NO INCREMENTS

Dominion, Volume 24, Issue 240, 7 July 1931, Page 10

NO INCREMENTS

Public Service Salaries MORE STATE ECONOMY Saving of £200,000 BENEFIT TO BUDGET ■. ' ’ ■ ■ . \ (By Our Parliamentary Representative) It is freely rumoured that there will bo no salary increments in the Public Service this year, and whether this is borne out later in respect to tlie whole of the service it will almost certainly apply to the staff of the Railway Department. While there Is-yet no Ministe-.al authority for this assertion, it is held to be in keeping with the Prime Minister’s plan to keep expenditure aowu to the lowest possible level and so achieve the aim he had in mind when he instituted his economy campaign on his return from England early this year. Were conditions normal the announcement of the Public Service increases would be made within the next few weeks and the payments would be retrospective to April 1. It is estimated that by withholding the expected increments the Government will effect a saving of approximately £200,000. With this additional contribution, and the amount-they will be called upon to pay under the Unemployment Amendment Bill, ’ together with the amount saved to the public funds by the application of the 10 per cent, reduction in wages, the Public Servants will have assisted the 1 economy campaign since its inception to the amount of almost £1,750,000. The loss to the Public- Servants as the result of the cut was £1,391,000, while the tax of threepence in the pound on wages or salaries is estimated to Produce over the whole service, the sum of £157,000. About one-third of the members of t.. 3 service are due for annual increments . ranging from £lO to £2O, so that Axing the average at £l5 the saving in this direction should be in the vicinity p £200,000. •