CO129-602-4 Cost of living allowance 27-3-1948 - 11-12-1948 — Page 58

Note on an Informal Meeting in the Council Chamber, on the 2nd July, 1948, to discuss High Cost of

Living Allowances

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Present

The Honourable Sir Man-kam Lo, Kt., C.B.E. The Honourable D.J. Sloss, C.B.E.

The Honourable B.C.K. Hawkins, 0.B.E. The Honourable C.C. Roberts

Professor F. Benham, C.B.E.

W.G. Wormal

P.C.M. Sedgwick

R.J. Minnitt (in the chair)

On the subject of the revision of existing high cost of living allowances, for the establishment of new rates upon the basis of which to frame further adjustments, Mr. Minnitt stated that it was Government's intention to establish a committee.

Professor Benham described the manner in which the Malayan Committee had arrived at its recommendations recently approved by the Secretary of State. He stated that the given situation included recommendations by the Wages Commission on the remuneration of daily paid workers, and the revised basic rates of salary recommended by the Trusted Committee. Accepting these recommenda- tions, the principle adopted by the Malayan Committee was to equate the total remuneration of Government employees as far as possible to the remuneration paid by outside employers except in the case of certain professionals on high salaries, where this principle would imply excessive increases. On this basis an allowance of 50% of the basic salaries was recommended for all except those daily paid workers who were already receiving in allowance more than 50% of their basic pay.

In certain cases a review of basic rates of pay was recommended and was now taking place.

Mr. Sloss said that in Hong Kong the given basis from which to move in framing recommendations had been the Rehabilitation Allow- ances, and as the men in the middle group of clerical and skilled workers were worst affected by the increase in the cost of living, it was these employees who had received the highest increases in total remuneration by way of allowance.

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Mr. Wormal said that for an increase of at least 400% in their cost of living these workers had received increases of 100 150%, while the European Officers for an increase of 200% in the cost of living had received an average of 40%.

Mr. Sloss said that owing to the many variable readjustments in basic pay, it was not possible to average what the European had received.

Mr. Wormal said that if the men on $800 per mensem and over were taken into consideration they had received less than 40%.

On the question of the use of type budgets for an attempt to assess what was needed in high cost of living allowances, it was stated by Professor Benham, Mr. Hawkins and Mr. Wormal that the use of such budgets would lead to difficulties owing to their being criticised as unrepresentative, and owing to the fact that they would reveal margins too high to be met by allowances. Mr. Hawkins emphasised that, in the present time, it would not be possible to keep the methods of assessment of allowances confidential: all Branches of the Service were determined to have negotiation by means of Whitley Councils, and that was the policy of the Secretary of State.