NIA CHARLESTOWN NEVIS (June 20, 2024)- The Nevis Island Administration (NIA) Cabinet has approved a 15 percent increase in the emoluments of parliamentarians in the Nevis Island Assembly.

Minister of Finance the Honourable Premier Mark Brantley made the announcement at his monthly press conference on Wednesday, June 19.

“On May 08, 2024, the Cabinet took the decision to increase the salaries of NIA parliamentarians by 15 percent; that is the same increase that had been given to our public servants in Nevis and that will be effective, June 01, 2024.”

The increase in emoluments to the NIA parliamentarians will apply to the President of the Nevis Island Assembly and all members of the government and opposition benches.

Premier Brantley explained that the Cabinet made the deliberate decision to align the increase with the recent 15 percent increase given to public servants, however it would not be paid retroactively.

“In the past, and as recently as the period 2022 to 2024 public servants in Nevis benefited from a 15 percent increase in salary, paid in tranches of five percent with the first tranche being retroactive to January 2022.

“Parliamentarians on Nevis did not benefit from that increase. Unlike public servants’ emoluments, this increase will not be retroactive. So the increase for parliamentarians will commence on the first of June and will go forward.”

The Premier informed that the NIA Cabinet Members had deliberated the issue over the course of several weeks, receiving input from the Ministry of Finance. There were various scenarios posed, he said, and one of the concerns expressed was that with the recent increases to public servants some Permanent Secretaries were being paid at a higher rate than their Minister.

“We wanted to adjust that and we wanted to, of course, maintain the parity because it seemed to us a little anomalous that a Permanent Secretary who is instructed by his or her Minister would actually be paid at a higher rate than his or her Minister. And so at the end we decided that adopting the position we would maintain the parity between public servants and those in Parliament, that that was the best approach.”

He further noted that traditionally, salary increases for parliamentarians in the Nevis Island Assembly mirrored those in the Federal parliament to maintain parity between the NIA and Federal parliamentarians. However, when a Resolution was passed in the National Assembly for a salary increase for parliamentarians on St. Kitts in February 2024, it did not apply to parliamentarians on Nevis.

The increases to Federal parliamentarians’ salaries ranged from 19 to 33 percent. This included a 26 percent increase for the Attorney General, 22 percent increase for the Deputy Prime Minister, 22 percent for Ministers of Government, 26 percent for Senators with Ministerial portfolios, and a 21 percent increase for the Prime Minister.