§ Mr. WigginTo ask the Deputy Prime Minister what the formula is for calculating firefighters' pay; and what other public servants have their pay determined by similar calculations. [71017
§ Mr. LeslieFirefighters' pay is negotiated between the local authorities employers and the Fire Brigades' Union in the National Joint Council for Local Authority Fire Brigades. Annual pay increases since 1978 have been determined by a formula linking the pay of a fully qualified fire-fighter to the earnings of the top quarter of adult male manual workers.
No other public service pay group has their pay determined by the same formula but Police forces in England and Wales also have their pay determined by a formula. The formula used since 1994 is the median of private sector non-manual pay settlements in the past year.