SearchArchives for June 2010
29 June, 2010UNITED KINGDOM
25% cuts greeted as
‘war on PS’
The Government of the United Kingdom has been accused of “declaring war” on the Public Service after the Chancellor of the Exchequer announced a two-year PS pay freeze and ruled PS spending should be cut by £83 billion (A$143bn) by 2014.
General Secretary of Britain’s largest PS union UNISON, Dave Prentis said the financial measures were the most draconian in decades.
“This Budget signals that the battle for Britain’s public services has begun with the Government declaring war,” Mr Prentis said.
“Public sector workers will be shocked and angry that they are the innocent victims of job cuts and pay freezes.”
Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne said the proposed spending cuts would rein in spending by an average of 25 per cent from all Department budgets except the National Health Service and overseas aid.
Mr Osborne said the two-year pay freeze for all public sector employees earning £21,000 (A$36,000) was expected to save £3.3bn (A$5.7bn) a year by April 2015.
He said the Executive Vice-Chair of the Work Foundation, Will Hutton had been asked to draw up plans for fairer pay so top Public Servants were paid no more than 20 times the salaries of those in the lowest pay scales.
Mr Osborne also confirmed measures to reduce the cost of PS pensions would be in place by next year.
“We need to do something about the spiralling costs of Public Sector pensions,” he said.
“The truth is that the country was living beyond its means when the recession came.
“I know there are many dedicated public sector workers who work very hard and did not cause this recession – but they must share the burden as we pay to clean it up.”
The Prime Minister, David Cameron said he would give up his £66,000-a-year (A$114,000) prime ministerial pension from the moment he left office.
“We can’t even look public sector workers in the eye until we’ve sorted out our own pensions and that’s exactly what we’re doing,” Mr Cameron said.
“We either have to have pay restraint like what we’re talking about or we’re going to lose jobs.”
29 June, 2010
IRELAND
Role review for Finance Department
The Department of Finance’s management of the financial crisis is to be reviewed by independent experts, according to the Irish Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan.
Mr Lenihan said the review would “evaluate the systems, structures and processes used by the Department in providing advice to the Minister and the Government.”
He said the review would help ensure that in the future the Department gave the best policy advice, better assessed risks and could manage its own operations efficiently and effectively.
“The review will be informed by a detailed consideration of the Department’s performance in the past 10 years, including its management of the current crisis, with a view to ensuring that the lessons of this period of stress will inform the development of the Department in the future,” Mr Lenihan said.
The Minister said the review would also consider the skills, training and staffing mix required by a modern finance and economics Ministry to allow it to best fulfill its role.
“I know that the Department has good, skilled and capable staff, but I want to be sure they are used to best effect and that the mix of skills is optimised,” he said.
Mr Lenihan said the decision to undertake a review was reached following discussions with senior management staff at the Department.
“The review, which it is intended will be carried out expeditiously, will be undertaken by a small number of individuals who have informed expertise on the role and operation of finance ministries internationally,” he said.
Mr Lenihan said the experts would investigate the Department’s approach to economic risk assessment, policy development, communication, transparency and accountability.
29 June, 2010
UNITED NATIONS
Award winners congratulated
The Secretary-General of the United Nations paid tribute to Public Servants across the world as part of UN Public Service Day on 23 June.
The Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon thanked Public Servants for working on behalf of their towns, cities and countries and called on young citizens everywhere to consider joining the Public Service.
“Public service is not always an easy career choice to make, but it can be immensely rewarding for the opportunity it offers to get involved in addressing the challenges of our time,” Mr Ban said.
“In an era of increasingly complex challenges, from climate change to food insecurity and the financial and economic crisis, the world needs its Public Servants to be more creative and talented than ever.”
He said Public Services around the globe needed to recruit an “ever-increasing tide of ambitious youth” who could use their technological and scientific skills to help defeat poverty, disease, illiteracy and gender inequality.
Mr Ban made the comments at the UN Public Service Award ceremony, where 23 Public Service organisations were honoured for their work towards improving transparency, improving service delivery, fostering participation in policy making and advanced knowledge management in Governement.
The 23 institutions included the Australian Electoral Commission, Australia’s National Blood Authority, the Gold Coast City Council, Seoul’s Women Policy Division, the Government of Gujarat’s Institution Chief Minister’s Office and Japan’s Saga Prefectural Government.
Detail sof all award winners could be found here.
29 June, 2010
ZAMBIA
PS urged to learn
from others
The Vice President of Zambia has used Africa Public Service Day celebrations to urge Public Servants to adopt and adapt innovative management and leadership practices from other countries.
The Vice President, George Kunda said the challenges facing Zambia were undermining the capacity of the Public Service to deliver quality services and effectively steer the country’s development.
Mr Kunda said Permanent Secretaries and other senior Public Servants needed to guide and motivate their staff to embrace innovation and avoid a culture of ‘this is how we have always done it.’
Mr Kunda said high levels of poverty, unemployment, high disease burden, poor work culture, corruption, mismanagement of public resources and a lack of suitably qualified workers were among the developmental challenges affecting the PS.
The Vice President said the Public Service needed strong leadership, total commitment, creativity and innovation.
He said it needed to be efficient, disciplined and productive and work as an administrative machine the nation could be proud of.
Mr Kunda said all senior managers should concentrate on making internal systems more accountable, transparent and efficient to enable staff to deliver quality services.
Resident representative for the United Nations, Macleod Nyirongo said the Public Service was a pillar in all nations as it enshrined values such as cultural diversity, transparency, public accountability and client orientation in its service delivery.
Mr Nyirongo said without an effective civil administration, democracy and prosperity were virtually unattainable.
Africa Public Service Day 2010 was held on 23 June and followed the theme ‘strengthening leadership and management for the improved public service delivery in Africa’.
29 June, 2010
SRI LANKA
Training eases way for
e-Government
Department Heads and senior staff in Sri Lanka are being familiarised with the country’s new e-Government Policy to help improve public services.
Secretary of the Public Management Reforms Ministry, P.B. Abeykoon, said a series of 10 workshops on the new policy were being held across the country.
Mr Abeykoon said knowledge of ICT among top Public Servants would “greatly help” improve public services.
He said the one-day workshops, organised by the Information and Communication Technology Agency of Sri Lanka (ICTA), would be attended by institutional heads and chief innovative officers.
Mr Abeykoon addressed over 100 participants at one of the workshops in the Uva Province, saying it was important that they value and support ICT exposure.
Chief Operating Officer at ICTA, Reshan Dewapura said the workshops aimed to accelerate the implementation of the policy across the country in a uniform manner to help maintain professional standards.
“This prevents unnecessary repetition of labour, waste of time and energy both on the part of the public and Government employees and contributes to serving the people in a more efficient, effective and people-friendly way,” Mr Dewapura said.
Presidential Secretary, Lalith Weeratunga urged all Department Heads to fully implement and familiarise themselves with the e-Government Policy by the end of the year.
29 June, 2010
NIGERIA
PS urged to stay in Service
The State Governor of Lagos in Nigeria has advised Public Servants across the country to abide by the ethics, standards and rules of corporate governance instead of looking for jobs in the private sector.
The Governor, Babatunde Fashola said it was a bad sign for the Public Service if its workers found jobs in the private sector more appealing than their own.
Mr Fashola said the standards of employment into the Public Service needed to be raised and the PS needed to attract the best workers in the country.
He said merit, good ethics and security of tenure were the best way of recruiting good workers and urged the Federal Government to raise its standard of recruitment by promoting competition, providing training, creating security and institutionalising the process of rewards for excellence and sanctions for sloppiness.
“The future of our country lies in the hands of the Public Service,” Mr Fashola said.
“We must from today, therefore, begin the process that ensures that only the best of us, who can think for us, act for us and endure for us, get into the Public Service.”
He said over the past 50 years the Public Service had failed to point Nigeria in the right direction and to deliver quality services to enhance the country.
Mr Fashola blamed the poor service delivery on the trend of recruiting mediocre workers.
“What kind of people, in terms of their quality, education, integrity and ethics have we attracted to the Public Service of our country in the last 50 years?” he said.
“In terms of recruiting personnel into the Public Service, the weak cannot serve the strong; the blind cannot lead the sighted and the uneducated cannot lead the educated.”
Mr Fashola made the comments as the guest speaker of the 2010 Nigeria Civil Service Day.
29 June, 2010
GHANA
Call for PS feedback
Public Servants, the media and members of the public have been encouraged to provide the Government of Ghana with continuous feedback on the quality of the country’s public services.
The Minister of State Responsible for Public Sector Reforms, Alhassan Azong said constant feedback would help the Government resolve PS challenges and create harmony in the sector.
Mr Azong made the call in a statement commemorating Africa Public Service Day which was established in 1994 to showcase best practice and innovation in Public Services across Africa.
Mr Azong said the 2010 celebration in Ghana included an emphasis on analysing feedback on service delivery.
“We need both the private and the public sectors to achieve the better Ghana agenda,” he said.
“To achieve this, a sound virile customer-friendly public sector is a must have platform for the private sector to grow.”
Mr Azong said Pubic Service Day aimed to expose citizens to the mandate, roles, responsibilities and rights of Public Service institutions; promote effective, efficient, transparent and accountable service delivery; forge greater cooperation between PS organisations; and to contribute towards the growth of the economy, through private sector development.
He said Public Service Day also aimed to make the PS more responsive to the needs of the private sector.
