25 May, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
Industry wants PS
pay freeze
Calls for a two-year freeze on the Public Service wage bill and for the Service to be ‘re-engineered’ have been made by the United Kingdom’s business lobbying organisation, the Confederation of British Industry (CBI).
   The CBI released a set of priorities for the Government in its latest publication, Time for Action: Reforming pubic services and balancing the budget.
   In the report, the CBI highlighted areas where immediate cost-savings could be made, while ensuring frontline services were maintained.
   It said freezing the total public sector pay bill from 2010-11 for two years through selected pay and recruitment freezes could save £18 billion (A$31bn).
   The report says public sector pay continued to increase during the Global Financial Crisis, with average pay growing by 2.8 per cent in the PS in 2009, but falling by 0.9 per cent in the private sector.
   The report did not advocate an across-the-board freeze in the pay of every single Public Service worker, but said the overall pay bill should not increase and frontline staff and the lowest paid workers could be excluded from pay and recruitment freezes.
   It also recommended achieving savings by outsourcing to the private sector.
   “By re-engineering health and social care to treat patients in their homes and in the community more than £8bn (A$14bn) could be saved by 2015-16,” the CBI said.
   Director-General of CI, Richard Lamber said public sector reform must also be accompanied by policies that allow the private sector to deliver growth, investment and jobs.
   “We need to see a detailed plan for achieving this in the Budget,” Mr Lambert said.
   “Experience suggests that the best way of bringing down a substantial deficit without damaging growth is through spending restraint rather than raising taxes.
   “With a public-sector squeeze looming, the new Government must also do everything it can to create the right conditions for the private sector to sustain and create new jobs.”
   Mr Lambert said the PS should make use of new technologies and improve workforce management to reduce absenteeism.


25 May, 2010
BAHRAIN
Overhaul of PS announced
Plans to overhaul the Public Service in Bahrain have been revealed and focus on three key projects.
   The Minister for Cabinet Affairs and Deputy President of the Civil Service Bureau, Shaikh Ahmed bin Ateyatalla Al Khalifa unveiled the plan, saying the projects aimed to promote meritocracy, build competencies and “put the right man in the right place” by addressing staff development, replacement and leadership in the Civil Service Bureau (CSB).
   Shaikh Ahmed   said the Bahrain Institute of Public Administrative (BIPA) would commission international consultancy firms to conduct viability studies on the three projects.
   He said details of the schemes would be announced once the consultancy studies were complete.
   “The schemes aim to ensure CSB more competence and efficiency and provide qualified cadres in line with the goals of the Bahrain2030 Economic Vision,” Shaikh Ahmed said.
   He said BIPA would provide a series of training programs to promote the required skills and competences to execute the projects.
   Shaikh Ahmed said the Public Service currently lacked flexibility and the capacity to adjust to change.
   “The current systems work appraisals and pay evaluation do not link jobs and bonuses directly with performance and meritocracy benchmarks,” he said.
   “The current CSB systems do not provide enough incentives to retain outstanding employees in the public sector as it relies on the number of years of as a decisive benchmark for promotion.”
   Shaikh Ahmed said a comprehensive system based on accurate performance indices to decide promotions, incentives and bonuses was needed.


25 May, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
Bid to centralise PS purchasing
The National Audit Office and Audit Commission of the United Kingdom have joined forces to promote centralised procurement in the Public Service.
   The two spending watchdogs said Departments and Agencies were wasting money by failing to coordinate the way they purchased products and services.
   The NAO and AC said efforts to better harness bulk-buying power had led to some improvements but needed to be more ambitious.
   They said the work of the Office of Government Commerce had led to “real improvements” but that the system remained “fragmented, with no overall governance.”
   Research conducted by the two Agencies found some parts of the UK Public Sector were paying twice as much as others for the same type of paper and 170 per cent more for computer monitors.
   Head of the NAO, Amyas Morse said some Departments were spending seven times as much on every toner cartridge they bought than others were.
   “The public sector spends £220 billion (A$382bn) a year on goods and services,” Mr Morse said.
   “Given the potential to make significant savings, it is vital that there is much better co-ordination of procurement activities to ensure value for money is secured across the public sector.”
   Chief Executive of the Audit Commission, Eugene Sullivan said better procurement practices would provide an opportunity to make savings that didn’t cut into front line services.
   The two watchdogs looked at spending on eight areas including office equipment, travel and food across Whitehall, local government and the National Health Service during 2009.


25 May, 2010
ZAMBIA
Strategy to beat HIV/AIDS
in PS
The effects of HIV/AIDS on the Public Service in Zambia are to be tackled by a new strategy released by the Cabinet Office.
   The Strategy for the Prevention and Mitigation of HIV and AIDS in the Public Service addresses the prevention and transmission of the pandemic and its management within the PS.
   Secretary to the Cabinet, Joshua Kanganja said studies conducted in a number of Ministries had found morbidity and mortality among staff was affecting productivity, service delivery and morale.
   Dr Kanganja said skills shortages were being experienced in the Public Service due to HIV, increasing costs of recruitment, training and the payment of terminal benefits.
   “Government is alive to the fact that unless pro-active interventions are undertaken the pandemic will continue to impact negatively on performance and productivity,” Dr Kanganja said.
   He said implementation guidelines and frameworks for the strategy would be released as would a “monitoring, evaluation and reporting framework for HIV and AIDS workplace programs.
   Dr Kanganja said the strategy recognised most Government institutions already had policies and programs in place to combat AIDS and that it sought to complement and strengthen existing strategies rather than replace them.
   “The goal of the HIV/AIDS strategy for the Public Service is to manage and mitigate the effects of the pandemic on service delivery and all other functions through effective workplace policies, plans and programs,” he said.
   Dr Kanganja said policies and programs would be employee-centred, culturally sensitive and consistent with the national response to HIV/AIDS.
   He urged all Ministries to ensure their policies adhered to the principles and provisions of the strategy.
   Dr Kanganja recognised the PS stakeholders who participated in consultative workshops.
   “Your input enriched the strategy and ensured that it will go a long way to serve the Public Service in Zambia well in its efforts to address the challenges posed by the HIV/AIDS epidemic,” he said.


25 May, 2010
FIJI
PS accused of laziness
Public Servants in Fiji have been accused of being slow, complacent and non-responsive with a laid-back attitude that was damaging service delivery.
   The Prime Minister of Fiji, Commodore Frank Bainimarama and the Head of Works, Transport and Public Utilities, Colonel Timoci Natuva made the comments at the launch of Civil Service Public Week.
   Commodore Bainimarama said Public Servants needed to ensure they provided appropriate, timely and professional services to the public.
   He said many members of the public were unaware of the services provided by the PS, and that Public Week would help create awareness of the services and how they could be accessed.
   Colonel Natuva said corruption was also rife across the Public Service.
   “Alarming was the laid-back attitude of civil servants particularly in coming to work late with the attitude of simply being there to collect (their) pay at the end of the next fortnight,” he said.
   The Colonel also raised issues such as the overlapping of roles, duplication of work and wasted resources.
   Commodore Bainimarama said Ministries would have booths on display during Public Service Week.
   He said no one at ministry booths would be permitted to drink alcohol or play cards as the booths must be able to provide the public with information on reforms and services.
   “My Government is focused on ensuring that the Civil Service is modernised and has an appropriate structure in place,” Commodore Bainimarama said.
   He said in order to modernise the service, it needed appropriate technology, workers with the right attitude and must be results orientated.


25 May, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
PS bonuses capped to
save funds
A limit has been placed on the number of Senior Public Servants in the United Kingdom who will receive bonus payments.
   Prime Minister, David Cameron said only the top 25 per cent of senior staff would receive a bonus compared to the 75 per cent who would qualify for the extra cash this year.
   Mr Cameron said awarding bonuses to 75 per cent of top staff was “a crazy thing to do” and vowed the cut-costing measure would save taxpayers around £15 million (A$26m) a year.
   “I believe that to do this we need to lead from the front,” Mr Cameron said.
   “That’s why the Cabinet and I agreed to take a 5 per cent pay cut.
   “Now we need senior Civil Servants to join us in showing leadership as we reduce the deficit, while protecting the vital public services on which we all rely.”
   Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude said it was only fair senior staff played their part in reducing the PS wage bill.
   “We want to see a more consistent and streamlined system where bonuses are only awarded to those senior Civil Servants who have performed exceptionally well in achieving their Department’s objectives,” Mr Maude said.
   “There is no place in the modern civil service for a presumption of good performance. Rewards must be earned.”
   The bonus cap came as the Prime Minister announced a 30 per cent cut in spending on management and administration in the National Health Service (NHS) and an inquiry into Public Service pay to ensure the system is fair.
   Mr Cameron said NHS managers and other top PS staff should not earn “more than 20 times the lowest paid” in their organisations as was currently occurring.
   The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union has welcomed the inquiry, but said it needed to expand its parameters if it was to be successful.
   General Secretary of PCS, Mark Serwotka said the review was a great opportunity to tackle low pay, unequal pay and the unfair bonus system.
   Mr Serwotka said basic pay in the PS had increased by 6.5 per cent since 2007, compared to an inflation increase of 10 per cent.
   He said the lowest paid in the PS earned just above the minimum wage and many PCS members were paid just £13,000 (A$22,500) a year.
   Mr Serwotka called for all bonuses in the Public Service to be scrapped and the money redistributed through annual pay rises which count towards pensions.


25 May, 2010
CANADA
Super subsidies in
firing line
A report into the difference between public and private sector pension plans in Canada has been released by the Canadian Federation of Independent Business.
   The CFIB report, Securing the Future, calls on the Federal Government to “level the playing field” with the private sector and stop subsidising PS pensions.
   “The Federal Government uses taxpayer dollars to ever-so-generously outmatch its employees’ pension contributions,” the report says.
   President of the CFIB, Catherine Swift said the report found Federal Public Servants contributed just 34 per cent of the cost of their pensions compared with higher levels in some provincial and private-sector plans.
   “Hard-working lower- and middle-class Canadians in the small business sector should not be subsidising the generous retirements of Public Servants, most of whom do not even contribute anywhere near an equal share of their own retirement packages,” Ms Swift said.
   She said one of the recommendations in the report was a gradual increase in the Federal Public Sector pension contribution rate to 50 per cent for employees, the ratio most commonly used at the provincial level.
   “This would not only act as a fairness measure, but it would also make the Federal Public Sector pension system much more financially viable in the long term,” the report says.
   Ms Swift said the report recommended phasing out early retirement incentives in the Public Service and suggests Government offer incentives to increase private sector pension coverage.
   “Prior to the adoption of any other changes to the retirement income system, Governments should make finding ways to re-establish a level playing field between the public and private sector a top priority,” she said.
   “Once that has been achieved, addressing other issues will be much easier and fairer.”


25 May, 2010
NAMIBIA
Call to stop favouritism
Public Servants are quitting the Nigerian Public Service because they are frustrated with the PS ‘system’, according to the Deputy Chairperson of Parliament, Margareth Mensah-Williams.
   Ms Mensah-Williams said some Public Servants were being denied promotions due to favouritism and leaving the Service as a consequence.
   “We are frustrating competent Civil Servants,” Ms Mensah-Williams said.
   “This thing must stop in Namibia.”
   She said some Permanent Secretaries favoured certain Public Servants over others leading others to become frustrated, resulting in the public suffering from poor service delivery.   However she noted many Public Servants were not properly trained in the delivery of goods and services.
   Ms Mensah-Williams made her comments in the Nigerian National Council while debating the establishment of the Namibia Institute of Public Management (NIPAM).
   She said she supported NIPAM and wanted to see the institution train Public Servants to become professionals.
   “Civil servants should leave politics to politicians,” she said, adding if they wanted to pursue a career as a politician they should leave the PS.
   Ms Mensah-Williams said she wanted to see NIPAM receive the technical and financial support it needs as “sometimes we create institutions but, we do not support these institutions.”
   NIPAM is expected to enhance efficiency and good governance in the Public Service.


