SearchArchives for April 2010
27 April, 2010UNITED STATES
PR program for PS image
The United State’s top Public Service office is planning a new campaign to improve the image of the Public Service.
Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), John Berry said his Agency is surveying citizens about their impressions of Federal workers and issues most important to them.
“Once that survey is done, OPM will contract a marketing firm to come up with the right vocabulary, the right messaging and the right energy that we believe will re-polish the Public Servant’s image,” Mr Berry said.
“If you ask people, ‘what do you think about Federal workers,’ they think, ‘oh, my gosh, they all stink - they’re all faceless, grey, pasty people who push paper’.”
The same question about Park Rangers brought a very different and enthusiastic response, but they were still Public Servants
Mr Berry’s comments came a day after the Pew Research Center released a survey showing that the public’s trust in the Federal Government had reached historic lows.
Vice President for Education and Outreach at the Partnership for Public Service, Tim McManus said public discontent could hurt the ability of Government Agencies to recruit and retain employees.
His organisation’s research had found that older, more experienced job seekers were particularly turned off by negative attitudes that persist over a long time.
According to the Pew survey, common criticisms of Government were that it runs its programs inefficiently, has the wrong priorities, is too big and powerful, and doesn’t do enough to help the average American.
However, the United States Postal Service, which interacts frequently with the public, had the highest favourable rating (83 per cent) of any Agency included in the survey.
27 April, 2010
CANADA
PS IT ‘on verge of collapse’
The Canadian Auditor-General has warned the Federal Government that its Public Service IT systems are on the verge of collapse.
Auditor-General, Sheila Fraser said the problem was so serious that the Royal Canadian Mounted Police (RCMP) were even warning that the public faced an increased risk of “injury or death” because of outdated information technology that police rely on for their radio systems
The Auditor-General’s Office also found that Parliament buildings were in such a state of disrepair that the House of Commons and Senate could be forced to shut down or limit their operations.
Fixing the twin problems of old computer systems and a crumbling Parliament could cost taxpayers billions of dollars.
Ms Fraser’s Office examined the information-technology systems of five Departments and Agencies: the Canada Revenue Agency, Public Works and Government Services Canada, Human Resources and Skills Development Canada, the RCMP and Citizenship and Immigration.
In all five cases, officials said ageing computer systems posed a “significant risk” to their operations.
At the Canada Revenue Agency, for example, the system that processes tax returns and benefit payments to Canadians was built in the 1970s. The Agency’s data centre is housed in a 40-year-old complex, and the programming language used to store the data is being phased out.
The audit also found significant risks to the system run by Human Resources that pays out $C16.3 billion ($A17.6 billion) a year in employment insurance benefits to jobless Canadians.
The Cabinet’s Senior Minister, Stockwell Day said the Treasury Board has asked individual Departments to come up with plans for modernising their computer systems, and to estimate how much it would cost.
The audit found that Canada’s iconic Parliament Buildings faced “serious risks” that could eventually force some of the buildings to shut down for an extended time.
In particular, many key building systems in the West Block of Parliament, such as heating, cooling and electrical, were at risk of “total failure,” while the Centre Block could reach that stage in a decade.
Ms Fraser’s office also discovered that the heritage character of the buildings was threatened - cornices were crumbling and stone carvings were being eroded - and the health and safety of its occupants could be at risk.
The total cost of the rehabilitation was estimated at $C5 billion ($A5.4 billion) over 25 years, but Ms Fraser noted the Government had so far declined to commit that level of funding.
The Auditor General recommended transferring decision-making authority over the project directly to the House of Commons and Senate.
27 April, 2010
ISRAEL
Court overturns equality
for Dads
The National Labour Tribunal in Israel has overturned on appeal a lower body decision entitling fathers to receive the same return-to-work conditions as mothers.
The Tribunal ruled that fathers didn’t need an incentive to return to work and work overtime.
Women in the Public Service who return to work from maternity leave are entitled to work one hour less a day for a year. If they have to work more than that truncated day, they get overtime pay of 100 per cent.
The situation arose when a lawyer working for the State, Dan Bahat, sued for the same terms as working mothers following the birth of his son. After his request had been refused, and representing himself, he claimed discrimination before the Tribunal.
The Jerusalem Labour Tribunal agreed and ordered the State to pay him overtime for hours beyond the truncated day. The State appealed to the National Tribunal.
Lawyers for the Government argued that extra pay for women aimed to advance their status in the Public Service and reflected their equality with male employees.
Judge Varda Wirth-Livne agreed, and added that in reality there was no gender equality.
Nor would giving men the same perks help she said.
Men would opt to work overtime for the extra money, and the burden of childcare would fall on their wives, she said.
27 April, 2010
SOUTH AFRICA
New rules to improve PS
The South African Department of Public Service and Administration is to introduce a Public Sector Integrity Management Framework to improve efficiency and counter corruption.
Minister for Public Service and Administration, Richard Baloyi said it was part of his plan to strengthen and align all measures regulating good governance and probity in the public sector.
He also announced the launch of a compulsory Public Sector Charter, which will consolidate the attributes, commitments, rules and ethical principles of Public Servants.
Mr Baloyi said this change of attitude towards Public Servants would align with this year’s motto of working differently for an efficient, effective and development-oriented Public Service.
Plans to establish an anti-corruption unit that will focus on prevention was also a possibility.
“We are also in the process of establishing an Anti-Corruption Unit that will assist Departments in resolving complex corruption cases,” Mr Baloyi said.
“We will communicate the details in this regard during the Public Service Week in June 2010.”
He called on labour movements to refrain from strikes and find solutions through engagements.
Talks on salary adjustments are to begin in the Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council in the next few days. The Minister said this must be seen as the beginning of negotiation season and not strike season.
27 April, 2010
NIGERIA
Online or out the door
Senior Public Servants in the Nigerian State of Ondo who are not computer literate are to be sacked.
State Commissioner for Economic Planning and Budget, Akin Adaramola, said the world had become a global village and no matter what their other qualifications, Public Servants without any computer knowledge should be ranked among the village’s illiterates.
He aid more computer literate people were needed for the quick implementation of budget and development in all sectors.
Mr Adaramola said graduates without good knowledge of the computer for day-to-day office jobs were living in “fool’s paradise”.
“It is highly disappointing that some Civil Servants from Grade 10 and above cannot operate a computer. As a Government, we will no longer tolerate such attitude from workers,” Mr Adaramola said.
“The basic level of computer needs to be introduced to students from primary schools, so that when they grow up, it would not be strange to them.”
The State Government strongly believed in the importance of data for effective planning, hence the need for its workers to be ICT compliant.
In order to encourage its workforce on the use of computers, the Government had introduced a system whereby all information about the activities of the Government would be sent to Ministries through email.
27 April, 2010
FIJI
Year-long induction advocated
The Chairman of the Fijian Public Service Commission, Joseva Serulagilagi has called on Departments and Agencies to conduct induction courses for new Public Servants after they’ve been in the job for a year.
Induction was no longer conducted by the Commission and this had been the cause of many problems faced by Public Servants.
“During and after the colonial period, induction training for newly-appointed Civil Servants was a must and that is why there was less abuse of office during those days because the officers were thorough and understood the work ethics and laws of the Service,” Mr Serulagilagi said.
He said the Commission was looking at introducing induction in the new Public Service reform program, allowing newly-appointed officers to be trained over a year.
