Sessional_Paper_1948 — Page 21

15

CHAPTER IV

ALLOWANCES .

GENERAL

44. After careful consideration of the allowances at present payable in the public service, we are of the opinion that the majority of them can be dispensed with, provided that the permanent emoluments of posts are otherwise adequate for their holders. A major exception is the high cost of living allowance, the temporary retention of which in a modified form appears to us to be essential until stable conditions return. Apart from the high cost of living allowance which is dealt with fully in Chapter X, we recommend that, in general, allowances should only be prescribed in respect of:-

--

(i) reimbursable expenditure incurred in performance of duty; (ii) duties extraneous to normal duties;

(iii) special risks.

QUARTERS AND ALLOWANCES IN LIEU OF QUARTERS

45. We have already stated in paragraph 31 that we recommend the abolition of the privilege which certain officers at present enjoy of occupying Government quarters free of charge. We also recommend the abolition of rent allowances and have instead in accordance with the principle enunciated in the Colonial Office White Paper incorporated an appropriate element for rent into all revised basic salaries. We consider that the present system of rent allowances and charges for the use of Government quarters is unnecessarily complicated, is open to criticism as being discriminatory and is the cause of many anomalies. It was not until 1946 that any change was made in the maximum permissible rentals laid down in General Order 109 as the result of the 1928 Salaries. Commission's recommendations, although it is obvious that there were considerable fluctuations in rents during the intervening period. Even with the recent increase of 30% introduced to bring rent allowances into line with controlled rents under the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance, 1947, the evidence produced to us shows that in many instances the rents paid by officers on dollar salaries for accommodation of a type greatly inferior to that which they occupied before the war bears little relation to the rent allowances they are at present receiving. In this connexion we have taken no account of rents in excess of the controlled rates, although there is ample evidence that many Government servants are being forced by principal tenants to pay excessive rents. We have already forwarded a separate recommendation to Government that steps should be taken to advise the public of their rights as tenants under the Landlord and Tenant Ordinance and to give Government servants and other members of the public such assistance as is possible to secure those rights.

46. We consider that the practice of treating house allowance as part of pensionable emoluments is an unnecessary complication which can easily be avoided if salaries include an element for rent. We understand that in Malaya, West Africa and other Colonial territories salaries include provision for rent and that deductions are made if Government quarters are provided. We consider that only a system of that kind can operate fairly in respect of all sections of the public service. The salaries of certain overseas officers, for example, have in the past clearly been low because of the provision of free quarters and representations have been made to us that many of the lower paid overseas officers are at present at a considerable financial disadvantage while on home leave, since during this period they have to pay for their own lodging. The incorporation of a rent element into basic salary will not in itself increase the Colony's pension bill except in the case of certain sterling paid officers engaged since 1st April, 1937, on the so called African scales who do not receive any house allowance for pension purposes. We are of the opinion, however, that the reduction made in the emoluments of such officers was unduly large and in our readjustment of salaries to include provision for rent we have ignored their less favoured position. To readjust salaries in regard to rent allowance we have therefore followed the procedure laid down for the majority of the service in the Pensions Ordinance of adding one sixth to basic salary. The revised basic salaries which we recommend include in all cases this addition as well as an increase to compensate to some extent for the permanent decrease in the purchasing power of money. We consider that such provision will, in general, enable officers to rent premises of a type appropriate to their status at controlled rents. Where officers are provided