25 May, 2010
NIGERIA
Leaders called on to improve services
The Nigerian President, Goodluck Jonathon, has told the Regional Conference of the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management (CAPAM) that good governance was integral to accountability in the Public Service.
   In a speech at the CAPAM conference, presented by the Minister of Interior on his behalf, Mr Jonathon called on leaders across the Commonwealth to “improve the quality of public administration and management” and ensure “substantial improvements in the quality of livelihood” were made across Commonwealth member states.
   “There can be no good government without good public sector institutions with a critical mass of Public Servants who are irrevocably committed to the promotion of the common good,” Mr Jonathon said.
   “Accountability is also an embedded process of good governance within an agreed framework for holding someone or institution responsible for the delivery of anticipated results or outcomes.’’
   The president said global challenges could be effectively resolved through a regime of good governance across Commonwealth nations.
   Also speaking at the event, the Nigerian Head of Service of the Federation, Stephen Oronsaye said globally low ethical standards in the business of governance meant some leaders were mistrusted.
   “In Africa, like in other parts of the world, efforts are now on to regain the long lost trust that the citizenry had in their leaders, particularly the political class,” Mr Oronsaye said.
   “The Public Service, on its part, must also mobilise required policy intelligence to ensure that it earns the trust of the citizenry and aids the State to record quick wins in war against poverty and disease.”
   The three-day CAPAM conference explored good governance, running a public service efficiently and effectively and building more capable States in the Commonwealth.


25 May, 2010
IRELAND
The Prime Minister of Ireland, Taoiseach Brian Cowan has promised to get more people working on reform in the Public Service after a union leader told him to “get off his backside” and help deliver a more integrated PS.
   The General Secretary of the IMPACT trade union, Peter McLoone made the comments at the union’s annual conference.
   Mr Cowen said he agreed that a greater effort towards achieving reform was needed.

UNITED KINGDOM
The leader of the union that represents senior Public Servants has called on the Government to restore public trust in the Public Service.
   General Secretary of the FDA (formerly the First Division Association), Jonathon Baume said Ministers must display personal and moral integrity to help restore public trust.
   Mr Baume also called on the Government to be frank about the severity of the financial crisis faced by the UK.

CAYMAN ISLANDS
Public Servants in the Cayman Islands have accepted a proposed 3.2 per cent pay cut which d comes into effect on 1 July.
   President of the Cayman Islands Civil Service Association, James Watler said his organisation would not oppose the cuts.
   “I would remind Civil Servants that better days are ahead, because we will overcome the economic crisis that now exists in these islands,” Mr Watler said.
   “We do not know when, but there is a shining light and we will reach that shining light.”

HONG KONG
New starting salaries for Public Service recruits with degree qualifications have been announced in Hong Kong.
   Starting salaries will be decreased in accordance with recommendations made by the Standing Commission on Civil Service Salaries and Conditions of Service.
   After the reduction, which is to come into effect in October, the revised starting salaries are expected to be at or above US$19,835.

UNITED STATES
The Defence Department in the United States has contracted out $400 million in business over the past six weeks to help it overcome the threat of cyberwar.
   Defence contractor, Booz Allen Hamilton was awarded nine contracts with the Air Force and contracts with other Defence Agencies to provide threat monitoring, detection and information to help the Department of Defense orient its cyber security priorities.
   Other measures being considered to help fight cyberwar are an early warning system to monitor cyberspace and technology to help protect future military satellite communication systems development.


18 May, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
PS central to political negotiations
Public Servants in the United Kingdom played a major role in the recent negotiations to form a coalition Government, acting as “traffic cops” to provide support to the parties involved.
   The role of the Public Service in the case of a hung Parliament was outlined by Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, Sir Gus O’Donnell in a manual published earlier this year.
   The manual was the first of its kind to clarify the procedures, conventions and practices for the PS to follow during a hung Parliament.
   While negotiations were held between parties, a team of Public Servants provided advice on constitutional issues, provided factual information on policy proposals and provided logistical support for meetings.
   The Public Servants attended a number of the negotiating meetings to provide information on costs and to complete written summaries of discussions to ensure all involved knew what had been agreed to.
   Professor of Government at Oxford University, Vernon Bogdanor helped draft the manual and said the Public Servants played an important supporting role.
   “They’re facilitating,” Professor Bogdabor said.
   “They’re not actively negotiating.”
   He said when it became clear that no party had won the election outright, the then Prime Minster, Gordon Brown asked Sir Gus to provide support to the negotiating parties.
   He said the task of keeping the Queen informed of the progress of negotiations between parties also fell to top Public Service officials including Sir Gus and the Permanent Secretary to the Prime Minister’s Office, Jeremy Heywood.


18 May, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
New Minister recants on abolition call
Public Servants at the United Kingdom’s Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have been assured they will keep their jobs after Britain’s new Prime Minister, David Cameron told them to “get down to work.”
   Mr Cameron made the comments after appointing Vince Cable as Secretary of Business.
   Mr Cable had earlier called for the Department to be abolished, but has now vowed to work with it.
   “I think I’ve threatened to abolish you, but I’ve learned the error of my ways,” Mr Cable said.
   “Things are going to change because Government’s going to work in a different way.
   “As far as this Department’s concerned the immediate issue is dealing with the very difficult choices the Government’s got to make.”
   Mr Cable said he would work with the Department to create a long term vision about the future of Britain’s finances.
   Mr Cameron said he was expecting great things of the Public Servants working at the Department and of Mr Cable
   “I want you all to get down to work to make sure we send a big signal: this country is open for business,” Mr Cameron said.
   “Vince Cable is an absolute star in terms of economic policy and economic thinking.”
   The FDA Union for senior PS staff, (formerly the First Division Association) has called on Mr Cameron to reconsider the former Government’s threat to cut the Senior Public Service by 20 per cent by 2011, saying it would result in the loss of talent at a crucial time.
   General Secretary of the FDA, Jonathan Baume said the coalition Government was Britain’s first in 70 years and that the skills and experience of senior staff were needed to help navigate a new path.