In Ghana, the Public Sector Reform Secretariat adopted and celebrated Public Service Day for the first time in 2006.
29 June, 2010
PHILIPPINES
Officials advised on
correct procedure
The Civil Service Commission has advised all incoming officials of the new Philippine Government to observe the rules, laws and regulations of the Public Service when dealing with personnel.
In a Memorandum, Chair of the Commission, Francisco Duque III urged incoming elected and appointed officials “to respect the constitutional right to security of tenure of career service officials and employees with valid appointments.”
Mr Duque said the Philippine Constitution provided security of tenure to State workers and meant they could not be removed from office or suspended without a lawful cause.
He said promotions, demotions, reassignments, transfers, secondments, job rotations and designations were governed by PS laws and regulations.
“While incoming elective and appointive officials are given the free hand to reorganise their respective offices according to the best interest of the service, they should also abide by prevailing laws and policies to ensure that professionalism and meritocracy in the Civil Service is preserved and to avoid demoralisation in the public sector workforce,” Mr Duque said.
The Commission is mandated to promote a responsive, accessible, courteous, and effective Public Service.
In an earlier announcement, the Commission warned incoming officials against appointing their relatives to Government, saying nepotism was “a form of corruption that weakens morale and productivity in the public sector, promotes patronage politics, and breeds public distrust.”
29 June, 2010
AZERBAIJAN
Chairman defends
PS ethics
The Chairman of the Civil Service Commission in Azerbaijan has denied claims the country’s top Public Servants are deliberately hampering the promotion of other staff.
Chairman, Bahram Khalilov said he did not believe PS leaders were harassing other Public Servants or placing “artificial objects” in the way of career progression.
“I disagree, because representatives of public authorities themselves participated in choosing these Public Servants,” Mr Khalilov said.
He said the Commission had not received any information on the matter this year, but that accusations from staff had been lodged previously.
“There are anonymous appeals,” Mr Khalilov said.
“Even when we promise these people to keep anonymous, they do not tell us the facts.”
He said the Commission must control accusations of career hindrance and currently held competitions, examinations and training for staff.
Mr Khalilov said promotions for Public Servants within certain classifications were carried out on a competitive basis.
“We constantly monitor and collect information in public bodies in relation to the ethical behavior of Public Servants,” he said.
“Every six months the Commission collects information in public bodies in relation to the ethical behavior of public servants.
“This information is provided to the State Commission for combating corruption.”
Mr Khalilov said work had commenced on creating a registry of Public Servants to function as a personnel management system to help keep track of staff.
“If we are able to complete work over a registry of civil servants, there will be no problems in this area,” he said.
Head of the Presidential Administration Socio-political Department, Ali Hasanov said Azerbaijan’s Public Service had entered into a phase of transition in 2001 and that since then an army of Azerbaijani professional Public Servants had been formed
“The country implements State policy to improve staff working in the Public Service,” Mr Hasanov said.
“Educating of the young generation, increasing of professionalism of Civil Servants, achieving of a level, meeting the requirements of our society, are the main areas of the implemented policy”, Mr Hasanov said.
He said 23 June was celebrated as a professional holiday for Public Servants after being created as such by the President Ilham Aliyev, in 2006.
29 June, 2010
CAYMAN ISLANDS
The Premier of the Cayman Islands, William McKeeva Bush, has backed away from a proposed 20 per cent cut in salaries for Members of the Legislative Assembly and a 30 per cent cut for himself after Public Servants rejected proposed cuts of five to 15 per cent for their salaries.
Mr Bush said MLAs could not be expected to take such major pay cuts as a way of leading by example if the Public Service would not follow suit.
Leader of the Opposition, Kurt Tibbets called on all members of Parliament to take the pay cuts over the amended cuts proposed by the Premier of 3.2 per cent for MLAs and 10 per cent for the Premier and the Opposition Leader.
GERMANY
The length of compulsory military and public service in Germany has been reduced from nine to six months.
Cutting the public service requirement is expected to save around €180 million a year (A$257m), but to add €75m in costs to other areas as young men in civil service could extend their service voluntarily up to a year.
The government said it expected one-third of those in civil service to serve up to four or five months longer than required. The changes come into effect on 1 December.
IRELAND
The Prime Minister of Ireland, Taoiseach Brian Cowen has called for the pace of reform in the Public Service to be quickened.
Mr Cowen said the Government would appoint a Public Service Board in coming weeks to oversee the reform and transformation program.
He said the membership of the Board would be mainly drawn from outside the Public Service.
UNITED STATES
The City of Long Beach in California is considering merging a number of Government Departments, freezing wages, selling Government property and restructuring pensions in a bid to close a US$18.5 million (A$21.5m) budget deficit.
The City proposed the Civil Service Department be moved into Human Resources and the Water Department and Long Beach Gas and Oil be amalgamated.
It said merging the Water Department and Long Beach Gas and Oil would create one of California’s largest public utilities and could result in layoffs among workers in “duplicative” positions such as accounting, management or customer service.
UGANDA
Public Servants have been assured that a proposal by the President of Uganda to have mandatory retirement from the Public Service at 50 has not been fully endorsed.
The Minister for Public Service, Henry Kajura said he was preparing a paper on the issue and that a conclusive decision had not yet been made.
The proposal is aimed at improving employment opportunities for young people.
22 June, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
Reforms to fix ‘broken’ PS
The United Kingdom’s Public Service has been labelled “broken” by the Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude.
Mr Maude said fundamental reforms in the Public Service were needed to create a “good Government that costs less.”
“There is no time to waste,” Mr Maude said.
“We have put the unglamorous but vital task of running things more efficiently right to the top of the agenda.”
He said the core values of political impartiality and objectivity would remain untouched but that Government procurement processes, IT spending, payroll, consultancy, marketing and advertising needed to be addressed.
“That is the context in which the Chief Secretary to the Treasury and I have set up the Efficiency and Reform Group,” Mr Maude said.
“And while we recognise that implementing these changes won’t always be pain-free, some measures will be no-brainers.
“Who would want to defend a system where the same ream of paper was bought at a price of £6.84 in one department and £14.79 in another? This is utter madness.”
Mr Maude said the Government would work to identify opportunities to drive out wasteful overheads by stopping some projects and renegotiating contracts for others.
“Some things will never have been tried at the centre of Government before, but some of it has been common practice elsewhere for years,” he said.
“While the centre needs to be tightly-controlled and relentless in driving out inefficiency across Whitehall, we also need to set public services free.
“It’s the people actually delivering public services who are best placed to say how they should be run.”
Mr Maude said the Government would encourage mutuals and cooperatives within the public sector to allow freedom to innovate, to cut red tape and to allow people to “become their own boss.”
“Whether you’re a civil servant, a public service worker or running a charity, it’s an attitude we want to encourage,” he said.
22 June, 2010
CANADA
Cash bonuses offered
for savings
A two-year trial of a program offering cash bonuses to Public Servants who find ways to save public money has been proposed in Canada.
President of the Treasury Board, Stockwell Day, said the Employee Innovation Program (EIP) would reward Public Servants who came up with practical ideas that led to savings in the sector.
Mr Day said incentives worth 10 per cent of the savings made in the first year of implementation would be offered, with a cap of $10,000 apiece.
“It’s acknowledging that the people on the front lines are working hard every day on the job - they are the ones who may have the ideas that everybody else is missing,” he said.
The pilot program is expected to commence in eight Government Departments later this year, but will not be trialled in “big-spending” Agencies such as Defence, Public Works or Industry.
“It’s not a matter of cancelling a service and then asking for the cash,” Mr Day said.
“Service still has to be delivered, the goals of the service have to be maintained and the dollar saved.”
President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada union, John Gordon said the approach was “wrong-headed.”
“You’re dangling a bag of money in front of people and saying, ‘OK folks, come up with the ideas and this is yours.’ Yes you’re going to cut corners, but they’re not going to be thinking of the long term effects on programs,” Mr Gordon said.
President of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, Gary Corbett said while Public Servants were in the best position to deliver innovative service delivery solutions, they didn’t necessarily need incentives to do so as they had been doing it throughout their careers.
Mr Corbett said an incentive program would mainly be useful for engaging workers who no longer believed the Government was interested in their contribution.
“As Government professionals, our members are particularly qualified to suggest how to improve processes and eliminate bad practices in the interest of cost savings for taxpayers,” he said.
“In the past the Government preferred to keep a tight rein on my members’ ideas and proposals, to the point where many believed that their employer was simply not interested in introducing any kind of innovation whatsoever.”
Mr Corbett said the new program had the potential to improve the delivery of programs provided is is managed ethically.
“If the results are encouraging, expanding the EIP to all Government Departments and Agencies might have a real impact on public service delivery.”
22 June, 2010
UNITED STATES
Oil spill regulator criticised
The Federal Agency tasked with overseeing the offshore oil and gas industry in the United States has been accused of being “ill-prepared” to do its job due following the BP oil leak in the Gulf of Mexico.
Acting Inspector General for the US Department of Interior, Mary Kendall slammed the Minerals Management Service (MMS), saying it had a shortage of inspectors, a backwards approach to investigating spills and accidents and lacked regulations and adequate training and direction for staff.
Ms Kendall has the task of identifying gaps, weaknesses and opportunities to improve the MMS.
She said the MMS had just 60 inspectors to cover nearly 4,000 offshore facilities in the Gulf of Mexico and they were underpaid when compared to similar jobs in the industry.
She said inspectors received mostly on-the-job training using guidance and instructions developed between 1984 and 1991 and operated “relatively independently, with little direction as to what must be inspected or how.”
She said MMS regulations were “heavily reliant on industry to document and accurately report on operations, production, and royalties” and consisted of just “five brief paragraphs” to guide staff on how to conduct a post-incident investigation.
The Acting-Inspector General said the Agency had relied on public forums held by the US Coast Guard “rather than developing evidence”, an approach she said was “completely backwards.”
Ms Kendall said the oil and gas industry was not without blame, claiming it had instigated a culture of gift giving, lunches and other gratuities for MMS staff.
“Perhaps it is time to impose some ethics requirements on companies doing business with the Government,” she said.
Ms Kendall offered her comments at a hearing of a subcommittee of the House Natural Resources Committee.
Interior Secretary, Ken Salazar announced a reorganisation of the MMS, while the head of the Agency had been replaced with the former Inspector General of the Justice Department, Michael Bromwich.
President of the United States, Barack Obama said Mr Bromwich would implement “far-reaching change” and restore integrity to the relationship between the Government and the oil and gas industry.
“For a decade or more, the cozy relationship between the oil companies and the Federal Agency was allowed to go unchecked,” Mr Obama said.
“That allowed drilling permits to be issued in exchange not for safety plans, but assurances of safety from oil companies. That cannot and will not happen anymore.”
He said Mr Bromwich would oversee the reorganisation of the MMS to eliminate conflicts among the different tasks of the Agency which include establishing safety standards, regulating industry compliance and collecting royalties.
22 June, 2010
RUSSIA
Retirement age dropped
to 60
A new Bill has been introduced into the Duma (Parliament) proposing a new upper age limit for Public Servants of 60.
The Bill, proposed by Russian President Dmitry Medvedev, would lower the retiring age for Public Servants from 65 to 60 as part of the Government’s plan to rejuvenate the PS.
According to Russian newspaper, Kommersant, the Bill aimed to reduce all forms of red tape that currently stifles initiative and at the same time form a new and vibrant public workforce.
Head of the Administrative Reform Project at the Centre for Strategic Studies, Vladimir Yuzhakov said if passed, the Bill would make it much easier to sack ageing and underperforming Public Servants.
Mr Yuzhakov said the Bill would also play its part in realizing Mr Medvedev’s goal of reducing the number of Public Servants by 20 per cent before the end of his time in office.
Member of Parliament for the Communist Party. Vadim Solovyov has opposed the Bill, saying it would see some of the country’s best men and women leave the Public Service.
“At 60, a man is only coming into his prime,” Mr Solovyov said.
“There were many professionals who worked productively at 75.”
Nationalist Liberal Democratic MP, Vladimir Rokhmistrov said he approved of the project, but doubted it would be implemented properly.
“A man can be old at 40, yet can be full of energy at 60” Mr Rokhmistrov said.
22 June, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
Call for more PS bonuses
Government Agencies in the UK have been urged to make greater use of performance-related pay and bonuses.
A report released by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) says increasing the use of performance pay would maximise value for the taxpayer while at the same time drive Public Service reform.
Human Resources expert with CIPD, Charles Cotton said the report highlighted a distinct contrast between the public and private sectors as far as their expectations of how pay should be determined was concerned.
Mr Cotton said one third (36 per cent) of public sector employees believed their pay should be based on their personal performance compared to 60 per cent of their private sector counterparts.
He said over 50 per cent of public sector workers highlighted the cost of living as one of their preferred pay determinants compared to 33 per cent in the private sector.
Mr Cotton said just six per cent of Public Servants saw the performance of their organisation as an appropriate factor in determining their pay compared to 35 per cent of private sector workers.
He said the report also urged more regional flexibility in public sector pay to take into account labour market conditions and the cost of living in different parts of the country.
“The frequent reliance on uniform, union-negotiated pay deals, and length of service as a determinant of individual pay progression, has ensured that there is a disconnect in the minds of many public sector workers between their performance and the pay they receive,” Mr Cotton said.
“We need to move beyond this to an approach in which individual and collective performance and achievement of results becomes a significant determinant of how much taxpayers’ cash public sector workers take home.”
22 June, 2010
ZIMBABWE
Hurry-up for ghost
worker audit
The International Monetary Fund has urged the Government of Zimbabwe to work faster to complete a Public Service audit aimed at eliminating ghost workers from the public payroll.
The IMF said the country needed to keep the Government payroll in check and inflationary pressures down to avoid pushing the country into an inflation spiral.
In a recently released report, the IMF said Zimbabwe’s President, Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai needed to complete the payroll audit and eliminate ‘ghost workers’ - people who were on the payroll but did not work for the Government.
“Against the background of a recent pickup in inflation and rising concerns about competitiveness, wage restraint is needed in both the private and public sectors,” the IMF said.
It said Mr Mugabe and Mr Tsvangirai needed to improve the timeliness and quality of data reporting and improve economic policies to move toward a staff monitored program (SMP), which is the stepping stone of an IMF financial arrangement and debt relief.
The IMF said an SMP would see the Government surrender some of its independence in economic formulation and implementation to the Bretton Woods institution.
The audit began last November following reports of thousands of ghost workers with suggestions there could be as many as 20,000 ghost workers in the Public Service.
22 June, 2010
KENYA
Guidelines to beat corruption
New guidelines to help Agencies investigate allegations of corrupt PS staff behaviour have been released by the Head of Kenya’s Public Service, Francis Muthaura.
Mr Muthaura said the new rules aimed to speed up investigations into any alleged crimes.
He said there were previously no strict administrative guidelines on how to deal with Public Servants implicated in corruption, meaning many cases were left “unchallenged.”
According to the guidelines, Public Servants implicated in corruption scandals are to be immediately banned and their actions will be investigated by a special committee.
In a Circular, Mr Muthaura said where cases were deemed likely to lead to dismissal of suspects, affected officers should be interdicted or suspended.
He said the independent investigating committees would include officers who were senior to those under scrutiny.
“The committee will be required to complete investigations within one month,” Mr Muthaura said.
“It is paramount that the guidelines are strictly followed to ensure that administrative action on cases of corruption by public officers is taken without delay.”
He said the investigators would have to compile a report on the allegation and if further investigations were needed, they would be undertaken by external investigators from a unit of the Kenya Anti-Corruption Commission.
“These second tier investigations should be concluded within two months,” Mr Muthaura said.
The circular, Guidelines on Handling of Cases of Public Officers Who Are Suspected of Involvement in Corrupt Practices, said laws and regulations governing the Public Service would be used when dealing with cases of corruption.
22 June, 2010
NORTHERN IRELAND
Report finds PS now majority female
The Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency has released a new report showing women outnumber men in the Public Service.
The report showed a ‘snapshot’ of the composition of the Northern Ireland Public Service taken in January this year.
It found although 52 per cent of the service was made up of women, they were more likely to work at lower grades than men.
The report showed Catholic workers were being employed in almost equal proportion with Protestants, making up 49 per cent of the Public Service (excluding those who did not admit to any religious affiliation).
However, the report found that the more senior the position, the less likely it was to be held by a female or a Catholic, although the trend was more evident in gender than religion.
According to the report, over the past decade female representation had increased from 48 per cent to 52 per cent overall in the service, but almost trebled in management and senior management roles, rising from 11 per cent to 31 per cent.
It said found that in the same period, Catholic representation had risen and Protestant representation fallen by seven percentage points.
The report found the proportion of staff from minority ethnic groups was 0.2 per cent and the proportion of staff who had declared a disability was 5 per cent.
The report also included trend data, analysis of recruitment competitions and resignation and retirement rates.
22 June, 2010
FIJI
Plan for more outsourcing
Outsourcing is to be increased in the Fijian Public Service as part of the Prime Minister’s Public Service reform agenda.
Prime Minister, Commodore Frank Bainimarama said outsourcing some functions of the PS would lead to significant improvements in the standard of service delivery over the next four years.
Commodore Bainimarama said it was essential to have clear policy guidelines in place for outsourcing. He said the policy would help reduce expenditure, make more resources available for capital expenditure and encourage private sector growth.
The Prime Minister’s announcement came as the Permanent Secretary of the Public Service Commission, Parmesh Chand described the Fijian Public Service as too big.
Mr Chand said as of 31 March 2010 there were 26,925 Public Servants in Fiji.
He said one of the main problems in the PS was its inability to meet the expectations of the public due to a lack of established service standards, ineffective work systems, poor leadership, lack of transparency and low productivity.
Mr Chand said the Government planned to cut the public sector back to the right size by restructuring, modernising human resource management and remuneration, rebuilding the capacity of the Public Service and introducing e-governance.
“At the moment, we are trying to address the issues, compulsory training of civil servants is continuing on all levels as well as the resizing of the sector,” he said.
22 June, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
A survey of 172 Senior Public Servants has found they were wined and dined by some of the United Kingdom’s biggest banks, law firms and accountancy firms on 3,151 separate occasions over the past three years.
The survey, conducted by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism at City University, found the Permanent Secretary for Tax at HM Revenue and Customs topped the list, being treated to corporate hospitality 107 times, an average of 3 times a month.
The hospitality extended to the Public Servants including trips to the tennis at Wimbledon, football matches at Chelsea and Manchester United, opera performances and fashion shows.
