Ministers paid an average of over $305k per year
(CNS): Members of the Cabinet earned CI$3.3 million, about $305,000 each on average in 2022, the Office of the Auditor General (OAG) has revealed in a new public interest report. Government ministers were not the only senior public sector employees to take home salaries and benefits that the average resident can only dream of; other members of parliament also earned an average of $285,000 per year, while members of the judiciary collected a total of $3.3 million, which is an average pay plus perks of around $302,000 each. Meanwhile, chief officers earned $4.3 million, about $204,000 each on average.
Across the civil service, staff in key management positions (Grade E and above) earned a total of $35.4 million, about $136,000 per year on average, the report revealed.
Auditor General Sue Winspear explained that while the salaries are public information, she conducted this report to give the public better access to the information since the government is not reporting the salaries in the consolidated accounts.
“I have prepared this report to provide independent information and improve the transparency of the remuneration of key management personnel in the public service,” said Winspear. “The remuneration rates given in this report are already in the public domain, as is much of the information. However, 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.”
Winspear explained in the report that her office has issued an adverse audit opinion on the consolidated financial statements for the Entire Public Sector since 2013, and one of the factors contributing to this is in regard to omissions in financial statement disclosures. “One of those omissions is that the Government has not established a system for reporting key management personnel transactions,” she said. “As a result… the public does not routinely know what is spent on, for example, MPs’ salaries and benefits.”
The report found that the civil service employed 4,566 people at the end 2022 and paid them all about
$360.4 million in remuneration, or $79,000 on average. The report also highlighted that in 2022,
there were 293 key management personnel across the government and the civil service, who earned
$45 million in total, or about $154,000 each on average.
However, MPs are in general the best paid of all public officials, given that on top of their salaries and general benefits, they are also paid additional allowances for constituency offices of some CI$5,000 per month, even though several of them use their homes as their offices, while Minister Jay Ebanks uses the North Side Civic Centre.
The two MPs for the Sister Islands, Premier Julianna O’Connor-Connolly and Moses Kirkconnell, receive additional travel and accommodation allowances. Their office staff are also paid separately and not out of their constituency allowance.
Winspear made no recommendations or judgements about the report and the amounts spent on politicians, stressing that the goal was transparency and giving the public a chance to see for themselves all in one place how much public cash goes on pay for those in senior public office.
See the report in full below:
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Category: Government Finance, Local News
Here is a list of pretax salaries (converted to KYD) for some comparable leaders:
France 183,015.00
Ireland 196,710.00
Jamaica 47,762.35
United Kingdom 164,603.11
United States 332,000.00
European Union 302,120.00
Canada 231,570.00
Makes the fact that the average MP in Cayman earns over CI$300k quite laughable. How is this justified?
Ok a few things here:
– this article says $300k for ministers inclusive of every benefit and allowance
– your comment says this $300k is for ‘the average MP’ – it is not, it is only for ministers
– you are comparing their ‘all benefits included’ compensation with just the salaries of those overseas leaders. Those overseas leaders get a lot more in other compensation.
– for example, the US president receives a $50k expense account, $100k entertainment account, $19k travel account, and in addition to having hiring authority over most of the Executive Office of the President (thousands of people), the President can appoint 34 persons of their completely free choosing to positions earning $172,100 – $183,500. They also have use of the White House, the Presidential Limousine, Air Force One, Marine One, Camp David…and each of the national leaders you listed has a similar set of benefits.
Just so you’re comparing like with like. Those other national leaders receive millions, tens of millions, hundreds of millions in total compensation in the form of services provided by and paid for by their governments. In contrast, the Premier gets an extra $5,000 a month and a car for official business only.
Meanwhile, some civil servants struggle to make ends meet. Mind you, if we want this to change, the Public Management law has to change and who is in charge of changing the law? 😉
Why does the Public Service Management Act have to change, 11:27? As we have already seen by Cabinet giving the politicians and those civil servants on grade C and above raises some time ago, salaries can be changed without changing the law.
No, Anonymous 28/11/2023 at 2:12pm. All of these shenanigans are done under a law. They cannot just up and increase their salaries without having something on paper, in case the UK comes asking questions later.
You’re missing the point bobo. Its not the law that’s the problem.
