G.S. 84
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13
XCR (79) 236
Consultation
50
As explained in paragraph 4, Heads of Department and Staff Associations have been advised that comments which reach the Secretary for the Civil Service by 17th November will be made available to the Executive Council when it considers the Report. In order to process the Report as swiftly as possible, this memorandum has in fact been written slightly before 17th November. Preliminary indications are that none of the comments reveal errors or omissions which require changes to the Report's recommendations.
51
The Report has been discussed with the Staff Side of the Senior Civil Service Council. The Staff Side agreed that the Report should be forwarded to the Executive Council, and accepted that because of the interlocking nature of the recommendations on pay scales any amendments now would not be in the interests of the civil service as a whole. They also expressed certain reservations, which are set out at the Annex. The Annex consists of a copy of the joint statement issued after the two meetings held to discuss the Report, together with a summary of some additional points made by the Staff Side. It is not considered that the Staff Side reservations justify making any changes to the Report at this stage, but as with other staff comments they will be referred to the Commission for further consideration in due course.
Public Reaction
52
Some concern has been expressed by the general public and the news media that the salary increases for civil ser vants will cause a further increase in the rate of inflation. At the same time, however, the public is sympathetic to the junior and lower paid civil servants and the difficulties they face in making ends meet in a period of rising prices. Nevertheless, there is little support for the industrial action being taken by the various staff associations nor, on the other hand, for a hard-line to be taken by the Government on such disputes. Both the public and the media have called for early and peaceful settlement of the disputes through negotiation.
53
As far as the civil service itself is concerned, the Executive Council's endorsement of the recommendations will undoubtedly be a signal for further criticism and representations in the short term. In the longer term, however, the Council's decision is more likely to defuse the current agitation since there will be little point in further disruptive action designed to influence the outcome of this report.
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