§ Mr. EvennettTo ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) if he will publish a list of the pay agreements in the Civil Service and in the public services sector which make reference to inter-quartile settlement levels in the private sector; if he will state the annual period of time used as the base period for such inter-quartile settlement figures and the gap of time before the effective date of pay increases under each agreement; and if he will state the approximate number of employees and the total annual pay bill under each agreement;
(2) what is the longest period of time in any Civil Service or public services sector pay agreement between the relevant period of data collection, such as inter-quartile settlement levels in the private sector and the effective date of pay increases under the agreement; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. RyderThere are now six long-term flexible pay agreements covering separate groups of staff in the Civil Service which take the inter-quartile range of settlements in the private sector as a negotiating constraint. There are no similar arrangements in the rest of the public services sector. The relevant inter-quartile range of pay settlements is available to the parties to the pay agreements approximately one month before the settlement date and takes account of pay settlements in the private sector over the previous 12 months.
The six pay agreements in the Civil Service together with the number of employees on the basic pay bill covered by each is as follows:
Main grades covered Number of employees 1989–90 paybill £ million1 1. Scientific and technical grades 55,000 755 2. Departmental grades in the Inland Revenue 60,000 570 3. Grades 5 to 7 23,000 585 4. Executive and office support grades 130,000 1,625 5. Clerical, typing and secretarial grades 195,000 1,350 6. Industrial grades 68,000 590 1 Estimate.