§ Mr. Lawsonasked the Secretary of State for Employment if he will list all those pay settlements negotiated in the period 31st July 1977 to 31st July 1978 and approved by the Government which provided for two further increases in pay over and above the guideline increase in the 1977–78 round, to be paid in two equal stages on the next two annual settlements; and if he will specify in each case the details of the pay increases and the number of workers involved.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerTwo groups benefited by such negotiated settlements. The new arrangements covering some 36,000 in the local authority fire service provided that basic rates should be adjusted 833W to equate the earnings of qualified firemen with the upper quartile of adult male manual workers' earnings whilst maintaining differentials. A settlement covering some 37,000 university teachers provided that agreed notional scales would be applied.
§ Mr. Lawsonasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is his best estimate of the average percentage increase in earnings over the year ending 31st July 1978 (a) of those workers whose settlements were within the Government's guidelines and (b) of those workers whose settlements were outside the Government's guidelines; and, in the former case, how much of the excess over 10 per cent. he estimates is attributable to payments in respect of self-financing productivity schemes.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerThe information is not available in the form requested.
§ Mr. Tebbitasked the Secretary of State for Employment on what date he first requested the general secretary of the TUC to provide details of the pay settlement which it publicly announced it had reached with its staff and which appeared to have breached the guidelines for wage settlements laid down by Her Majesty's Government.
§ Mr. BoothI first spoke to the TUC general secretary about Press reports of pay increases for TUC officers and staff on 26th September.