SearchArchives for July 2010
27 July, 2010CANADA
Affirmative Action to
be reviewed
The Canadian Government has ordered a review of its affirmative action policies following a white woman’s complaint she was discouraged from applying for a Public Service job because she was Caucasian.
President of the Treasury Board, Stockwell Day said in a statement that while the Government supported diversity in the Public Service, no Canadian should be barred from opportunities in the Public Service because of race or ethnicity.
The Minister for Immigration, Jason Kenney was also involved in the decision to review the affirmative action policies and confirmed that hiring should be merit-based.
“It’s OK to encourage people from different backgrounds to apply but in our judgment it goes too far to tell people that if they are not of a particular race or ethnicity they cannot apply [for a job] that is actually funded by their tax dollars,” Mr Kenney said.
“I strongly agree with the objective of creating a Public Service that reflects the diversity of Canada, and with fair measures designed to reach that goal, but we must ensure that all Canadians have an equal opportunity to work for their government based on merit, regardless of race or ethnicity.”
One Member of Parliament disagreed with the Government’s position saying the review was itself an attack on affirmative action.
“I don’t think they can make a case that white, middle-class people are being denied access to public service jobs, or that there’s any preference shown,” MP Pat Martin said.
“It is paranoia on their part, though, because we are nowhere near achieving equity in the face of the public-service workforce.”
He said in March 2009, the Canadian Public Service included 4.5 per cent Aboriginal and 9.8 per cent visible minorities, compared to a national population of two per cent Aboriginal and 32 per cent visible minorities.
The woman who placed the original complaint, Sara Landriault said she applied online for an administrative assistant position with Citizenship and Immigration Canada.
She said one of the questions in the online application form asked if she was white, indigenous or a visible minority. According to Ms Landriault, when she indicated she was Caucasian, a message informed her she did not meet the eligibility criteria and could not proceed with the application.
27 July, 2010
AFGHANISTAN
Survey finds corruption rife
A survey conducted in Afghanistan has revealed that over half the population believes corruption in the police and legal system are helping the Taliban’s cause.
According to the survey carried out by Integrity Watch Afghanistan (IWA), Afghans paid nearly US$1 billion (A$1.12 billion) in bribes in 2009.
More than a quarter of the respondents to the survey said they felt the corruption robbed them of access to justice and security.
Most of those surveyed said they hoped the issue would be dealt with by State institutions, but an increasing tendency to request help from non-State organisations was seen to potentially offer further support for the Taliban.
The non-profit corruption watchdog, IWA said the survey findings showed that embedded corruption jeopardised efforts to end the current conflict.
“The findings of this survey show that corruption threatens the legitimacy of State-building, badly affects State-society relations, feeds frustration and the support for the insurgency,” IWA said.
The study showed that public safety wasn’t the only thing affected adversely by corruption.
The IWA said corruption caused increasing inequality, had a major negative effect on economic development and hindered access to basic public services, with the poor feeling the impact the most severely.
Almost a third of respondents said they had paid bribes to obtain public services (such as water or electricity) and over a quarter of the Public Servants surveyed said they had to pay bribes to secure or retain their jobs.
The judiciary and the police were found to be the two most corrupt institutions in Afghanistan.This finding has worried NATO forces, as the key to counter-insurgency is to win the trust of the people and assure their trust in the Government, an effort the IWA said was undermined by the depth of Afghan corruption.
27 July, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
Royal Mail to go private
The United Kingdom Government-owned Royal Mail is likely to be privatised within two to three years, according to the Minister in charge of the process, Edward Davey.
Mr Davey said the goal would be to get private capital and private disciplines in, as the Royal Mail would not receive any more Treasury funds for reinvestment and would need the ability to borrow commercially.
“We will do that when we think that can be best delivered,” Mr Davey said.
“I would hope and expect it to be within the next two to three years.”
He said the service had a £10bn pension deficit, which the Government would like to see settled before it was sold.
Mr Davey, who is also a former postal consultant, visited Belgium’s La Poste and plans to see Germany’s Deutsche Post to learn from their privatisations.
He said after last year’s dispute over working practices, the big test will be whether privatisation can be pushed through in the face of opposition from the Communication Workers’ Union (CWU) without provoking strikes.
“I don’t expect the CWU to change their fundamental position on the injection of private capital,” Mr Davey said, “but I have found them very constructive when talking about issues like their members’ pensions.”
He said the main factors affecting the viability of the service were the pension deficit, new competitors and the growing use of email.
27 July, 2010
TAIWAN
PS retirement age raised
to 60
The age at which Taiwanese Public Servants can choose to retire has been raised to 60, under an amendment to the Civil Servants Retirement Law.
The amendment would allow Public Servants to choose to retire when they turned 60 after at least 25 years of service, or when they were 55 with no less than 30 years of service.
Taiwanese newspapers have estimated that the new system would affect 198,000 of the country’s 293,000 public servants who would have to retire later if they wanted to have their pensions paid monthly.
The new system has been referred to as the “85 formula” which requires the sum of the staff member’s age and number of service years to be no less than 85.
The new law would also add a “fat cat” clause to prevent some retired public office holders from abusing the system and continuing to work after retirement.
As a result, around 5,200 former PS staff were expected to lose their pensions if they worked after retirement.
Minister for the Civil Service, Chang Che-chen expected the amendment would save the government TWD$3.4 billion (A$120 million) every year.A grace period of 10 years would apply, after which the new legislation would come into effect.
27 July, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
Green advisers replaced
The Government of the United Kingdom has been criticised for announcing it would withdraw funding for ‘green’ environmental advisors.
Minister in charge of the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Caroline Spelman said funding for the Sustainable Development Commission would be withdrawn and the Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution would be abolished.
“DEFRA has around 90 arm’s-length bodies, many of which were set up at a time when our understanding of and engagement with environmental issues was less mainstream,” Ms Spelman said.
“Most of the things that these bodies do is now part of what the government does as a matter of course,” she said.
According to Opposition MP, Joan Walley, the funding cuts would damage initiatives towards environmental sustainability.
“These two organisations play an essential role in furthering sustainable development and environmental protection across Government,” Ms Walley said.
A spokeswoman for the Sustainable Development Commission (SDC) said it was unlikely the commission would survive in its current capacity after the funding cuts.
Chairman of the SDC, Will Day was disappointed with the move.
“Our work has delivered efficiency savings totalling many times what the organisation has cost the Government, and contributed towards much greater sustainability in Government,” Mr Day said.
“It will be particularly important to ensure that adequate plans are in place to ensure the UK Government can measure and verify its commitment to becoming the ‘greenest government ever’,” he said.
After becoming Prime Minister in May, David Cameron pledged to make the UK Government the greenest yet.
“I don’t want to hear warm words about the environment,” Mr Cameron said at the time. “I want to see real action.”
27 July, 2010
BRUNEI
Sultan wants improved PS
The Sultan of Brunei has called for improvements in the Public Service during a national address on his 64th birthday.
The Sultan said productivity and work ethics needed to be improved in the PS, particularly in the Departments of Health and Education.
He called for Key Performance Indicators to be used to assess the strengths and weaknesses of the Public Service.
“Through this methodology, we are able to measure to what extent can the public service carry out its responsibilities in meeting the demands of this country and the public,” The Sultan said.
He said the Department of Health in particular needed to introduce assessments, especially for its medical professionals.