NEPAL
Recently promoted Public Servants in Nepal have hit the streets to protest against the Government’s failure to allow them to exercise the increased powers associated with their promotions.
A spokesperson for the 16,000 automatically promoted staff said receiving an increased salary was not enough and staff wanted to exercise their increased authority as well.
However a Government official said the promotions only included a salary increase and not any additional authority.
KENYA
The Head of the Civil Service in Kenya, Francis Muthaura has been urged to take action against three employees who allegedly pocketed around 3.5 million Kenyan Shillings (A$50,000) through fraud.
According to the Taita Taveta Rights Forum, official documents claimed 80 youths were employed to plant trees for 15 days but that just 41 youths worked for four days.
The group said the three Public Servants had forged the signatures of the additional youths and collected the payments themselves, but were still managing the tree-planting program despite their behaviour.
Mr Muthaura recently released guidelines on how to deal with allegations of corruption.
WALES
A survey conducted by the BBC has found many public service providers in Wales have already started earmarking possible areas for savings in the lead up to an emergency Budget due to be brought down this week.
The BBC said social care and transport were expected to be the biggest losers of the budget.
Programs such as free prescription medicines and a free breakfast club in schools are also expected to be looked at.
TURKMENISTAN
The United States Agency for International Development (USAID) has teamed up with the Civil Service Academy in Turkmenistan to organise a workshop on economic zones, trade promotion, business and investment.
The training course was directed at leaders, representatives of State-owned enterprises, local authorities and the banking sector.
It is the second course in USAID’s project for Economic Reforms to Enhance Competitiveness and the Civil Service Academy.
15 June, 2010
INDIA
Move to reform
‘mediocre’ PS
Laws to regulate the Indian Public Service, to lay down a Code of Ethics and create a national PS management authority have been fast-tracked by the Indian Government.
The move follows a survey of Public Servant attitudes that highlighted poor job satisfaction and management concerns.
The new laws have been on the drawing board for more than three years and will provide a statutory basis for the regulation of Public Servants, including their appointment as well as transfers and posting.
Cabinet Secretary, K.M. Chandrasekhar said the Department of Personnel and Training would finalise a draft that would be sent to the Law Ministry for vetting
“The draft will be ready to go to the Union Cabinet in two months,” Mr Chandrasekhar said.
These developments follow the Government-commissioned Civil Services Survey that saw senior officers complaining about political influence and harassment and questioning claims of impartiality in transfers of officers.
The survey, the first major probe into the Indian Public Service, had revealed a culture of mediocrity, corruption and conformity.
Government officials said a discredited performance appraisal system that was unable to distinguish between poor and good performers lay at the heart of the need for reforms in the Public Service.
In the past it had been difficult to reward Public Servants who excelled in their respective fields and the new laws would enable the Government to promote a particular officer on grounds of merit.
15 June, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
Defence declared ‘unaffordable’
The Secretary of State for Defence in the United Kingdom has laid out his future vision for Defence in an email to all Defence Officials and Armed Forces.
In his email, Liam Fox said the current Defence program was unaffordable and needed to be reviewed to produce a “transformative change” to the Ministry.
Dr Fox said the Strategic Defence and Security Review would examine the structure of the Defence Force and the overall shape, size and role of Armed Forces personnel and Public Servants.
He said he would not shy away from axing entire equipment programs and announced a plan to reform the internal workings of the Ministry next year.
“Afghanistan will remain the top priority,” Dr Fox said.
“The focus for many of us in the next six months, and my second priority, will be on conducting a cross-Government, policy-led, resource-informed, Strategic Defence and Security Review (SDSR).
“I am determined that this exercise will bring Defence policy, plans, commitments and resources into balance, and produce over time a transformative change to British defence.”
At the heart of the SDSR, he said, would be a thorough examination of force structure, looking at the overall shape, size and role of Armed Forces personnel and Defence Public Servants, including the Reserve Forces.
“I am, however, determined that the Armed Forces and the MOD Civil Service should continue to employ high quality people,” he said
“In every aspect of Defence, and particularly in the support area, I shall be looking to bear down on costs, seeking improved value for money and greater efficiency wherever possible.”
As part of this work Dr Fox said he intended to follow through on the commitment in the Coalition Agreement to reduce Defence’s running costs by 25 per cent.
“This will require some tough decisions with impact in many areas of the Department,” he said.
15 June, 2010
SOUTH AFRICA
Soccer is political football
Public Service unions in South Africa declared a ‘dispute’ with the Government just one day before the country began hosting the 2010 FIFA World Cup of soccer.
Fourteen unions were involved, representing around 1.3 million Public Servants, refusing to allow the Government to use the World Cup as a smokescreen to hide staff demands for increases in pay.
Unions affiliated with the Congress of SA Trade Unions (Cosatu) and the Independent Labour Caucus (ILC) said it was regrettable that negotiations had regressed to a point that labour had no other option but to declare a dispute.
“We refuse to be blackmailed by the employer because of the World Cup 2010 and we shall fight until our demands are met,” the parties said.
The State’s latest offer proposed a general wage increase of 6.5 per cent and an increase in the housing allowance from R500 ($A77) per month to R620 ($A100) per month.
The unions said employers were totally out of touch with the reality of the existing conditions in the country.
“Workers are struggling to keep up with spiraling increases in municipal rates and taxes caused by the 24.5 per cent electricity tariff increases,” they said.
Their original demands were for an 11 per cent general salary adjustment, a housing allowance of R1,650 ($A254) per month and an equal employer subsidy for those members in medical schemes other than the Government Employees Medical Scheme.
The unions say they tried to meet the employer halfway, with a revised demand for an 8.6 per cent general salary adjustment and a R1,000 ($A154) monthly housing allowance.
15 June, 2010
IRELAND
Recruitment shuns
private sector
Figures released by Ireland’s Department of Finance show that just one applicant from the private sector had secured a high-level position in the Irish PS over the past five years.
According to the Irish Examiner newspaper, the Public Service remains “all but a closed shop” to workers from the private sector who are interested in senior positions.
The figures show that of 314 applications from private sector workers, just one secured a top-level position – representing a 0.3 per cent success rate. Private sector workers make-up 20 per cent of the total number of applicants.
Open competitions for 82 vacancies also revealed 15 were filled by people outside the relevant Department with internal promotions accounting for 82 per cent of placements.
Despite these figures, Assistant Secretary at the Department of Finance, Ciarán Connolly told a Dáil (Parliament) Committee there was “significant enough” outside expertise being recruited into the Public Service.
Secretary General of the Department of Finance, Kevin Cardiff said he was disappointed with the general quality of applicants from the private sector for top Public Service jobs.
He said the Towards 2016 agreement states: “The greater use of open recruitment is essential to... attract staff with the wide range of skills and experience needed in a modern public administration”.
It stipulates that 22 per cent of all vacancies at Principal Officer, 20 per cent at Assistant Principal Officer and 16.5 per cent at Higher Executive Officer should be filled by applicants from outside the Public Service. No targets have been set for the recruitment of private sector workers for senior positions.
The Commission for Public Service Appointments, which regulates recruitment and appointment processes to the PS has expressed its satisfaction with how people are hired for State jobs.
15 June, 2010
LEBANON
Partnership for better PS
Lebanon’s Minister for Information has recommended a three-way partnership between the Public Service, the private sector and the academia to help modernise the Public Service.
The Minister, Tarek Mitri said the challenge of modernising the public sector was great, and there was a lot to learn from the private sector and academia.
“We have to be able to take advantage of the experience of people in the academic community,” Mr Mitri said.
The Government had reiterated in a policy statement some general principles about efficiency, accountability, transparency and the need to have a human resources policy.
Mr Mitri said the 2010 Budget was late because the Government wanted to make sure that some of the statements about e-government, a knowledge-based economy and the rest were not simply principles.
“We want them to find their way into the Budget, and into concrete Ministerial programs and priorities,” he said.
The Minister’s remarks came during the opening of the Eighth International Conference on Data Envelopment Analysis (DEA). The meeting was attended by Government officials, bankers and academics from over 30 countries.
A speaker at the conference, Associate Professor Ibrahim Osman, called on the Government to establish a center aimed at improving decision-making on research and development.
He said the average spending on research and development in the region constituted only 0.2 per cent of gross domestic product while internationally it was 2.5 per cent.
15 June, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
PS to get say on
cost cutting
The best and brightest Public Service experts are to be given a place on a new Spending Review challenge group to propose innovative ways to cut costs in the United Kingdom’s Public Service.
Announced by Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, the group will be made up of Government and non-Government experts and will act as “independent challengers and champions for Departments”.
Members, as yet unnamed, would be drawn from within and outside Government and might include “the inspirational head teacher, the far-sighted police chief, the nurse with new ideas about solving age-old problems”, Mr Osborne said.
Public Service Finance Directors would have a strengthened role to embed strong financial discipline at all levels of government, although the Chancellor gave no details of how this would be done.
All Departmental budgets will be reviewed by a ‘star chamber’ led by Mr Osborne, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander and other senior Ministers.
The Chancellor singled out social security, tax credits and Public Service pensions as areas he would comprehensively examine.
Benefits and public sector pensions had been formally earmarked for potential cuts for the first time, the Chancellor said.
Central Government administration spending, including that of quasi non-governmental organisations (quangos), would have to fall by one-third and Departmental Public Service agreements would be scrapped in favour of business plans that detailed resources required.