18 May, 2010
NIGERIA
Unapproved staff to
be sacked
Public Servants hired by the Rivers State Government in Nigeria after 2007 are to be fired following a determination of the by the Government that many were employed without proper approval.
   Head of the Public Service, Esther Anucha announced a 12-person panel had been set up to facilitate the sackings.
   Mrs Anucha said Public Servants who had been promoted twice during the same period would be “unmasked” and demoted immediately.
   She said all those who found their way into the employment of the Government without due process would be thrown out.
   She said the Government also wanted to know the actual number of staff and pensioners in its Public Service as it was worried about the continued appearance of ghost names on the payroll.
   Mrs Anucha said the names continued to appear despite the Government committees investigation into the matter and actions taken to quell fraud in the Public Service.
   She has ordered the members of the new panel to examine payment vouchers and the nominal rolls of all Ministries, Departments and Agencies to uncover dodgy employees and the names of people who had retired but were still being paid.
   She said pensioners and staff who had died but were still included on the nominal roll and the names of people who were receiving double salaries would be addressed.
   Mrs Anucha has asked the new panel to identify the actual number of pensioners on the payroll and to suggest ways of recovering money that had been paid but remained unclaimed in bank accounts.


18 May, 2010
NEW ZEALAND
PS Code of Conduct extended
The Code of Conduct for Public Servants in New Zealand has been toughened up to include tighter rules on political activities and conflicts of interest.
   The Code now encourages Public Servants to discuss their political activities and those of close family members with their managers.
   The State Services Commission released new guidelines to help Public Servants interpret the Code and reminded them to remain apolitical while carrying out their professional duties.
   The Political Neutrality Guidance document also includes a new section on political activities and encourages Public Servants to discuss any political activities with their manager to avoid conflicts with their work obligations.
   The guide says the “financial interests of some people in the State Services (or of their close family or friends) may be related to the operations of the organisation” and could create the perception of a conflict of interest.
   It says some of these conflicts should be documented in an “accessible” register.
   Spokesperson for the State Services, Jason Ryan said revision of the documents and policies commenced some time ago but was not prompted by recent apparent breaches of the code of conduct.
   Mr Ryan said the revised guidelines and Code would help ensure Public Servants had the “clearest, most accessible guidance about their responsibilities in terms of the standards of integrity and conduct.”
   National Secretary of the Public Service Association, Brenda Pilot said her organisation supported the inclusion of detailed guidelines around political activities but did not support the introduction of a register of potential conflicts of interest.
   Ms Pilot said a lack of clarity previously meant employees tended to be overly cautious.
   Spokesperson for Labour State Services and former Public Servant, Grant Robertson said it was reasonable for Public Servants to discuss their political activities with their managers but that “dragging” family members into discussions was taking matters to “another level.”
   “There’s a risk of overblowing this problem and the Government in launching these two inquiries is showing they are sensitive, but I think we do need to respect Public Servants and come up with criteria that they work with their managers on without turning it into a much bigger problem than it is,” Mr Robertson said.


18 May, 2010
UNITED STATES
Recruitment overhaul begins
Recruitment and hiring processes for the United States’ Federal Public Service are to be revamped and updated after the President, Barack Obama labelled them complex and inefficient.
   Mr Obama released a memorandum calling for essay-style questions to be removed from the application process to improve timeliness and for managers to become more involved in the hiring process.
   “To deliver the quality services and results the American people expect and deserve, the Federal Government must recruit and hire highly qualified employees, and public services should be a career of choice for the most talented Americans,” the President said.
   “Yet the complexity and inefficiency of today’s federal hiring process deter many highly qualified individuals from seeking and obtaining jobs in the Federal Government.”
   The Office of Personnel Management (OPM) released the final draft of its 2010-2015 strategic plan, which outlined the need to overhaul the recruitment process, in March this year.
   The five-year plan lays out approaches to rework the federal hiring process by promoting innovative ways of recruiting, streamlining the end-to-end hiring process and increasing manager engagement.
   The OPM laid out long-term performance goals for Departments and Agencies which included speeding up the hiring process, improving hiring-manager satisfaction with applicant quality and improved applicant satisfaction.
   Director of OPM, John Berry said he was convinced the OPM could make “bold changes.”
   “Achieving the strategic goals outlined in this plan may not be easy, but doing so is absolutely necessary to make the Federal government the model employer in the United States, and OPM its model agency,” Mr Berry said.
   The Pentagon’s Acting Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Civilian Personnel Policy, Marilee Fitzgerald said the reform was an “historic opportunity” to get rid of the out-of-date system.
   The reforms are the first to the recruitment system since the Civil Service Reform Act of 1978.


