Public Sector Pay Increase budgets $600,000 more for TCI Parliamentarians

Dana Malcolm 

Staff Writer 

#TurksandCaicos, December 10, 2023 – As the rest of the civil service gets salary increases between 10 and 60 percent, Turks and Caicos parliamentarians are enjoying pay hikes as well.

“Since the last pay and grading review, almost a decade ago, there have been no increases towards the salaries of the members of the House of Assembly,” said Anya Williams, Head of the Public Service and Deputy Governor in a Monday December 4 press conference.

The DG sought permission from the Integrity Commission to include Parliamentarians in the review with that permission received, consultants investigated and found that the salaries for Members of the HOA were not competitive.

“In most instances, the salaries for CEOs of statutory bodies topped that of the Premier and members of the House of Assembly.”

In a Public Sector pay raise that now increases government spending on salaries by $18.2 million, the Deputy Governor explained elected officials are not left out.

“With the approval of the Integrity Commission, a new remuneration package has also been approved for Ministers and Members of the House of Assembly that with the exception of across-the-board increases, unlike the mainstream public service would not have benefited from previous increment or other increases in pay.

A total of $600,000 or 3% of the total pay and grading budget has been allocated to facilitate these adjustments.”

The review resulted in the presentation of a new remuneration package which the Integrity Commission has approved. Williams did not say how much of an increase they would each be receiving but under the new system, which adds an 11th band for Executive staff in the TCIG, increases would see base pay in ‘executive one’ at $117,000; in ‘executive two’ at $146,000 and in ‘executive three’, $178,000.  .

Deputy Permanent Secretaries fall under the new Executive One band, Permanent Secretaries under Executive Two and the Attorney General and Deputy Governor under the Executive Three band.