§ Mr. Michael Lathamasked the Secretary of State for Employment what is the anticipated annual cost to public funds of the proposed machinery to study comparability of pay; how many civil servants will be required; and what were the equivalent figures for the previous Pay Board which was abolished in 1974.
§ Mr. Harold WalkerThe Standing Commission on Pay Comparability will be serviced by the Office of Manpower Economics, which already provides the secretariat for the review bodies. Additional staffing will depend upon future workload, but I anticipate that requirements will be nowhere near those of the Pay Board which, on 28 May 1974, had over 403 staff in post. Over the financial year 1973–74, the cost for salaries, fees, travelling and incidental expenses was £1,346,631.