18 May, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
Court overturns redundancy cap
Plans to cut Public Service redundancy payments in the United Kingdom have stalled after the Government’s intentions were declared unlawful by the High Court.
   The Public and Commercial Services (PCS) union opposed the plans which would have seen PS severance pay capped at a maximum of two years’ salary for employees earning £25,000 or more and meant some Public Servants would miss out on thousands of pounds if forced from their jobs.
   The High Court ruled that changes to workers’ accrued benefits could not be altered without their consent or union agreement.
   The Court judgement requires the new Government to reopen negotiations with the PCS to see if an agreement can be arranged.
   General Secretary of PCS, Mark Serwotka said failure to comply with the ruling could result in more strikes like the ones called in the lead-up to the Court’s judgement.
   “Our members in the Civil and Public Services refused to sit back and watch their terms and conditions being ripped up in front of their eyes,” Mr Serwotka said.
   “We have always accepted that changes are necessary but all we ever asked is that they were fair and protected those who have given loyal service.
   “We will now be knocking on the door of the next Government to remind Ministers they are legally obliged to reach an agreement with us.”
   Public Sector Employment partner at a UK law firm, Helen Farr said the Government could delay making job cuts if it felt it could reach an agreement with the Union to save money on the redundancies.
   “The Government may well put redundancies on hold pending the introduction of new terms, but I don’t think it’s going to be possible to do a deal in the near future, so it depends on how much time the government has to play with,” Ms Farr said.
   “It may just have to bite the bullet and make the redundancies anyway.”
   A spokesperson for the Cabinet Office said he was “disappointed” by the Court’s decision.


18 May, 2010
SPAIN
PS wage cuts to
meet deficit
Spanish Public Servants are to have their wages cut by five per cent this year and frozen in 2011 as the Government struggles to bring the country’s deficit to within European Union guidelines.
   The Government has announced that cuts would hit high-earners the hardest, with Ministers and some Public Servants taking a 15 per cent reduction.
   Spanish trade unions have called for Public Servants to go on strike over the austerity measures.
   The General Workers’ Union (Unión General de Trabajadores) said strike action was warranted because of the “unprecedented aggression” of the measures which it said were in breach of earlier commitments.
   Minister for Finance, Elena Salgado said the Government had no choice other than to reduce PS salaries.
   “Cutting salaries and freezing pensions is something we only do because we have to,” Ms Salgado said.
   “There is a moment when you have to do it and we did it.”
   Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriquez Zapatero will see his wage fall from €91,982 (A$129,000) to €78,185 (A$109,000).
   Mid-ranking Public Servants with average annual salaries of A$168,000 will be hit with a 15 per cent cut, reducing their salaries to around A$143,000.
   A Local Council doctor working in a Madrid health centre would see his or her salary drop by at least 5 per cent, from A$78,000 to around A$74,000.
   The National Statistics Institute said one fifth of Spain’s salaried workers were employed in the Public Sector and that the average salary in Spain (including private sector) was A$28,500.
   The austerity drive follows those of Ireland and Greece and was launched as a result of pressure from other members of the Eurozone and the International Monetary Fund.


18 May, 2010
KENYA
PS embraces mobile technology
The Kenyan Public Service is being transformed by the increased uptake of mobile devices and mobile internet technology.
   As the usage of mobile devices such as phones and computers races ahead of traditional computer internet use, the resulting changes in public service delivery have been dubbed ‘Mobile Government” (M-Government).
   M-Government takes public services and makes them available via mobile devices such as mobile phones and Palm Pilots (PDAs), bypassing the need for traditional physical networks.
   The initiative has seen public services become more accessible and citizen-centric.
   As more advanced mobile devices become more common, and faster rates of data transfer become possible, the Kenyan Government is expected to improve its M-Government services.
   A recent study on Internet usage in Kenya indicated a strong increase in mobile internet usage, with mobile devices overtaking traditional PC access to the internet.
   According to an article on the online Business Daily Africa, the study shows Kenya has the potential to improve its e-Government services and make them more inclusive with mobile devices acting as delivery channels.
   “Both developed and developing countries have been experimenting with mobile delivery of public services for the last five to seven years,” Business Daily Africa said, “and there is plenty of experience to learn from for the newcomers to the M-Government agenda.”
   “Developing countries seem to be ahead of the game this time around.”
   The online source said the growth in mobile devices was partly the result of failed telecommunications policies and under-developed communication infrastructure.


18 May, 2010
CHINA
PS recruitment strengthened
Moves to strengthen China’s Public Service recruitment systems have commenced, with the Deputy Director of the State Administration of Civil Service calling for improvements.
   The Deputy Director, Yang Shiqiu said the Public Service written exam and interviews needed to be strengthened to make the system more competitive.
   Mr Yang said assessments of candidates and open selection also needed to improve to ensure the most talented applicants were recruited into the ranks of the PS.
   He said a constant effort should be made to improve the selection of staff and that Departments and Agencies should make plans well before carrying out competitive recruitment.
   Mr Yang said Agencies should make personnel allocation of mid-level cadres and below clear at the beginning of every year and make annual arrangements in line with directions from the Central Government.
   He said any Agencies that had not carried out competitive employment processes needed to learn from those which had.
   Mr Yang urged all to adapt the competitive employment system and to implement it as soon as possible.
   He said organisations that had already adopted the system should continue to improve it.
   He said Agencies should avoid carrying out competitive employment sporadically and should implement it at all times, not just when requested to do so by higher authorities.


18 May, 2010
Ireland
Members of the Civil Public and Services Union in Ireland have voted against an offer by the Government on Public Service pay and reform.
   Members of the CPSU, who are traditionally lower-paid Public Servants, voted 67 per cent to 33 per cent to oppose the agreement, known as the ‘Croke Park’ deal.
   The negative vote came despite the news two other Public Service unions, the PSEU and Association of Higher Civil and Public Servants, had backed the offer to restore pay scales.

JAPAN
Plans to establish a new office to manage the personnel affairs of senior ministry officials in Japan are well on the way with the Lower House of Parliament passing a Bill to allow the reform.
   The Bill would enable the Government to appoint senior ministry officials from a list of candidates across all ministries, rather than those within each ministry.
   The Bill will now be debated in the House of Councillors before a final decision is made.

ROMANIA
Public Service wages in Romania are to be cut by 25 per cent from June while pensions and unemployment payments will be reduced by 15 per cent.
   The moves come as the Government struggles to revive its economy.
   The wage cuts are expected to affect around 1.3 million people.

