§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for Defence what representations he has received about the impact of the fall in the value of the £ sterling on the living standards of (a) teachers and (b) other United Kingdom based civilian staff employed by the service children's schools in the Federal German Republic; and what reply he has given.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonI have received a number of representations on behalf of MOD civil servants serving in Germany, the majority from teachers employed at service children's schools. It is clear from these representations that many of the complainants do not fully understand the terms of the formal foreign service allowance agreement with the Council of Civil Service Unions which forms a part of their conditions of service. The agreement provides for the payment of a supplement to pay to enable staff at the overseas station to maintain a standard of living at least equivalent to that enjoyed by civil servants in the United Kingdom and provides for reviews of the Allowance to compensate for local price and exchange rate variations at certain formally defined trigger points. I am satisfied that during the period in which the value of the pound has been declining reviews of the allowance have been carried out in accordance with the terms of the agreement. My replies have conveyed these points.
§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for Defence how many (a) teachers and (b) other United Kingdom 129W based civilian staff are currently employed by the service children's schools in the Federal German Republic; and how many vacancies remained unfilled at the most recent convenient date.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonAt 6 January 1987 the numbers of teachers and United Kindom based civilian staff employed by the service children's schools in the Federal Republic of Germany, and the number of unfilled vacancies, was as follows:
Grade In post Vacancies United Kingdom based teacher 1,024 1 Nil Locally entered and directly employed teachers 300 Nil Other than teachers 48 2 1 One PR teacher post filled by Army PT Instructor.
§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for Defence whether he will extend the system of local overseas allowance now paid to service men in the Federal German Republic to cover United Kingdom based civilian staff employed by his Department.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonNo. The basis for calculating and reviewing foreign service allowance is contained in a formal agreement reached between the official side and the trades union side of the Civil Service National Whitley Council. It is an agreement of longstanding and applies to all overseas stations where United Kingdom based civil servants are employed. The local overseas allowance paid to service men is an integral part of their overall conditions of service while serving overseas and reflects their totally different terms which have existed and developed over a very long period. It is not possible to isolate local overseas allowance as one particular aspect of those conditions and apply it to civil servants.
§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for Defence if he will make a statement on the extent of industrial action currently being taken by teachers employed by the service children's schools in the Federal Republic of Germany as a result of the fall in the local value of their salaries.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonSome teachers employed in service children's schools in the Federal Republic of Germany are working to rule and withdrawing lunchtime supervision.
§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for Defence what compensation is payable to teachers and other staff of the service children's schools in the Federal German Republic to take account of reductions in pay caused by falls in the value of the £ sterling against the German mark.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonUnited Kingdom civil servants serving in Germany, including teachers, receive a supplement to salary known as foreign service allowance. They also receive London weighting. Under the terms of the FSA agreement with Civil Service trade unions special reviews take place when there is evidence that the local living costs of the overseas station which are affected by a combination of prices and exchange rates, have changed by 10 per cent. since the last review or by 7.5 per cent. if sustained for a period of four months. In addition, the FSA budget contains an inbuilt uplift to cushion against the effects of living cost increases which are insufficient to "trigger" a review. Over the past year two special reviews130W have been carried out in Germany, in February and November, and have resulted in FSA increases. The current level of FSA is £2,295 for a married accompanied official living in rent-free accommodation with free utilities and £865 for single personnel living in mess.
§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for Defence when the foreign service allowance paid to teachers and staff of the service children's schools in the Federal German Republic was last reviewed; and with what result.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonThe last review for Germany was undertaken in November 1986. This resulted in increases to foreign service allowance effective from 1 December 1986 to £545 per annum for married accompanied United Kingdom-based civilians living in rent-free official accommodation with free utilities and £325 per annum for single personnel living in mess.
§ Mr. Cartwrightasked the Secretary of State for Defence what is his estimate in the fall in actual pay suffered by teachers and staff employed by service children's schools in the Federal German Republic as a result of the reduction in the value of the £ sterling against the German mark over the past 12 months.
§ Mr. Archie HamiltonUnder the long-standing foreign service allowance agreement with the Council of Civil Service Unions only a proportion of the salary of a civil servant serving overseas is assessed, or needed, in terms of local currency. The remainder of salary is needed to meet sterling United Kingdom commitments, including tax and national insurance. This agreed local currency element for teachers working in service childre'ss schools in Germany, who are civil servants on period contract appointments, has been fully maintained under the terms of that agreement to take account of local price and exchange rate variations since January 1985, the date of implementation of the last full review of allowances in Germany.