Mr Serulagilagi said the newly-appointed officers needed to know about the General Orders of the Service and how best to carry out their duties in their new appointments.
“We are also looking at having graduates with a certificate, diploma or a degree start from the bottom of the Service and work their way up, Mr Serulagilagi said.
“In the past, we have seen graduates joining the Service and taking senior positions while having no idea what the job entails.”
He said the new system in place would allow a graduate to “have a feel” for the job they are doing by starting from the bottom.
27 April, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
Union rejects
redundancy deal
A leading Public Service union has taken the United Kingdom Government to Court over what it claims is an unlawful restriction on PS redundancy payments.
The two-day judicial review follows the Cabinet Office’s announcement that compulsory redundancy packages will be capped at £60,000 ($A99,600) for those earning less than half that amount, affecting four-fifths of the workforce. Those earning more than £30,000 ($A49,000) will see redundancy payments cut from up to three years’ pay to a maximum of two years’ pay.
While the changes were accepted by the five other trade unions representing public sector workers after negotiations, the Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union continued to oppose the move.
It sought the judicial review, arguing that the Cabinet Office was wrong to make “detrimental changes” to the Civil Service Compensation Scheme without agreement.
The union said that under the 1972 Superannuation Act the Government needed to implement the cuts to the redundancy scheme with the agreement of public sector unions representing the majority of staff (it represents 270,000 workers, compared to the 100,000 covered by the other five unions).
General Secretary of the PCS, Mark Serwotka said if the judicial review was successful, it would make the new arrangements illegal and invalid.
“We have always accepted that changes had to be made to the scheme, but all we ask is that they are fair and reasonable, and that we can make them by agreement,” Mr Serwotka said.
“We believe we have a strong case but this is not our only avenue. PCS members have already shown they are prepared to take industrial action to defend their jobs and the public services they provide, and we will be knocking on the door of the next Government very early on to remind them that they need to reach an agreement with us.”
Permanent Secretary at the Cabinet Office and head of the Civil Service, Sir Gus O’Donnell described the decision by the PCS to continue opposing the proposals as “wholly misguided”.
27 April, 2010
INDIA
PS must be ‘fit for globalisation’
The Prime Minister of India, Manmohan Singh, has called on the Public Service to improve its ability to deal with global problems.
Speaking at a ceremony on Civil Services Day, Dr Singh said globalisation and a more inter-connected and inter-dependent world had brought both new opportunities and new challenges.
He said the Public Service had a major role to play in helping the Government fashion a suitable and adequate response to all the issues.
“Since we live in an environment where developments at one place affect what happens elsewhere, Civil Servants today also need to work with greater coordination with each other,” Dr Singh said.
He urged Public Servants to pay particular attention to agricultural areas.
“I have said this earlier and I repeat it today again that the Agriculture Departments in the States need to be manned by our very best officers,” he said.
“Civil Servants have a pivotal role in ensuring that the benefits of our programs percolate to the farthest and remotest villages of our country. It is a daunting task that will test the endurance and mettle of our Civil Servants, especially that of the All-India Services.”
In the more than 60 years since independence, the Public Service had played a critical role in establishing a secular and democratic form of government, in maintaining communal peace and harmony, in transforming the economy and in fighting disease, poverty, ignorance and inequalities of opportunities.
“The founding fathers of our Republic had conceived of a permanent, apolitical and representative Civil Service, which could work hand-in-hand with successive Governments to face the challenges of nation-building. On the whole, it would not be an exaggeration to say that our Civil Service has lived up to this expectation,” Dr Singh said.
“There is, of course, scope for improvement as there always will be. There are also areas in which the Civil Service should have and could have performed better.”
The Prime Minister said he looked forward to a future that would see a removal or at least a reduction in the deficiencies in the performance of Public Servants.
The theme of Civil Services Day was Innovations in Government.
27 April, 2010
NIGERIA
Database to boost PS
The Nigerian Government is to set up a new database of its Public Servants.
Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Stephen Oronsaye, said the establishment of the Federal Civil Servants’ database, alongside training and other newly-introduced ideas, was part of the Government’s plan to transform the Public Service by rebuilding its administrative and technical skills.
The initiatives would include the development of a national policy on training; the conduct of a training needs assessment and the development of job competence catalogue for all Ministries, Departments and Agencies, and the development of a Federal Public Service staff database.
“These initiatives will be implemented with the support of the Office of the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Millennium Development Goals,” Mr Oronsaye said.
The implementation of the ideas had already begun, with an invitation to tender for the jobs already advertised.
The training, which is for officers in Grades 8 to 16, is currently being conducted for the fourth and last batch of Public Servants under the 2009 Project of the Millennium Development Goals sponsored by the Public Service Capacity Building Program. About 4,600 Federal Public Servants have attended the program between November 2009 and March 2010.
In addition, 100 administrative and 10 professional staff from each of the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory have so far been trained.
Mr Oronsaye advised the participants at the training program to ensure they return to their duties as officers ready to be part of the efforts to build a new and functional Public Service.
27 April, 2010
HONG KONG
The six-year period that new Public Servants must work before they can be appointed as permanent staff is to be halved to three years.
Currently, new recruits need to complete a three-year probation period, as well as three years of an ‘agreement period’, before they can be considered for permanent terms.
Secretary for Civil Service, Denise Yue, said the Government plans to drop the agreement period.
FIJI
A training program for Public Service graduate cadets is needed, the Fiji Chamber of Commerce says.
Acting Chairman of the Chamber, Swami Maharaj said graduates from universities and institutes should undergo this cadet training program for a year.
Examinations following the training would show whether the graduate cadets were fit for the job and the assessment conducted along with the exams would allow the service to monitor their performance.
He said Mr Maharaj said it would give the cadets, who would go on to become senior management, a better idea of the work carried out by junior officers.
ISLE OF MAN
A Member of the House of Keys (Parliament) has called for senior Public Servants’ positions to be re-graded to reflect their new roles better.
Quintin Gill made the request after it was revealed the Chief Executive of the Department of Health and Social Security (DHSS) will keep his £115,000 ($A191,800) salary despite seeing his budget more than halved.
Under Government reforms the DHSS has been split into two Departments, Health and Social Care.
Mr Gill said it was it was quite fair that individual officers should have their pay protected under any shake-up, but the positions themselves should be reviewed if they have been changed either upwards or downwards.
NIGERIA
Stalled pay negotiations have caused unrest in the Public Service.
The Joint National Public Service Negotiating Council, representing the Public Servants, has expressed disappointment and told members to be ready for a strike action if changes are not made.
The Council said a graduate in the Public Service earned less than N30,000 ($A217) a month.
MALDIVES
The Maldives Civil Service Commission (CSC) has refused to extend the period for the new Civil Service Regulation to come into effect.
A request for an extension came from the Maldives Civil Servants Association which said it sought the deferment of the regulation after its members said they needed more time to become familiar with it.A member of the Commission, Mohamed Fahmee Hassan, said it had decided not to extend the period because it had already done a lot of work to educate Public Servants about the new regulation since its publication on the CSC’s website a month ago.
20 April, 2010
CANADA
Call to rethink women in PS
The President of the Public Service Commission in Canada has recommended reconsidering whether women should continue to receive preferential treatment under the country’s employment equity laws.
President of the PSC, Maria Barrados said women held around 55 per cent of jobs in the Public Service, including 43 per cent of executive positions.
Ms Barrados told the Senate Finance Committee that Parliamentarians should reconsider whether women should still be protected as a designated equity group under the Employment Equity Act.
