asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer what were the total wages and salary bills for 1974–75 in the industrial public sector and in the rest of the public sector, shown separately; what were the original estimates at the time of his Budget Statement for the same bills for the current year; and what those bills would be if increases were limited to 10 per cent. in the wage and salary settlements which occur during the year.
The estimates of wages and salaries, including employers' contributions to national insurance and pensions, paid in 1974–75 in the non-industrial and industrial public sector are as follows:
| £ million | |
| Non-industrial public sector | 11,835 |
| Industrial public sector, including trading activities (and direct labour building departments) of public authorities | 6,720 |
| Total | 18,555 |
asked the Chancellor of the Exchequer if, when defining the next round of wage bargaining, he will take account of the fact that a few groups, such as the police and university lecturers, are prohibited by stage 3 of the last statutory pay policy from receiving any further increase until the autumn of 1975; and if he will safeguard the position of these groups.
Transitional arrangements in connection with policy on pay will be covered in the White Paper which is to be published later this week.