PPM motions would hike spending if adopted

(CNS): At least three of six private members’ motions filed with the parliament by the opposition ahead of the meeting next Tuesday would increase public spending significantly if the government accepted and implemented them. Despite Opposition Leader Roy McTaggart’s criticism of PACT’s management of public finances, his team is calling on the administration to spend even more.

Half of the motions that the Progressives hope will be debated by the government next week, when MPs return to the House following the summer break, will involve finding new cash in the next budget. The PMMs come following the news that public expenditure needs to be reduced as well as Premier Wayne Panton’s comments on Monday that the civil service needs to stop growing and the government must move away from “social hiring”.

However, the PPM is asking the government to find several more million to fund an all-year-round NiCE programme, a clean-up of public spaces that provides work for under- and unemployed people. They are also asking government to increase stipends or assistance for low-paid retired civil servants, veterans and people on full-time social assistance to at least $1,500 per month, and to cut all government fees for small businesses on the Sister Islands.

Although the other three motions filed by the opposition are not a direct request for spending in the first instance, they could also impact the public purse. One is calling for the return of the Government Guaranteed Home Assisten Mortgage (GGHAM), and another is asking the government to consider incentivising the private sector to build affordable homes.

The final motion is asking for the legalisation of the possession of pepper spray for personal protection against crime, which would require public funds to enforce and regulate the importation, sales and use of the weapon.

The motion calling for a full-time NiCE programme has been filed by Deputy Opposition Leader Joey Hew and is supported by former premier Sir Alden McLaughlin. Based on the 2022 Labour Fall Survey results, which found almost half of the unemployed Caymanians had not worked for over a year and that there is more than 5% under-employment among all those in jobs, Hew believes the road cleaning work could be the answer for those with low educational attainment who find it hard to access the labour market.

Speaking on Radio Cayman’s For the Record on Wednesday, Hew said that people previously employed by the project had transitioned into full-time jobs, so an all-year-round initiative could help more people to use it as a platform to get other work and help tackle a serious litter problem.

While the PPM has not put a price on this or any of the other motions, in October last year, the ESO said that 796 local people were without work and over 45% of them had been without a job for at least a year. The NiCE programme pays a minimum of CI$10 per hour, which for a 40-hour week is equal to an annual salary of more than CI$20,000, equating to a wage bill for the government of around CI$7.5 million, even before pension and health benefits.

Hew outlined all of the motions when he appeared on Radio Cayman and said it was timely for the opposition to bring these to parliament as the government is working out its spending plans for 2024/25.

However, the PACT Government is reforming financial assistance programmes with the long-term goal of ensuring that people receiving welfare support but are capable of working should do some activity in exchange for the money, which is expected to increase. Minister André Ebanks has said he wants to create a welfare-to-work regime, which might include volunteering, training or education as well as work.

See the PPM’s private members’ motions below: