for example , the London board have almost completed the rationalisation of their stores in which sixty old premises have been vacated , twenty-one new ones built and twenty-three completely reorganised . the eastern board after completing the centralisation of meter maintenance have achieved a 40 per cent increase in output compared with 1948-49 , with substantial savings in costs . 237 . in addition , clerical methods and accounting techniques are under continual review in all the boards . electronic calculators and high speed tabulators have steadily replaced older types of equipment and are now commonplace in the industry . the introduction of computers is proceeding where justifiable and the council and boards are in close touch with manufacturers about computer developments of special significance for electricity supply application . chapter 6 . employees . staffing of the electricity council . 238 . at 31st March , 1961 , the staff of the electricity council numbered 514 , of whom 346 were located at the council &apos;s headquarters in London and 168 were outstationed . since March , 1958 , when the total employed was 542 , the council have made slight reductions each year bringing about a total decrease of 5 per cent in their staff up to the end of March , 1961 . 239 . at the end of another successful year for the industry , the electricity council are glad once again to record their appreciation of the efficient manner in which their staff have conducted the council &apos;s business . personnel of the industry . 240 . at 31st March , 1961 , there were 193,174 persons employed in the electricity supply industry ; 514 by the electricity council , 55,198 by the central electricity generating board , and 137,462 by the area boards . the combined total exceeded the corresponding figure at the end of the previous year by 2.4 per cent . 241 . this overall increase should be viewed against the expanding business of the industry . thus , whilst area boards sold 12.4 per cent more units during the year their total manpower at the end of the year had increased by less than 1.8 per cent , and although the number of units sent out by the generating board increased by 10.9 per cent the number of persons they employed rose by only 4.1 per cent . the reduction from 44 to 42 hours in the normal working week of the industry &apos;s manual employees towards the end of the preceding year can also be assumed to have influenced the increase in numbers in those grades during the year under report . 242 . classified details of the numbers employed by the council and by each electricity board , with corresponding figures for 31st March , 1960 , are shown in appendix 10 . the classification relates to the main branches of the national negotiating machinery and the following table summarises the detailed figures given in the appendix . terms and conditions of employment . 243 . the arrangements for settling terms and conditions of employment of persons employed by the electricity council and the boards have been fully described in previous reports . during the year the negotiating machinery dealt with a wide range of matters arising in the normal course of day-to-day relations between employees and management . the major issues on wage rates and salary scales are reported briefly in the following paragraphs . national joint industrial council for manual workers . 244 . the electricity council annual report for 1959-60 referred to a claim for a substantial increase in wage rates submitted by the trade unions in January , 1960 , and indicated that negotiations were still in progress . 245 . in April , 1960 , the electricity boards &apos; members rejected the claim but offered to examine with the trade unions , after 30th June , 1960 , the whole question of wages and to apply any resulting wage increase from 31st August , 1960 . this offer was rejected by the trade unions who , in May , 1960 , referred the claim to arbitration . 246 . the arbitration tribunal , meeting in July , were unable to agree and by the Chairman &apos;s decision found against the claim but recommended that the parties should re-examine the whole question of wages at an early date . acting on this recommendation the national joint industrial council concluded an agreement on 12th August whereby the structure of the wages schedule was re-cast . the existing structure of just over one hundred named grades on thirty-three wage rates was replaced by eight groups with eight group rates and five lead rates for certain grades based on the capacity rating of plant on which they are employed . there was a general wage increase of 3 d per hour with greater increases for some grades , including craftsmen , and increases were made to chargehands &apos; enhancements and foremen &apos;s salaries . technical engineering staff . 247 . the main feature of the national joint board &apos;s activities during the year was the introduction , with effect from 1st July , 1960 , of common salary scales applicable to all national joint board technical engineering staff , in place of the four existing salary schedules . technical engineering staff in drawing offices were at the same time brought within the classification provisions of the agreement , from which they had previously been excluded . the common scales were not designed to provide salary increases but to introduce a more equitable pattern of salary relationships between the various sections of the technical engineering staff , and to allow more flexibility in their application to varying forms of organisation . 248 . subsequently , the national joint board salary scales were further reviewed , having regard to salaries paid elsewhere within the industry and by outside industry in general , and increases ranging from &amp;pound;75 to &amp;pound;215 ( &amp;pound;40 to &amp;pound;50 for technical trainees ) per annum were agreed with effect from 1st July , 1960 . administrative and clerical grades . 249 . the electricity council &apos;s annual report for 1959-60 referred to the recommendation of an arbitration tribunal that a claim for increases in salary scales should be considered on the basis of evidence drawn from a wide range of employment in comparable work . after examining information obtained from other bodies on salaries and conditions of service , the national joint council were unable to agree on the assessment of salaries and asked the tribunal to determine appropriate increases . increases awarded by the tribunal , from 1st December , 1959 , ranged from &amp;pound;20 to &amp;pound;50 per annum to the general clerical staff and from &amp;pound;75 to &amp;pound;215 per annum to the higher grades . managerial and higher executive grades . 