§ Mr. Deakinsasked the Minister for the Civil Service what are the areas in which he hopes to improve the pay research system for civil servants.
§ Mr. ChannonThe Civil Service pay agreement has been suspended for the 1981 pay settlement, but the Government have told the Civil Service unions that they want to continue discussions about possible changes to the pay research system for the longer term. The changes include strengthening the independence of the Pay Research Unit and widening the role of the Pay Research Unit board to enable it to examine the principles underlying the way in which the pay research data are used. In addition, we are considering the scope for introducing regional variations in Civil Service pay; and the possibility of relating pay more closely to performance.