Bonus Payments to Cabinet Ministers
Prime Minister's OfficeSpeakers
Summary
This question concerns the average, highest, and lowest bonus months paid to Cabinet Ministers over the past five years as raised by Mr Leon Perera. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong provided Performance Bonus ranges for Political Office Holders and explained that the salary framework, established by a 2012 White Paper, includes components like the National Bonus and Annual Variable Component. He noted that a 2017 review committee affirmed the current structure as sound, though the MR4 benchmark had increased 9% since 2011. The Government decided to maintain current salaries because the 2017 benchmark was lower than that of 2016. Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong stated the Government will continue to monitor salary trends while maintaining the existing framework.
Transcript
2 Mr Leon Perera asked the Prime Minister in each of the past five years, what has been the bonus paid to Cabinet Ministers in terms of (i) the average total number of bonus months (ii) the highest total number of bonus months paid to an individual Minister and (iii) the lowest total number of bonus months paid to an individual Minister.
Mr Lee Hsien Loong: The average Performance Bonus (PB), and the range of PB received by Political Office Holders of all grades over the past five years were:
The pay components of political office holders are set out in the White Paper on "Salaries for a Capable and Committed Government" tabled in Parliament in 2012. Apart from monthly salary, the salary components include 13th month Non-Pensionable Annual Allowance, Performance Bonus, National Bonus, and Annual Variable Component as paid to civil servants. The benchmark salaries take all these components into account.
The Prime Minister formed a Committee in 2017 to review whether the salary framework established in 2012 remains appropriate and valid against its intended goals, and what adjustments may be useful; and whether there is a need to adjust the salaries should there be a change in overall salary levels based on the proposed framework.
DPM Teo Chee Hean informed Parliament in March this year that the Committee had affirmed that the current salary structure for political appointment holders, including the National Bonus framework, remained sound. Therefore, we should maintain this structure. While the MR4 benchmark had increased by 9% since 2011, the Government noted that the 2017 MR4 benchmark was lower than the 2016 MR4 benchmark, and hence had decided to maintain salaries at the current level and watch salary trends further. That remains the position.