UNITED STATES
A report into the Public Service n the city of New Orleans in the United States has found it has “not evolved” in 40 years and is in desperate need of an overhaul.
   The report recommends some low-cost ‘quick fixes’ and long-term solutions to improve the calibre of newly employed staff, current employee standards, the uptake of technology and promotion processes.
   The report was prepared by the George Bush School of Government and Public Service at Texas A&M University and found the Public Service was not performing to its full potential due to a lack of resources and a failure to embrace advances in governance.

ZIMBABWE
The Zimbabwean Government has completed an audit on the effectiveness of the Public Service after it was delayed twice due to logistical problems.
   The results of the audit, which aimed to catalogue all Public Servants following a decade of mass exodus of workers, will be used to resume PS recruitment.
   Deputy Minister for Public Service, Andrew Langa said the results would be known after the audit data was analysed.


11 May, 2010
GREECE
Pay cuts as country
faces bankruptcy
Public Service salaries have been cut by 25 per cent in Greece as the country adopts austerity measures to avoid bankruptcy.
   Setting up a range of cutbacks and spending reforms, the Greek Government has passed a $40 billion Austerity Bill to slash billions of dollars off public spending and pension payments and lead to wholesale cuts to public services and personnel.
   At the same time the new legislation imposes tax increases, a higher retirement age and deep cuts to public sector bonuses which will reduce take-home pay further for one fifth of the PS workforce.
   The cutbacks were demanded by the European Union in return for a $157 billion aid package to help Greece avoid bankruptcy and be able to meet debt repayments.
   The new Bill will see the savings plan implemented through 2012.
   The austerity measures sparked protests with a major strike last week resulting in the deaths of three bank workers whose building was set on fire.
   Stop work action grounded all flights in and out of Greece during the protests; ports were shut down, schools and Government Services closed; and hospitals left working with emergency medical staff.
   Prime Minister, George Papandreou said he had no choice but to implement the austerity measures
   “There was only one other solution - for the country to default, taking the citizenry with it,” Mr Papandreou said.
   “And that would not have affected the rich, it would have affected workers and pensioners. The emergency measures are the condition for us to regain our credibility.”
   Head of one of Greece’s largest unions, GSEE, Yiannis Panagopoulos said low-income Greeks would suffer disproportionately under the Government’s austerity measures.
   “These people are losing their rights, they are losing their future," Mr Panagopoulos said.
   “The country cannot surrender without a fight.”
   Commissioner of the European Union, Olli Rehn said Greece’s financial trouble was a "unique case" that was due to wastefulness and tampered accounts.
   “Greece is a unique and particular case in the EU because of its precarious debt dynamics and because it has cheated with its statistics for years and years,” Mr Rehn said.
   The Prime Minister has recognised protestors’ demands that corrupt politicians blamed for the crisis be punished by promising to crack down on corruption.
   “We will send and we must send cases (of corruption) to the prosecutor,” Mr Papandreou said.
   “This is what Greek people demand.”


11 May, 2010
ISRAEL
More Arabs to join PS
A Parliamentary Committee in Israel has released an interim report calling for increased representation of the Israeli-Arab community in the Public Service.
   According to the report, only six per cent of Public Servants are Arabs even though they constitute 20 per cent of Israelis.
   Head of the Parliamentary Committee, Dr Ahmed Tibi said the report showed laws directing “appropriate representation” of Arabs in the PS were not being implemented and were being used “as a pretext not to hire Arabs.”
   Dr Tibi said while laws did not define what percentage was “appropriate”, a Cabinet decision dictated Arabs were supposed to make up 10 per cent of the Public Service by 2012.
   He said the report found the 10 per cent goal would not be reached by 2012.
   “The principle conclusion of the report is that the law, which talks about the requirement of appropriate representation in general and noncommittal terms, is not enough, and there is a need to determine that the level of appropriate representations should equal the proportion of the Arabs in the general population or close to it,” Dr Tibi said.
   He presented the report to the speaker of the Knesset (Parliament), Reuven Rivlin, who said there were very real gaps between the Jewish and Arab populations.
   Mr Rivlin said the causes of the problem were irrelevant and that the way forward was to implement solutions.
   Minister in Charge of Minority Affairs in Israel, Avishai Braverman told members of the Parliamentary Committee that he agreed with Dr Tibi.
   Mr Braverman said Arabs should make up 20 per cent of the PS and that he did think the Government would reach its goal of 10 per cent by 2012.
   “The government’s test is not in the decisions or plans it makes but in deeds and results,” Mr Braverman said.
   “A positive result will be when Israeli Arabs are employed in the Civil Service close to their representation in the population.”


11 May, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
Call to outsource PS jobs to India
Sending thousands of Public Service jobs offshore could help cut the United Kingdom’s public deficit, according to a report from the UK’s Management Consultancies Association.
   The report, We can cut the Deficit, includes advice from eight consultancies, Alsbridge, Atos Origin, Bourton Group, Digital Public, EC Harris, Navigant, PIPC and PricewaterhouseCoopers.
   In the report the consultancies call for PS jobs to be moved to countries such as India and for Departments to share back-office services.
   Partner at PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC), Dave Allen said £4 billion (A$6.7bn) could be saved annually in the Human Resources, finance and procurement functions through a combination of offshoring, outsourcing, more shared services and re-engineered processes.
   “A mandate is needed from the top, with the centre asserting the need for shared services to cross organisational boundaries, and considering the transfer of existing central Government shared services to centralised ownership,” Mr Allen said.
   “This would permit the aggregation and extension of services under arms length arrangements.”
   Head of Public Sector at Alsbridge, William Benn said the private sector already reaped the benefits of offshoring.
   “An immediate way for a new Government to save money on the overhead cost of generic administration is to send the work offshore,” Mr Benn said.
   “Not passports, defence or intelligence work, just the standard transactional work of finance and administration.”
   Mr Benn said the outsourcing market was “robust and mature enough to cope with the high standards and rigour that Government requires” and that banks had already addressed offshore security and privacy issues and “solutions are well proven”.
   “Shake out the simple admin, send it offshore, and save,” he said.
   Senior manager at Alsbridge, Shaun Dunphy said there was a “phenomenal amount” of public money being spent on Departmental solutions for similar cross-Government needs.
   Instead, Mr Dunphy suggested sharing services and technology to reduce running costs by 12 to 16 per cent.
   “The answer lies in highly integrated public services demonstrating joined-up thinking when it comes to both back- and front-office services,” he said.
   The suggestions in the report are estimated to be able to save the Government over £25 billion (A$42bn) each year.
   We can cut the Deficit was available from www.mca.org.uk


