaw would cost more or less than the current incremental scheme; and on what evidence this assumption is made.
§ Mr. HayhoeI refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 25 November.—[Vol. 32, c.538–40.]
§ Mr. Ralph Howellasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what was the estimated additional payroll expense for the Civil Service in the years 1976, 1978, 1980 and 1982 (a) by reason of the Civil Service pay award and (b) by reason of the incremental scheme; what were the annual percentage levels of staff turnover for each year; and what was the monthly payroll cost at the beginning of each year and at the end of the year.
§ Mr. HayhoeI regret that the pay cost information is not available in the form of breakdown requested except at disproportionate cost. However the following table shows the provision made in the Supply Estimates for the total pay cost of staff of Central Government Departments, excluding Trading Funds, for each of the years referred to.
£ million 1976–77 2,816 1978–79 3,266 1980–81 4,627 1982–83 5,185 The changes from one year to the next include the effects of changes in pay rates, grade structure, overtime working, employers' national insurance contributions and staff numbers. The following table lists the annual pay increases awarded to non-industrial civil servants for the years in question. Pay awards were also made in each of the intervening years but these are not shown. The information at our disposal does not allow precise estimates to be made of changes in payroll costs resulting 576W from the working of the incremental system. I refer the hon. Member to the reply I gave him on 25 November 1981.—[Vol. 32, c. 538–540.]
- 1976–77 Phase I Incomes Policy £6 per week supplement (approximately 10 per cent.)
- 1978–79 Phase III Incomes Policy consolidation plus 9½ per cent. on 1 April 1975 rates (total about 10 per cent.)
- 1980–81 Pay research, 18.75 per cent. in full year. but about 16.5 per cent. after deferment of operative date
- 1982–83 Arbitration award, 5.9 per cent.
Voluntary resignation rates among staff in the non-industrial Home Civil Service for the years 1976–77, 1978–79 and 1980–81 are as follows. The figure for 1982–83 is not yet available.
Per cent. 1976–77 5.5 1978–79 8.7 1980–81 5.4 I regret that I am unable to give the monthly payroll cost figures asked for since these are not collated centrally.