§ Mr. Nobleasked the Minister for the Civil Service whether a pay settlement has now been agreed for the non-industrial Civil Service.
§ Mr. Charles R. MorrisPursuant to the answer I gave to my hon. Friend the Member for Fife, Central (Mr. Hamilton) on 15th May [Vol. 950, c. 21], I can now confirm that all the Civil Service unions have accepted the Government's pay offer for non-industrial civil servants from 1st April 1978. As I explained to my hon. Friend, the main features of the settlement, which is within the Government's guidelines, provide for consolidation of the 1976 and 1977 pay supplements into basic rates with an across-the-board increase of 9½ per cent. on the new consolidated rates. The settlement also provides within the guidelines for making a start on dealing with some anomalies which have arisen in the past three years.