11 May, 2010
ZIMBABWE
PS wage freeze denied
The Minister of Public Service in Zimbabwe has denied claims made by the country’s Finance Minister that there is a wage freeze on Public Service salaries.
   Public Service Minister, Elphas Mukonoweshuro said freezing salaries was not Government policy, backing up comments made by the country’s Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai.
   “There is no Government policy to freeze Civil Service salaries at present,” Mr Mukonoweshuro said.
   “That is the position of Government, which at the moment is cast in stone.
   “The Prime Minister therefore, lucidly pronounced Government policy on the issue, and that is the last word.”
   Mr Mukonoweshuro also reminded Ministers not to step outside their portfolio responsibilities.
   “It is important for me to stress that all issues pertaining to the Ministry of Public Service, remuneration issues, conditions of service, human resources policy and management are the responsibility and central mandate of the responsible Minister and no-one else,” he said,
   “This Government does not operate on the basis of ‘super Ministers’ who may frequently arrogate to themselves responsibilities that are neither in their present province of competence nor designated mandate.”
   Mr Mukonoweshuro said the Government acknowledged salaries did not constitute a living wage based on a fair day’s work for a fair day’s wage.
   Three cabinet committees have been set up to look into the plight of Public Servants who downed tools earlier this year in protest against wages.
   Workers are demanding a minimum wage of over $450 from the current average of $170.


11 May, 2010
JAMAICA
Productivity key to PS improvements
The Jamaica Civil Service Association has acknowledged that “rampant waste” was evident in the public sector, but said the problem would not be easy to resolve.
   President of the JCSA, Wayne Jones said simply reducing the wage bill would not fix the issue and that other measures such as increased productivity were needed.
   “Waste is rampant in the public sector, no question about that,” Mr Jones said.
   “That waste includes waste in material, waste in terms of how we expend and how we do procurement, waste in how we manage motor vehicles and even the way we recruit people and compensate them.”
   Mr Jones said there was also “significant fat” in many of the contracts given out for roadworks.
   He said while the wage bill needed to be brought within 9.5 per cent of Jamaica’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP), if the GDP was higher, the $130-billion wage bill would pale into insignificance.
   Mr Jones said increasing productivity would help get the wage bill to the desired level and mitigate the need to cut the size of the work force.
   He said cutting the wage bill was a budgetary slash-and-burn exercise which had failed to work in the past.
   “Say you want to save $10 billion, you go ahead and look for the $500,000 jobs and you divide $500,000 into $10 billion and it tells that you need to cut 2,000 jobs and we have seen that done in 1991,” Mr Jones said.
   He said since 1991 the sector had been forced to hire more people than it cut.
   “You can’t cut the police because we are short, teachers are also short and the health sector is woefully short,” Mr Jones said.
   “Nurses can’t get paid if you don’t have clerks in the accounts branch, teachers can’t get chalk in the school if the procurement unit is not up and running.”
   He said the Government needed to find creative ways to compensate its Public Servants.
   “Some people borrow money from the State for miscellaneous loans or motor vehicle acquisition and so we say engage in a trade-off... this is a revolving loan fund so it is not revenue the Government is giving up... so we say find creative ways,” Mr Jones said.
   “I use the Public Service too. I go on the other side of the counter too and I am dissatisfied with the level of service you get in some places, so we are saying ‘fix it’.”


11 May, 2010
GHANA
33,000 transferred in decentralisation plan
Around 33,000 Public Servants in Ghana are to be transferred to the Local Government Service as part of decentralisation efforts aimed at strengthening district assemblies and improving policy implementation.
   The moves are being overseen by the Ghanaian Government’s Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee.
   Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Joseph Yieleh Chiereh said an efficient and professional core of Local Government staff was a prerequisite for quality service delivery by Local Government authorities.
   “If you look at the decentralised Departments, they continue to operate both from the region and also at the national level,” Mr Chiereh said.
   “If you transfer the responsibilities and functions to the district assemblies, naturally, you will require fewer people at the national level, because they will not be implementing anything from there.
   “Implementation will then be by the assemblies, and that is why you need to move people to there.”
   Mr Chiereh said the Inter-Ministerial Coordinating Committee would monitor and evaluate the progress of the decentralisation program and resolve constraints and policy issues linked with decentralisation.
   He said the 1992 Constitution empowered Parliament to enact laws to bring about a decentralised Local Government system, with a degree of financial autonomy, and for the participation of the people in decision-making.
   Mr Chiereh said its purpose was to promote a balanced and accelerated development throughout the country.
   He said 22 decentralised Departments at the district level would cease to exist in their present form and would be reconstituted into 16 departments in the Metropolitan Assemblies, 13 in the Municipal Assemblies and 11 in the District Assemblies.


11 May, 2010
UNITED STATES
Recognition week spotlights PS
Public Service Recognition Week has been held in the United States to reward the country’s Public Servants and to improve the public perception of Federal Government employees.
   The week was hosted by the non-profit organisation, Partnership for Public Service, and the Public Employees Roundtable.
   President of the Partnership for Public Service, Max Stier said the 2010 theme ‘Innovation and Opportunity’ gave citizens the chance to see the groundbreaking work being done in Government and to explore PS careers.
   “There are two goals here,” Mr Stier said, “to make sure that the current Federal workforce gets some real applause, because they deserve it, and the second is that the American people get an improved picture of their Public Servants.
   Mr Stier called for change, saying many people no longer thought about Government service as being part of public service.
   “In today’s world, Government service has been bled out of public service,” he said.
   “We need to re-inject Government service into public service.
   “As important as the nonprofit sector is, without a vibrant, healthy Government, none of the other stuff works.”
   Events held throughout the week included the presentation of Service to America Medals; a Students’ Day, Federal Jobs Workshops; and letter writing seminars to send thanks to American troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan.
   A celebration toolkit was also put together to help Agencies and communities celebrate the work done by Public Servants.


