§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Prime Minister whether he will publish in the Official Report details of when the Government have not felt able to implement the reports on salary adjustments for the top-paid public servants, for what reasons and in what way such reports were not implemented in full.
§ The Prime MinisterA considerable number of reports have been produced over the years by various bodies appointed to review the salaries of top-paid public servants. A historical and comprehensive survey of these reports is contained in Appendix G to Report No. 6 on Top Salaries (Cmnd. 5846). It was not always the case that these reports were implemented in full.
So far as the implementation of reports by the Top Salaries Review Body is concerned, there have been seven reports, of which three were concerned with the remuneration of Members of Parliament. The remaining four reports all dealt with the groups within its standing remit, namely, the chairmen and members of the boards of nationalised industries; the higher judiciary; senior civil servants; and senior officers of the Armed Forces. Three of these reports were implemented in full.
In the remaining case the Government accepted the salary rates recommended by the Review Body for the Civil Service, the Armed Forces and the judiciary but decided that implementation should be by two stages, except where the salary was below £13,000.
However, the recommendations in respect of the chairmen and members of nationalised industries have not yet been implemented and a decision on these is being deferred pending the report of the Royal Commission on the Distribution of Income and Wealth. The reasons for not implementing that report in full were given to my hon. Friend the Member for Aberdare (Mr. Evans) on 20th December 1974.—[Vol. 883, c. 646–8.]