HC Deb 21 January 1970 vol 794 cc161-2W
Mr. Arthur Lewis

asked the Lord President of the Council whether he is aware that the Treasury allowance of £500 per annum to a Member of Parliament for the salary of a secretary is insufficient; and, as a means of assisting Members of Parliament to find a secretary for this salary, if he will take steps to allow retired civil servants to undertake these duties without having their Civil Service pensions reduced by the amount they may receive from Treasury payments.

Mr. Peart

As I told the House on 11th December, 1969, the new allowance will not meet all the costs of those Members who employ a secretary full-time in their Parliamentary duties. It is an interim measure pending an overall review of Member's remuneration. The pension of a retired civil servant would not be abated if he or she were employed as a secretary by an individual Member of Parliament.—[Vol. 793, c. 654.]