In a sitting of the House of Assembly on Tuesday, July 14th, Opposition Member Haydn Hughes tabled a motion for Anguilla’s Legislators and Opposition, alike, to pay as contributors into the pension fund. The motion evoked a degree of passionate debate, because plans had already been afoot for Government to implement this measure in short order, allegedly without Opposition’s awareness.
In presenting the motion, Mr. Hughes claimed that there is no better time than now to enact the legislation. He said that while there may be many questions as to why this was not done before, “delayed” does not mean “denied”.
In his motion, the Opposition MP called upon the Government of Anguilla to bring legislation to amend the Legislators’ Pension Act and any other relevant enactment to establish a Contributory Pension Scheme for members of the House of Assembly before December 31st 2026.
But Minister of Social Development, Mrs. Shellya Rogers Webster, who spoke extensively on the motion, argued that it was always part of the AUF’s plan to address the matter of pension contributions for members of the House, allowing for legislators to contribute into the pension system. She indicated that her work on this started ever since she was in the Opposition benches, and it has continued into Government.
Mrs. Rogers-Webster further stated that her research on legislative pension extended beyond Anguilla, as she had been conducting a comparative analysis of legislators’ pensions in other jurisdictions such as Bermuda, St. Kitts, the BVI, and the Cayman Islands. She said that examining these jurisdictions assisted in identifying reforms that are appropriate for Anguilla.
She further pointed out that in May of this year she submitted an MOU to the cabinet recommending a number of amendments to the Legislators Pension Act. She noted that following that submission, the Premier facilitated an extensive review session with cabinet and examined each portion of the legislation line by line, concluding that one of the principal recommendations was that the pension system be made contributory.
Mrs. Rogers-Webster noted the work on the contributory pension scheme is far advanced, and that the Pension Contributory Legislation will be coming to the House before the end of the year.
“I do welcome the introduction of this motion,” Minister Rogers-Webster said, “because it says to us when we come back to this Honourable House in short order with the actual legislation it will be passed with flying colors, since the Opposition has already indicated that they support the pension fund being contributory.
She indicated that she found it rather strange that the Opposition should come up with this motion at this time, when in fact Government is already so far advanced in the process of preparing for a contributory pension system.
“Though the motion is welcomed, I find the timing of it to be rather interesting,” she said. “And the Premier along with her team is actively working to advance the drafting instructions for the new pensions legislation.
Weighing in on the motion, the Minister of Economic Development, Mr. Kyle Hodge, reiterated that the Government had already began working on the pension reform, and he accused the opposition of attempting to score political points by introducing the motion.
“As cabinet, we sat together in a room for hours, and even over lunch, discussing the recommendations for introducing this Bill. So we have already done our internal assessment on the matter of Legislators’ Contributory Pensions. Now it is only a matter of time before we would involve the public in further discussions. So I hope that today isn’t another one of those instances where the members of the Opposition are seeking headlines.”
In speaking directly to Opposition Member Mr. Haydn Hughes, who introduced the motion, The Anguillian asked him whether Opposition had been aware that the Government was already holding discussions on Legislators’ Contributory Pensions. He swiftly answered: “No! We are still not aware. We still don’t know this. There is no evidence that they are working on it. It was not mentioned in any of the legislative agendas. Government presented two Legislative Agenda’s since coming into office and it was not reflected in either of them. Besides, this matter would have financial implications that were not considered in the 2026 Budget,” Mr. Hughes attested.
By: James R. Harrigan
