§ Mrs. GillanTo ask the Prime Minister if he will list(a) the name, (b) the salary, (c) the previous occupation and salary and (d) the terms and conditions of each political and special adviser in his office; and what was the selection process used to appoint these persons. [2427]
§ Mr. BluntTo ask the Prime Minister how many of the political appointments to his Office do not have salaries on the special advisers pay spine. [2533]
§ The Prime Minister[holding answer 6 June 1997]: The terms and conditions of the appointment of special advisers are set out in the draft model contract, a copy of which has been placed in the Library. For a list of the 391W appointments in Number 10 Downing Street I refer the hon. Member to the reply that I gave to the hon. Member for Worthing, West (Mr. Bottomley) on 2 June, Official Report, columns 98–99.
Special advisers are paid within a range of £24,349 to £73,484. Their salaries are negotiated individually, and are confidential within this range. As under the previous Government, details of current and previous salary are not provided in order to protect the privacy of the individuals concerned.
The only exceptions who are paid outside this range are the two special advisers who have been given additional executive responsibilities under the amended Order in Council, my Chief of Staff Jonathan Powell and my Press Secretary Alastair Campbell. The Remuneration Committee established to advise me on special adviser salaries has decided that they should be paid £87,936. This figure is based on 80 per cent. of payband 7 of the Senior Civil Service range, together with an allowance of £5,000. My current Principal Private Secretary is also in payband 7 and receives an allowance of just over £5,000.
Under the previous Government, the highest paid special adviser was the Head of the Number 10 Policy Unit, who was paid at the lower end of the Permanent Secretary range, which from 1 April 1997 is £91,800 to £157,590.
The appointments in Number 10 Downing Street are my personal appointments following consultation with the Head of the Civil Service.