STATES Members could be in line for an interim pay rise of £1,000 a year.
If agreed, the 2.5% increase will take the basic level of pay from £39,382 to £40,382 with the amount of expenses Members can claim remaining at £3,650. The new salary would come into force in January if a recommendation by a board set up to examine States pay is accepted.
The States Members Remuneration Review Body, appointed at the end of last month, has recommended the increase as an interim measure until it can present its final recommendations on States pay for the next three years, expected in time for the summer recess of 2009.
Before then, the body is also expected to consider if pensions should be introduced for States Members and if the expense allowances should be reviewed.
Article posted on 20th November, 2008 - 2.58pm
14 Article Comments
I cant afford my own pension so why should i pay for theirs?
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Pehaps a probation period could in introduced whereby new States Members must work very hard for six months before full pay and show that they have not lost the Island any money or offended any menbers of the public. After the six-month period they can have 2.5% pay rise!
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We all earn just to pay our bills, we earn half of the money politicians earn or less, half of them we only hear from them at elections time, am not sure what they do, i don’t think any one does. In times like this we should be giving them a pay rise, considering a few years ago they didn’t get paid. They should ask the people – taxpayers – before making any decision. I think this is disgusting.
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WE are not supposed to be cost cutting! Maybe I misheard that we are facing a recession. IF they all stop spending our money then it may be a go.
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I think there is something essentially wrong with people who want power over others. I think the authentic person wants an easy life, just wanting power over other people should make you unsuitable to lead. Yet we reward these individauls, could we please have an IQ test of all our politicians and have it published so we can know for sure they are not stupid.
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As states workers just turned down a 3.2% offer as insulting and are demanding almost double that it is a pleasant surprise to see states members for once taking the lead and playing their part in keeping the wage bill (paid by us tax payers) under control.
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Ermm….. Why?
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Why should politicians get a pay rise after Bringing in GST, Let’s just hope people don’t vote for the Same Deputies that Voted for GST,its time for a change lets demonstrate and vote in new
people.
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If we don’t pay our politicians only rich people could afford to sit in the States. That way we would be governed by wealthy businessmen, the very same people who have proved so shockingly inept at running the Island for the last few decades. If you don’t want your home run like a business, (e.g. run for the rich by the rich) then please don’t make a big fuss over a below-inflation pay rise without thinking about the consequences. We need a broad and representative range of people in the States Chamber to ensure that we are governed fairly. What really makes me question the system are the paid part-timers; politicians that take the full pay yet carry on working in their day jobs. Running Jersey, a £4,000,000,000 economy, is not a hobby like it was back in the 60s. If we give you full pay we deserve your full attention. And your full commitment. Our government has been damnably amateur over the past few years and we deserve much better value for money.
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Sorry to break the trend, but private sector wages in Jersey are so attractive, that £40k will do nothing to attract higher quality and more experienced, candidates, then what showed up at the Senatorials.
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I cant believe that the politicians will get an interim pay rise, wil this mean that our manual workers, nurses police etc will now automatically get an interim pay rise untill their pay claims are settled, if the politicians get it then so should all other pay groups. As for getting a pension they should do what the rest of us in business do pay for our own.
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Why not pay every States Member a minimum of £250,000 tax free per annum; with bonuses for actually attending meetings of the assembly, further incentives for regularly making original, thoughtful, contributions to debate, and a real great whapping 100% bonus for actually talking to constituents throughout their period of office.
I know this might sound excessive; but come on admit it they really are worth the money and are surely severely underpaid at the moment, when we consider the immense responsibility they shoulder on our behalf.
These guys take time out of their busy lives for no personal gain and in the process run a thriving economy and related infrastructure with an efficiency that is the envy of the developed world.
Wake up Jersey if we do not soon start paying our States Members a reflection of their true value then they will be poached by the private sector which will recognise the value these chaps (and ladies) can add to their business bottom line.
If this happens then we will be left to elect a house which consists of incompetent, squabbling, small minded, third world, third class, politicians who would not be fit to run Zimbabwe.
If this were to happen we would suffer the consequences of poor planning, politically influenced policing, high inflation and high taxation which would result in a ‘brain drain’ similar to that which happened in the UK during the 60’s and 70’s.
Thank goodness that we are not in this situation but don’t be complacent, pay our representatives what they are worth, show them we really do appreciate the fantastic job they are doing on our behalf.
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I don’t object to a pay rise but I do object to the number of politicians. Cut the number and let them have a pay rise then we’ll still be better of. It does seem that at this salary level we are not getting the right calibre of candidate which surely has to be the over-riding concern?
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I think we get a fair return on the £40k salary [including expenses] we pay our politicians.
Unlike business where the shareholders pay their directors a high salary in order to attract the highest calibre of candidate in the knowledge that by doing so their Company will be well run and make them a very nice profit, us voters don’t appear to understand this basic principle and seem to think [those that are interested] that it is worth sacrificing quality of management by offering only a supervisor level salary. We then give them responsibility for multi million pound budgets and more importantly the future of our entire economy and complain bitterly when things go wrong. I am also very amused by the concept that we can make further savings by cutting their numbers. What do people think will happen? Simple, instead of employing a person at £40k answerable to the electorate we will replace them with a Civil servant at double this salary with no accountability.
Like most things in life you get what you pay for. If people want a quality government we need to pay our politicians the level of salary that will attract the highest possible calibre of candidate.
If it is really savings in management costs we are looking for we should consider the “time for change” option and go back to the good old days and make political office an honorary one. By this option we limit political office to the successful businessmen and landed gentry looking for a hobby and hope that as they [or their ancestors] were successful in life so will they do the same for us peasants. But why stop here? Let’s go back to serfdom and save all the expense of elections and the onerous task of having to vote. Better still we could auction political office and make money but of course this is silly!!!.
On reading the manifestoes of many of the successful candidates we now have a Government made up primarily of those who are prepared to ask awkward questions. To earn their £40k I suggest the first question they ask is who now is going to come up with the answers.
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