Ministerial Salaries Consolidation Act 1965
| Jurisdiction | UK Non-devolved |
| Citation | 1965 c. 58 |
Ministerial SalariesConsolidation Act 1965
1965 CHAPTER 58
An Act to consolidate the enactments relating to the salaries of Ministers, the pensions of Prime Ministers, the salaries of Opposition Leaders and Chief Whips and other matters connected therewith.
[5th August 1965]
Be it enacted by the Queen's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same, as follows:—
1 Salaries of Ministers.
(1) Subject to the provisions of this Act, there shall be paid to the holder of any Ministerial office specified in Schedule 1 to this Act an annual salary of the amount stated in relation to that office in the second column of that Schedule.
(2) The annual amount of the salary payable under this section—
(a ) to a Minister of State or to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury;
(b ) to the holder of the office of Lord President of the Council, Lord Privy Seal, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster or Paymaster General when not a Member of the Cabinet,
shall be such as the First Lord of the Treasury may determine, not exceeding in any case the amount stated in the second column of the said Schedule.
(3) The date upon which the holder of any office described in subsection (2)(b ) of this section becomes or ceases to be a Member of the Cabinet shall be published in the London Gazette, and any such notification shall be conclusive evidence for the purposes of that subsection.
2 Number of holders of offices to whom salaries may be paid.
(1) The number of persons to whom salaries may be paid at any time as holders of the office of Secretary of State shall not exceed nine.
(2) The number of persons to whom salaries may be paid at any time as Ministers of State shall not exceed nineteen.
(3) The number of persons to whom salaries may be paid at any time—
(a ) as Treasury Secretaries, shall not exceed two,
(b ) as Junior Lords of the Treasury, shall not exceed five,
(c ) as Assistant Government Whips in the House of Commons, shall not exceed six,
(d ) as Lords in Waiting, shall not exceed three.
(4) The number of persons to whom salaries may be paid at any time as Parliamentary Secretaries (other than Treasury Secretaries) shall not exceed thirty-six.
3 Pensions of Prime Ministers.
(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, any person who has been Prime Minister and has as First Lord of the Treasury taken the official oath prescribed by section 5 of the Promissory Oaths Act 1868 , shall be entitled to a pension of the amount prescribed by this section.
(2) No pension shall be payable under subsection (1) of this section to any person so long as he is in receipt of any salary payable out of the Consolidated Fund of the United Kingdom or the revenues of the Duchy of Lancaster, or any salary payable out of moneys provided by Parliament other than a salary or allowance payable out of moneys so provided in respect of his membership of the House of Commons.
(3) The annual amount of a pension under subsection (1) of this section shall be as follows:—
(a ) in the case of a person who ceases to hold office as Prime Minister and First Lord of the Treasury after 31st March 1965, 4,000;
(b ) in any other case, 2,000,
but this subsection shall not affect section 17 of the Ministerial Salaries and Members' Pensions Act 1965 (provision for increase of pensions of past Prime Ministers).
(4) On the death of a person who holds or has held office as aforesaid at any time after 31st March 1965, the provisions of sections 8 to 10 of the Ministerial Salaries and Members' Pensions Act 1965 (widows' and dependants' pensions) shall apply as if the deceased had been entitled at the time of his death to a pension under section 7 of that Act of an annual amount equal to two-thirds of the amount prescribed by subsection (3)(a ) of this section, but subject to the following modifications, that is to say—
(a ) any pension under those provisions shall be paid as directed by section 7(3) of this Act and not out of the Members' Contributory Pension Fund; and
(b ) for any reference in those provisions to the Trustees there shall be substituted a reference to the Treasury.
4 Salaries of Opposition Leaders and Whips.
(1) Subject to subsection (2) of this section, the following annual salaries shall be paid to the Leaders and Chief Whips of the Opposition, that is to say—
(a ) to the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Commons, 4,500, and to the Chief Opposition Whip in that House, 3,750;
(b ) to the Leader of the Opposition in the House of Lords, 2,000, and to the Chief Opposition Whip in that House 1,500.
(2) No salary shall be payable under this section to a person who is in receipt of a pension under section 3(1) of this Act.
(3) In this section ‘Leader of the Opposition’ means, in relation to either House of Parliament, that Member of that House who is for the time being the Leader in that House of the party in opposition to Her Majesty's Government having the greatest numerical strength in the House of Commons; and ‘Chief Opposition Whip’ means, in relation to either House of Parliament, the person for the time being nominated as such by the Leader of the Opposition in that House.
(4) If any doubt arises as to which is or was at any material time the party in opposition to Her Majesty's Government having the greatest numerical strength in the House of Commons, or as to who is or was at any material time the leader in that House of such a party, the question shall be decided for the purposes of this section by the Speaker of the House of Commons, and his decision, certified in writing under his hand, shall be final and conclusive.
(5) If any doubt arises as to who is or was at any material time the Leader in the House of Lords of the said party, the question shall be decided for the purposes of this section by the Lord Chancellor, and his decision, certified in writing under his hand, shall be final and conclusive.
5 Provision against duplicate salaries.
5. A person to whom any salary is payable under this Act shall be entitled to receive only one such salary, but if he is the holder of two or more offices in respect of which a salary is so payable and there is a difference between the salaries payable in respect of those offices, the office in respect of which salary is payable to him shall be that in respect of which the highest salary is payable.
6 Extension to Ministers of Superannuation Act 1949 c. 41.
6. Section 41 of the Superannuation Act 1949(provision for the payment to civil servants and other persons employed in a civil capacity for the purposes of Her Majesty's Government of gratuities and allowances in respect of injuries incurred or diseases contracted in the discharge of their duties) shall apply in relation to persons holding...
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