§ Mr. Mike O'BrienTo ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department (1) if he intends to maintain the fire brigades pay formula in the next reassessment of the pay for firemen;
(2) what assessment he has made of the impact upon the morale of fire service officers of the departure from fire brigade pay formula during the forthcoming pay negotiations.
§ Mr. Peter LloydThe Government are not a party to the firefighters' pay agreement, and have no role in the negotiation of firefighters' pay. My right hon. and learned Friend has however made it clear that he expects the council to comply with the Government's policy on public sector pay that any increases in the 1993 pay round should182W not exceed 1.5 per cent. and the increase in the fire service's share of total local authority standard spending for the current year has been based on that assumption. It would in our view be manifestly unfair to treat fire service employees differently from other public sector employees in respect of the policy.