Demonstration in Palma against Government pay freeze. archive photo. | Ultima Hora

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The Government has been accused of approving illegal pay rises for officials in an accounting report by the Audit Office corresponding to 2018.

It says the average salary increase amounted to 4.29% when it should only have been 1.5%.

Pay rises for public employees are determined by the State Budget Law and the Central Government decides what the maximum increase will be, which Autonomous Communities and other Administrations must adhere to.

The Audit Office has accused the Government of violating the provisions of the Budget Law by applying an average increase of 4.03%. It says a 9.78% pay rise was handed out to Tax Agency employees in the Islands Balearic Islands along with 3.76% to IB-Salut workers and 4.1% to Community employees, all of which exceed the limits set by the Central Government.

La Sindicatura also claims that these increases date back to 2016 and that the salaries of some workers have gone up by more than 20% in the last four years, because additional supplements received from the Government amounted to an extra 1,000 euros per month in some cases.

The Audit Office blasted the Government for not providing information on personnel expenditure, salaries increases, the number of monthly staff in public sector entities and the remuneration of senior officials.

IB-Salut was also heavily criticised for not following the contracting regulations which the report says implies “a systematic breach of legality" in cases totalling 245,900 euros which are considered inappropriate by la Sindicatura.

An investigation has been launched by the Court of Auditors to determine whether subsidies granted by Palma City Council in the time of Aina Calvo were justified.

On Monday, the entire government delegate, including Mayor José Hila will testify through their lawyers and could be ordered to pay back more than 200,000 euros in subsidies.