“We do not want our hospitals to become frightening places just because the doctors always fail to provide their services.”
He said in the Department of Education, new and effective techniques were needed but not at the expense of national priorities such as religious proficiency.
The Sultan said that Muslim children in Brunei needed to be proficient in religion, and that to do so, the education system must prioritise religious education.
He said that weak religious beliefs would thrust the nation into disaster and suggested that without strong religious restrictions, young people would become susceptible to crime and drugs.
“This cannot be taken lightly,” he said.
“As conscious people, we must remedy it and that remedy is religion.”
27 July, 2010
UGANDA
Retirement review rejected
A move by the Ugandan President to drop the Public Service retirement age from 60 to 50 to free up jobs for young people has been rejected by the country’s lawmakers.
Minister for Public Service, Henry Kajura said young people lacked the competence to run the country, adding that it would be dangerous to lower the Public Service retirement age.
“We cannot run a country by the youth, the youth have to be guided by older people,” Mr Kajura said.
“This is the reason why we want to establish a Civil Service College to help the youth get competence before they get jobs.”
Member of Parliament, Sammy Lote said that reducing the Public Service retirement age was no guarantee of youth employment and questioned the attitudes to responsibility shown by the younger generation.
He was supported by the Minister for Youth, Jessica Alpuno.
“The issue of lowering the retirement age needs to be studied further,” Ms Alpuno said.
“It is not a guarantee that if we reduce the retirement age, the 400,000 graduates who join the labour market annually will get jobs.”
Youth Member of Parliament, Dennis Obua said the rejection was a conspiracy against young people and a plot to deny young people jobs.
He said that if the Public Service retirement age was reduced to 50, the retirees would then find work in the private sector and in turn create more employment opportunities for the younger generation.
“As youth leaders, we have already made our research: reducing the retirement age would create about 15,000 jobs annually for the youth,” Mr Obua said.According to Mr Obua, young people made up 80 per cent of Uganda’s population.
27 July, 2010
UNITED STATES
Marine ‘highways’ proposed
The United States Department of Transport could turn unused waterways into ‘marine highways’, according to the Administrator of the Maritime Administration, Dave Matsuda.
Mr Matsuda has proposed a system of marine highways where ships would transit goods along designated corridors within the United States.
He said under the proposed system, ships could provide safe, environmentally friendly and reasonably quick freight transit among a network of well-situated ports.
He said that the rest of the world already utilised inland waterways for freight transport and that the Unites States was simply catching up.
Mr Matsuda said marine highways, also known as ‘short sea shipping’, made more sense than trucking freight by land, which he said could have a negative impact on communities.
With roadways in major cities already crammed with freight traffic and the demand for freight ever increasing, Mr Matsuda said putting freight on the water could be the most sensible solution for companies that needed to move goods from here to there.
“It’s a tax on commuters,” he said, “and it adds to the congestion, beats up the bridges and raises the cost of maintaining infrastructure.
“It’s not just getting the trucks off the road, but also putting people to work in some of these areas that are really devastated.”
Researcher at the Environmental Defense Fund, Carrie Denning said moving freight by ship also had a lower environmental impact.
Ms Denning said that ships used less fuel than comparable truck journeys and those fuel savings translated into fewer emissions in population centres.
“One way to reduce pollution emissions in some regions will be to substitute multiple truck trips with single barge trips via coastal shipping routes that meet robust environmental performance standards,” Ms Denning said.
Mr Matsuda said a political climate focused on creating jobs and helping the environment would also support the cause.
“Where there are corridors, the Federal Government will help focus attention and investments to get those services up and running,” he said.
27 July, 2010
UNITED STATES
Teachers fail performance test
The Washington District of Columbia (DC) public school system has terminated of 241 teaching positions and 61 support positions.
Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee said that 226 employees would be let go because of poor performance under a new education assessment system.
She said she thought the cleanup was long overdue.
“Every child in a District of Columbia public school has a right to a highly effective teacher - in every classroom of every school, of every neighbourhood or every ward, in this city,” Ms Rhee said.
She said children have been done a disservice by inadequate teachers.
“I’m not willing to put my kids in those classrooms, and I don’t think any parents anywhere in this city should be forced to make that decision,” Ms Rhee said.
In response to the sackings, the Washington Teachers’ Union (WTU) released the results of a membership study showing that most teachers did not think the assessment system was fair. President of the WTU, George Parker called the system “a flawed instrument with many loopholes” and claimed that teachers needed clearer communication on expectations, among other things.
By contract, teachers can be dismissed for low evaluations and their union has no say in which evaluation system the DC public school system chooses to use.
Over 700 employees were notified that if their performance didn’t improve they would be terminated after the school year.
27 July, 2010
FRANCE
Air traffic controllers in France have called a strike in protest against merging the French air traffic system into the wider European system which they say would deprive them of their French civil service status.
The strike led to hundreds of flight cancellations as around a third of air traffic controllers took part.
As well as the loss of civil service status, the French unions believe that the Single European Sky project would cost jobs, as it would mean reducing the 27 separate air traffic systems to nine more efficient hubs.
SOUTH AFRICA
Over a million South African Public Servants could strike on 29 July after wage negotiations with the Government came to a halt.
As well as immigration and passport control officers walking off the job, the strike would see nurses, teachers and police officers refusing to work.
The Ministry for Public Service and Administration said it regretted that the Public Servants Association would not give the Government more time to find a solution.
KENYA
Kenyan Public Servants have been asked to stop political campaigning despite being directed to do so by the Head of Public Service, Francis Muthaura .
The Chairman of the Interim Independent Electoral Commission (IIEC), Issack Hassan asked Mr Muthaura to withdraw his staff from campaigns as the Public Officers Ethics Act prohibited them from participating in politics.
Mr Hassan said allowing the Public Servants to campaign for constitutional change would give the Opposition grounds for contesting the outcome of the results.
IRELAND
After settling a pay deal on public sector pay and reform, the Minister of State for Public Service Transformation, Dara Calleary is now set to face the challenge of actually implementing the changes.
Mr Calleary said he was frustrated at the inequities in the Public Service, and was considering applying private sector approaches to remedy them.
MP Seán Sherlock said the Public Service needed to be cost effective and accountable, and its leaders needed to understand that bonuses were a reward for achievement and not just for turning up on the day.
PORTUGAL
The hiring freeze in the Portuguese Public Service is to continue, but wage cuts have been rules out.
The State Secretary of Public Administration, Gonçalo Castilho dos Santos said the Government was “not working under a scenario” that included wage cuts.He said the hiring freeze and other public spending cuts were authorised in an effort to reduce the budget deficit after Portugal’s financial crisis.
20 July, 2010
UNITED STATES
Phone answering to be outsourced
The Louisiana Department of Revenue in the United States has proposed a plan to outsource its phone answering service after figures showed around 15,000 calls to the Department were going unanswered each month.
Assistant Secretary at the Department, Jarrod Coniglio told the State’s Civil Service Commission the Department was looking at outsourcing the service to a private firm to improve service delivery.
Mr Coniglio said of the 42,000 calls received by the Department’s call reception centre each month just 27,000 were being answered successfully by employees.
“This is about improved service, to have more calls answered than we have now,” Mr Coniglio said.
“It’s an exploration to see if it can be done.”
However, one employee who works at the call reception centre, Kathy Williams, said staff would be able to meet callers’ demands better if they had improved resources and equipment.
