§ Mr. David Priceasked the Secretary of State for Employment and Productivity what range of percentage increases in salary will be in accordance with the current prices and incomes policy this year by employers to members of their staffs who have had no salary increase since July, 1966, and whose work is not amenable to direct productivity measurement, due account being taken of the rises in the cost of living and in average industrial earnings since July, 1966.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerThe White Paper "Productivity, Prices and Incomes Policy after 1969" (Cmnd. 4237) states that, where a pay settlement takes effect after an interval of more than a year from the last one, the normal range of 2½–4½ per cent. can be adjusted proportionately to take account of the longer period. The White Paper also says there is no reason why a settlement whose operative date is more than 12 months after the last one should, merely on this account, be above 4½ per cent. The exceptional circumstances in which it might be appropriate for a settlement to be concluded outside the normal range are described in Section E of the White Paper.