HC Deb 06 February 1996 vol 271 cc101-2W
Mr. Tracy

To ask the Lord President of the Council what plans he has to review the arrangements for the pay of hon. Members and Ministers. [14237]

Mr. Newton

My right hon. Friend the Prime Minister has today written to Sir Michael Perry, the chairman of the Senior Salaries Review Body, in the following termsAs you know, changes in the structure of civil servants' pay mean that new arrangements need to be found for determining Members' pay from 1997 onwards. I would be grateful if you and your colleagues on the Senior Salaries Review Body, under your standing terms of reference, undertake a comprehensive review, with the following remit. 'The Senior Salaries Review Body is asked to undertake a comprehensive review of the level and structure of Parliamentary pay and allowances and to make recommendations for the future. The review should cover each of the following terms:

  1. (i) the salary of Members of the House of Commons;
  2. (ii) the salaries of Ministers and other office-holders;
  3. (iii) all allowances, comprising the Office Costs Allowance, Motor Mileage Allowance, Additional Cost Allowance and the London Supplement;
  4. (iv) the severance pay and pension arrangements for MPs and Ministers;
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  5. (v) the rates of Peers' expenses allowances and the Secretarial Allowance for Ministers and other paid office-holders in the House of Lords; and
  6. (iv) a linkage to provide the basis for annual uprating in future years without the need for Parliamentary decision.'
I realise that such a review will be time consuming and needs to be fitted in with your other work. Nonetheless, I would be grateful if it could be completed in time for you to make recommendations, if at all possible, by the end of June.

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