“If you send out 40,000 bills to businesses that have not paid taxes in 10 years, what do you think is going to happen if you only have 65 phone lines going into an Agency?” Ms Williams said.
Mr Coniglio said the outsourcing plan was not a bid to save money but to improve services for members of the public.
Member of the Civil Service Commission, John McClure said this was the first case of privatising services the Commission had seen that was not related to cutting costs.
Mr McClure said officials at other Revenue Agencies should consider looking into consolidation with other State Agencies with similar call centre operations.
He said the proposal by Louisiana’s Department of Revenue was unique due to its focus on public service rather than on cutting staff and funding.
“I have to wrap my head around this one,” Mr McClure said.
He said any proposals from the private sector to run the call centre would have to be approved by the Commission prior to implementation.
20 July, 2010
MALAYSIA
Merit to decide PS scholarships
Changes to Public Service Department scholarships in Malaysia mean students will now be awarded scholarships based on their academic scores, not their race.
Political leaders embraced the decision made by Prime Minister of Malaysia, Najib Tun Razak.
President of the Malaysian Chinese Association, Dr Chua Soi Lek said the change would stop the brain drain from the country and was a positive step towards creating a high-income economy.
“We want equal access to educational opportunities, especially at tertiary level,” Dr Chua said.
“Without it, once they [the students] go overseas to study, they don’t come back.”
President of the Malaysian Indian Congress (MIC), Samy Vellu Sangalimuthu said the changes meant more students would have the opportunity to pursue a tertiary education.
“We hope more students can get scholarships in future,” Mr Samy Vellu said.
“The MIC has been requesting more scholarships for Indian students and we are happy that the Government has listened to us.”
The Indigenous Dayak community remains sceptical of the policy.
Editor of political blog DayakBaru.com, Dr John Brian Anthony said the Malaysian Government focused on the overall number of minority Malaysians receiving scholarships and continued to award only a small percentage to the non-Muslim Indigenous communities.
Dr Anthony said there were far fewer Dayak in the Public Service now than when the Dayak people first joined Malaysia in 1963.
He blamed the lack of Dayak people in Government Departments and Agencies on the shortage of qualified Dayak and impediments to further education.
“The Dayak [have] been denied scholarship and not given financial support to further their studies,” Dr Anthony said.
“If there [are] 100 vacancies, 95 will go to Muslim and Malays and the remaining 5 will be distributed among the various Dayak ethnics.”
Dr Anthony said the Public Service Department scholarships would help unite Malaysia, but only if the Malaysian Government ended its ‘one-race’ policy and accepted the Dayak people in the same way it accepted Muslim minorities.
20 July, 2010
GREECE
Stocktake to determine
size of PS
A stocktake of the Greek Public Service is underway as the Government struggles to put a number on how many people the PS employs.
The size of the Public Service has been estimated at between 700,000 and one million however last October the Government revealed the bureaucracy’s exact size had been unknown for years.
The staff census began last week with the aim of helping the Government balance its deficit-ridden Budget and overcome its debt crisis.
All Public Servants were ordered to join the roll-call by registering on a special Government website, however when around 200,000 employees sought to register, it crashed due to a system overload.
It has since been fixed, with all staff from Local Council employees, ministry advisors, justice personnel, police officers, firemen and priests whose salaries are paid by the State, urged to register.
In a Circular, the Ministry of Interior, Decentralisation and Electronic Governance (MIDEG) said the inventory of Public Servants would strengthen the role of officials and allow them to use their skills to manage staff and public administration better.
It said as part of the plan to improve public administration, MIDEG said a single authority payment system would be introduced at the Ministry of Finance to streamline the payroll system, which currently suffered from wide variations between States.
The Circular said an integrated human resource management mechanism for the entire Public Service would be introduced gradually over time.
It said the census was mandatory and would run until 23 July.
20 July, 2010
NIGERIA
PS corruption dismissed
as incompetence
Nigeria’s top Public Servant has defended the public sector against claims of corruption, saying the majority of “wrongdoings” in the PS could be attributed to incompetence.
Head of Service of the Federation, Steve Orosanye said labelling the Public Service as corrupt was wrong and that developing human capital needed to be given higher priority to help reduce employee mistakes.
Mr Orosanye called on the Government to put substantial funding towards a structured training program to guarantee Public Servants were trained initially and then retrained as necessary.
However, an editorial in the Nigerian Tribune warned against downplaying the magnitude of corruption in the PS and the need to take action against it.
“The reality of the Civil Service today is that it is still largely a place where corruption and other forms of villainy thrive,” the Nigerian Tribune said.
“This is not a conclusion derived from the poor state of service delivery in the country, which speaks eloquently, but based on recent revelations concerning the service.”
According to the online paper, a number of politicians were facing charges of corrupt enrichment and could not have accessed additional funds without the help of Public Servants.
“Indeed, integrity is a scarce commodity within the Nigerian Public Service and the Civil Service is an integral part of it.”
The Nigerian Tribune called on Mr Orosanye to remain committed to tackling corruption head on, as he pledged to do at the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM) conference in May this year.
“Competent but corrupt civil servants will still fail to deliver efficient and effective service,” the paper said.
20 July, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
Equality push at Intelligence Services
Intelligence Services in the United Kingdom have been criticised for their lack of ethnic diversity.
A report authorised by the Head of the Civil Service, Sir Gus O’Donnell entitled Representation of Black and Minority Ethnic People, found the nation’s anti-terrorism capabilities were being compromised by low numbers of ethnic minority staff with key language skills.
The report, which was leaked to the UK’s Sunday Times, found a culture of racism also existed at the Government Communication Headquarters (GCHQ) which intercepts phone calls and emails between suspected terrorists on behalf of the MI5 and MI6 Intelligence Agencies.
The report was written by Race Advisor to Whitehall, Sharon Ferguson who spent four months interviewing ethnic minority staff at GCHQ in Cheltenham.
It found some black and Asian staff were made to feel unwelcome by recruiters and white colleagues, felt racially discriminated against and often had their loyalty to Britain questioned.
It also discovered an “unprecedented” number of ethnic minority staff employed in junior roles, while all of GCHQ’s 60 senior Public Servants were white and only 1 per cent of management was black or Asian.
Around 2.5 per cent of GCHQ’s 5,500 strong workforce were from an ethnic minority background.
“It is critical to have a diverse staff group who are able to profile and recognise certain behaviour patterns and communications,” the report said.
“There is a very small pool of black and minority ethnic employees within the total workforce... specific concerns have been raised by both management and staff around the language team.”
It also raised concerns over the GCHQ’s record for recruiting from ethnic minority communities around Britain, recommending equality and diversity be embedded into recruitment practices and that the recruitment area be expanded outside of Cheltenham.
Director of Corporate Communications at GCHQ, Chris Marshall said the organisation was not “institutionally racist”, but acknowledged it was “falling short” in meeting diversity targets.
Mr Marshall said the current recruitment freeze and strict nationality and residency requirements had hampered attempts to increase diversity within the organisation.
20 July, 2010
LIBERIA
Salary payments in US dollars to cease
The dual-currency pay system for Liberian Public Servants is to be phased out, starting with those working in the lower ranks.
From the beginning of this financial year, Public Servants in junior positions will be paid only in Liberian dollars instead of in Liberian and US dollars as they had been under the dual-currency pay system.
