LORD TEYNHAMasked His Majesty's Government what steps they propose to take to improve the conditions of pay 242WA and service of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors, with a view to improving the recruiting for this vital service, which is now very undermanned.
LORD PAKENHAMPost-war salaries for the bulk of the Royal Corps of Naval Constructors were announced in February, 1950. These were effective from January 1, 1946. Since then the recommendations of the Chorley Committee have been applied to the salaries of all grades from chief constructor upwards, with effect from October 1, 1950; and, as from August last, the scale of the constructor grade has been improved from £900 to £950 at the minimum and from £1,250 to £1,375 at the maximum. A post for a principal deputy director of naval construction has also been instituted with additional emoluments of £250 a year. As a result of these changes, and of the post-war arrangements for promotion to the grade of constructor, the Royal Corps offers a career which compares favourably with that open to the Government scientist, and is superior to that available for any other class of engineer in Government service. Although recruitment is not yet satisfactory there have this year been some signs of improvement, and I hope that this trend will be strengthened when new salary scales are announced for the probationers, as should shortly be possible.