Other equity groups under the Act are Aboriginals, visible minorities and the disabled.
“Given the representation of women, I think it’s fair to look at the Act,” Ms Barrados said.
She said the PSC, which oversees staffing, was no longer targeting women with special programs and initiatives as it had in the past.
She said the proportion of women in the PS was bigger than their share of the broader labour force, and that trend was expected to continue.
She said women were the majority of university graduates and Departments had been hiring and promoting more women than men in recent years.
“I wouldn’t say that men are in a minority when they still have the majority of leadership positions,” Ms Barrados said.
She recommended the Government strive to keep a “reasonable balance” between the genders but said she didn’t think special programs were needed to attract more men.
Ms Barrados said women still lagged behind men in key occupations such as in the scientific fields.
She said women were still clustered in clerical and administrative jobs but there were now more women than men in ‘knowledge’ occupations with numbers doubling in executive, computer, scientific and other professional fields between 1996 and 2006.
Ms Barrados said the biggest worry about removing women as an equity group was the impact on visible minority women who had trouble getting into the Public Service.
The Employment Equity Act was first passed in 1986, to help target the hiring of women, Aboriginals, visible minorities and the disabled.
In 1986 men dominated the Public Service with 58 per cent of the jobs and more than 95 per cent of executive jobs.
20 April, 2010
WALES
PS finances a challenge
The Welsh Minister for Business and Budget has told a conference of Local Authority Chief Executives that the challenge facing front-line public services in Wales was “probably as tough as they come.”
The Minister, Jane Hutt said the implications of the financial challenge would be far reaching and impact on the Welsh Assembly Government, local Government and other public services.
Ms Hutt said delivering an effective response would be a “big test” and that innovation and radical action were needed.
She said the Government’s response to the global financial crisis needed to ensure improved outcomes for communities continued despite the availability of less money.
“It will be about clear priorities and we will be focusing our priorities on reducing inequalities and fostering economic prospects to sustain the recovery from the recession,” Ms Hutt said.
“The challenges to be faced and the difficult decisions to be taken, impact as much on the Assembly Government as on other parts of the Welsh Public Service.
“I can assure you that the Assembly Government will play its full role in meeting the challenges and bear its full share of the difficult decisions we all have to take.”
Ms Hutt said the Government was committed to maximising investment in front line services and to protecting services in health and education.
“Our commitment to social justice and equality is also driving our determination to protect Universal Budgets – free prescriptions, free school breakfasts, free school milk, free swimming and our concessionary fares policy,” she said.
“We need to interrogate our budgets and constantly ask whether what we are spending is delivering for the citizens of Wales.”
Ms Hutt said providing quality public services did not have to cost more money, but meant strategic investment decisions needed to be made.
She said the Government would hold regular Public Service Summits to help lead change and innovation in the PS.
20 April, 2010
MALAYSIA
State leader calls for less red tape
The Sultan of one of Malaysia’s 13 States has called on the State administration to tackle bureaucratic red tape in a bid to reduce the number of complaints received from the public.
Sultan of Selangor, Sharafuddin Idris Shah urged elected representatives to stop wasting time “politicking” and to devote themselves to addressing the needs of the public.
“Politics has its time and place but while in the House, elected representatives are pressed for time and opportunity to debate policies which are important to the people,” the Sultan said.
“Procedures that are uncalled for or have become obstacles must be taken out to ensure the people are not inconvenienced.”
Sultan Sharafuddin said Public Servants also needed to change their work habits to increase efficiency.
“Good coordination and delivery structure in the Civil Service will help boost the image of the Government while Civil Servants will be viewed in good light,” he said.
Sultan Sharafuddin said in order for the Civil Service to improve further, the State’s Key Performance Indicators needed to be upgraded to include assessment, interviews and reasonable incentives for those who excel.
“Other factors much needed in all people of Selangor are trust and good ethics,” he said.
“Trust and good ethics can take elected representatives a long way with the people.”
20 April, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
PS policies feature in election campaigns
In the lead up to the Federal Election in the United Kingdom, the Government and Opposition Party have released their election manifestos.
The Government’s manifesto, A Future Fair For All, says if it is returned to power it will protect and reform public services while rebuilding the economy.
Prime Minister, Gordon Brown said the Government would work to improve transparency and accountability, protect frontline services and take action to control public sector pay.
Mr Brown said he would open up Government to the public to increase transparency and accessibility to information through enhancing online services.
He said the Manifesto reflected the tough choices made following the Global Financial Crisis, such as capping PS pay rises by one per cent, restrictions on senior pay-setting and reforming public sector pensions.
The Manifesto says the Government would ensure all Public Servants who had contact with the public possessed appropriate English language skills and that local Government would be strengthened and there would be increased scrutiny of local services.
Conservative Opposition Party, the Tories, released the Manifesto, Invitation to Join the Government of Britain, which said they would cut £6 billion (A$9.95bn) of “wasteful Departmental spending” in the 2010-11 financial year by freezing new IT spending, increasing control of PS recruitment, reducing discretionary spending and reducing public sector property costs.
The Tories have pledged to cut red tape, implement a one-year PS pay freeze in 2011 (not including the million lowest paid workers) and would require public bodies to publish the job titles of every staff member and the salaries and expenses of senior officials online.
The Tory Manifesto outlines new guidelines for PS pay, including requiring Treasury to sign off on any PS salaries higher than the Prime Minister’s and requiring Senior Public Servants to publish the details of expense claims and meetings with lobbyists online.
It would also cap the biggest PS pensions above £50,000 (A$82,900).
20 April, 2010
SINGAPORE
PS to be a great place
to work
The Senior Parliamentary Secretary for the Environment and Water Resources in Singapore has urged Agencies to focus on making the Public Service a great place to work.
Dr Amy Khor Lean Suan said every Public Servant should play a part in making the PS an employer of choice, but that management had an even greater role to play.
“As the largest employer in Singapore with a workforce of close to 120,000 officers, creating great places to work is a key concern for the Public Service,” Dr Khor said.
“As leaders, we have the ability to create and influence conditions that enable our officers to be committed individuals.”
In a speech at the Creating Great Places to Work Conference, Dr Khor said it was vital to engage the hearts and minds of Public Servants
“Much research has been done on the importance of an engaged workforce in achieving organisational excellence,” she said.
“Engaged employees care about the direction which their organisation is heading and are willing to go the extra mile to make things happen.
Dr Khor said figures from a 2009 employee engagement survey showed engagement levels in the PS were positive overall.
“There were overall improvements in officers’ perceptions in areas like leadership, culture, supervisory practices and performance management,” she said.
“These results are encouraging. However, there is certainly room for improvement.”
Dr Khor said there were three key elements to creating an engaged workforce.
She said firstly leaders must inspire a sense of purpose in their staff by engaging with their minds and helping the see a connection between their role and the organisation’s goals.
“Today’s employees want to see meaning in what they do and how they are making a difference in their roles,” Dr Khor said.
The second point she made was to create a sense of ownership in staff.
“When people are convinced that they have some influence over outcomes of decisions that affect them, there is greater buy-in and an even greater sense of ownership of that outcome,” she said.
Finally, Dr Khor said leaders must develop the potential of PS officers.
“Good leaders are people developers,” she said.
“They help to ensure that officers’ passion and talents are aligned to roles within the organisation and help them to develop competencies in these roles.”