Director General of the Liberian Civil Service Agency (CSA), Dr. C. William Allen said Public Servants on the lower levels of the pay scale would be cut-off from US dollar payments, which he described as ‘dual compensation’.
Dr Allen said Public Servants in Grades One to Six would only receive pay in Liberian dollars, which would include a certain percentage of their allowances and their gross salaries.
The CSA indicated the salary consolidations of the remaining Public Servants were expected to be implemented next January.
Dr Allen said the changes were included in reforms being made to the payroll system.
He said under the reforms, the pay and grade system would to be reduced from 15 to 10 grades in order to place an emphasis on fairness and equity.
“We will ensure that persons in similar grades get similar compensation and that if there is any differential, it will be based on job performance and/or tenure of service” Dr Allen said.
During a two-day workshop to explain the new pay and grading scheme, participants were told that as the 2010/11 budget was still before the National Legislature, some of the details could be modified subject to the final outcome of the Appropriation Bill.
20 July, 2010
RWANDA
PS reforms include performance reports
Draft laws aimed at streamlining the Public Service in Rwanda have been approved as part of a national plan to overhaul the efficiency and performance of the public sector.
Minister of Public Service and Labour, Anastase Murekezi said the two draft laws were in line with Rwanda’s development plans and had been fine-tuned to meet modern day Public Service laws.
Mr Murekezi said the laws would replace previous legislation determining how the Public Service Commission and Rwanda Public Service functioned.
“We had to reform these laws so that we can be at par with the times we are in,” Mr Murekezi said.
He said the old PS laws needed to be reformed as they were “out of touch” with the country’s constitution and the country’s situation.
Mr Murekezi said the laws would define terms of payment for Public Servants and promotions, demotions and dismissals depending on job performance.
He said the laws stipulated conditions under which Public Servants could be financially motivated which depended on their annual performance reports and the performance contracts they had signed.
Mr Murekezi said Government employees who scored over 80 per cent on their performance report would receive a five per cent bonus in their salary while those between 70 and 80 per cent would receive an extra three per cent.
However, he said anyone who scored below 60 per cent could be fired.
The drafts also provided former Public Servants who were blacklisted or scrapped off the PS list with the opportunity to be reappointed provided they could convince authorities they had changed and were ready to start again.
Mr Murekezi said the laws still needed to be approved by Parliament before they came into force.
20 July, 2010
MOZAMBIQUE
PS called on to
improve services
Public Servants in Mozambique are being encouraged to become more “active” to improve the quality of services delivered to the public.
Minister for the Public Service, Vitoria Diogo said qualified and motivated Human Resources staff were needed to ensure the challenges facing the country were successfully met.
Ms Diogo made the comments in a speech that addressed achieving a Public Service based on “meritocracy, integrity and good service.”
“We have made many achievements during the last five year period, translated into various instruments and measures that led to a general improvement in the performance of our Public Service at all levels,” Ms Diogo said.
She said the challenge was now to ensure the instruments were correctly implemented and to manage and monitor the Public Service properly.
During her speech Ms Diogo gave her Ministry’s activities during the past five years a positive review, saying significant improvements had been achieved by the PS.
However, she said a lack of self-esteem in employees was an issue for the Public Service Ministry.
She said it needed to ensure self-esteem was effectively embedded among State employees to create a more active Public Service and to win the confidence of citizens that their services were being properly provided.
During her speech, Ms Diogo also officially launched the Public Service Ministry internet portal where members of the public could obtain information on the PS and its functions.
20 July, 2010
UNITED STATES
New laws tighten
financial sector
New laws have been approved in the United States to tighten regulations across the financial industry.
US President, Barack Obama said the legislation was designed to establish new consumer protections, give regulators greater power to dismantle troubled firms and limit a range of risky trading activities.
Mr Obama said under the reforms, which were originally proposed in June 2009, mortgage brokers, student lenders and other financial firms would be subject to a new consumer-protection authority.
He assured businesses they would not be adversely affected by the new regulations.
“Unless your business model depends on cutting corners or bilking your customers, you have nothing to fear from this reform,” Mr Obama said.
The President said a Council of Regulators would monitor overall risks to the financial system in an effort to prevent a repeat of the 2007-2009 financial crisis.
Mr Obama said the limits on trading activities could impact the profitability of banks and many large banks would have to set aside more capital to help them ride out tough times.
The second-largest US bank, JPMorgan Chase & Co is the largest derivatives dealer in the US.
Chief Executive of JPMorgan, Jamie Dimon said the bill would not compromise its business model, but the restrictions might hurt its profit-margin.
“We’ll have some effect on revenues and margins and volumes,” Mr Dimon said.
Marketing Strategist at Federated Investors in Pittsburgh, Linda Duessel said even after the legislation was signed into law, financial firms would face years of uncertainty as regulators put the measures into effect.
“The whole sector will be years trying to react to the solidifying of whatever the rules are,” Ms Duessel said.
Secretary of Treasury, Timothy Geithner said the Government would move as quickly as possible to provide clarity and certainty about the new rules.
“This is the beginning, not the end, of the process of financial reform,” Mr Geithner said.
According to the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the bill will generate 533 new regulations, 60 studies and 94 reports.
20 July, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
The UK Public Sector’s pension bill is to be examined in an attempt to cut costs but at a consultant’s fee of £4,000 (A$7,023) a month.
Former Cabinet Minister for Labour, Lord Hutton will earn the pay - plus travel and subsistence expenses - for working a minimum of three days per week.
At the current rate of spending, the UK Government will be spending over £10 billion (A$17.5 billion) a year on the gap between pension contributions and the unfunded pension payments they are required to support.
NETHERLANDS
The Dutch Public Service pension fund ABP has announced a temporary increase to workers’ monthly premiums of an average of €8 (A$12) from 1 July.
ABP increased its pension premiums by around one percentage point to help cover its failure to meet the asset coverage ratio it had agreed on with the Dutch Central Bank.
Over the first six months of 2010, ABP’s coverage ratio fell to 95 per cent, meaning the fund only had enough assets to cover 95 per cent of its pension obligations, despite the bank demanding a coverage ratio of 105 per cent.
MALAYSIA
Rural families in Malaysia have been warned against limiting their children to jobs in the Public Service as there were only limited vacancies.
Member for Parliament, William Nyallau Badak said parents living in rural areas tended to encourage their children, especially university graduates, to work with the Government.
However Mr Nyallau said this placed unnecessary pressure on the children and limited their career options, adding there was no shame in working in the private sector.
SOUTH AFRICA
The Public Service is to team up with the Trade Unions in an attempt to improve service delivery in South Africa.
The Department of Public Service and Administration is to work with the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) to target union members working in the Departments of Health, Education and Home Affairs.
General Secretary of COSATU, Zwelinzima Vavi said unions would continue to protect workers’ rights but that if workers did not deliver proper services, it would be other COSATU members who would suffer.
RUSSIA
An electronic Public Service system is on the planning board for Russia to help the Government fight corruption and red tape among regional officials.
President, Dmitry Medvedev said the country was in a good position to receive virtual Government services as 32.3 per cent of the total population was already online.
As part of the online services available to the public, Mr Medvedev said a State email system would be up and running by the end of 2010 to allow Russians to apply for and receive
13 July, 2010
CANADA
PS recruiting from
Second Life
The Canadian Public Service Commission is going virtual in a bid to recruit more people to join the Public Service.
