Special report finds legislators placed themselves at top of new pay scale while civil servants remained at bottom

Members of the House of Assembly secretly awarded themselves massive salary increases at the end of 2023, more than doubling their collective pay in a move the Auditor General has warned undermines fiscal transparency and public trust.

According to the special report on financing the 2024 public service salary increases, legislators approved the hikes at an informal meeting on December 19, 2023, just two days after passing the national budget. Instead of adopting the minimum salary range recommended by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), which would have represented a 68% increase, members opted for the maximum range, driving their salaries from $681,000 to $1.49 million — a staggering 119% jump.

The adjustment required an additional $809,652 in the 2024 budget, more than doubling the allocation for legislators’ salaries from $394,000 in 2023 to $1,143,652 in 2024.

The largest single increase went to the Premier, whose salary rose from $72,000 to $176,243 — a 145% jump. Other positions saw similarly steep raises:

Deputy Premier: $65,000 → $152,015 (134% increase)

Ministers: $60,000 → $127,788 (113% increase)

Junior Ministers, Speaker, Opposition Leader: $45,000 → $103,560 (130% increase)

Deputy Speaker: $40,000 → $79,870 (100% increase)

Regular Members: $36,000 → $71,230 (98% increase)

In sharp contrast, the report noted that 93% of civil servants were placed at the bottom of their new salary scales under the PwC recommendations, with only 7% placed higher to prevent pay cuts. Legislators, however, positioned themselves at the very top of their scale, guaranteeing the largest possible pay boost.

The Auditor General stressed that while funding for the raises was quietly included in the budget, there was no public disclosure of the decision, nor was it clearly flagged in Cabinet papers. This lack of transparency, the report said, has raised serious accountability concerns, particularly since the salary review was originally intended for civil servants and not elected officials.

The report further recommended that the Deputy Governor’s Office and the Ministry of Finance provide explanations for why Cabinet and the House of Assembly were not informed of the potentially greater costs of implementing the salary increases. It also urged full public disclosure of the raises granted to legislators, along with the implications for their retirement benefits, which were already enhanced in 2021.

The Auditor General concluded that the manner in which the raises were handled has not only obscured the true financial impact but has also put the credibility of government decision-making at risk.