250 . the basis of the salary agreement was extended to cater for operational growth in the various organisations and , following salary and wages awards to other employees , increases ranging from &amp;pound;225 to &amp;pound;400 were made in the salary scales as from 1st July , 1960 . joint consultation . 251 . joint discussion of the business and policies of the industry leading to full collaboration between management and employees is an important factor in making electricity supply an efficient service , and one of the objects of the joint consultative machinery in the electricity supply industry is to facilitate such discussion . a brief account of activities in this field during the year is given in the following paragraphs . national joint advisory council . 252 . in the national council representatives of employees join with senior representatives of the electricity council and boards and leading trade union officers . the Chairman and other members of the electricity council and boards present reports on the progress and plans of the industry ; these reports are fully discussed and points arising are often referred to one of the national council &apos;s standing committees for more detailed study . 253 . during the year the national council discussed all aspects of the industry &apos;s work , special emphasis being on education and training . fifteen recommendations were made to boards ; the subjects included safety rules ( radiological ) for use at nuclear stations ; amendments and additions to other safety rules ; safety training during pre-commissioning courses at new power stations ; methods of helping to solve the problem of employing the impending bulge in school leavers ; improved liaison between the industry and educational organisations ; and wider selection methods under the scheme for the interchange of personnel with overseas countries . 254 . the national council issued an annual report on their work as well as other publications designed to encourage the work of the district councils and local committees . one of the national council &apos;s new ventures , the production of a film dealing with the basic principles of joint consultation , has been well received at employees &apos; meetings throughout the industry and has been widely shown outside the industry . district joint advisory councils . 255 . the membership of each of the 12 district councils includes representatives of employees as well as of the boards and trade unions . the district councils do much to stimulate the development of joint consultation in their areas . during the year they made many notable recommendations to the boards affecting the interests of employees and the efficiency of the industry . these included recommendations on consumer relations , training in modern power station practice for employees in older stations ; the rehabilitation of disabled employees ; and the problems of communicating instructions , information and ideas . four district councils organised evening lectures for employees on human relations in industry and seven arranged district training courses for new members of the local committees . ten district councils received and discussed regular progress reports from electricity boards . local advisory committees . 256 . there were 468 local advisory committees in power stations , distribution districts and other places of work in the industry . they continued to pay particular attention to education , training , safety and the encouragement of efficiency - this last subject receiving more attention than any other during the year . their recommendations to local managements concerned such subjects as the effectiveness of particular tools and equipment , sales development in smokeless zones , accident prevention and local training schemes and courses . they also continued to engage in many activities for spreading information among employees in their localities . an important development in this field , which has done much to improve two-way communication between management and employees , has been the holding of regular informal meetings of small groups of employees who normally work together . other activities have included the organisation of general meetings of employees , safety weeks , power station open days , exhibitions of award-winning suggestions , arts and crafts exhibitions , and lunch-time and evening lectures . suggestion scheme . 257 . from the time when the employees &apos; suggestion scheme started ( in most districts by 1951-52 ) up to 31st March , 1961 , consideration has been given to 20,099 suggestions and 7,824 awards have been made by the electricity boards on the recommendations of district councils . in 1960-61 the national council considered 152 suggestions which had been referred to them as having possible national application ; in rather more than half of these they circulated details to the electricity boards , in all cases recommending additional awards . superannuation . 258 . careful consideration was given by the electricity council and the electricity boards to the impact on the industry &apos;s superannuation schemes of the national insurance act , 1959 , and its provisions for contracting out of the state graduated pension scheme . having obtained the views of the trade unions , and after joint consultation with the employees through the advisory machinery , the electricity council and boards decided upon a common policy of contracting out all their employees whose basic rate of pay exceeds &amp;pound;9 per week and who are members of superannuation schemes in the industry recognised by the Minister of pensions and national insurance for the purposes of the national insurance act , 1959 . 259 . the Registrar of non-participating employments issued the necessary certificate to be effective from 3rd April , 1961 , the commencing date for the state graduated pension scheme . the national insurance ( modification of electricity superannuation schemes ) regulations , 1961 , applicable to all the industry &apos;s schemes whose members are contracted out of the state scheme , came into force on the same day . 260 . the second valuation of the staff superannuation scheme showed an overall surplus of almost &amp;pound;2 million , which the council , with the agreement of the electricity boards , decided to retain in the fund . the actuaries &apos; report on the first valuation of the manual workers &apos; superannuation scheme was received just before the close of the year . safety , health and welfare . safety . 261 . the safety branch of the electricity council advise the various sections of the industry on safety matters and promote and encourage the use of methods for reducing accidents and dangerous occurrences and their effect on the operations of the boards . 