§ Mr. GalbraithTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give for each health board the cost of nurses' salaries following their initial regrading and how much each one had been allocated.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythI refer the hon. Member to the reply which I gave today to my hon. Friend the Member for Tayside, North (Mr. Walker).
Information on such costs will not be available until all boards have adjusted their payrolls to take account of the grading changes and have made payment of the revised salaries.
§ Mr. GalbraithTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give the number of Scottish nurses who earn(a) net gross and (b) gross under £100 per week.
§ Mr. Michael ForsythThis information is not held centrally and could be gathered only at disproportionate cost. However no qualified nurse after regrading should earn less than the minimum of scale C, which is £6,975 per annum or £134 per week in terms of basic gross pay. For nursing auxiliaries the scale minimum for an 18-year-old is now £5,000 per annum or £96.15 per week but only about 10 per cent. of auxiliaries are estimated to be at this point: the majority of auxiliaries will be on scale points ranging from £100 to £121 per week. These figures relate to full-time staff and do not take account of overtime, special duty payments and other allowances which may be payable over and above basic pay.