The Commission has announced plans to open a job fair in Second Life, an online universe that sees around 830,000 people wander through hundreds of virtual communities each month.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) said the island community it would open in Second Life would have information booths, presentations on jobs and provide Second Life users with the chance to interact live with Public Servants.
Director of Project Planning and Innovation at the PSC, Marvin Bedward said while the Commission was also carrying out recruitment measures in the real world, its new endeavour aimed to harness an extra dimension and a new pool of candidates.
Mr Bedward said visitors’ avatars would be able to try-out different positions in the Public Service, such as a Canada Border Services agent doing a risk assessment.
He said the Public Servants on the site would be given their own avatars - online personas complete with wardrobe and accessories.
“We have quite a range of avatars,” Mr Bedward said.
“Tall, short and basically representing the ethnic composition of the country.”
He said the initiative would be introduced in September for a 12-week pilot.
“One of the nice things about Second Life is you can be a Canadian living in France or Italy or in Hong Kong and come to the career fair,” Mr Bedward said.
“Yes, we’re not always sure whether the person is a serious individual but even at regular career fairs you’re not sure either.”
He said a similar career fair was set up by the Ontario Government in 2008 and saw over 8,000 people from around the world stop by their island in the first year.
Spokesperson for the Ontario Government’s Ministry of Government Services, Michael Patton said the project was pioneering, but could not say whether any one was hired as a result.
Canada Post bought virtual real estate in Second Life in 2007 and opened up a post office so Canadian users could ship products bought in virtual stores.
However the post office closed in February this year after limited success.
Second Life was created by Linden Lab in 2003 and allows people to create avatars that own and build the digital infrastructure, including homes, stores, fantasy universes and more.
13 July, 2010
NIGERIA
Ban on TV at work
The Ondo State Government in Nigeria has banned Public Servants from watching television at work.
Head of the Civil Service, Ajose Kudehinbu said the ban was aimed at enhancing staff and departmental productivity.
Mr Kudehinbu said the Government would not change its mind and reverse the ban despite calls to do so.
“One of the issues that had to be addressed in our reform agenda for the Public Service has been television viewing in the offices,” Mr Kudehinbu said.
“In order to enhance productivity and make workers face their jobs for which they were hired, television sets have to be removed from different offices.”
He said the directive that included instructions on the ban did not apply to political office holders, Permanent Secretaries or Department Heads.
Mr Kudehinbu said the television sets removed from offices would be sold to junior staff at reasonable prices.
While making the comments on the television ban, Mr Kudehinbu also warned workers at the Ondo State Oil Producing Area Development Commission not to resist being transferred to the mainstream Public Service.
He said “drastic” action would be taken against anyone who failed to report at their new post.
“I was also there and I was moved,” Mr Kudehinbu said.
“I did not say I want to die. Those who have no offices should move.
“The workers there are employed by the Government so if the Government decides that any of its employees should move there is nothing strange about that,” he said.
13 July, 2010
HONG KONG
Report finds corruption increasing
Inadequacies in official guidelines and poor supervision of Government funding schemes have been uncovered during a number of investigations by Hong Kong’s Independent Commission Against Corruption.
In its 2009 Annual Report, the ICAC said graft within the Government was increasing despite the majority of the Public Service remaining clean.
According to ICAC, while there were no signs of a return to syndicated corruption, there had been an 11 per cent rise in the number of corruption reports against Government Departments, from 960 in 2008 to 1,061 in 2009.
It said topping the list was the Food and Environmental Hygiene Department, with complaints up 23 per cent to 144 reports, followed by the Police, up 13 per cent to 302.
Corruption reports against the Hospital Authority fell from 45 to 35, while those against the District Councils rose from 25 to 32.
Increases were also recorded for the Hong Kong Jockey Club (from 14 to 19), the Vocational Training Council (eight to 11), and the University of Hong Kong (eight to 10).
The ICAC said some key areas of concern in the Public Service included abuse of office, improprieties in the procurement of goods and services, supervisory oversight, obtaining unauthorised loans and indebtedness.
In its report, the ICAC said it received 3,450 complaints in 2009, up 2 per cent from 2008.
It prosecuted 342 people, including five police officers and 16 Public Servants.
13 July, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
Reform plans announced for PS
The British Prime Minister has announced a new model of Public Service reform for the United Kingdom to give members of the public greater control of public services.
The Prime Minister, David Cameron said under the reforms, every Government Department would publish ‘structural reform plans’ to set out the milestones and dates by which the Public Service must achieve key goals.
Mr Cameron said he would do away with top-down bureaucratic targets and instead count on choice, competition and public accountability as the best way to improve the delivery of public services.
Speaking to around 450 Public Servants at a conference in London, Mr Cameron said he wanted to “replace the old system of bureaucratic accountability” with a new system of democratic accountability “to the people, not the Government machine.”
“We want to turn Government on its head, taking power away from Whitehall and putting it into the hands of people and communities,” he said.
“We want to give people the power to improve our country and public services, through transparency, local democratic control, competition and choice.”
Mr Cameron said the forms of accountability would vary from elected Commissioners for the Police Force to the option of private alternatives for health.
He said the Government’s aims to provide better health services, more choice in schools and stable communities had not “died because money is tight.”
“The real question is: how can we achieve these aims when there is so little money?”
He said it was a “total change” in the way the UK was run.
“From closed systems to open markets. From bureaucracy to democracy. From big Government to big society,” he said.
At the conference, Mr Cameron also paid tribute to the nation’s Public Servants, saying he had “huge respect and admiration” for “talented and committed” Public Servants.
“So much of what we’ve managed to do in getting this new Government off the ground is a tribute to your expertise,” he said.
“You are the envy of the world and I want you to stay that way.”
13 July, 2010
SOUTH KOREA
Corruptions found in
Ethics Office
The Office of the Prime Minister in South Korea has released the findings of a corruption investigation it undertook into its Public Ethics Office.
The PEO was accused of allegedly conducting an illegal investigation into a South Korean civilian.
The Office of the Prime Minister found four staff members had violated duty regulations under the National Civil Service Law and had abused of their authority and been involved in extortion, coercion and interfering with business.
Deputy Secretary-General of the Prime Minister’s Office, Cho Won-dong, said a five-person team had conducted the investigation into the Public Ethics Officer, the Head of the Inspection Team and two investigators.
Mr Cho said his office would ask prosecutors to further investigate the four individuals involved.
He said the Office of the Prime Minister had decided to refer three of the four staff members, with the exception of a former police officer who did not participate in the investigation of the civilian, to a disciplinary committee.
Mr Cho said the three staff had also been stripped of their positions.
He said the investigation found the Public Ethics Office had launched an investigation into a non-Government employee after receiving a tip in September 2008 that a Public Servant was slandering the South Korean President.
Mr Cho said when the tip came in, it was not properly determined whether the non-Government employee was eligible to be investigated, and the investigation was a “clear violation of duty regulations.”
He said the Public Ethics Office’s investigation had been criticised as “woefully insufficient” to address such serious allegations and indicated the absence of a will to uncover the nature and background of the matter.
13 July, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
New plan to cap redundancy pay
Legislation to cap Public Servants’ redundancy pay in the United Kingdom has been announced by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude.
Mr Maude said the decision to draft legislation on the issue had been made “with reluctance” after talks with unions to avoid strike action over the changes had failed.
