HC Deb 07 April 1955 vol 539 c130W
48. Mrs. White

asked the Under-Secretary of State for Commonwealth Relations what steps are being taken to end differential rates of salary, based on race and not on qualifications, in the public service in the High Commission Territories.

Mr. Dodds-Parker

Salaries in the public service in the Territories are determined by the need to recruit officers of the required calibre. In the case of European officers it is necessary to take account of salaries paid in comparable employment in other Colonial Territories. Her Majesty's Government do not consider that they would at present be justified in increasing African salaries artificially. The difference is offset to some extent by the fact that Africans in the High Commission Territories do not pay Income Tax.