§ Mr. Beithasked the Minister for the Civil Service (1) whether he will now seek to institute negotiations between his Department and the Defence Police Federation on the pay of Ministry of Defence Police;
(2) whether it is the policy of the Government that there should be parity between the pay of Ministry of Defence Police and that of other police forces.
§ Mr. Robert SheldonI am pleased to be able to announce that arrangements have been made for discussions to resume with the Defence Police Federation. This has been made possible by the Pay Board agreeing that the circumstances of the review of the pay of the Ministry of Defence Police appear to be such that they would satisfy the criteria of the Price and Pay Code for correcting "anomalies" outside the pay limit for stage 3. The federation's claim is for parity of pay and allowances with other police forces, and this will be one of the matters for discussion.