Guess who were the trusted heads of PAC to approve all of the waste we suffer…
$1500 that’s the light bill for some of their haciendas where their concubines are living la Vida loca ! Ie papie !
Audit general report outlining what their minions are making sitting on the various boards and committees because it appears they are now spreading the wealth around to them too with public money and like their egregious salaries that is totally unacceptable not to mention the side deals going down around them that they take a piece of the action from too.
I bet some of the people posting comments voted for them. Others tried to warn you what the outcome of electing them would be but you wouldn’t listen.
It takes the Auditor General to let you know what was already known but you wouldn’t listen.
This is the tip of the iceberg and more to come. If you don’t stop burying your head in the sand and saying you don’t care or it doesn’t affect me think again!!
When you get the chance if you really want some cold hard truth watch a program called “While the Rest of us Die”. Most of us will retire poor and with debt while these people are laughing all the way to the bank plus their family and cronies.
Thank you 9:46 a.m! You are spot on!
what makes this even worse is that if we decide to vote these greedy money grubbing louts out they will be due severance packages sorted by alden last term.
the current political class screws you coming in and leaving.
Consider that even with these generous incentives, and the double dipping on pensions, to attend but a handful of Parliamentary sessions a year, we still suffer from the shallowest pool of willing candidates, some of them past and likely future convicted criminals. Why is that Cayman? Discuss.
What gets me is Premier Panton sat at let this happen under his watch despite his claim to be transparent and responsible. He has millions in the bank and still agreed to take this huge salary. We were duped!!!
That’s right 8:31 a.m. If he has all of the millions it is said that he has, why didn’t he refuse to put in place what PPM did it before they lost? Yeah, him and the characters he chose eagerly grabbed it up. Now we have “Ministers” who operate just past illiterate making a truckload of money. For what?! Wayne got what he deserved for what he did.
Not shocked but disappointed…
Its all clear why Julie miraculously found $60M for $1500 civil servant bonuses when her predecessor could not. I am sick of these xxx so called independents trying to buy the civil service because they fear what’s coming in the next election. Tell us why the likes of Jay, Kenneth, and others now how their own CIG SUV and driver. I agree that the Premier should have a car and driver ( as always has been the case) but why does each minister need one? Waste of our money. Another reason the PACT will hold on no matter what – to the detriment of this country. Makes me sick! VOTE EM OUT! The people of this country want an election.
Absolutely No value for money an absolutely no justification for these exorbitant salaries because gone are the days of politicians and top civil servants working to earn their keep ! No one has more vacation time than these top civil servants obscene amount time they are out of office ? Other than the Audit General and her office who are doing their jobs can we honestly say they are working for the people. And you hear what His Majesty’s representative says “She not worried “
We have students and sports athletes overseas unsupported and these top civil servants and politicians and their minions living it up like kings what bunch of bas#@%@! eh Cayman .Look at how many times they meet in Parliament and all cabinet is a secret cabal to get their pet scams/projects through without any public debate nor to keep us informed and them accountable.
😮 !!!!
So everyone really understands this.a person with an income of $500,000usd per year would take home 300,000$kyd in the state of California. that’s far beyond the one percent. I mean this is literally what goes on in third world countries, people without any experience or credibility even with criminal records paying themselves what law partners make on a good year. Whilst Sitting on their phone, most work on average 40hrs a week. just stagaring
I don’t think they work 40 hours in a month.
Incorrect. An income of US$500k a year in CA will net you US$278k or CI$230k. You need to earn US$672k a year to take home CI$300k!!! $672k !!!
your maths is way off. more like 700k US to take home 300k CI in Cali
Dwayne Seymour – education . airport security – salary 350k net income
You got it all Wrong Dwayne Seymour expense 200K entertainment/ladies 100K 45K bills 5k constituency office handout Broke each month soon change now with Wayne Panton’s environment utopia in the garbage pan big Money $$$ going to run now !
And, 4:34, cussing off people with dutty words at football fields.
2:13 pm Not only football fields. Go back and listen to the speeches for the recent “special sessions” of parliament and hear about the nasty cuss words in caucus and Cabinet. Shocking, low class behaviour of at least one of these $300,000 per annum + characters. Street thugs will never be statesmen. This is what ignorant voters get for voting them in, and Wayne’s payback for allowing thirst for power to cause him to put them into ministerial positions. Shame on Cayman.
