CO129-599-4 Salaries Commission- 1947 Report 1-1-1947 - 31-12-1949 — Page 9

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on salaries, emoluments and conditions of service affecting directly the financial circumstances of officers we should first concentrate on these matters, leaving other questions within our terms of reference for consideration at a later date.

7.

All written representations received by the Secretaries were circulated to members of the Commission. Preliminary discussions were held on each representation received and points which would require clarification or elaboration when the writers attended before the Commission in person were noted. When oral evidence was hoard, verbatim records were kept by the Commission's stenographers and copies of those records were circulated to members and where necessary to the persons who

gave evidence for checking. The Commission was practically in continuous session and the hearing of the oral evidence which commenced on 12th May was almost completed by

23rd Junc.

8.

In

We decided that we should exclude from our consideration any questions of departmental reorganisation, any proposals for the creation of new posts and any personal grievances. As a general rule we decided to ignore obsolescent scales and to base our proposals for revision upon the scales introduced in 1938. We focussed our attention upon what we considered such posts morited at the present time in the way of emoluments.. doing so we have in certain instances reached the conclusion that it is necessary for us to recommend certain measures of reorganisation of the public service in order to implement the policy loïd down in White Paper Colonial No. 197. In the case of certain posts and departments created since the rc-occupation of the Colony we have made no specific recommendations for the rovision of salaries, since the extent to which these departments will develop is not yet clear and since certain of the salaries in those departments appear to us to have been fixed in relation not to the salaries in force prior to 1941 but in relation to post-war conditions. It should not be a difficult matter for Government eventually to assign appropriate salaries to such posts in keeping with the new salaries scheme.

Sub-Committees.

9.

All oral evidence was heard by the full Commission. It became clear at an early stage that the issues facing us were so numerous and so complex that we decided to appoint Sub-Committees to investigate or

doal with particular problems. A Sub-Committee consisting of Mr. T. Megarry, (Chairman), ir. J.R. Jones, Mr. A. Pollard and the Joint Secreteries was appointed to discuss with

Heads of Departments the comparativo grading of

staff. A Sub-Committee consisting of the Chairman, Mr. T. Mogarry, Mr. M.A. Lo, Mr. A. Pollard and the Joint Secretaries was set up to draft model salary scales for the main classes of public officers in accordance with principles already settled by the full Commission. Tho Chairman, Mr. T. Mogarry and Hr. P.C.. Sedgwick formad another Sub-Committee to draw up schedules of salaries for all posts shown in the 1947-48 Estimates. The cost of living problem was investigated by a sub-Committee under the Chairmanship of Mr. M.K. Lo, and consisting of ir. J.R. Jones, Mr. A. Pollard, and Mr. I.S. Wan, assisted