20 April, 2010
ZIMBABWE
Ministers to solve PS pay problems
Zimbabwe’s Cabinet has set up two Ministerial committees to address the plight of the country’s poorly paid Public Servants.
Minister of State, Gorden Moyo said a Resource Mobilisation Committee (RMC) and a Cost Drivers Committee (CDC) had been established.
Mr Moyo said the Government was considering tapping into the country’s mineral resources, such as diamonds, to meet some of the financial demands of Public Servants.
He said as part of the RMC mandate, Deputy Prime Minister, Thokozani Khupe had been tasked with finding out how the revenue generated from diamond mining activities in Chiadzwa could be utilised to fund Public Servant salaries.
Mr Moyo said the CDC would look at how the Government could force state entities to reduce utilities bills.
“All this is being done to cushion Civil Servants,” he said.
However the Minister for Finance, Tendai Biti said the Government would not increase salaries for Public Servants.
Mr Biti said the Government’s spending structure was inverse and abnormal and impeded efforts to resuscitate other needy sectors such as health, education, transport, water, sanitation, power and infrastructure maintenance.
“Given the lack of fiscal space as already alluded to,” Mr Biti said, “Government will maintain a cap on the current wage level while attending to other revenue enhancing measures.”
He made the comment while presenting his 2009 and 2010 economic performance report.
“Currently, the public sector wage bill of US$913 million in 2010, accounts for almost 70 per cent of the total domestic budget revenues and 18 per cent of Gross Domestic Product,” he said.
He said in normal economies the world over, the Government wage bill was not supposed to reach 30 per cent.
He said any increase in salaries for Government workers would also lead to a chain increase in prices of goods and services.
PS unions say Mr Biti’s statements were sure to cause more anxiety within the country’s poorly paid civil servants, who last month embarked on a month-long strike to press for an increase in salaries from the current $120 for the lowest paid worker to $600.
Zimbabwean Public Servants, including teachers, currently earn an average of A$180 per month.
Past industrial action has fizzled out when indications emerged that the Government was technically broke.
20 April, 2010
LIBERIA
IT to improve financial management
The Government of the Republic of Liberia has announced it will employ new technology to help it modernise and improve fiscal management.
Deputy Minister of Administration at the Ministry of Finance, Tarnue Mawolo said the new FreeBalance Accountability Suite Government Resource Planning (GRP) system would automate all public finance budget transactions.
Mr Mawolo said the new suite of technology would be implemented at the Ministry of Finance, Civil Service Agency, General Auditing Commission and would connect to the Central Bank of Liberia.
“The Government of the Republic of Liberia is committed to advancing key governance reform initiatives in support of its reconstruction efforts,” he said.
“The FreeBalance Accountability Suite will serve as a tool to support reform initiatives and will provide the foundation for economic growth and transparency.
“By building a more transparent Government, public trust in the Government of Liberia will only increase.”
He said Budget preparation, expenditure controls, procurement, monitoring, reporting, payroll and human resource management would all be implemented.
Mr Mawolo said the new technology was an automated system that would provide better expenditure controls and improved transparency in the budget cycle and would integrate all Government budget, revenue and expenditure information.
He said the implementation would include the FreeBalance Public Financials Management, Government Performance Management, Public Expenditure Management and Civil Service Management.
Mr Mawolo said the FreeBalance Civil Service Management payroll function would manage the Public Service workforce which contains around 40,000 employees.
President of FreeBalance, Manuel Pietra said the company was honoured to work with Liberia and had also announced agreements with the Government of Uganda and Namibia.
Mr Pietra said the software aimed to help Governments around the world to accelerate their country’s growth by providing solutions for public financial and human resource management reform and modernisation to improve governance, transparency and accountability.
20 April, 2010
SIERRA LEONE
Reformers target records management
The Public Sector Reform Unit in Sierra Leone has run a two-day training program to enhance the capacity of the country’s top Public Servants in Human Resources and records management.
The Reform Unit’s Records Management Improvement Program (RMIP) aimed to improve the ability of Public Servants to deliver service delivery in a timely and efficient manner.
The training was held in Sierra Leone’s capital, Freetown, and targeted HR managers and records officers across the Public Service.
Director of the Reform Unit, Dr Julius Sandy said the course marked the beginning of a series of training programs designed to improve efficiency and service delivery across the PS.
Dr Sandy said human resource and records management were vital parts of the Public Service and the training would help provide staff with the right skills, experience and competencies that would improve PS output.
He said the RMIP training manual would help staff manage records and information as it focused on providing support to managers accessing credible data and records for human resource information and planning.
The course was run by former Public Servant, Kelvin Smith who worked in the Public Records Office in England for over 40 years.
20 April, 2010
BERMUDA
Ombudsman to train investigators
The Ombudsman for Bermuda, Arlene Brock is to provide training in investigative skills to the Islands’ Public Servants.
Ms Brock announced the training after she helped conduct a four-day investigative course in the British Virgin Islands last month.
She said helping run the course convinced her that Public Servants in Bermuda’s police force, auditor’s office and Department of Immigration would benefit from the ‘Sharpening Your Teeth’ training program.
Ms Brock said she would offer the course in Bermuda to mark the fifth anniversary of the opening of the Ombudsman’s Office.
She said the Ombudsman for Ontario in Canada offered the course all over the world, and had organised the training program for the British Virgin Islands.
“They wanted to make sure that the course felt relevant to the small island and they wanted me to pitch in and help with that,” she said. “It was quite an honour to be asked.
“It was offered to about 50 people in the Civil Service who, in the course of their work, would have to do investigations.
“As a result of doing that, I thought why not do it here?
“I have enough in the Budget to do it.”
Complaints Commissioner for the British Virgin Islands, Elton Georges said Ms Brock was generous in sharing the techniques and approaches that helped her office work effectively in a small population comparable to the BVI’s.
Mr Georges said the small population meant investigators had to manage their own “multiplex” relationships and roles.
20 April, 2010
And From the World in Brief...
UNITED STATES
The United States Postal Service is expected to run out of cash in early 2011 due to increasing delivery costs and a decreasing demand for mail services.
Postmaster General, John Potter said cuts to facilities, delivery days, and non-career staff would be necessary in order for universal mail service to remain a viable option.
Mr Potter said the move to online correspondence was having a significant impact on the Postal Service.
CHINA
Supervisors of China’s national Civil Service exam caught almost half the number of cheats in 2009 as they did the previous year.
Just 561 cheats were caught compared to almost 1,000 in 2008. The majority of cheats in 2009 used wireless earphones and mobile phones get answers, used fake identity cards or hired others to take the exam for them.
Under the exam regulations, 300 of the cheats scored a zero mark, 152 were barred from the next round of Government recruitment and 109 were banned from Government for life.
MALTA
The Malta Communications Authority has announced it will continue to publish a printed telephone directory after deciding it was still an essential service.
The Authority said it had analysed feedback from consultation undertaken last year and decided the printed directory should be retained.
A printed directory, fixed telephony services, directory enquiry services and access to public payphones are all considered universal essential services.
NETHERLANDS
The Deputy President of the Council of State advisory body in the Netherlands has reminded Agencies that any Public Service cuts or Department mergers must have a purpose.
Deputy President, Tjeenk Willink said cuts “without vision” lead to increased costs rather than savings in the long term.
Mr Willink said the public interest needed to be considered before the market interest.