Many Government staffers have suffered stagation and and many others been selectively and mysteriously recruited promoted and retained even after gross incompetence and widespread misconduct and malfeasance.
A real dog’s supper it is now.
The list of sharp top managers who quit after short careers would show the Cadre who should really be running the country properly now.
Would be it be novel if the anti corruption unit, instead of investigating themselves and spending most afternoons on the golf course, actually scrutinised the lifestyles and behaviour of some of our most senior politicians. I can’t speak for the community but it might be refreshing to see some of these people actually held to account for the nefarious activities that go on between some of the honourable members and businesses on island.
Dont forget, in January 2021 it was The Knight of the Realm and his PPM Govt, which Julie and Dwayne were part of, that chose to award themselves as Ministers and the Deputy Governor, Attorney General, and all Chief Officers a whopping 16% increase in salary.
This was just as Cayman was preparing to come out of the COVID pandemic lockdown, they awarded themselves such a high pay raise in Jan 2021.
This was when most all other Caymanians and residents were STILL hurting due to the economic lockdown and stagnation.
The PPM, Julie and Dwayne gave their developer buddies massive concessions, plus gave themselves massive pay raises – while everybody else was fretting that the bank was going to take their home.
And these are the people that want us to vote for them? I say NO!
Given how little they do, this is truly disgusting. Hope the British Government is keeping an eye on this. Don’t want another BVI direct rule case…
In politics it doesn’t matter what that facts are, it’s what the people believe. People vote on the basis of what they believe. they had it tough the past few years working under a hard boss panton they deserve that level of pay. Rolls eyes
Well I got one vote for sale next election this will be like Elvis Cayman Brac No Weed No Vote. So No money No Vote
No wonder they don’t understand the dilemma the rest of us face. They have a one time $1500 payment to civil servants. No real prospect of helping them navigate the rising cost of living.
They barely do anything in the house. Can’t pass a budget. But can pass a Law banning feeding wild chickens. This is crazy. The country is suffering, its citizens are suffering, and they’re lining their pockets!
lol.
The British PM makes 170k before tax.
STRIKE Cayman Strike to show your contempt for this outrageous $#%@
the real reason (not Cayman or its people) why the same cronies hang on to any seat they can.
This is travesty and a national disgrace, the Civil Service is just a big boys club for the lodge. Franz, you should now resign from your useless position and take your friend Eric Bush with you, you’re making between the two of you about CI$450,000. The Civil Service needs to cut 10% of the workforce and every politician has to take a 20% pay cut and they’ll receive no extra benefits. Also no pay raise for the next 4 years. We’ve got our people living in poverty and begging and this is their money. This makes me sick.
my salary is just under $2400 a month can barely survive 😫 lights water food and transportation well NAU here I’m coming
Spot On Kman a repository for its delinquent and entitled members and a bank of lucrative contracts and job opportunities and major deals for senior leadership.Especially when everybody is going through difficult times . In fact it’s part of the membership strategy for prospects. Still playing that mental trick on We!
Why the personal attacks on DG Franz Manderson??! He runs a very tight ship for Cayman. So does Eric Bush
ahahahahaahahahhahaahahahahaahahahahaha “gasp” ahahahahahahahaaha. I can’t afford to buy meat this month but these folks are trying to decide what new car they want for Christmas…
and Bush claims he’s broke!
…and claims sympathy with the walker to court…oh dee dums LMAO
What a breath of fresh air Panton was ….LMAO!!!!
Fresh Air but what has he really done but exacerbate a political nightmare to become a reality for us all in Cayman now!
Wow, they make as much as the US president… when you take into account that the US president is liable for income taxes on his 400k/year salary.
Stupid comparison.
For one the US President lives in the White House.
Is it that hard to stick to the facts?
The amounts quoted are ridiculous for MPs by any measure. The upper echelons of the Civil Service are not too bad considering the level of responsibility (for the competent ones.)
With the MPs, at least there was an election and we got to choose them. With the Civil Servants, there would have been a hiring process and some level of vetting plus ongoing requirements.