Mr Maude said the Bill would limit the cost of future redundancy payments to 12 months’ pay, cap payments for voluntary exits to 15 months’ salary and amend a 1972 law that dictated changes in conditions could only be implemented with union approval.
Under the current scheme there is a maximum payout of three years’ salary however some long-standing employees are eligible for a package worth over six years’ pay.
Mr Maude said the Bill and its amendments to the 1972 law had become necessary after the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) contested and won a High Court action against the previous Government’s reforms.
The PCS won their case by arguing that under the 1972 Act the changes could not be imposed without their consent.
“We have had to reluctantly start this process,” Mr Maude said.
“I’ve already been impressed by the way that, in just a few weeks, Civil Servants have come up with tens of thousands of ideas for making savings and shown a real willingness to do things differently.
“Had the PCS shown the same willingness to negotiate as the other five Civil Service unions then today’s action might not have been necessary.”
Mr Maude said accrued pension rights would not be affected by the new legislation.
He said the Government wanted to negotiate with all unions involved to agree on a new scheme “appropriate to the times.”
“What is on offer now is simply untenable and completely out of kilter with what is on offer in the wider public sector and the private sector.”
Public Service unions have threatened to go on strike after Mr Maude announced the legislation and indicated he would not negotiate on the compulsory redundancy terms.
The Minister invited unions to negotiate a new scheme with improved terms for voluntary redundancies in a bid to avoid sacking people and suggested he would negotiate a deal that would protect the lowest paid.
Leader of the PCS, Mark Serwotka said there would “inevitably be industrial action” if jobs were cut, pensions were frozen and contractual terms were “ripped up.”
13 July, 2010
UNITED STATES
Post Office counters
mail drop
The United States Postal Service has proposed that the cost of stamps be increased by 2 cents and its delivery service be cut from six to five-days a week, in a bid to stay viable.
The moves were aimed at helping make up for a decrease in mail volume and the USPS’s mounting deficit.
The Postal Service said the proposed increase would come into effect from January 2011 if approved by the Postal Regulatory Commission, an Agency independent of the Service.
Under the changes, postcards would cost 30 cents, up from 28 cents and first-class stamps would cost 46 cents, up from 44 cents. The price of mailing packages could also go up.
The changes are in emergency requests from the Postal Service, which normally cannot raise prices more than the rate of inflation, which was 0.9 per cent in May.
Postal officials also want to end mail deliveries and pickups on Saturdays, claiming a five-day delivery service would still provide an acceptable service and would reduce operational costs.
The US Post Office’s Forever Stamp creation – stamps that can be used ‘forever’ regardless of price increases – will also feature a new edition in October, based on the current 44 cent price.
The Postal Service estimated the proposed changes would add less than 13 cents a month to the average household budget in the United States.
The Postal Service has been plagued with problems caused by the dramatic rise of the internet over paper mail; the global financial crisis; pension overpayments; and the addition of around 1.2 million delivery stops each year due to population increases but a decrease in mail volume.
The US Postal Service receives no tax subsidies.
13 July, 2010
SOUTH AFRICA
Bid to avoid PS strike
The Department of Public Service and Administration in South Africa has laid out its plans for averting a proposed strike by Public Servant union members this week.
The Department said the strike was expected to be launched following the end of the FIFA World Cup, when schools reopened after their World Cup break.
Deputy Director-General for Labour Relations at DPSA, Alex Mahapa said if the strike went ahead, most schools would be affected because around 243,000 teachers who were members of the South African Democratic Teachers Union (Sadtu) were expected to participate.
Mr Mahapa said the Department was arranging a meeting with the 14 affiliated unions to discuss a way forward and to avoid the strike.
“I cannot divulge the information now but we do have something to discuss with the unions to try to avert the strike,” he said.
Mr Mahapa said the unions were demanding an 8.5 per cent wage increase, an increase in medical subsidies and a 1,000 rand (A$150) housing allowance per month.
He said the Government was offering a 6.5 per cent salary increase and a housing allowance of R620 (A$93).
Spokesperson for Sadtu, Nomusa Cembi said the unions were seeking a mandate from their members on the possibility of the strike.
13 July, 2010
UNITED STATES
Teachers caught up in budget cuts
School principals in New York City are being forced to cut down on the number of permanent teaching positions they can fund after their schools received an average four per cent budget cut.
Despite the cuts, the number of teachers receiving full salaries and benefits is expected to rise, even though they have lost their permanent classroom assignments.
According to The Wall Street Journal, teachers who lose their positions will be paid to work through the Department of Education’s (DOE’s) budget rather than their school’s, saving money for schools struggling to deal with the funding cutbacks.
The Wall Street Journal said the DOE spent $100 million on non-permanent teachers this school year.
Head of the DOE, Joel Klein, said the teachers without a permanent classroom were part of the Absent Teacher Reserve pool, or ATR, and were assigned to schools across the city to perform a variety of jobs such as relief teaching and administrative work.
Mr Klein said he would like to limit how long DOE paid teachers who couldn’t find permanent jobs, as other cities had managed to do, but had been unable to reach an agreement with the United Federation of Teachers (UFT).
“Some people prefer not to work, let’s not kid ourselves,” Mr Klein said.
However a spokesperson for the UFT said the majority of ATR teachers were working in schools every day, many as long-term substitutes.
ATRs are considered as “excessed”, meaning their schools were closed or they lost their permanent assignments when enrolments fell or budgets were trimmed.
They are not forced to look for permanent assignments.
Mr Klein said while many teachers who lost their jobs in the system quickly found new ones, some ended up in the ATR pool for years.
13 July, 2010
And From the World in Brief...
FIJI
The Permanent Secretary of the Public Service Commission in Fiji, Parmesh Chand has said cutting the size of the Public Service and its operating costs were central to Public Service reforms.
Mr Chand said he wanted the Public Service to be more efficient and yield better results with fewer resources.
He said increased professionalism was also needed in the Service and that a new human resource database would help better manage and control the payroll.
UNITED KINGDOM
The Heads of Local Government in the United Kingdom have been told they must advertise all job vacancies on the Internet and find new ways of sharing back office services.
The Minister for Local Government, Eric Pickles said he wanted Councils to share planning departments, legal services, media departments and Chief Executive staff.
Mr Pickles said advertising positions online would allow the public to scrutinise them and decide if they were ‘real’ jobs, after Councils were criticised for creating ‘non-jobs’ such as cheerleading development officers.
TURKEY
The size of the Public Service in Turkey is growing faster than the country’s population, according to the State Personnel Presidency and the Turkish Statistics Institute.
Both organizations say the number of Public Servants in Turkey has nearly doubled in the past 30 years, outpacing population growth by 30.5 percentage points.
Between 1980 and 2010 Public Service employment grew by 92.7 per cent from 1.17 million to 2.26 million while the population increased by just 62.6 per cent in the same period.
NIGERIA
The 43 permanent Secretaries in the Nigerian Public Service have reappointed or redeployed following consideration by the President.
Head of the Civil Service, Steve Oronsaye said two newly sworn in Permanent Secretaries had received postings, nine had been redeployed and 32 others had retained their current jobs.
CAYMAN ISLANDS
A new Auditor General has been appointed to the Cayman Islands.
Alastair Swarbrick replaced the former Auditor General, Dan Duguay, whose contract was not renewed following public criticism of his open door policy with the media and condemnation by the Premier.
