§ Mr. PawseyTo ask the Secretary of State for the Environment if it is intended that the new ceiling in the Local Government Bill for involvement in political activity be index-linked.
§ Mr. Heathcoat-AmoryThe salary level of £19,500 specified in the Bill is not a "ceiling on political activity". It is simply a dividing line in the machinery for determining which posts in local government service should be politically restricted. Above that level posts are restricted unless specifically exempted. Below that level they are free unless they are specifically restricted.
My noble Friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State has indicated that the Government propose to use the regulation-making power in the Bill to replace the reference to £19,500 with a reference to point 44 on the 121W national joint council's recommended pay scale, as it is for the time being. The specified salary will thus change in accordance with national pay agreements.