§ Mr. Canavanasked the Prime Minister whether she will give an assurance that the Government will not seek, by means of limits on local authority expenditure, to prevent local authorities from fully implementing the findings of the Standing Commission on pay comparability report on teachers' salaries.
§ The Prime MinisterThe relevant agreements reached by the Burnham committee and the Scottish Teachers' Salaries committee provide for recommendations from the Standing Commission on pay comparability to form the basis for 871W negotiation within those committees. Consequent recommendations by those committees on revised salary scales will be given statutory force through the provisions of the Remuneration of Teachers Act 1965 or the Remuneration of Teachers (Scotland) Act 1967. Rate support grant cash limits for 1979–80 and 1980–81 include allowances for those pay settlements in the local government sector expected to be based on pay comparability.
§ Mr. Canavanasked the Prime Minister whether she will give an assurance that, in view of the delays in the production of the interim report by the Standing Commission on pay comparability, the Government will honour the original agreement made with the teachers that there will be an interim award in January.
§ The Prime MinisterThe agreements concluded in the appropriate negotiating committees provided that any salary increases negotiated in those committees following receipt of the report or reports of the Standing Commission on pay comparability would be implemented in two equal instalments, from 1 January and 1 September 1980. It is for the negotiating bodies to consider whether there should be an interim award in advance of the Standing Commission's report. The Remuneration of Teachers (Scotland) Act 1967 provides for pay settlements to be implemented retrospectively, if need be.