Mr Duguay, who held the position for six years, said he had no regrets about using the media as a forum to educate the public about the reports his office produced.
“The media was my only real tool to disseminate the information,” he said.
Mr Swarbrick is former Assistant Director of Audit at Audit Scotland.
6 July, 2010
NEW ZEALAND
Credit card scrutiny for
PS CEOs
Chief Executives in the Public Service are set to face the same scrutiny as Government Ministers in New Zealand, with the announcement that taxpayer-funded credit card spending and other expenses will be made public.
A spokesman for the State Services Commission said credit card records and other expenses for the Heads of Government Departments for the past two years would be released this month.
The spokesman said after the first release of information, expenses details would be made available quarterly, with the next release to include hospitality and gifts.
“The idea is to bring us in line with overseas jurisdictions, particularly the Canadians and the United Kingdom, where this sort of information is published regularly,” the spokesman said.
Prime Minister, John Key said he supported the move.
“I think it’s in line with the greater transparency we expect now from Cabinet ministers, from Members of Parliament, and I think it should flow on to Chief Executives,” Mr Key said.
Last month several politicians, including former Minister for Building and Construction, Shane Jones, had to explain their misuse of public money following the release of thousands of pages of credit card statements dating back to 2003.
A number of MPs were caught out using the cards for personal expenses such as watching pornographic movies in hotels, buying golf clubs, paying for spa treatments, purchasing a bicycle, a chartered plane trip and buying CDs.
6 July, 2010
GABON
Dress code imposed on PS
A new dress code has been announced for Public Servants in the African country of Gabon in a bid to ban cleavage and inappropriate clothing.
In a Cabinet Edict, the Government said female Public Servants must wear either a full-length dress, traditional African robe, trouser suit or a “plain skirt, high-necked blouse and shoes for town.”
The Edict said men must wear a suit, jacket or traditional African attire such as the bou bou robe. A tie is to remain optional.
The new code was put in place after the Archbishop of Gabon’s capital, Libreville, accused authorities of “turning a blind eye to deviant behaviour such as the wearing of skimpy outfits in the public administration.”
Televised debates on the matter were subsequently held, with participants complaining of a widespread workplace culture that encouraged women to dress for promotion.
Male Public Servants have argued they are not paid well enough to dress well.
The Government said the new dress code was part of a move to reform Gabon’s Public Service, which has faced a history of fraud in which salaries were often paid for non-existent positions.
A census of the Public Service was ordered following elections last year in a bid to cut down on the annual CFA 336 billion (A$755 million) Public Service wage bill.
6 July, 2010
SWAZILAND
Pay change leads to insurance woes
More than 16,000 Public Servants in Swaziland are in danger of losing their insurance policies after the Treasury Department stopped deducting premiums from their pay without warning.
Secretary General of the National Association of Public Servants and Allied Workers Union (NAPSAWU), Vincent Dlamini said he was shocked at the Department’s decision to stop making payments from 1 May.
Mr Dlamini said premiums for Public Servants with policies at the Swaziland Royal Insurance Corporation (SRIC) and other insurance companies such as Old Mutual and Metropolitan had not been paid for the past two months.
He said the Public Servants would be placed in debt due to the arrears.
General Manager of SRIC, Zombodze Magagula said premiums for Public Servants’ life, household and car insurance policies were now two months behind.
Mr Magagula said the company y had not received notice from the Government that a new service provider, ITQNet, had been engaged to deduct the monies on its behalf.
He said SRIC could not use ITQNet’s services because they had not yet had time to check the background of the new service provider.
“Insurance is a sensitive matter and if for some reason the premiums do not get to us, we are the ones who incur the liability,” Mr Magagula said.
He urged all affected Public Servants to visit one of SRIC’s offices to catch up by paying the premiums they owed.
MR Magagula said SRIC was open to talk with its policy holders if they should lapse due to a third payment default occurring.
6 July, 2010
FRANCE
Tell-all author loses PS job
A French Public Servant who authored a book claiming the country’s Public Service had a culture of wastefulness has been banned from holding a PS job for two years.
Using the pen name Zoé Shepard, the 32-year-old said Public Servants competed to see who could take the longest coffee breaks, created ‘sick notes’ to allow them to stay out of the office for weeks at a time or spent all day on Facebook.
Ms Shepard’s book was titled Absolument Dé-bor-dé (Absolutely Snowed Under), and subtitled How to Make 35 hours Last a Month.
In her book, Ms Shepard said she was stretching five-hours worth of work to last her a week.
She saids she had studied at France’s top administrative schools for eight years before gaining employment as a high-grade Public Servant in French Local Government.
She said on arriving at work, her boss gave her a week to write a summary of a document a few pages long, which took her just one-and-a-half hours.
“The first weeks, I was looking for the (hidden) cameras; surely all this was a joke,” she wrote.
“Six months later ... I accepted the sad reality: I am a little cog in an absurd universe.”
Ms Shepard claimed some people never even turned up to work, occupying “fictitious posts” and pocketing the wages.
She said 90 per cent of her book was based on fact, but that she had changed names to protect privacy.
However, the writer was unmasked when her colleagues recognised themselves despite the name changes.
The Regional Council at which she worked said her book put “the entire credibility and honour of the region at stake” and banned her from Public Service employment for two years.
The real ‘Ms Shepard’ said she would appeal against the decision and seek work in the private sector.
“The image you have of the French civil service is not a caricature,” she said.
“There is an enormous amount of waste. It’s scandalous. But when you denounce this waste you lose your job.”
6 July, 2010
SINGAPORE
Next phase of e-Government coming
The Public Service in Singapore has been urged to embrace social networking tools, with the Head of the Civil Service, Peter Ho announcing that the next phase of the e-Government initiative was being developed
Mr Ho said the role of the Public Servant was changing as new technologies opened them to increased scrutiny and to an empowered public that no longer adhered to the notion of “Government knows best.”
“Internet technologies – more specifically, social networking media – have caused a disruptive shift in the balance of knowledge, between the Government and its citizens,” Mr Ho said.
Mr Ho said the shift in knowledge called for a “fundamental re-think” of how Government made and implemented policies.
“The same disruptive technologies that are empowering citizens can also be harnessed by the public sector to deliver efficient and effective services,” he said.
Mr Ho said while many politicians, such as Barack Obama, had started to leverage on social networking tools for campaigning, using them for Government was “less well-developed or understood.”
“But, we cannot avoid using them,” he said, “however, when we do, we will be sailing into uncharted waters.”
Mr Ho said the Ministry of Finance and the Infocomm Development Agency had started developing the masterplan for the next phase of e-Government.
“We are heading for a sea change – a change that will be powered by the social networking technologies that are already pervasive today,” he said.
“Singapore’s next e-Government masterplan will facilitate and enable this major shift from a “Gov-to-You” mindset to a “Gov-With-You” mindset – to fuel innovation and to encourage co-creation.”
Mr Ho said the new masterplan aimed to achieve a collaborative Government that connects with its citizens.
He said the masterplan would focus on three main areas.
Mr Ho said the Public Service would work with the private sector to increase ‘co-creation’; the Government would connect with citizens to receive community input on public policies; and the Public Service would undergo a whole-of-Government transformation including the use of new technologies and a national broadband network to facilitate shared systems and services.