JAMAICA
Members of the Jamaican public have been urged to provide more support to police after a police officer was killed by a reckless motorist.
Minister of National Security, Senator Dwight Nelson said too many Jamaicans were failing to offer an adequate level of support and cooperation to police.
Senator Nelson said a reckless and wanton disregard for law and rampant indiscipline led to the loss of the Constable’s life.
13 April, 2010
UNITED STATES
Women’s progress in
SES stalls
The number of women being appointed to top jobs in the United States Public Service has slowed dramatically since 2006, according to a report by the women’s group, Federally Employed Women.
According to the report, men and women are almost equally represented in the lower grades of the Federal Public Service but at the higher levels are “woefully falling short of their male counterparts.”
Federally Employed Women (FEW) said according to data it obtained from the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), women more than doubled their participation in the Senior Executive Service between 1992 and 2003, increasing from 12.3 per cent to 26.2 per cent of the SES.
However, the report shows that between 2006 and 2009, the proportion of women in the SES rose by just 1.2 percentage points from 28.7 percent to 29.9 percent.
Representative for FEW, Janet Kopenhaver said the figures were “absolutely unacceptable.”
However she said the OPM and the White House Council on Women and Girls had been “very, very receptive” to FEW’s plight.
Deputy Director of the OPM, Christine Griffin said her office and the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission were working to “ensure that Federal Agencies remove all remaining barriers to women’s advancement in SES and senior pay levels.”
However Ms Kopenhaver said one of the major barriers members of FEW cited as standing in their way was a lack of training.
She said a lack of training and cross-training was a major impediment to women moving up in the Public Service.
FEW has sponsored its own national training program in response to the need.
13 April, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
Call to chop PS pensions
A plan to scrap the current UK pension scheme for Public Servants and replace it with a cheaper scheme has been made by the country’s employers’ association.
The Confederation of British Industry (CBI) said the next Government, which would be chosen at the 6 May general election, should tackle the liabilities connected to Public Servant pension funds.
Deputy Director General of the CBI, John Cridland said pension liabilities were expected to hit £1 trillion (A$1.65 trillion) at the end of the first quarter.
Citing public accounts for 2007/2008, Mr Cridland said pension liabilities exceeded pension assets by £10 billion a year.
“We have to take a sensible approach - make sure what goes out matches what gets in,” Mr Cridland said.
He said the UK Government was writing “blank cheques” in keeping the current pension regime which guarantees Public Servants a portion of salary on retirement.
Mr Cridland said the next Government should mitigate public pension risks by setting up a defined contribution (DC) scheme.
Under such a scheme employers and the employee would make contributions to a pension pot which would then be used to buy an annuity upon retirement.
“All politicians will find this difficult, but this is the elephant in the room,” he said.
“Some time, some place this has to be tackled because it cannot be left alone.”
Mr Cridland said Public Servants close to retirement should retain their current pension terms.
The CBI said unlike conventional DC schemes, the contributions paid into the UK Public Service DC schemes should not be invested.
It said assets would instead be used to pay ongoing pensions and at retirement, Public Servants would receive the equivalent of their contributions plus interest calculated using parameters such as inflation or salary increases.
Mr Cridland said moving to DC schemes would provide more predictability for pension expenses.
He acknowledged the change would result in lower pensions and said the entire issue should be tackled by an independent commission.
13 April, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
Election guide for
issued PS
A guide to help Public Servants understand and carry out their duties in the lead up to the general election has been produced by the United Kingdom’s Cabinet Office.
The guide was released on 6 April as Prime Minister, Gordon Brown announced the general election would be held on 6 May.
According to the manual, General Election Guidance 2010, the election period is considered to run from the day a General Election is announced to the dissolution of Parliament.
“A General Election has a number of implications for the work of Departments and Civil Servants,” the guide says.
“These arise from the special character of Government business during an election campaign, and from the need to maintain, and be seen to maintain, the impartiality of the Civil Service, and to avoid any criticism of an inappropriate use of official resources.”
According to the guide, Public Servants must refrain from undertaking any activities which could call their political impartiality into question and should not work on new or controversial programs and policies.
Departments must also refrain from competing with the election campaign for the public’s attention.
The guide includes sections on correct procedures for Public Servants when handling requests for information; briefing Ministers; attending events and responding to Freedom Of Information requests.
“Government Departments and their staff must not engage in, or appear to engage in, Party politics or be used for Party ends, and should provide consistent factual information on request to candidates of all Parties, as well as to organisations and members of the public,” it says.
The guide says Public Servants should strive to answer enquiries from Parliamentary candidates or political headquarters within 24 hours.
“Officials should not, however, be asked to devise new policies or arguments or cost policies for use in election campaign debates, and Departments should not undertake costings or analysis of Opposition policies during a campaign.”
Other sections of the 51-page guide deal with Special Advisors who want to take part in political campaigning; contact with Opposition parties and Select Committees; how to manage Cabinet and official documents; PS appointments; communication activities; and updating online information.
They guide does not apply to devolved administrations in Scotland and Wales as they are not part of the election.
13 April, 2010
MALAYSIA
Contracts go online
All public works contracts in Malaysia are to be moved online in a bid to save time and money.
The Institute of Engineers Malaysia (IEM), said transferring the process online would benefit the Public Service and industry while making the procurement process more transparent and efficient.
In a statement, IEM said under the current procurement methods, copious amounts of paperwork were involved, with projects such as constructing schools and hospitals generating kilograms of drawings on paper.
“The time and cost spent in manpower and in churning out the papers would have incurred much cost by the Government and the industry in addition to the many trips taken in commuting to and from Government offices,” the IEM said.
“A reduction or elimination of these activities will considerably reduce the amount of time and cost spent by both Civil Service and the industry.”
The Institute said using an e-procurement system would help lessen the current perception of bias and unfairness surrounding the selection process, creating improved acceptance of the Government’s policies and initiatives.
However IEM called for the Agency responsible for developing and delivering the new system to ensure it was bug-free, user friendly and fast before it was implemented.
13 April, 2010
IRELAND
Unions reject PS pay deal
The proposed deal to settle pay and Public Service reform disputes between Public Sector Unions and the Irish Government has run into a union stumbling block.
Leaders of Ireland’s largest Public Service Union, Impact, have encouraged their 55,000 PS members to reject the deal after deciding it did not provide adequate pay and pension certainty or job security.
General Secretary-Designate of Impact, Shay Cody said Impact’s Executive committee did not believe it could “sell” the deal to its members.
Mr Cody said the committee was concerned that while Public Servants would meet their side of the bargain, there was no certainty the Government would honour its part.
General Secretary of Impact, Peter McLoone was one of the main architects of the deal which was brokered two weeks ago.
Executive officers at Impact are expected to meet this week to arrange a vote of members in the mainstream Public Service.
A spokesperson for the Union said limited industrial action would remain in place until the outcome of the ballot was known, despite Government calls for all industrial action to cease.
“The union will consider its next steps once the ballot is completed,” the spokesperson said.
The ballot result is expected to be known by the middle of May.
The Irish National Teachers Organisation has announced it would recommend its members adopt the deal after a close vote on the issue at its annual conference showed support.
The Association of Secondary Teachers Ireland joined the Teachers Union of Ireland in encouraging its members to reject the agreement.
The Executive of the union representing higher Public Servants, AHPS, is also expected to recommend acceptance as is the Public Service Executive Union.
Prime Minister, Taoiseach Brian Cowen said he was confident Public Service employees would view the deal as “the best that can be achieved in present circumstances.”
