Minister of Finance Nigel Clarke says there will be no increase in the stipend paid to Senators, after a letter was sent to the House of Representatives signalling that an increase was being considered.

The letter sparked debatein the public domain, including among the Opposition People’s National Party (PNP), which has since express its objection to the increase.

The proposed increase would see the stipend moving from $53,000 to $148,000.

However, in a statement on Tuesday, the finance minister said: “I wish to make it clear that these increases will not be implemented. As such, I have asked the financial secretary to write to the clerk with instructions to rescind her letter of September 14, 2023.”

Clarke added that the correspondence from the clerk followed from a Cabinet decision of 2008 that automatically indexed the stipend of the senators to the highest fee paid for service as a board director on a public body board.

He said prior to the move by Cabinet, senators were being paid $1,000 per meeting, while the highest public body fee per meeting was $6,000.

“When public body board fees were last increased in 2019, Senate stipends were automatically adjusted as per the 2008 Cabinet decision and these took effect April 1, 2020. Shortly thereafter, as minister of finance and the public service, I met with a bipartisan group of senators to discuss this administration’s view of the unsustainability of this automatic peg and the likely unintended consequences,”

MINISTER OF FINANCE NIGEL CLARKE

The finance minister further reiterated that the fees for senators will remain unchanged while a new basis for determining senate stipend is reached.