by Linda Straker
- As of January 2024, all members of Lower House of Parliament will receive Special Contingent Constituency Allowance of EC$10,000
- EC$10,000 to address pressing and miscellaneous needs within constituencies
- Special allowance separate and different from EC$5,000 increase in personal allowance
As of January 2024, all members in the Lower House of Parliament will receive a Special Contingent Constituency Allowance of EC$10,000 to address more adequately the pressing and miscellaneous needs within constituencies.
This allowance is separate and different from the EC$5,000 increase in personal allowance that was approved by the members of the House Committee when they met on 22 November 2023.
According to the meeting minutes, Honourable Joseph Andall informed the committee that Cabinet proposed the implementation of the allowance and recommended that Members of Parliament be discretionary in their use of funds to address the needs of their constituents.
“He emphasised that the process would be conducted with transparency and accountability in the implementation of the scheme,” said the minutes which pointed out that the members deliberated and expressed concerns about the format to be adopted for the managing the fund.
The minutes said the Members of the Committee deliberated and expressed the following concerns and made recommendations for coming up with the criteria for managing Constituency operations:
- That consideration be given to outsourcing management of operations
- Subventions for all offices to manage expenses and provide Reports on a quarterly basis to the Clerk of Parliament be a consideration as discussed
- That tailoring of the programme must be considered so that there is equal distribution of the benefits from the safety net programmes for all
- That a monthly subvention be provided to Constituency Offices
- That a broad guideline be developed to specify the use of funds. Discussions were held on the need for a ceiling on the amount of funds that could be allocated to persons or entities
This EC$10,000 is not the same as the EC$10,000 assigned for the operations of Members of Parliament offices. As a result of the new allocations, Members of Parliament of the Lower House or House of Representatives will have financing for the operations of their offices, EC$10,000 for constituency projects and EC$5,000 in salary.
Elected members of Parliament in the Lower House first received an allowance of EC$1,500 for the operations of their offices following the 1999 General Elections when the New National Party (NNP) won all 15 constituencies.
Before that elected Members of Parliaments had no funds for the operations of their offices but were assigned EC$1,500 for special constituency projects under the Ministry of Works budgetary allocations.
