Written Answer by Ministry of National Development on whether the Ministry will consider increasing the subvention grant to Town Councils, following the announcement on wage increases for cleaners under the Progressive Wage Model

Jul 6, 2021

Mr Mohamed Sharael Taha: To ask the Minister for National Development following the announcement on 7 June 2021 on wage increases for cleaners under the Progressive Wage Model, whether the Ministry will consider increasing the subvention grant to Town Councils. 

Answer:

Town Councils fund their operations, including cleaning works, primarily through the Service and Conservancy Charges (S&CC) they collect from residents. This is supplemented by the annual S&CC operating grant from MND. 

The Town Councils have not required additional grants from MND to specifically address cleaners’ manpower costs since the introduction of the Progressive Wage Model for the cleaning industry in 2012. We have no plans to increase the grants for now, but will continue to monitor the situation on the ground. We have been encouraging Town Councils to manage their finances carefully and adopt the use of technology to reduce the reliance on manpower for cleaning, and will continue to do so.