“What’s important is that Unions and their executives and ordinary members have to be given an opportunity to reflect on the job security that [the agreement] provides,” Mr Cowen said.
13 April, 2010
CANADA
Post Office to outsource
The Canadian Post Office has announced plans to privatise parts of its operations.
Senior management of Canada Post said it planned to outsource its contact centres and the National Philatelic Centre.
Canada’s largest Public Service union, the Public Service Alliance of Canada, has vowed to would fight the decision, saying it would cost over 300 jobs across the country.
The PSAC, which has 2,000 members at Canada Post, said the move would “badly damage” the quality of Canada’s postal service and the communities it serves.
Regional Executive Vice-President for the Prairies at PSAC, Robyn Benson said affected areas included Edmonton, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Fredericton and Antigonish, N.S.
Ms Benson said privatising the corporation’s answering services could compromise confidential information provided by members of the public.
“If an American company answers calls for Canada Post, then the U.S. Patriot Act gives the Government access to all information the company collects,” Ms Benson said.
“Is that what Canadians want?”
National President of the Union of Postal and Communications Employees, Richard Deslauriers warned Canada Post was embarking on a “slippery slope of partial privatisation.”
“The privatisation of Canada Post has always been an objective of the current management,” Mr Deslauriers said.
“The slippery slope of partial privatisation of services will end up with Canada Post in the hands of private companies and Canadians will be deprived of a service they have relied on for decades.”
The PSAC has a total of 166,000 members.
13 April, 2010
CAYMAN ISLANDS
Public to decide on cuts
Public Servants in the Cayman Islands have been asked to put forward proposals to help achieve targeted cuts to operational and human resources costs across the PS.
In a memo to senior staff, the Deputy Governor of the Cayman Islands, Donovan Ebanks asked staff of the PS to submit proposals on achieving an eight per cent reduction in HR costs.
Mr Ebanks said staff cuts must be one of the issues considered by the Public Service.
In response to the request, the Public Servants are asking the public which services they would be prepared to do without.
President of the Cayman Islands Civil Service Association, James Walter said there could be room for some trimming but some services would need to be sacrificed to achieve the requested 8 per cent cut to HR.
Mr Walter said the PS was already understaffed in many areas and that further cuts to HR would impact on the quality of services offered.
“People must now ask themselves which services they believe the country can do without,” Mr Walter said.
He said while the Government needed to reduce expenditure due to the decline in revenue, it still needed its programs and policies to be carried out.
“It is not possible to have one’s cake and eat it,” Mr Walter said.
He said it was the duty of the Public Service to deliver the Government’s initiatives and that adequate staff numbers were needed.
“No Government can function properly if it cripples itself by cutting the people who deliver its services.”
He said Public Servants had been working in an atmosphere of uncertainty since late last year.
“Regardless of the uncertainty, and even though morale is far from its peak, Civil Servants have still continued to do their very best to deliver Government services as professionally as possible,” Mr Walter said.
“They know that there has to be cuts and they are prepared to do all they can, but at the end of the day the question that has to be asked now is: what do the people want us to cut?”
13 April, 2010
UNITED STATES
Weather Service seeks storm spotters
The National Weather Service in the United States is working in partnership with local emergency managers in New Mexico to teach members of the public how to spot and report thunderstorms.
Spokesperson for the National Weather Service (NWS), Tim Shy said the NWS relied on a network of trained ‘spotters’ during New Mexico’s storm season to inform it of storm conditions its radar could not see.
Mr Shy said getting visual confirmation of what was happening beneath a storm was impossible, so weather officials relied on the public to inform them of what was happening so they could alert others to seek shelter.
“The issue that comes up for us is that our radar can only see so far into a storm, so what we really need are trained eyes, trained brains that can look up at a storm for us - look out the window, and see the weather,” Mr Shy said.
The Weather Service in Albuquerque is responsible for generating watches and warnings for more than 20 counties in the State.
Through the partnership with emergency managers, the NWS undertakes weather spotter training classes every year to educate members of the public on what to look for in a storm.
When severe weather is expected, the NWS calls the area’s local emergency manager to activate weather spotters.
Once activated, spotters relay their reports to the emergency manager who then passes them onto the NWS.
New Mexico is subject to severe weather and storms.
13 April, 2010
GHANA
New pay policy on track
The Fair Wages and Salaries Commission in Ghana is to put together a team of experts to determine the contribution of the Public Sector to the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
The experts will look at the relationship between the GDP and the PS under the Government’s new Single Spine Pay Policy.
Chief Executive of the Commission, George Smith-Graham said the outcome of the research would form the basis of engagements with Government to pay bonuses and other incentives to Public Servants.
In an address to a public awareness program on the new pay policy, Mr Smith-Graham said the Commission was on course to implement the new pay policy by July 2010.
He said by that time the job analysis, market premium and inducement strategies would have been completed.
Mr Smith-Graham said the new pay system was expected to lead to the development of a Performance Management System for high level productivity.
He said under the Single Spine Pay Policy, “no single individual Public Servant would be made worse-off.”
The public awareness program was part of the Commission’s bid to enhance the knowledge of the “rank and file” of workers.
Mr Smith-Graham said the Commission had met with leaders within the Public Service to discuss critical issues regarding the new pay policy and administration system.
13 April, 2010
IRELAND
The top Public Servants in Ireland have told the Minister for Finance they deserve a pay rise because they could earn more in the private sector.
The call for a pay rise came despite the 600 most senior staff being sheltered from the full brunt of pay cuts.
They received a pay cut of just three per cent from around €150,000 to €146,000 (A$216,000 to A$210,000) while lower paid workers such as cleaners were cut five per cent.
GREECE
Greece’s Public Service umbrella union has proposed another 24-hour strike in protest against the Government’s austerity measures.
The union, ADEDY, said the strike would be held at the end of April in conjunction with the private sector after the private sector union, GSEE said it was also likely to hold a 24-hour strike.
RWANDA
The Public Service Commission in Rwanda has extended its investigations into the alleged unfair dismissal of staff to include Parliament, the Ministry of Local Government, the Ministry of Public Service and Labour and the Office of the Ombudsman.
The Commission said it was working with relevant bodies and the Ombudsman to establish whether the employees were dismissed unfairly during a Public Service evaluation exercise.
Minister for Local Government, James Musoni said any PS leaders who used the evaluation exercise to victimise Public Servants would be punished.
BRUNEI
The Civil Service Department has organised a friendly football game between Administrative Officers and the Civil Service Department in a bid to raise “capacity building” among participating staff.
The game was held to promote cooperation between administrative officers who were posted to other Ministries.
Director-General of the Civil Service, Awang Haji Ibrahim bin Haji Hassan presented players with participation prizes.
MALDIVES
Amendments to the Maldives Civil Service Regulations are expected to come into effect in May.
According to the Civil Service Commission, the regulations outline what actions are to be taken against people who threaten Public Servants.
The regulations also include a chapter on voluntary service and will be published in the form of a book and a CD.
6 April, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
Community work to be part of PS brief
The Conservative Opposition in the United Kingdom Government has unveiled a plan that would require all the UK’s 500,000 Public Servants to undertake voluntary community service work as part of their normal duties.
Setting out the Opposition’s ‘society agenda’, Leader David Cameron said it would include a neighbourhood army” of community workers and shift the emphasis of Government as a provider to that of Government as an ‘enabler’ instead.
