§ Mr. Austin Mitchellasked the Lord President of the Council (1) whether he will publish in the Official Report any information he has regarding the secretarial and individual research or administration assistance available to Back Bench Members of Parliament in other Common Market countries;
(2) what information he has of the salaries and allowances paid to Members of Parliament in other EEC countries; and if he will publish the latest figures calculated in the £ sterling equivalent;
(3) if he will publish the pay per hour, based on salary divided by the number of parliamentary working hours per year, for hon. Members of Parliament in Great Britain, other EEC countries, Canada and Australia.
§ Mr. Foot,pursuant to his reply [Official Report, 23 February 1979; Vol. 963, c. 330], gave the following answer:
The table below gives the information provided by embassies in response to the standard inquiry on pay and allowances.
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PAY AND ALLOWANCES OF PARLIAMENTARIANS IN EEC COUNTRIES (MARCH 1979) Basic annual salary Special allowances and concessions Secretarial and office services Travel concessions (on Parliamentary business) Postage and telephone services (on Parliamentary business) United Kingdom £6,897 Subsistence allowance of up to £3,045 p.a. when Member has to stay away from home. Allowance of £424 for Members representing London constituencies. Severance arrangements. Allowance of up to £4,200 for secretarial or research assistance and office expenses. Repayment of fare or car mileage allowance for all journeys between home, Westminster and constituency and with-constituency. Limited free travel for wives. Free stationery free inland telephone and postal service. Belgium 1,390,483 BF (£22,910) — Subsidies payable to each party group in Parliament. Free inland rail and bus travel. No private car allowance. Free postage (limited) and free inland telephone service. Denmark Kr. 134,884 (£12,640) Subsistence allowance: Residents in or near Copenhagen—Kr. 12,617 (£1,180) p.a.; others in Zealand—Kr. 19,255 (£1,800) p.a.; others—Kr. 37,195 (£3,490) p.a. Allowance pre group of between Kr. 105,084 (£10,130) and Kr. 205,896 (£19,300) p.a. A supplement of Kr. 2,559 (£240) per month for each seat is also available. Free inland rail, ferry and air travel. Free inland use of telephone from the Folketing and free stationery. Federal Republic of Germany DM. 90,000 (£23,440) DM. 54,000 (£14,060) to cover: Office provided in Bundestagand expenses met (within limits). Car pool. Free travel within FRG. Travel outside FRG requires permission of the President. Free postage and telephone service from parliamentary building. (a) complete upkeep of office outside Bundestag; (b) care of the constituency; (c) official travel within FRG; (d) subsistence. France F. 226,606 (£25,660) Salary figure includes representational and housing allowances. Limited facilities for staying overnight at Assemblee. Loans at privileged rate? to buy house and office. Office provided in National Assemblee plus FF. 3,920 (£440) per month for a secretary and FF. 4,646 (£530) for an assistant. Free rail travel at all times. Wives travel half price. Free postage. Free telephone calls from Parliament to Paris and constituencies. Quota of free calls from home. Free stationery. 824W825W
PAY AND ALLOWANCES OF PARLIAMENTARIANS IN EEC COUNTRIES (MARCH 1979) Basic annual salary Special allowances and concessions Secretarial and office services Travel concessions (on Parliamentary business) Postage and telephone services (on Parliamentary business) Italy … … Lire 19,512,000 (£11,310) Subsistence allowance included in basic salary. Additional daily allowance of Lire 27,200 (£16) for attendance when there is no full session of the Chamber. Limited amount of office accommodation available. Tax allowance made on basic salary. Free rail travel at all times. Plus certain other concessions for deputies and their families. Free local telephone calls. Luxembourg … … Fr. Lux. 290,000 (£4,900) Members receive subsistence if on Parliamentary business. For the first 5 Members the individual party is paid a lump sum of LF. 198,531 (£3,350) and LF. 31,765 (£540) for each subsequent elected Member. No allowances payable to parties with lower than 5 elected Members. Travel costs reimbursed. Free rail travel within the Grand Duchy at all times. Free telephone calls from Parliamentary building. Other office expenses including postage have to be met from office services allowance. The Netherlands … … Fls. 87,589 (£21,160) Tax-free subsistence allowance of Fls. 10,086-Fls. 20,171 (£2,440–£4,870). Entitlement to special unemployment benefits, old age pensions, etc An allowance of up to Fls. 25,884 (£6,250) p.a. for personal assistant. The Government also contribute towards secretarial and office costs. First 5,000 km.—47 cents per km.; 5,001–10,000 km.—39 cents per km.; 10,001–20,000 km.—35 cents per km.; above 20,000 km.—32 cents per km. Free telephone calls from Parliamentary buildings; free postage. Republic of Ireland … … £6,911 Overnight subsistence of £10 for country Deputies and £6 for Dublin Deputies when attending Daily sittings. Secretarial assistance paid entirely out of public funds. Limit of 1 secretary to 7 Members. Allowance paid to party leaders may also be used for additional secretarial assistance. Similar to United Kingdom. Similar to United Kingdom with limit of 300 letters per week.