Mr Osborne said the Government would also seek savings by renegotiating contracts and maximising the public sector’s collective buying power.
Public sector union leader, Dave Prentis said the Government seemed hell bent on making damaging cuts to public services.
“But cuts have consequences,” Mr Prentis said.
“We do not want a repeat of the race to the bottom that inflicted so much damage on our public services in the past,” he warned.
15 June, 2010
MALAYSIA
5-year plan for future
The Prime Minister of Malaysia has revealed his intentions for the country over the next five years, tabling the 10th Malaysian Plan (10MP) in Parliament last week.
Prime Minister Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said he wanted to transform Malaysia into an economically prosperous and socially just nation.
He said the plan included a number of changes to the Public Service.
Datuk Seri Najib said the 10MP plan was vital to continuing the vision and objective of the nation and would see Malaysia through the challenging times ahead, enabling it to be a high-income and developed nation by 2020.
The report’s theme is Towards Economic Prosperity and Social Justice and includes a RM20 billion ($A7.2 billion) facilitation fund to be set up for high-impact public-private projects.
The Government will intensify its engagement with the private sector, whose participation will include outsourcing of non-core Government functions, delivery of frontline services and public-private partnerships.
The ultimate aim will be more efficient management of resources and better value for money.
There will also be RM63 billion ($A22.5 billion) set aside for 52 high-impact projects including work on highways and two coal-fired electricity generation plants.
The Government has committed to reduce the fiscal deficit from 5.3 per cent of gross domestic product in 2010 to less than 3 per cent by 2015.
Among the plans are for a world-class Civil Service College aimed at raising the competency of Public Servants; an Economic Transformation Unit to plan and coordinate the implementation and development of the National Key Economic Areas (NKEAs) and a Competition Commission and Appeal Tribunal to ensure more orderly and effective implementation of the law.
A special unit under the Prime Minister’s Department will be set up to set the direction and drive the National Innovation System and innovation policies and strategies.
There will be a focus on raising the income and quality of life of the bottom 40 per cent of the population. The proportion of graduate teachers in primary schools will be increased from 28 to 60 per cent, and a Trust School framework will be introduced to enable public-private partnerships in the management of selected Government schools, providing them with greater autonomy.
15 June, 2010
SCOTLAND
Plea for PS to go
bonus-free
Top Public Servants in Scotland have been asked to voluntarily waive their bonuses for the second year in a row.
Head of the Scottish Government, First Minister Alex Salmond said the bonuses had already been halved for this year.
The request was revealed in an answer to a question by Finance Spokesman for the non-Government Liberal Democrats party, Jeremy Purvis during First Minister’s Question time.
“We are taking that action to reduce the maximum bonus available to Chief Executives of public bodies,” Mr Salmond said.
“This year we’re again asking chief executives to waive all or part of any bonus, as many of them indeed agreed to last year.”
The First Minister was also asked to confirm whether the three highest-paid public sector officials hired by the ruling Scottish National Party would receive bonuses over the next two years.
Mr Salmond said there was no bonus scheme for some new appointments, including those to Creative Scotland, Scottish Futures Trust and the Scottish Police Service Authority.
He said it was easier to introduce a no-bonus policy for these new appointments rather than to rewrite the contracts approved during the former Liberal Democrat-Labour coalition Government.
In the tough times ahead there should be restraint shown in both public and private sector salaries.
“I also support the view that those with the broadest shoulders should bear the largest burden,” Mr Salmond said.
15 June, 2010
MALAYSIA
PS told to ‘display strength’
Public Servants in Malaysia have been urged to strive for excellence and display personal strength and moral integrity to create a positive and successful PS work culture.
Chief Secretary to the Government, Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan, said it was necessary for Public Servants to strive for a work culture that gave a premium to excellence and to always think positively.
“In this matter, Civil Servants must comply with the code of conduct as outlined in the Rules and Regulations of Public Officers (Conduct and Discipline),” Tan Sri Mohd Sidek said.
“A person of high moral and personal conduct will always do things right and the right things.”
He said that in addition, Public Servants should give emphasis to personal development and character building to nurture excellence.
He also urged young Public Servants to develop a mindset that would bring their best values to the organisation and to be greatly concerned with the policies decided by the Government.
“The effectiveness of the Civil Service in carrying out this responsibility has contributed to the country’s economic development, prosperity, national security and in achieving the 10th most competitive country status in the world,” Tan Sri Mohd Sidek said.
He congratulated former Director-General of the Public Service Department (PSD), Tan Sri Mahmud Taib who was named Intan Fellow 2009.
Tan Sri Mahmud was PSD Director-General from 1990 to 1995. He was recognised for his role in the implementation of the New Remuneration Scheme which entailed changes to the service, salaries, allowances, facilities, conditions of service and retirement benefits for Public Servants.
15 June, 2010
RUSSIA
Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has ordered cuts in the country’s Public Service.
He has asked for plans to be drawn up to reduce staffing by 20 per cent.
The number of Public Servants, who often enjoy more perks than their private-sector counterparts, has grown by almost 50 per cent to 1.67 million since the economy began to take off in 2000.
UNITED KINGDOM
Public Service cuts will put greater strain on private charities, the Charity Commission has warned.
Charities have reported growing concern about the affects of the continuing economic downturn. And the Commission said it was questionable whether the voluntary and charity sector would be able to fill all the gaps left by cuts to public services.
Research by the National Council for Voluntary Organisations found that 23,000 charities rely on Local Government funding for more than half of their income.
SPAIN
Public Servants are leading the protests against the country’s austerity measures, which include cuts in their pay.
However, the Government claimed victory after it said the strikes and street protests had only had a limited impact.
It claimed only 12 per cent of Central Government workers stopped work, compared with organisers’ claims of up to 75 per cent.
Spain is struggling to return to growth after two years of recession. The austerity package, approved by one vote in Parliament two weeks ago, has been applauded by economists.
ST LUCIA
A crime wave in St Lucia is affecting members of the Public Service.
General Secretary of the Civil Service Association (CSA), David Demarque there were Departments in the Public Service that because of the nature of the services they provided, were in direct contact with criminal elements.
“The rising crime situation has created a state of fear in Public Servants,” Mr Demarque said.
SOUTH KOREA
Seoul will receive United Nations Public Service Awards for two programs, Women Friendly City Project and Hope-Plus Account.
The South Korean capital will also be the first city in the world to win prizes in two categories for two consecutive years.
The UN said Seoul was chosen because the two programs contributed much to the improvement in public administration and public interests, and had given inspirations to other Public Service organisations.
8 June, 2010
INDIA
Survey reveals poor
state of PS
The first ever survey of India’s Public Service has revealed widespread problems including poor job satisfaction, frustration with the bureaucracy, a lack of funding and poorly trained staff.
The Civil Services Survey found one in three Public Servants, who studied for years to make it past the competitive entrance exam, were considering leaving the PS due to a culture of mediocrity, corruption and conformity.
Spokesperson for the Indian Institute of Public Administration, Shekhar Singh said the impression within the bureaucracy was that merit and honesty don’t count any longer.
“A civil servant recently told me that when they joined the service nearly two decades ago, officers were afraid to be corrupt,” Mr Singh said.
“Now, they are afraid to be honest.”
The survey, conducted by the Centre for Good Governance, found 48 per cent of respondents from the Indian Administrative Service, Indian Police Service and the Indian Forest Service complained about “undue outside interference” on their work.
It found Public Servants faced the “pulls and pressures” from different Departments, Members of Parliament and local political leaders.
The survey found Public Servants were afraid of being transferred to obscure posts and locations if they did not “fall in line”.
“What worries the honest Government Servant is the prospect of being posted to an obscure (place) with zero job content or worse, a string of such postings as a price for one’s honesty,” the survey report said.
“Government officials said the fear of such a posting usually forced most ‘honest’ officials to fall in line.
“Those who resist spend the better part of their careers living out of their suitcase.”
A senior researcher at the Centre for Good Governance said the survey also revealed a lack of financial resources and competent staff.
“The irony,” he said, “is that the Government works so hard to recruit the best minds available into the Civil Services and then forces them into mediocrity.”
“Government officers have been the target of criticism for far too long.
This survey seeks to capture the circumstances that they work in … often with their hands tied,” the researcher said.
8 June, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
PS bosses urged to cut
pay packets
Senior Public Servants in the United Kingdom have been urged to “look afresh” at their salary levels by the Government’s new Business Secretary, Vince Cable.
Mr Cable made the comment after a list revealing the salaries of the highest paid 171 Public Servants was made public in a bid to increase transparency in the PS.
“There has been massive pay inflation in top salaries, people in the public sector trying to emulate what’s been happening in the private sector and it frankly is not affordable,” Mr Cable said.
“I’ve taken a pay cut, as have all senior members of the Government.”
He said he had written to university vice-chancellors and college heads, explaining many of them were very highly paid and that they needed to consider the current financial environment.
“My first major appointment was the new chief executive of the Royal Mail, who has accepted a pay cut from the previous high levels,” Mr Cable said.
“So, particularly at the top end of the pay scale, we’ve just got to accept that the money just isn’t there and people have got to be more restrained.”
Prime Minister, David Cameron said publishing the names of Public Servants who earned more than him was the first major effort by the new Government to curb salary bills within the Public Service and to “open up the corridors of power”.
A number of Public Servants on the list have reacted angrily and others refused to have their details published at all.