Mr Cameron said the Civil Service would be transformed into a ‘civic service’ by making regular community service a key element in Public Servant staff appraisals.
He said all PS staff would be expected to undertake regular community service under the plan with the Government encouraging, facilitating, training and helping finance local activism and organisations to counter social problems and run services.
He said the huge reform to public services would save money and improve community morale, community self-determination and civic respect.
In a speech outlining the proposed reforms, Mr Cameron said there “is such thing as society, it’s just not the same thing as the State.”
He promised the neighbourhood army of 5,000 full-time professional community organisers to identify local community leaders, bring communities together and help them tackle local problems.
Mr Cameron said a Big Society Bank, funded from unclaimed bank assets, would leverage private sector investment and provide hundreds of millions of pounds of new finance for neighbourhood groups, charities, social enterprises and other non-Governmental bodies.
His plan includes neighbourhood grants for the UK’s poorest areas to encourage people to come together to form neighbourhood groups and support social enterprises and charities.
Mr Cameron also said he wanted every adult citizen to be an active member of an active neighborhood group.
He stressed he wanted to build “a big society” better able to tackle social problems such as crime “to add to what the state already does” rather than replace it.
6 April, 2010
IRELAND
PS review halts
strike action
The Irish Government and Public Sector Unions have agreed on a deal to halt further Public Service pay cuts and to undertake a “root and branch review” of public services.
Chief Executive of the Labour Relations Commission, Kevin Mulvey said under the deal there would be no compulsory redundancies and pay increases would be generated according to savings.
Mr Mulvey described the agreement as “revolutionary” and said it acknowledged Ireland’s difficult financial position.
“The basis of this deal is a significant, almost revolutionary transformation of all Irish Public Services right across the spectrum,” he said.
“We are now in a position to begin to restructure, re-manage, refocus, re-energise our public services on the concept of very clear delivery of services.”
Mr Mulvey said if the vision and commitment shown during negotiations could be replicated elsewhere, Ireland’s economy would be “re-energised” and rebuilt.
He has asked union negotiators to request their members cease industrial action.
Director General of the Irish Business and Employers’ Confederation (Ibec), Danny McCoy said the agreement presented “an opportunity for real reform of public services.”
“Given the very serious challenges the country continues to face, an agreed approach is the best way forward,” Mr McCoy said.
“Reform must deliver specific, measurable savings and have a firm implementation timetable.
According to Irish media reports, if the deal is accepted by union members, Public Servants will not face further pay cuts up to 2014 while most Public Service reforms sought by the Government will go ahead.
Prime Minister (Taoiseach) Brian Cowen said the deal would provide “confidence and stability” in the Public Service and he hoped it would be ratified by union members.
Mr Cowen said the agreement would ensure Ireland created a Public Service it was proud of and could afford.
Minister of State for Labour Affairs and Public Service Transformation, Dara Calleary said it was vital to “maximise the contribution that the Public Service can make to sustainable economic renewal” and that the new deal would help achieve this.
“My new role will allow me to co-ordinate the transformation effort across the Public Service and the agreement concluded between management and unions offers an exciting opportunity to create a renewed ‘fit for purpose’ public service”.
Under the deal, merit-based competitive promotions will be the norm in future with “promotions and incremental progression linked in all cases to performance.”
He said extensions to core working hours could see some staff lose out on existing overtime or premium-rate earnings.
The agreement followed hundreds of hours of talks between management in Public Service sectors and unions.
6 April, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
Internet to replace PS
in 4 years
Face-to-face public service centres in the United Kingdom could be phased out in favour of websites within four years according to British Prime Minister, Gordon Brown.
Mr Brown said the new Mygov website aimed to move all public services online within four years, making face-to-face transactions a thing of the past.
Union leaders have criticised the move, saying tens of thousands of public sector jobs in jobcentres, passport centres and town halls could be scrapped under the plan.
However, Mr Brown said the plan would save around £4 billion (A$6.6bn) over four years.
He said the site would initially be used to apply for a school places, book doctor’s appointments, claim benefits, get a new passport, pay Council tax or register cars and that within three years it would be possible to interact with teachers or ask doctors for medical advice.
Mr Brown said the plan included using text messages to remind people of GP appointments in a bid to reduce the £600 million (A$997m) annual cost of missed health appointments.
General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, Mark Serwotka said the elderly and disabled would be disadvantaged by the plan.
“Cutting public services is not only bad for the public who use services but also the economy as we are pushing people who provide valuable services on the dole,” Mr Serwotka said.
“Over the last three to four years over 100,000 Civil Service jobs have gone with a serious impact in key areas such as tax and job centres where they have had to re-employ people in the recession due to the upsurge in unemployment.”
Privacy experts have highlighted concerns over data protection, privacy and fraud if the new ‘government facebook’ was to go ahead.
A Shadow Cabinet member said the Tories supported plans to get Government online.
6 April, 2010
BOTSWANA
New PS Act comes
into effect
Public Sector unions in Botswana have welcomed the news that the new Public Service Act will come into effect on 1 May.
The Government gazetted the new law after unions threatened strikes and industrial action if the Act was not implemented
Despite being signed by President of Botswana, Seretse Khama Ian Khama in December 2009, delays in implementing the law had unions worried the Government was seeking to reintroduce unpopular provisions that empowered the Permanent Secretary to the President to retire employees once they reached 45 years of age.
The provisions were present in the previous Act, and have been used by the Government in past months to dismiss a number of employees.
President of the Botswana Public Employees Union, Andrew Motsamai said the new Act would make all Public Servants permanent and eligible for a pension.
“The Act will also bring fair labour practices, job security and remuneration in line with international standards,” Mr Motsamai said.
He said under the new Act, Public Servants would be able to negotiate their salaries with employers.
“It introduces negotiation mechanisms and does away with the employer’s right to retire public employees at will,” Mr Motsamai said.
He said all Public Servants under local authorities and central Agencies would be governed by the Act, meaning it would apply to all Agencies with their own Acts such as the teaching profession, the Police service and prisons in relation to employment conditions.
Mr Motsamai said the new laws would also allow Public Servants to strike under some conditions (excluding police, military and prison services).
Health workers are permitted to strike under the Act provided a skeleton staff remained on duty.
6 April, 2010
FRANCE
PS cutbacks continue
The French Government is pursuing plans to scrap Public Service jobs through its ‘one in two’ replacement scheme while at the same time recruiting more police to tackle crime.
Interior Minister, Brice Hortefeux said 1,500 new security jobs had been created regardless of the fact the President, Nicolas Sarkozy has pledged to shrink the Public Service by only replacing one in every two Public Servants who retire.
Spokesperson for the Government, Luc Chatel said the cuts, which were introduced by Mr Sarkozy after he took office in 2007, would remain even though they had been opposed by unions.
“The ‘one in two’ policy is being maintained,” Mr Chatel said.
“We simply decided to increase the number of Government-assisted jobs in the police.
“The net balance will show that we are not replacing one out of two civil servants.”
The drive to reduce the Public Service payroll predates the onset of the global economic crisis, although economists have said the savings are unlikely to make much of a dent in France’s ballooning public deficit.
Prime Minister, Francois Fillon said his top priority continued to be reforming the pension system and reaffirmed his plans to freeze core public spending to rein in the deficit.
Mr Chatel dismissed reports of tension between Mr Sarkozy and Mr Fillon over the pace of reforms, saying they were a “solid and durable team”.
