I have served in my time (and still do) on a number of boards and committees. All have been in the private sector and nearly all involve the community.

Never have I been offered nor would I have accepted payment for so doing. It is a public duty and I am honoured that the powers that be who have appointed or voted for me have thought me worthy of the position.

One of our Front Page stories today is the announcement of various government bodies/committees that persons receive remuneration. In nearly all cases the chairperson receives a sum of money (the largest) and most other members receive money too. The figures are normally around $200 – $150 per meeting.

Where there would seem to be a number of meetings required during the month a maximum figure of $1,000 has been stated.

CINICO that is heavily in debt manages to pay the chairman one of the highest – $350 per meeting.

The ICTA chairman gets $100 per meet but receives also a stipend of $700 per month. This is also presumably paid even if there is no meeting.

The Maritime Authority Chairman receives a strange figure of $562.50 per meet but this is probably the equivalent of US$700.

So why when it comes to government bodies do nearly all the persons receive a salary?

What is the difference from serving in the private sector community?

I cannot think of any reason. In fact the non-government committees are more often more time consuming.

But the monies people receive here is small fry.

In a UK Telegraph story back in 2010 it blazed the headline “Councillors get £1 million extra to sit on committees”

The story goes on:
“Councillors are being paid almost £1 million a year to sit on little-known committees and discuss council work – making some of their pay packets larger than MPs’.

“They are each given up to £15,556 in public funds to be members of the bodies, which usually meet five or six times a year for two hours.

“Sir Steve Bullock, the Labour mayor of Lewisham in London, boosts his annual pay to almost £96,000 – about the same as a junior minister’s.

“Meanwhile Shireen Ritchie, a senior Tory councillor in Kensington and Chelsea and stepmother of the film director Guy, lifts her pay to almost £66,000 – more than an MP’s.

“The committees are part of the Local Government Association, the umbrella group for local authorities whose £19.3m budget is largely funded by council tax-payers.

“Their discussions range from children and young people and local councils’ foreign policies to the “views and concerns of the fire community”.

“As well as being paid a total of £840,000 a year in “responsibility allowances” just for being members, most of the councillors can also claim a variety of other payments.

“These amount to £50,000 a year in travel costs, £22,000 for overnight accommodation and £4,000 for subsistence.

“Councillors can also claim £5.73 an hour to pay carers to look after their children while they sit on the committee meetings and travel to and from them.

“The payments are made in addition to allowances given to the councillors for their work in their own authorities, which are often regarded as their only remuneration for their political work.

“Mrs Ritchie is paid £10,469 in allowances as a Kensington and Chelsea councillor and an extra £39,715 as cabinet member for family and children’s services.

“She is also chairman of the LGA Children and Young People Board, whose website says it aims to “secure maximum support and flexibility for local government to deliver the radical change agenda for children and learning”.

“Mrs Ritchie is paid £15,556 a year to chair the committee, which meets six times a year. Agenda from recent sittings show that it held discussions for two hours before ending for lunch.

“One of Mrs Ritchie’s fellow Conservatives on the committee has not been present at any of three meetings it has held since convening in September last year.”

If you want to read the whole article go to: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/7337895/Councillors-get-1-million-extra-to-sit-on-committees.html

And the above also raises a question Peter Pollack didn’t ask.

Do the members including the chairperson of the Cayman Islands government bodies still get paid even if they don’t attend?