Mr Cameron is expected to publish the names of all Public Servants earning over £58,000 (A$100,000) a year, while information about headmasters and general practitioners working for the National Health Service will be published in time.
Head of the Office of Fair Trading, John Fingleton, topped the list at £279,999 (A$485,000) followed by Chief Executive of the National Health Service, David Nicholson (A$450,000) and IT Director General and Chief Information Officer at the Department for Work and Pensions, Joe Harley (A$433,000).
The Prime Minister’s salary is £145,000 (A$251,000) after he and all Ministers took a five per cent pay cut.
8 June, 2010
UNITED STATES
Benefits extended to same sex partners
The President of the United States, Barack Obama has released a Memorandum informing Agencies of the benefits to be extended to the same-sex partners of Federal Public Servants.
In the Memorandum, Mr Obama said family assistance services, hardship transfers and relocation expenses would now apply to same-sex couples and that partners and their children would qualify as dependents.
The Memorandum also requires Federal Departments to extend to same sex partners any new benefits given to employees’ opposite-sex spouses “to the extent permitted by law.”
The move builds on the benefits for same-sex partners announced last year which included health care abroad, eligibility for employment at posts, cost-of-living adjustments abroad and medical evacuation for the partners of foreign Public Service members and for other Public Servants. They also included long-term care insurance and expanded sick leave for civil service employees.
In the Memorandum, Mr Obama said lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) employees had been “denied equal access to the basic rights and benefits” enjoyed by their colleagues.
“This kind of systemic inequality undermines the health, well-being, and security not just of our Federal workforce, but also of their families and communities,” he said.
Mr Obama said Government Agencies had consulted with the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to review the benefits provided to same sex partners.
“Although legislative action is necessary to provide full equality to LGBT Federal employees, the Agencies have identified a number of benefits that can be extended under existing law,” he said.
“OPM, in consultation with the Department of Justice, has provided me with a report recommending that all of the identified benefits be extended.”
Mr Obama said the OPM should take immediate action to ensure the children of LGBT employees’ partners qualify for Federal child-care subsidies and services; that employee assistance programs be extended to include same-sex partners and their children; and qualify employees’ same-sex partners as family members for the purpose of noncompetitive appointments.
He said Federal retirees’ same-sex partners should be added to the list of individuals with an insurable interest in the employee and that employees should be able to take 24 hours of unpaid leave for activities relating to school, family medical purposes and to care for elderly relatives of their same-sex partner and their children.
“In the future, all Agencies that provide new benefits to the spouses of Federal employees and their children should, to the extent permitted by law, also provide them to the same-sex domestic partners of their employees and those same-sex domestic partners’ children,” Mr Obama said.
“The Director of OPM shall monitor compliance with this memorandum, and may instruct Agencies to provide the Director with reports on the status of their compliance.”
Mr Obama said Agencies should extend the benefits immediately.
8 June, 2010
UGANDA
Auditor critical of
pension delays
The Auditor-General of Uganda has released a scathing report of the Department of Compensation’s management of pension payments.
The audit report, Pension Processing by the Department of Compensation: Ministry of Public Service, said delays in processing pensions had resulted in the unnecessary accumulation of pension arrears and led to pensioners being unable to take care of themselves.
“The general delays led to failure by retired officers to provide for themselves and their families leading to increased dependency burden, distress, frustration and demoralisation,” the report says.
It found that at the start of the 2008/09 financial year the pension arrears stood at 128 billion Uganda Shillings (A$67 million).
The Auditor-General made a number of recommendations aimed at improving the time for overall pension processing, receiving and approving pension application claims, the verification and assessment of pension claims and the payment of pension claims.
The audit report attributed the delay to acknowledge pension applications by the Permanent Secretary to a lack of time limits allocated to necessary processes.
It showed while retiring officers were entitled by law to access the monthly pension payroll within six months from commencement of the pension process, a review of 135 files revealed it took on average 23 to 30 months for traditional Public Servants and teachers respectively.
“Teachers take longer compared to the traditional Civil Servants because the traditional Civil Servants have access to information regarding pension procedures and therefore apply earlier,” the report said.
It said payment of pensions should be effected within 3 months of being authorised rather than the average eight and nine months it took for civil servants and teachers.
The audit report found that on 24 March 2010 there were 31,497 pensioners entered in the Pension Information Management System (PIMS), but 2,428 had not accessed the monthly pension payroll due to delays.
The auditors found PIMS could not be relied on to provide adequate information such as names of people involved in approving, authorising, assessing pensions or the dates of approval, authorisation, and assessment.
It said this lack of information meant it was difficult to identify which staff were not carrying out their duties on time.
Following the release of the audit report, President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni issued a directive to the Public Service to reduce the retirement age from 60 to 50, a move the Auditor-General said was likely to result in another 30,000 Public Servants becoming eligible for pensions.
8 June, 2010
PHILIPPINES
PS workplaces to be
smoke free
Government Agencies in the Philippines have been encouraged to observe a 100 per cent smoke-free workplace at all times.
Chairman of the Civil Service Commission (CSC), Francisco Duque III issued a Memorandum urging Agencies to implement smoke-free workplaces after they took part in World No Tobacco Day on 31 May.
Dr Duque released the Memorandum after recently conducting a briefing for Public Servants on how smoking could be “serious health hazard” and could lead to heart disease, cancer, chronic bronchitis and emphysema.
“A healthy body is imperative for Government workers to deliver the highest quality of service to the public,” Dr Duque said.
However, in a phone interview, Dr Duque said the incoming President, Senator Benigno Aquino III was a smoker and it would be his “personal choice” whether he continued smoking or stopped.
“The CSC has no dictatorial powers to order anyone to kick the habit, but I am sure in time, the incoming President will realise the ill effects of smoking,” he said
Dr Duque said roughly 30 per cent of the country’s 1.4 million Public Servants were smokers.
In the Memorandum, the CSC reiterated its year-old order of an “absolute smoking ban in all Government premises that provide health, education, and social welfare and development services such as hospitals, health centres, schools and universities.”
It said other Government Agencies not covered by the absolute smoking ban could have one smoking area per building that should be outdoors and have no roof or walls, be located at least 10 metres away from any doors and be no larger than 10 square metres.
The CSC Memorandum ordered the removal of ashtrays and other receptacles for cigarette stubs in non-smoking areas and prohibited smoking in Government vehicles.
8 June, 2010
CANADA
Job satisfaction drops
Job satisfaction among Public Servants in the Canadian province of British Columbia has dropped over the past year according to the 2010 Work Environment Survey.
The annual survey, conducted by the B.C. Government, showed a slight drop in satisfaction for almost every category of job engagement compared with last year’s survey results.
The B.C. Government and Service Employees’ Union (BCGEU) said the Government needed to stop cutting jobs, claiming the fall in job satisfaction was tied to previous job cuts.
President of the BCGEU, Darryl Walker called for a time-out to allow the union and the Government to meet to plan for the future
“Maybe these cuts have gone too far and too quickly,” Mr Walker said.
The Work Environment Survey measures workers’ job commitment and satisfaction.
The 2010 survey found the most significant drop in worker attitudes was in the “vision, mission, and goals,” category, which at 56 was down eight points.
Employees’ view of executive-level management dropped by six points to 53.
According to the scoring system of the survey, a score of 54 points or lower is considered cause for concern.
Mr Walker said the recession would eventually turn around and deficit budgets would be eradicated but the long-term damage of the cuts could stick.
Head of the Public Service, Allan Seckel said the survey results were “obviously disappointing” and showed the Government had to address some issues and better communicate its goals.
However, Mr Seckel said the survey also showed employees appreciated how important their jobs were.
8 June, 2010
MALAYSIA
Call to outlaw PS corruption
The Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission has been criticised by one of the country’s Opposition parties for failing to act on corruption in the Public Service.
Parliamentary leader of the Democratic Action Party, Lim Kit Siang made the criticism in reaction to new statistics revealing two in five Public Servants were purportedly involved in corruption.
The statistics were released by the President of the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs), Omar Osman.
Mr Lim said the situation was worrying and needed to be tackled urgently.
He described the Commission, or MACC, as a “big flop” as it “did not even arrest 0.1 per cent of the corrupt Civil Servants last year.”
Mr Lim said the MACC only arrested 500 people last year and 144 people in the first quarter of 2010.
“According to official statistics, only 76 of the 144 arrested by the MACC for corruption in the first quarter were Civil Servants,” he said.
“What has the MACC got to say for such shocking failure in the discharge of its statutory duty to combat corruption?”
Mr Lim has called on the Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Nazri Razak to explain the high corruption rate.
“Malaysians are entitled to proper explanations from all the relevant authorities concerned – Cuepacs, the MACC and not least of all, the Prime Minister,” he said.
Mr Lim said the figures indicated 418,200, or 41 per cent, of the 1.2 million Public Servants in the country were suspected to be involved in corruption in 2009.
However, reports from The Malaysian Insider claim Mr Osman has refuted the figure, saying the media had misinterpreted his statement.
Mr Osman said only 51 per cent of the people arrested by the MACC were Civil Servants and the figure dropped to 47 per cent a year later and to 39 per cent last year.
He said the number of government workers interrogated by the MACC between 2007 and 2009 had gone up from 39 per cent to 51per cent.
“I just said that 41 per cent of those detained for interrogation by the MACC were civil servants and not 41 per cent of the whole civil service,” he said.