6 April, 2010
SUDAN
Pay arrears lead to
strike plans
Public Servants in Southern Sudan have been urged not to go on strike over non-payment of 12-months worth of house allowances.
The Office of the President of the Government appealed to Public Servants to report to their workplaces instead of going on strike.
Staff of Southern Sudan Television and Radio warned they would go on strike over the issue which was yet to be resolved.
In a statement, the Office of the President assured Public Servants the issue of arrears would be ‘concluded’.
It acknowledged the right of staff to receive their allowances and said the decision to pay PS staff their house rent allowances was passed by the Council of Ministers and “must be fulfilled.”
The Office of the President said Cabinet made the decision to provide house rent allowances after examining the difficult conditions faced by Public Servants in relation to accommodation.
It assured the PS that the Ministry of Finance would look for funds to clear the arrears.
The statement noted the difficulties faced by the Government during the past year’s economic crisis, saying they “might have” contributed to the delay in paying the arrears.
The Office of the President said most Government institutions had already begun meeting their staff arrears by paying all 12 months or a lump sum for six months up front with the promise to pay the rest from the 2010-11 budget.
Staff of Southern Sudan Radio and TV said the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had failed to pay its workers anything.
6 April, 2010
PHILIPPINES
PS warned to be impartial
Public Servants in the Philippines have been warned to remain impartial and non-partisan or face being dismissed from Government service.
Commissioner on Elections, Nicodemo Ferrer said any Public Servants who could not stop themselves from participating in partisan politics should resign from their job.
The Philippine Constitution bans PS staff from engaging in electioneering or partisan political campaigns.
The call for impartiality came on the same day the Executive Secretary of the Philippines, Leandro Mendoza disputed claims the President had abused her authority and picked mostly close political allies to assume key Public Service positions.
Mr Mendoza said the President, Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, had lawfully issued new appointments and that most were to replace those retiring or running for public office.
“The President’s high regard for the Civil Service in general can also be seen in the fact that over one half of all Career Executive Service (CES) positions, or 51.4 percent, were filled by CESOs, or career officers, compared to only one-third before she took office,” he said.
“This includes many Cabinet-level appointments.”
Mrs Arroyo has been accused of designating several key Government positions to political allies as a reward.
However Mr Mendoza said she had exercised her prerogative in appointing competent officials under the law.
“I wish to clarify once and for all that all of the appointments recently made by the President constitute a timely and legitimate exercise of her appointing authority, consistent with law, civil service and other regulations, and invoking the highest national interest by putting in position only the most competent executives to assist in completing her legacy agenda for the country,” he said.
Mr Mendoza said all the appointments were issued prior to 10 March which marked the start of the 60-day campaign-related appointment ban.
“The President is simply doing what she has always done – leading our country based only on considerations of performance and posterity, never popularity,” he said.
6 April, 2010
BRUNEI
$4.9B to improve public services
The Legislative Council in Brunei has passed a Bill to allow the Government to spend $4.9 billion to stimulate the economy, improve public services and raise living standards for citizens.
According to media reports in Brunei, the budget aims to ensure Brunei is in a strong fiscal position and increases government revenues.
Rates for Government services are to be revised to ensure lower income groups aren’t negatively affected and competition within the country’s investment environment is to be intensified to attract more foreign direct investment.
A number of debates took part in the Legislative Council over budget allocations, including discussions over doctors’ pay and establishing a special zone to serve alcoholic beverages to tourists and non-Muslims.
However the proposal to amend laws that limit alcohol importation were criticised by a number of Ministers, with the Minister of Industry and Primary Resources saying it was not in line with the Brunei’s tourism policies and the Minister of Religious Affairs saying it went against the aspiration of Islam.
A proposal labelled as ‘interesting’ by one Brunei news site was to allow women to participate in the Legislative Council meeting and put forward their views.
The Ministry of Health was allocated $295.4 million while around $1 billion was put aside for development.
The Royal Brunei Police received $122.2 million, the Defence Ministry was allocated $512 million and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade received $173.7 million.
6 April, 2010
SINGAPORE
New Centre for Strategic Futures
The Public Service Division in Singapore has set up a Centre for Strategic Futures to help the PS improve the way it deals with what it labelled “strategic surprises.”
The Centre is expected to develop strategic thinking skills for long term planning to help Agencies with decision making and risk management.
The Centre is to be overseen by an advisory board led by the Head of the Civil Service, Peter Ho.
Deputy Prime Minister, Teo Chee Hean said the Centre would develop Public Officers with an intimate knowledge of how international organisations function, helping the country deepen its international engagements.
Mr Teo said the PSD already had 18 Public Servants involved in the program to facilitate engagement in key countries and regions such as China.
He said modern Public Servants needed to have “skills in lobbying and negotiation, to cultivate overseas networks inside and outside of Government, to understand the psyche and peculiarities of other cultures, and to be able to adapt quickly to new environments”.
Mr Teo said Public Servants also needed to develop an understanding of behavioural economics.
“For instance, in trying to get Singaporeans to behave in environmentally-friendly ways, we cannot rely only on incentives - taxes and subsidies,” he said.
“We also have to shape public norms, attitudes and behaviours through public education and other non-pecuniary ways.”
Head of the Civil Service, Mr Ho, said Public Servants also needed to display empathy and connectedness with the community. “Public policies, no matter how well-crafted, can make a positive impact only if they address the needs of Singaporeans and are properly implemented,” Mr Ho said.
6 April, 2010
IRELAND
Staff at Ireland’s Passport Office in Dublin are expected to begin clearing the backlog of over 50,000 passport applications after the Civil, Public and Services Union (CPSU) lifted an overtime ban.
The ban had been in place for almost a month in protest against pay cuts.
Other forms of industrial action, such as a ban on carrying out work associated with vacant posts or compiling answers to Parliamentary questions will continue.
CANADA
The number of Public Servants in Ontario, Canada earning over $100,000 a year has increased by 18 per cent compared to last year, according to figures released by the provincial Government.
Almost 10,000 more Ontarian Public Servants hit the six-figure salary, bringing the total number to 63,761 people.
The figures are based on the annual “sunshine list” which names those who earn over $100,000 a year.
UNITED KINGDOM
A report on how to establish more effective policing has found the UK Police Force hires more human resources staff than any other organisation across the public sector.
It said the average ration of HR employees to general staff in the PS was 1:115 but that in the Police Force it was 1:63.
The report said providing its own HR and finance management services was prohibitive for the Force and recommended the use of shared services to increase effectiveness.
JAPAN
A Japanese Public Servant who was taken to Court for allegedly violating Civil Service laws by handing out copies of the Japanese Communist Party newspaper in 2003 has been acquitted by the High Court.
The High Court Judges overturned the former guilty ruling, saying his actions did not undermine the administrative neutrality of a Public Servant as they were “sporadic and unrelated to his work.”
Civil Service law bans Public Servants from engaging in political activities, however the defendant argued passing out the newspapers was a private action as it was done on a weekend away from his workplace.
NIGERIA
A Nigerian Public Servant, Dr. Tunji Olaopa, has authored four books on the Public Service to commemorate his 50th birthday.
Dr Olaopa’s books cover aspects of the Public Service and are entitled Public Administration and Civil Service Reforms in Nigeria; Innovation and Best Practices in Public Sector Reforms: Ideas, Strategies and Conditions; Public Service Reforms in Africa; and The Joy of Learning.