HC Deb 25 July 1984 vol 64 c631W
Mrs. Renée Short

asked the Secretary of State for Education and Science (1) if he will provide additional funding to the University Grants Committee so that universities may implement the 1968 agreement on parity and grant clinical academic staff increases in line with the 1984 increases awarded to National Health Service hospital doctors and dentists;

(2) if, in view of the long-standing arrangements for parity, he will grant the same moneys from the Contingency Fund for a clinical academic staff award as that given to National Health Service doctors and dentists in order to prevent the delays that have occurred in the last three years.

Sir Keith Joseph

No additional funds beyond those already included in recurrent grant will be made available in the financial year 1984–85 for this purpose. Salaries for clinical academic staff are a matter for the Clinical Academic Staff Salaries Committee, established in 1979.

Mrs. Renée

Short asked the secretary of State for Education and Science why there is no automatic implementation of the agreement reached in 1968 to grant clinical academic staff salary increases in line with those awarded to National Health Service hospital doctors and dentists.

Sir Keith Joseph

The negotiation of the salaries of university clinical academic staff is a matter for the Clinical Academic Staff Salaries Committee, which was set up in 1979 with the remit of considering how the salary arrangements for hospital doctors and for dentists should be reflected in those for clinical academic staff in order to ensure the continuance of broad comparability of remuneration between the two groups. This remit would not seem to imply automatic application of salary increases awarded to hospital doctors and dentists to the salary levels of clinical academic staff.