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FOREIGN AFFAIRS

7. THE PRIME MINISTER said that in the last few weeks they had been able to welcome the signing of the North Atlantic Treaty, the adoption of a constitution for the Council of Europe and the lifting of the blockade on Berlin. These three events marked the successful termination of many months of skilful and patient negotiation by the Foreign Secretary; and he felt sure that his colleagues would wish to express their gratification at the success which had crowned the Foreign Secretary's efforts.

The Cabinet warmly endorsed the Prime Minister's remarks.

WAGES POLICY

Police Pay

(Previous Reference: C. M. (49) 16th Conclusions, Minute 5)

8. The Cabinet considered a memorandum by the Home Secretary and the Secretary of State for Scotland (C. P. (49) 96) recommending that effect should be given to the recommendations in the first report of Lord Oaksey's Committee on Police Conditions of Service.

THE HOLE SECRETARY said that the problem of maintaining a contented and efficient Police force had been causing him great anxiety. In England and Wales recruitment for the police was good, but there was great difficulty in retaining in the force a sufficient number of trained and experienced men. The increases in pay recommended by the Oaksey Committee were less than he had expected, and he thought they were the minimum amounts which would bring contentment among the police. There was a special responsibility on the Government to see that the police were fairly treated, since they could not form trade unions and had no organisation by which they could make effective their views on conditions of service. He had ascertained that the Chancellor of the Exchequer had no objection to the main body of the recommendations, but had reserved his position on a recommendation regarding widows' pensions and on the date on which the increases in Chief Constables' pay should become effective. The Home Secretary thought it important, however, that the Government should accept the report as a whole since, if they rejected some of the recommendations, the police would be entitled to question others, such as the proposal that pensions should be calculated on an average of pay for the last three years.

The Cabinet were informed that the Chancellor of the Exchequer was concerned about the substantial increase in the cost of the police service which the adoption of the Committee's recommendations would entail, but he realised the need to bring the police forces up to strength and hoped it would be possible to regard police pay as something exceptional which would not constitute a precedent for other State employees. In this connection it was pointed out that it would not be possible for the Minister of Education to prevent the Burnham Committee, in their reassessment of teachers' salaries, from having regard to increases which were granted to the police. Moreover, there would probably be pressure on behalf of the Services for the appoint- ment of an outside committee to examine Service pay in the belief that the outcome of an enquiry of this kind would be favourable to the Services. It was also pointed out that the various allowances given to police officers substantially increased their total emoluments thus the schedules of pay annexed to C. P. (49) 96 showed the starting pay of a constable under the Oaksey scales as £330 a year, whereas in fact he would be receiving

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