§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Lord President of the Council (1) in the light of the fact that on the basis of April 1977 prices, hon. Members' salaries would have to be raised to £7,475 per year to restore the real value to that of July 1975, and to £10,035 per year to restore them to the level approved by Parliament in January 1972 and that such increases would not restore the salary to its 1964 value, what action he proposes to take to restore Members' salaries to their 1964 or 1972 level; (2) whether he has received the document prepared by the Amalgamated Society of Technical and Managerial Staffs of which many hon. Members are members, showing that their salaries are well 291W below those agreed to in 1972 and 1964 and that even if the salary of £8,000 per annum recommended by the Review Body had been payable this would not have kept them up with the average earnings of other workers; and whether he will arrange to meet the Union to negotiate or discuss this subject;
(3) whether he is aware that in real terms the present salary of a Member is only 60 per cent. of the amount which was approved by Parliament in January 1972 following the report of the first Review Body, that this report recommended an increase to £4,500 per annum which did not then compensate for the rise in prices since the previous review in 1964 and nowhere near matched the rise in average earnings; and when Members' salaries are likely to be restored to the January 1972 agreed level;
(4) in the light of the fact that Members' salaries are falling behind on the basis of average earnings and worth of salaries compared with 1964, 1972 and 1975 and that Members are being taxed when travelling to and from Westminster when they supply their own transport or use public transport, whether he will seek to remedy this situation.
§ Mr. FootI intend that the House should debate the whole general issue of Members' pay at the appropriate juncture, which will afford the suitable opportunity for right hon. and hon. Members to put forward their own views on these matters.
§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Lord President of the Council to what extent Members' salaries would have to be increased to restore their purchasing value in real terms to that of 1964.
§ Mr. FootIf the gross salary of a Member in October 1964—£3,250—were to be increased in line with the movement of the Index of Retail Prices between that date and May 1977, the resulting gross salary would be £10,490.
Total of superannuation benefits brought into payment early Number of cases Total of lump sum compensation payments £ million Lump sum £ Pension (or compensation allowances) £ million 1973 … … 1,641 1.3 0.8 0.3 1974 … … 1,028 1.2 1.1 0.4 1975 … … 899 1.4 1.5 0.5 1976 … … 1,213 2.7 3.3 1.2