§ Mr. Loveridgeasked the Secretary of State for Education and Science if the Government will review the formula constructed for the measurement of London weighting allowances for teachers in order to give greater weight to variations in the costs of house purchase between London and the rest of the country as well as relating the formula to rents and other housing costs.
§ Mrs. ThatcherTeachers' London allowance, like that of many public sector workers, is derived from the formula in Report No. 44 of the National Board for Prices and Incomes "London Weighting in the Non-industrial Civil Service". I see no prospect of any immediate change.
The index of rents and other housing costs compiled by the Department of Employment and used in the formula does not allow for mortgage payments but caters for owner-occupier housing costs in the way recommended by the Retail Prices Index Advisory Committee. The committee has several times considered the treatment of mortgage payments and has always concluded that the existing basis is the best available.