Where I have an issue is with the Boards, we have people appointed to Boards simply through political patronage and collecting over $5,000 per month with no accountability for success or failure of their respective entities.
I get the politicians I deserve and I can apply for a job in the Civil Service anytime I want, but paid Board appointments as political favors costing this country over a million dollars each year is where the Auditor General needs to do a little digging.
This made me feel physically sick. how could they take so much when even their own people live in poverty?
Disgusting.
We really have not seen the worst yet. Who will be moving into these top positions? WIll they have anymore interest in the people or the country when their plans kick in to leave have been met, too bad. Can’t blame them caymanians mande everyone caymanian simply to increase numbers for merchants so lack of respect loyalty to anything except money is the norm
This is criminal and giving themselves 16% raise whilst others get 1500 dollars for Christmas which I am sure they would try and get too .erry lickle bit counts you know? Meanwhile the senior civil servants and their side hustle and business ventures is just plain old greediness.
We know now why the new Premier was so quick to get the bonus for civil servants , she knew this was coming out.
We need to protest march against this BS .
UK are you watching?
Let me guess. Along with Percy auditor generals who decided the public had a right to know, her contract will not be renewed.
Cake! And many fill time Government Company workers still earn less than $2,500/MONTH. Shameful.
And these “Poverty Wage” workers (as so described by the Minimum Wage Committee) are being told that they WILL NOT be getting the little Civil Service Christmas $1,500 Bonus that the Premier kindly announced for staff last weekend.
Neither will they get the proposed COL Wage Increase in the New Budget!
Yes all the CREAM is rising to the top! And the sludge to the bottom I guess!!??
The idea behind high CIG salaries was to render corruption and running outside business by Civil Servants less of “a ting”.
Doesn’t seem to be working.
Hocus Pocus theory merely increases the level impunity some politicos actually believe it’s their right to use xxxxx to get ahead! 80% of senior civil servants are self righteous spineless degenerates who would betray their own mother to hold on to their little fiefdoms of power and slaves that accompany such positions.
RITE..
This is much more than the veep of the U.S. and just shy of the p.m. of Canada.
Sickening. And don’t forget the additional sweeteners and back handers from influential individuals. The motto of the Cayman Islands should simply be In Greed We Trust.
which is corruption.
What was it Legge said again? Was he wrong?
and to imagine around 5 highly qualified expat professionals could run the entire government at a fraction of the cost.
And you say this based on what ? Since Cayman seems to be full of incapable Caymanians, may I ask why you are here? Seems odd someone would uproot their life in a modern successful jurisdiction to move to a jurisdiction run by a bunch of dump islanders???
It is comments such as yours that are going to lead to violence in these islands.
Here to fill that same void. Violence? Poppa UK will squash it rather quickly. Why do you so quickly resort to violence? Were you abused as a child?
Violence? Don’t make me laugh. Most of Cayman can’t be bothered to get off their asses (or their phones) to do their own jobs properly, let alone make an effort for anything else.
Check your own first!
Violence initiated by your own MPs!
Thank your blooming bloomers that the UK has no crime or prejudice.
They can’t even elect a Prime Minister anymore. Laughing my britches off here mate.
wink wink
the civil service…..one huge expensive bad joke….
They should all be ashamed of their selves. Greed…. instead of service.
but just look at all the things they have achieved…..ooppps.
Why do MP’s in the Brac get paid extra when they both own homes in the Brac and Grand? That is the biggest level of nonsense I’ve read so far.
The Brac is a welfare state because of them. They both need to retire, resign or get booted out as MP’s they are a disgrace!
They not the reason the Brac is a welfare state. Also, it’s only the case among the young and uninspired. Us old folks still work every day as we’ve always done. Doesn’t seem to be getting us anywhere though. Won’t stop the most of us from trying.
$25K per month, plus all their side gigs which they declare but still do. Must be nice to “work” — and I use that term loosely — less than a week per month for such an abundant salary and perks package. I expect benefit to the people for that amount. Haven’t seen it for quite a spell.
Health care costs driving us down. Spend what little you have until you are declared indigent. That is the only model available for those of us who aren’t among the elite Civil Service.
Being an MP on Cayman Brac is pretty much the same as being a Trailer park supervisor.