“Many were worried when it was reported that 41 per cent from 1.2 million Civil servants were suspected of graft.”
8 June, 2010
SRI LANKA
Technology push to improve PS
The Public Service in Sri Lanka has been urged to begin using modern technologies to help the nation become a hub of aviation, marine and commercial knowledge in Asia.
Minister for Public Management Reforms, Ratnasiri Wickramanayaka has told the National Administrative Reforms Council (NARC) that it needed to use technology “appropriately” to create a more efficient Public Service without affecting employment opportunities in the PS.
Mr Wickramanayaka pointed to President Mahinda Rajapaksa’s manifesto, the Mahinda Chintana Idiri Dekma, saying the Public Service needed to improve its delivery of the manifesto’s goals.
The manifesto, released in January this year, outlines policies to make Sri Lanka an Asian hub and to improve the income and living standards of citizens.
In the manifesto, the President gives high priority to increasing agricultural production, decreasing the Cost of Living, achieving peace and amity and protecting the environment.
Mr Wickramanayaka encouraged staff at NARC to submit proposals aimed at expediting work in the Public Service and implementing new technologies.
He said as members of the public were the beneficiaries of the PS, they should also be actively involved in reforming the country and the Public Service and urged them to make submissions to the Government.
He encouraged the Public Service to work quickly and efficiently to undertake the reforms.
8 June, 2010
NIGERIA
PS sackings denied
The Nigerian Government has denied reports it intends firing at least 50,000 Public Servants as part of its reforms to the Public Service.
The Minister of Labour and Productivity, Chief Emeka Wogu said there was “no plan to sack 50,000 or any single worker” as part of the reforms.
In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Media, Chief Wogu said the Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathan was sincere in working with Public Servants.
“It is as such out of place for him to go against his track record of proclivity to the interests of Nigerian workers by approving the plans to unduly retrench workers,” he said.
“I want to emphatically declare that there is no such proposal to retrench civil servants for whatever purpose.
“Rather than retrenching and adding to the misery of the citizens, the administration through the Ministry of Labour is actively promoting employment of more citizens either in the Public Service or in the empowerment of business entrepreneurs.”
Chief Wogu said the Federal Government would absorb the cost of any planned boost in the welfare of its present workers.
“This Government declaration, however, does not in any way exclude the removal from service of workers who are disciplined using existing Civil Service regulations,” he said.
The cuts were reportedly revealed by the office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation in a circular issued to compile data regarding affected staff.
8 June, 2010
PHILIPPINES
The incoming President of the Philippines, Senator Benigno Aquino III has promised to upgrade Government salaries and professionalise the Public Service.
Senator Aquino has also indicated he would reduce corruption within the Public service and improve compensation packages to increase employee retention.
Under the country’s salary standardisation law, the salary of the President is expected to be roughly equal to that of mid-level executives in large firms.
MALAYSIA
Cloud computing has been introduced in Malaysia to allow Public Servants to quickly and easily access a pool of computing resources.
The new technology merges desktop software with the internet to enable easy deployment, management and customisation of software applications.
The move is expected to cut costs, increase efficiency and productivity and promote innovate public-service delivery systems.
CANADA
Members of Nova Scotia’s largest Public Service Union have formed a Civil Service Campaign Committee to deal with a planned 10 per cent cut in the Canadian province’s Public Service numbers.
The Nova Scotia Government and General Employees Union (NSGEU) said representatives from its 11 local Civil Service branches would develop a coordinated response to the cuts through a campaign to protect public services and the jobs of those who deliver them.
UNITED KINGDOM
An increase in the number of ethnic minority and disabled graduates entering the United Kingdom Public Service has been attributed to the country’s Fast Stream training and development program.
Figures released in the Cabinet Office’s 2009 Fast Stream Annual Report revealed 10.7 per cent of successful candidates in 2009 were from ethnic minorities, up from 9.3 per cent in 2008 and the number of successful disabled candidates rose to 14.6 per cent from 12.6 per cent in 2008.
TUNISIA
The Ministry of Employment in Tunisia has announced a target to integrate 415,000 young job seekers into the job market by 2014.
Minister of Vocational Training and Employment, Mohamed Agrebi said the Government aimed to place 10,000 graduates in the Voluntary Civil Service program; would promote research of new professions and trades to enable young people to acquire additional skills and help them find work in Tunisia and abroad; and would undertake reforms in vocational training.
“The reforms will be able to achieve the recommended objectives for including nearly 150,000 trainees and accommodating some 415,000 jobseekers by 2014 in to the job market,” Mr Agrebi said.
1 June, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
PS overhaul announced
by Queen
Plans to reform the Public Service in the United Kingdom were unveiled by the Queen in her Speech to open Parliament.
The speech set out measures to overhaul the Public Service by encouraging individual and social responsibility and by expanding the role charities play in delivering public services.
The Queen announced 22 new Bills during her address, which Prime Minister David Cameron later described as a “radical program for a radical Government.”
The Queen said the Government’s legislative program would be based on the principles of “freedom, fairness and responsibility” and sought to build a “stronger and fairer society.”
She announced a new Office for Budget Responsibility to improve confidence in the management of public finances and a reduction in the number of public bodies.
“A Bill will be introduced to devolve greater powers to Councils and neighbourhoods and give local communities control over housing and planning decisions,” the Queen said.
“The role of social enterprises, charities and co-operatives in our public services will be enhanced.”
She said Police would be made more accountable to local communities and that there would be an increased focus on tackling alcohol-related violence and anti-social behaviour.
“My Government will propose Parliamentary and political reform to restore trust in democratic institutions and rebalance the relationship between the citizen and the State,” the Queen said.
General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union, Mark Serwotka cricitised the announcements, saying the address outlined a “major assault on State services”.
“We are deeply concerned about the further erosion of State services that have been built up over many years and which millions of people rely on,” Mr Serwotka said.
1 June, 2010
SOUTH AFRICA
Audit slams PS tendering
A report by the Auditor General of South Africa has found improvements were needed to regulate the business dealings of Public Servants with Government.
The report found most Departments in the province of KwaZulu-Natal did not have a policy in place to monitor Public Servants submitting tenders for Government projects.
Opposition party, the Inkatha Freedom Party of South Africa (IFP) has called for all Senior Public Servants from the Head of the Department down to the Director to be legally obliged to disclose any interests in projects.
KwaZulu-Natal Public Accounts spokesperson for the IFP, Dr Lionel Mtshali said a universal process that would apply to all provincial Government Departments on an equal basis was needed.
“With institutionalised corruption so rife as it is in KwaZulu-Natal and South Africa, we find it shocking that in most Government Departments in the province, there is nothing to prevent officials from landing lucrative Government tenders,” Dr Mtshali said.
“While some Government Departments have grossly inadequate guidelines governing officials’ business dealings with Government, most of them have no such policies at all.”
He said similar disclosure requirements that currently applied to elected representatives through national legislation should be extended to officials to limit the proliferation of ‘tenderpreneurs’ in the Public Service.
1 June, 2010
SOUTH AFRICA
Call to dampen PS mobility
The Public Service Commission in South Africa has recommended the Government limit ‘job-hopping’ between Public Service Departments to help prevent high staff turnover.
The Commission released a report saying the impact of senior Public Servants changing jobs within short periods was having a negative effect on Departments’ ability to deliver quality services.
“Job-hopping should be restricted by utilising regulatory measures where employees have to work a certain number of years on one level before they can apply for promotion to a different position within (the same) or in a different Department,” the report said.
It said a lack of quality services in the PS was linked to high staff turnover and urged senior managers to improve recruitment practices and career management for existing staff.
“Vacancy rates clearly show that the Public Service finds it difficult to attract and retain staff,” the report said.
It said every time a Public Servant resigned to join a different Department, there were financial and skill-loss ramifications for the Agency they left due to professional development and the year taken to fill vacancies.
“The Public Service, as any employer, invests significantly in its staff by way of formal training that is provided, on-the-job training, and skills transfer from fellow colleagues and managers,” the report said.
The Commission said the report found 68 per cent of Public Servants in managerial positions in national departments had changed jobs within the government, while provinces had a 13 per cent turnover.
“Most of the staff turnover occurs as a result of the internal movement of staff through promotions and transfers within and to other Departments,” the report said.
“Provisional indications are that Departments tend to compete with each other for the same scarce skills.”
The Commission said although the Government had identified shortcomings in its recruitment and staff retention policies, it had failed to deal with skills shortages.
“As a result, skills shortages are continuing to constrain the government’s delivery programs.”
It said it was concerned over the large number of vacant posts in the PS, which stood at 21 per cent or 306,365 in October 2009.
The report suggested low salaries were one reason there were difficulties in filling Public Service positions.
1 June, 2010
PAPUA NEW GUINEA
Fears for Ombudsman’s powers
The Ombudsman Commission of Papua New Guinea could have its powers and jurisdiction reduced under proposed amendments to the country’s Constitution, according to the Pacific Ombudsman Alliance (POA).
POA raised concerns over the proposed changes, saying they had the potential to diminish the role of the Ombudsman’s office and its ability to combat corruption.
In a statement, POA said the Ombudsman Commission of PNG (OCPNG) was particularly important as it enforced the Organic Law on the Duties and Responsibilities of Leadership.
POA said the OCPNG acted as an accountability mechanism for public institutions, and provided guidance and support to leaders to help them make ethical decisions.
