Report suggests removing vote on politicians' pay

Wednesday 04 November 2020

An independent review into the way States Members are paid has suggested they shouldn't be able to vote on their own salaries.

The review, conducted Dr. Hannah White OBE, compared Jersey to eight similar governments across the world and noted that Jersey is currently the only one that allows its politicians to have a vote on their own pay.

It comes after a review from the States Members Remuneration Review Board (SMRRB) last year, recommending that States Members' salaries should increase to £50,000 starting from the 2022 election. 

Additionally, the 2019 review suggested that the Chief Minister should receive an extra £15,000 “to reflect the greater scope of the role”, while Ministers and the Chief Scrutineer should receive an extra £7,500. This differential pay would mean changing legislation, which currently states all politicians should be paid the same.

As it stands, pay is determined by the SMRRB’s recommendations, which are adopted automatically. However, States Members can prevent them going through if they disagree and decide to trigger a debate and vote within a month of the recommendations being lodged.

Pictured: Currently, States Members are allowed to trigger a vote against their pay recommendations.

The new independent report into the way SMRRB works suggests there should be consideration into removing this vote entirely.

The report also suggests considering a system that completely fixes members’ salaries with an index or a comparator. 

Talking about the merits of such a system, the review says: “Indexes can move down as well as up, but the potential for members’ salaries to reduce during a period of economic uncertainty might be seen as appropriate given the connection between their work and the performance of the Jersey economy, as well as being an advantage in terms of public perceptions.”

It also criticised the over-12-month delay in the States being able to debate last year’s SMRRB report, calling it “inappropriate”, and saying that an early opportunity should now be taken to consult States members on the idea of differential pay. 

You can read the full report HERE.