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Sir Man-kam Lo proposed that the best course for the Committee on revision to pursue would be to enquire into the total remunera tion paid by Commercial Firms, and then to recommend a percentage increase on present allowances which need not, and probably could not, be the same as the outside rates of remuneration.
Professor Benham, asked for his personal opinion, thought this would be a good course to follow. The meeting considered it might be best to state that the whole allowance system was being revised, and, in revising, to leave the lower rates unchanged as it was agreed that the levels of remuneration of clerical workers in Government Service and in commercial employment at the present time generally corresponded.
On the subject of the machinery for subsequent revision of the new rates of allowance, once established,
once established, the following principles and procedure were agreed upon:
1. Review should be made quarterly. This did not necessarily
imply that a change in allowances should be made each quarter. A change would be made only if there were evidence of a marked change in the cost of living or other relevant factor.
2. The first date of review should be the 1st October.
3. The Committee for revision would consist, in Hong Kong,
of a Chairman, and one official and one unofficial.
4. Representatives of the service should not be members,
but should be able to submit representations to the Committee.
5. Other factors besides the cost of living should be
taken into consideration :
(a) The general state of the trade and commerce
of the Colony.
(b) The state of the Government's finances.
(c) Rates of remuneration paid in private
employment.
6. For possible quarterly variations different percentage changes for different categories would be inadvisable, and therefore type budgets, which would reveal different percentage variations, could not be used. One Index figure must be used as the yard stick covering the principal items bought by all sections of the public service.
7. Stability of total money incomes was desirable, and there- fore the cost of living allowance should not be changed unless there were an appreciable variation in the index.
8. As the Retail Price Index is not the only factor, and as the effect of changes in the cost of living is offset to some extent as people vary their patterns of expenditure when particular prices change the principle should be that the changes, upwards or downwards, should not fully reflect the change in the cost of living.
9. A Retail Price Index of 100 for March, 1948, for this purpose should be taken as the base on which to vary the high cost of living allowance.
10. A separate index, for Hong Kong, should be calculated for
rents.
No comments yet.
Private notes are available after approval.