“The OCPNG model for providing Ombudsman services has been influential throughout the Pacific, where PNG’s Chief Ombudsman, Chronox Manek, and the OCPNG are held in the highest regard,” the Alliance said.
It offered its support to Mr Manek, his colleagues and Commission members in light of the possible constitutional changes and the implications they could have.
The POA expressed particular concern over the potential for the amendments to affect the OCPNG’s independence and water down its powers.
The OCPNG is a member of the POA, along with Ombudsmen from Australia, Cook Islands, the Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, New Zealand, Niue, Palau, the Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
The POA is a group of Pacific Ombudsmen and allied institutions that work together to support the development of Ombudsman offices and complaint handling in Pacific Forum countries, and to foster integrity in the delivery of Government services.
1 June, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
PS cuts pose giant challenge
Managers in the UK Public Service face the biggest challenge “in living memory” and an “HR leadership challenge” as they attempt to carry out the new Government’s emergency PS recruitment freeze, according to professional consultant, KPMG.
The ban on new recruitment was announced as part of the Government’s £6.2 billion (A$10.6bn) package of spending cuts and is expected to result in at least 30,000 PS jobs left unfilled this financial year.
Head of Public Sector at KPMG, Alan Downey said the cuts were reasonable but would be difficult to implement due to the forward-momentum created during the financial crisis as PS jobs increased.
“I am not aware that there has been any across-the-board recruitment freeze of this kind before,” Mr Downey said.
“We haven’t had a period in living memory where public expenditure has reduced year-on-year.”
President of the Public Sector People Managers’ Association, Dean Shoesmith said the Public Service faced a “difficult and challenging” period but that the cuts provided a “fantastic opportunity” for Human Resource managers to shape the future of the PS.
Mr Shoesmith said HR managers should talk to staff concerned about job security and redeploy staff to fill vacant roles to help avoid losing good employees.
“There is an HR leadership challenge,” he said.
“HR must advise senior managers how to advise employees on their own career paths, as a lack of clarity and uncertainty is the biggest threat.”
A spokesperson for the UK Trade Union Congress said the recruitment freeze was impractical.
“We are not sure how feasible the recruitment freeze will be,” the spokesperson said.
“There are already problems with workloads and skills shortages throughout the Civil Service.”
The union said it would discuss the changes with Ministers and did not rule out industrial action.
1 June, 2010
IRELAND
Sack threat to underperformers
Ireland’s largest opposition party, Fine Gael, has pledged to demote Public Servants who fail to produce promised budget results if it wins Government.
The move is part of the party’s plan to change the way budgets and spending are organised and to reform the Public Service.
The leaders of Fine Gael said they wanted to make Ireland’s top 600 Public Servants accountable for their actions, but said it would take time to set up as existing staff contracts could not be changed.
They said the reforms would apply to all new senior appointments within the top 600 positions.
“Managers that fail to deliver will return to the ranks,” a spokesman for the party said.
It also called for an independent panel of experts to make budget recommendations to the Government and for a single body to inspect businesses for compliance with labour law, consumer rights and health and safety in a bid to cut red tape.
Deputy Leader of the Fine Gael, Richard Bruton said its reform plan, Smart State, was due to be published next month.
Mr Bruton said it wanted to make the budgetary process more transparent and accountable by publishing estimates and outcomes constantly and for all spending over €20,000 (A$29,000) to be published on the Department of Finance’s website.
The party said the new system would “expose poor decisions by politicians” and Public Servants alike.
1 June, 2010
FRANCE
PS tension over
PS pensions
Around 20 per cent of Public Servants in France took to the streets last week in protest against the Government’s proposal to increase the minimum retirement age from 60.
The proposed increase has been floated as part of a raft of changes aimed at reigning in deficit in the State’s pension system and would affect perks allowing the country’s five million Public Servants to retire before they reached 60.
With an estimated 66 per cent of the French people supporting the strikes, the protest was expected to be larger but only caused minimal disruptions to public services such as air traffic, transport and schools.
The Civil Aviation Authority said 10 per cent of flights at Paris’s main international airport, Charles de Gaulle, were cancelled during the strikes on Thursday (27 May), as were 30 per cent of flights at Orly Airport, south of the capital.
France’s largest union, the C.G.T had called for a national protest of 850,000 people against the proposal, however Police put the number of protesters at no more than 350,000 nation-wide.
France has one of the lowest retirement ages in Europe and is facing a rising public deficit expected to reach 8 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) this year.
Negotiations between the Government and unions to increase the retirement age to 62 or 63, while lengthening the duration of social security contributions required for a full pension, are underway.
The Minister for Finance, Éric Woerth said without drastic reform the French would be faced with higher social charges, higher taxes and less employment.
A report by the Pensions Advisory Council found the pension system was running a deficit of €11 billion (A$16bn) that could be expected to reach A$149bn by 2050 which is about 2.6 percent of projected GDP.
1 June, 2010
BAHAMAS
Union opposes
promotions freeze
A temporary freeze on promotions and increments for Public Servants in the Bahamas could lead to reduced productivity and a demoralised workforce, according to the President of the Bahamas Public Service Union, John Pinder.
Mr Pinder said he supported some plans for reduced spending but expressed concerns that some of the Prime Minister’s cost saving measures could hinder the operations of the Public Service.
He said the Union accepted the Prime Minster, Hubert Ingraham, withholding increments for the fiscal year in lieu of not downsizing but expected the Government to “make good” on the increments as soon as possible.
“But promotions are one of the things that motivates any worker to go above and beyond the call of duty - you want to score higher on reviews to get a promotion,” he said.
“While we sympathise with (Government’s) financial situation we don’t want to (demoralise) persons.”
Mr Pinder called for advancements to be applied retrospectively once the promotion freeze was lifted.
He also called on the Government to reconsider slashing overtime provisions by 90 per cent, saying many areas of the PS were already understaffed and the amount of overtime extended was reflective of this.
“You must recognise why so much overtime is being paid,” Mr Pinder said.
“Most of it is being paid due to lack of manpower and scarcity of technical expertise needed in certain Government Agencies.”
He also hit out at the Government’s decision not to hire new staff except in essential areas such as customs, immigration, and teaching.
“To not hire any persons at all is going to wreak havoc regarding social illness in this society, the devil finds things for idle hands to do,” Mr Pinder said.
1 June, 2010
MALAYSIA
Innovation focus for
PS reforms
Innovation and creativity have been pinpointed as areas for the Malaysian Public Service to focus on to help improve the bureaucracy.
Prime Minister of Malaysia, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the Government would transform Malaysia by applying innovative ideas in Public Service administration, society, urban and rural areas and by branding innovation.
Mr Najib said Government Agencies needed to prioritise the introduction of innovation in management and service delivery to help the country become a high-income nation.
“Civil Servants today should think out of the box,” Mr Najib said.
“I do not want the automation culture to become the lifestyle among the Civil Servants.
“We have to think critically and constructively in carrying out our responsibilities and also being trustworthy in generating creative and innovative solutions which are beyond the norms.”
As part of his push to infuse innovation in the PS, Mr Najib announced Public Servants would now celebrate Innovation Day on 31 October instead of Quality Day as in previous years.
He said the Malaysian Administrative Modernisation and Management Planning Unit had created a guideline, Strengthening the Innovation Culture in the Civil Service, to help Agencies plan their strategies.
He said Agencies must prepare an Innovation Action Plan and raise awareness among staff of the need for innovation in service delivery.
He said a new award, the Prime Minister’s Innovation Award, would be added to the Prime Minister’s Quality Awards to acknowledge innovation in the PS.
1 June, 2010
UNITED STATES
A bipartisan National Commission has been set up by the President of the United Sates, Barack Obama, to investigate the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
Mr Obama said the Commission would provide recommendations on how to prevent and mitigate the impact of any future spills resulting from offshore drilling.
He said it would focus on the environmental and safety precautions that needed to be built into the regulatory framework to ensure no similar accidents could happen in the future.
HONG KONG
Hong Kong’s Civil Service Bureau and the Chinese Academy of Governance have signed a memorandum of cooperation to strengthen their collaboration in training Public Servants.
The Public Servants affected by the training agreement work for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government and will attend a program aimed at deepening their understanding of current policies and issues on the Chinese Mainland.
The program is expected to improve networking between the participants and Mainland officials.
UNITED KINGDOM
The Public Service values of integrity, honesty, objectivity and impartiality have been enshrined in law in the United Kingdom more than 150 years after the idea was first suggested.
The Northcote-Trevelyan report conducted in 1853 recommended the core values be covered by law to ensure no changes could be made to them without Parliamentary approval.
The changes mean appointments to the PS must be made on merit to secure the impartiality and independence of the Service.
FIJI
Fijian Public Servants working in the Western Division outside the main headquarters in Suva often have trouble receiving recognition for their work, according to Commissioner for the Western Division, Commander Joeli Cawaki.
Cmdr Cawaki said workers in his Division lacked the equipment and resources needed to deliver services effectively and the area was often passed over for input by Permanent Secretaries when decisions were being made.
He encouraged the 26,000 Public Servants in the Western Division to “stand up and be counted for” and for their work to be acknowledged during the recent Civil Servants Week.
VIRGIN ISLANDS
A pep rally and track and field event day have been held as part of Public Service Week celebrations in the Virgin Islands.
A procession of workers marched from the Islands’ Central Administration Complex Grounds to a recreational facility where the track and field events were conducted.
The event was organised by the Public Service Week Steering Committee.