THE COST TO THE PUBLIC PURSE: CIVIL SERVICE AND MPs PAY DISCLOSED

The Office of the Auditor (OAG) has published a ‘public interest report’ detailing pay rates in the Cayman Islands Government (CIG) civil service.

The rates of pay in the jurisdiction across the public and private sectors remain among the highest in the region, second only to Bermuda, and in the top bracket globally,

According to the OAG, the publication of the public interest report which outlines the rates of pay within the public service is meant to provide the information as a matter of transparency and does not seek to provide an opinion or recommendations.

“There are no conclusions drawn or recommendations made,” it states.

Auditor General Ms Sue Winspear said, “I have prepared this report to provide independent information and improve the transparency of the remuneration of key management personnel in the public service.”

She also explained that "the remuneration rates given in this report are already in the public domain as is much of the information." However, the Auditor General said key management personnel information is not disclosed, as it should be, in the consolidated financial statements of the entire public sector.

"This report brings together that information for the first time,” she added.

The report shows that as of December 2022, the Civil Service employed 4,566 staff with total pay of $360.4 million to the public purse or $79,000 on average. There were 293 key management personnel across the Government and the Civil Service earning collectively $45.0 million, or $154,000 each on average. It shows that the top ten earners within the Cabinet, Judiciary, Parliament and the Civil Service earned a total of $3.6 million, about $362,000 each on average.

Detailed by division within the public service apparatus, the top earners are Members of the Cabinet whose combined earnings totalled $3.3 million, or about $305,000 each on average.

Next are Members of the Judiciary with total remuneration of $3.3 million or about $302,000 each on average.

Members of Parliament (MPs) averaged $285,000 each with a total budget of $6.0 million. MPs are paid based on the same salary scale as the rest of the civil service. Allowances are the second highest component of an MP’s remuneration after salaries. Each elected MP receives a monthly constituency allowance of $5,000 totalling $60,000 per annum. The Premier receives an additional Executive Allowance of $60,000 per annum while for the Leader of the Opposition, the annual Executive Allowance totals $42,000 per year.Other special parliamentary allowances are; the two MPs for Cayman Brac and Little Cayman are each awarded an additional $5,000 monthly with $2,500 for accommodation and the other $2,500 for transportation.

The Deputy Speaker and the Deputy Leader of the Opposition each receive an additional 2.5 per cent of the salaries while Parliamentary Secretaries receive a monthly duty allowance between $1,000 and $2,000 at the Premier’s discretion. Chief Officers earned $4.3 million, about $204,000 each on average while other key management personnel within the Civil Service earned a total of $35.4 million, about $136,000 each. In all, there were 21 Civil Service entities as of 31 December 2022, comprising 17 Ministries, Portfolio and Offices and four independent Offices. The Deputy Governor heads the Civil Service.

The explanatory notes to the public interest report state that these types of reports address issues that the OAG has identified during an audit or on which a report has been requested during the year. The Auditor General also uses public interest reports when a matter they determine to be of public interest would benefit from being reported, but a full audit is not required. Unlike a report on a performance audit or financial statements audit, public interest reports do not seek to provide an opinion or recommendations based on the reported details.