6 July, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
Ex-PM wants to beat
PS ‘inertia’
Former British Prime Minister, Tony Blair has urged members of the current Government to enter off-the-record discussions with former Ministers to improve the Government’s relationship with the Public Service.
In a speech at the Institute for Government, Mr Blair said the current Government needed to overcome Public Service inertia and challenge policy failures.
Reflecting on his Government’s relationship with the Public Service, Mr Blair urged the present Government to work more with the private sector.
“We need a far greater interaction I think between the public and private sector,” he said.
“If you are trying to get something done and you are trying to deliver a project, project management is a private sector skill.
“I think a lot of our best public servants would benefit enormously by spending some years outside and then coming back in.”
Mr Blair said the Public Service too often believed in managing problems instead of tackling them systematically and that Departments needed to be smaller and more strategic.
“Departments then need likewise to orient themselves around project management, delivery and ensuring that they are smaller probably, certainly strategic and geared to very specific priorities that they then have the skill set to be able to deliver,” Mr Blair said.
“If you are not careful and your Departments are not focused around getting things done, they get themselves into a mindset that is essentially just about managing a system that is unchanged.”
The former PM also said systemic change was essential and should begin with analysis based on interaction with front line staff.
6 July, 2010
UNITED STATES
More jobs for veterans
in PS
A new program has been launched in Alabama in the United States to promote the recruitment, employment and retention of war veterans in Federal employment.
The Veterans Employment Transition Initiative – Employment and Life Skills program was unveiled in Huntsville and aims to use opportunities in the local Federal sector and a network of local community and military-related organisations to find work for veterans.
The initiative is designed to transform the Federal Government into the model employer of America’s veterans and was developed by the Army’s Human Resources Policy Directorate.
Brigadier General Jeffrey Horne said Huntsville was the first regional pilot site for the program and would be the Army’s leader in the transition program.
“This program has two goals,” General Horne said.
“We have to get more disabled veterans hired into the Department of the Army. And we have to get more veterans hired into United States civil service.
“We will be working with special programs within the community to make this happen.”
He said the network of community and military-related organisations was being led by the local Chamber of Commerce.
General Horn said the organisations were crucial to the success of the initiative, which was using the slogan “Partnerships Yield Employment.”
“As the pilot site, Huntsville will share its best practices with us, and identify challenges and what we need to do to move forward,” he said.
General Horne said the initiative aimed to fill the ranks of federal employees with soldiers transitioning out of uniform; assist with the hiring process for veterans seeking employment within the Public Service; identify employment opportunities within Agencies; and help veterans with the application process.
He said the program would track veterans’ life skills for a two year period after they left the Army and create an infrastructure within Federal Agencies to promote their continued skills development and employment success.
“This isn’t about putting unqualified veterans into jobs that would be better filled by best qualified employees,” General Horne said.
“It’s about working to get veterans qualified for Federal employment and then working to get them into Federal employment.
He said veterans could be paid at the rate of $22,000 a year while being retrained for work in the Public Service.
6 July, 2010
MALAYSIA
PS reminded good it is
The out-going Director-General of the Public Service Department in Malaysia has told his successor the size of the Public Service should be viewed with an “open mind.”
Brushing aside perceptions that the public sector should be downsized, Tan Sri Ismail Adam said it should not necessarily be limited to 250,000 employees per ministry.
Mr Adam said deciding on and obtaining a suitably sized Public Service could be done by changing the training system, using new technologies and adopting a staff rotation system.
He said the 1.2 million civil servants accounted for about 10 per cent of the country’s total workforce.
In a media appearance, Mr Adam urged Public Servants to set all targets in line with the Public Service Transformation scheme aimed at created a more developed nation.
He said Public Servants should not become complacent with their performance even though it was considered to be good.
He said they must also accept that times had changed and promotion was based on merit rather than seniority.
In some of his final comments as Director-General, Mr Adam said Public Servants needed three qualities to move forward.
“Firstly, you must be good at everything. Secondly, you need to know that you are good, and thirdly, a person who knows they are good should know what needs to be done.”
He has been replaced by the Secretary-General of the Ministry for Defence, Datuk Seri Abu Bakar Abdullah.
6 July, 2010
NEW ZEALAND
Hot debate on PS performance
New Zealand’s State Services Commissioner, Iain Rennie has welcomed public debate about the performance of Agencies and Departments.
Mr Rennie said the recent discussions on how Government Agencies were performing formed an “integral part” of an open and transparent public management system.
Adding his voice to the debate, Mr Rennie said he believed all Agencies had room to significantly improve their performance.
“It is important that they do so given rising public expectations of public services and the sustained fiscal constraints Agencies face,” he said.
“The State Services Commission together with the other central agencies, the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and the Treasury, is required to work with Agencies to identify areas for improvement and to ensure that improvement occurs, and we are collectively putting more effort into this area.”
Mr Rennie said the Commission was rolling out a “robust methodology” and framework for assessing Agency performance in a bid to drive improved performance and to inform public debate.
“The Performance Improvement Framework was piloted late last year and the first group of Agencies is now going through the independent assessment process,” he said.
“The Performance Improvement Framework will ensure Agencies, Ministers and the public will have a more systematic understanding of performance across the sector.
Mr Rennie said the results of the first round of Performance Improvement Framework assessments and the Agency action plans to drive improved performance would be published shortly.
“The end result should be that the public receive more effective and efficient services for their taxpayer dollars,” he said.
6 July, 2010
And From the World in Brief...
INDONESIAContract teachers in Indonesia have staged a protest and thrown plants, garbage and tomatoes at the City Hall in Jakarta, demanding they be promoted to public servants.
Other contract teachers across the country have already been promoted according to a Government decree that contract workers should be promoted to public servants by 2009.
Around 6,000 contract teachers in the city of Jakarta are yet to be promoted.
NAMIBIA
The new Namibian Institute of Public Administration Management is expected to enrol its first group of public servants by August.
Secretary to Cabinet, Frans Kapofi said the school was “almost ready” to receive its first students.
The school is being established to provide continuous training for Public Servants, operational research capabilities and consultancy workshops to create a more unified Public Service.
SCOTLAND
The fallout from the newly announced review of Public Service pensions and the two-year PS wage freeze is expected to impact on Scotland more than the rest of the United Kingdom.
Employee benefits adviser, JLT Benefit Solutions said it believed the eventual fallout from the Emergency Budget would have a “significantly greater proportionate impact on Scottish employees and future pensioners than on their English counterparts.”
The company said one in four Scottish people relied on the PS pension while the proportion was one in five in England.
TANZANIA
The Tanzanian Department of Treasury is scanning all manual documents relating to Public Service pensions as part of a plan to move to digital service delivery for senior citizens.
The exercise is being undertaken partly to ease record accessibility and increase longevity, but also as the result of a Controller and Auditor General report that recommended a more efficient process for managing pensioner data be put in place.
The process started in the 2008-09 financial year and is still ongoing under the Accountant General’s Department (Pension).
UNITED KINGDOM
The Centre for Economic Performance in the United Kingdom has found competition within the National Health Service leads to improved hospital efficiency without any negative impacts on patient outcomes.
A report released by the Centre, Does Hospital Competition Improve Efficiency? An Analysis of the Recent Market-Based Reforms to the English NHS found hospitals located in areas where patients had a great deal of choice improved their efficiency more quickly than hospitals in less competitive markets.