Thanks Ms Winspear. As you note, this information has mostly been in the public domain so those of us really interested in it were aware of the salaries. Your account of the remuneration/perks apart from salaries is very helpful, though, as this has traditionally been less easy to identify…..deliberately I would guess. Now would you please carry out an identical exercise for the statutory authorities, government companies and other non core government positions. These have always been totally secret leading to rumors of $250k+, even $300k+ for some of the KMPs in these entities.
Don’t forget the perks such as a luxury truck for their exclusive use
Our MPs are paid a higher base salary than most Prime Ministers of nation states and CEOs in the real world.
And yet Big Mac can’t afford his CUC bill.
To be fair, he runs his very cold to counter the hot air that emanates from his mouth.
Well, the casino and lawyers bid mount u. To say nothing of the bar tabs.
Or Sabrina, according to her at least.
A complete waste of money for the lot of those highly paid charlatans. They remind me of at the trough
At this rate of spending, unfunded liabilities in the billions plus the horrendous management of the CS and the poor quality of elected representatives. These islands will be bankrupt within ten years. Cayman will become a bigger mess than other islands like Antigua, BVI and Bermuda. And you will only have yourselves to blame for it all.
we already bankruped
>USD$1,600,000 total comp over term for disengaged backbench radio commentators not shadowing Ministers, excluded from private caucus meetings and basically doing nothing but stewing on gay rights for 4 years, at our considerable expense. Some of them concurrently drawing a full monthly pension benefit, driver, security detail, CAL freebies, priority seats, baggage waivers, etc.
What a waste of money for third class service from top civil servants that run ministries. None could earn that amount in the private sector as none are competent enough to get top jobs anywhere else.
MP’s and Cabinet ministers are vastly overpaid too many have zero educational and professional qualifications. Most of them could not manage the local chippy.
Cayman is unreal and deserves what it gets when voters fail to elect qualified persons with strong ethics and proven track records because they did not buy votes or give out Christmas hams and turkeys.
Jon Jon and Co at CI$300,000 are definitely a bargain compared to the US President at US$400,000.
Cayman really does wear a Mickey Mouse wristwatch.
Mickey Mouse wears a Cayman wrist watch. It makes clown car noises every hour, at 7 minutes past the hour, because why not?
Chief officers are grossly underpaid compared to their responsibility.
Many Chief Officers are in charge of Ministries with $100m budgets and hundreds of staff. A ceo in the private sector with that level of responsibility would be paid $500k per year. Most lawyers and accountants are paid more than COs.
I hope the AG would take a look at the salaries in the SAGC’S.
What responsibility? In the private sector, managers get fired if they don’t make a profit. It is not a “responsibility” to just spend money!
Lawyers and private sector employees, have to Earn their money.
Civil servants just need to show up.
Not even.
To 27/11/2023 at 9:16pm Crass misconception. a few were hiring mistakes, but the majority of us bust our a double s, buddy! And if we come from private sector, we have to put up with the archaic public service laws that made sense back in the 70s, but are certainly outdated now, as most civil servants hold at least an Associates degree, if not a MA. Some even have PHDs and law degrees, for your information. And we sure as heck do not collect what some Chief Officers are making!
Sigh, no wonder they will fight to the bitter end to keep their seats. Because they know they will never be paid this salary again. Cayman is soo depressing..
The so called average amount of $79000 per civil servant is of course meaningless when one realizes some are being paid ridiculously large salaries which skew this figure.
Exactly. I’m not making $79000 that’s for sure.
“some” people earning far more isn’t going to move the average of thousands very much.
Rather than challenge you on your Maths, 11:16, or remind you that “some” can actually mean a substantial number, I suggest you look at the salary scales printed helpfully by Ms Winspear at the end of her report. Check scale L downwards, where the majority of civil servants fall and compare them with the $79k. That said, I suggest that there are far too many in the upper scales on big salaries that have been inflated by a job evaluation method that puts a premium on words like “strategic” and “policy development” and “researching” in the job descriptions which of course have been over egged simply to attract the higher salary. Many “strategic policy developers” and “assistant deputy policy research officers” could not strategise or research themselves out of a KFC fried chicken bucket.