11 May, 2010
ZAMBIA
Service delivery improvements
Zambia’s Public Service Management program is to be reformed to concentrate on improving service delivery and transforming payroll systems.
   The changes came following a Mid-term review of the program which resulted in a number of recommendations for improvement.
   Under the changes, the Public Service Management program (PSM) is to support the Government as it reviews Ministries to ensure staff performance and service delivery are improved.
   The PSM is also expected to help develop service delivery charters for selected Ministries.
   The reorganised PSM is to guarantee implementation of PS pay reforms, implement the country’s recently approved pay policy and conduct job evaluations.
   The review team recommended funds from the PSM budget be used to provide technical support to the Salaries and Wages Commission of Inquiry to investigate gaps in the Public Service pay policy.
   It also recommended PSM activities be mainstreamed to ensure the sustainability of the reforms.
   Resources are expected to be made available for institutions that have demonstrated commitment to reform and rapid improvements in public service delivery.
   Other recommendations included engaging Ministry managers to secure the necessary commitment to the reforms; prioritising targets for the short to medium term; implementing a more systematic approach to restructuring and service delivery; strengthening political leadership; and championing PS reforms; and mainstreaming PSM activities to ensure project sustainability.


11 May, 2010
NIGERIA
Election warning for
PS staff
Public Servants in Nigeria have been reminded to steer clear of politics in the lead up to the 2011 general elections.
   Governor of Abia State, Theodore Orji commended Public Servants for their understanding of the financial challenges faced by the Government and advised them to remain committed to their jobs.
   “I expect Civil Servants to stick strictly to the tenets of the Civil Service,” Mr Orji said.
   “We hold firmly the mandate of the people and we will not condone acts capable of undermining our administration.”
   The Governor cautioned Public Servants not to abandon their jobs to “dabble” in politics and urged them to be vigilant and watchful.
   “Naturally, people will come to you, making promises that they have no plans on earth of fulfilling,” he said.
   “Let us all use the eyes of elders to separate the wheat from the chaff.”
   Mr Orji said an effective and responsive Public Service was an integral component of creating a greater State.
   He said the Government remained committed to promoting workers to the next grade level by improving their welfare.
   The Leader of the State Opposition called on the Government to “take preparatory measures towards the implementation of the living wage” which is being negotiated across the country.
   The living wage has been calculated on the minimum indices that can ensure a family of six can afford food.
   The Opposition also called on the Government to review the salaries of Permanent Secretaries with the intention of increasing them.


11 May, 2010
NIGERIA
Nigerian Public Servants have rejected an offer of a 10 per cent payrise and are continuing to demand a 75 per cent increase and reduced pay disparity.
   After declaring a five-day strike, Public Servants called off the action when the Government promised to conclude all wage issues within two weeks.
   A negotiation team was established on 6 May to resolve the pay dispute.

MALAYSIA
The Chief Minister for the Malaysian State of Sarawak has praised the State’s Government for transforming the Public Service to allow the community to participate in the development process.
   Chief Minister, Tan Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said the Government no longer merely handed out aid, but allowed the public to include their own efforts towards development.
   He said achievement was gauged from performance rather than the amount of money spent.

TONGA
Tonga’s Attorney-General, John Cauchi has resigned from his post in protest against what he alleged was Government interference in the judiciary.
   The Tonga Public Service Association (PSA) has written to the country’s Prime Minister, Dr Feleti Sevele, to ask him to encourage Mr Cauchi to return to his job.
   The PSA also called on the Government to rethink plans to shut down the Judicial Services Commission.

BOTSWANA
The Director of Botswana’s Network on Ethics, Law and HIV/AIDS has raised concerns over the number of Public Servants being dismissed from top positions without being given a hearing or reasons for their release.
   Uyapo Ndadi called on the Government to speedily implement the Public Service Act of 2008 and enact a law to protect the employment of people with HIV.
   Mr Ndadi said that under the Act the HIV status of PS job seekers could not be used against them.

MALDIVES
Public Servants in the Maldives are to take over the monitoring of Local Council elections after a Bill barred politically appointed Councillors from doing so.
   The Bill also requires voters to vote on the island on which they registered, prompting some Members of Parliament to say the measure was unnecessary and meant many Maldivians would be unable to vote.


4 May, 2010
SOUTH AFRICA
President says PS
is the worst
The President of South Africa has labelled the South African Public Service the “worst in the world”.
   President Jacob Zuma said apartheid could no longer be blamed for service delivery failures and that Directors-General - and not junior officials - should personally handle public queries.
   Lack of accountability, and not money, was responsible for most of the country’s service delivery problems.
   The Public Service has seen a shake-up since President Zuma took power in May last year, with about half the Directors-General appointed under former President Thabo Mbeki, leaving or being “redeployed”.
   The President said Directors-General should personally handle the queries from his presidential hotline, which he said had received more than 674,000 calls since it was established at the end of last year.
   The Government did not lack money or skills but rather faced “a crisis of accountability”, which is why potholes remained unfilled, schools remained without windows and hospitals without medicines.
   “The administrative systems that exist in Government are worse than any other in the world,” President Zuma said.
   “In some of our front and back offices are employed men and women who do not respect the jobs they are employed in or the citizens they are appointed to serve.”
   He said inefficient Public Servants who failed to improve “should be encouraged to leave”.
   He also addressed criticism from Opposition parties that the ruling ANC was deploying “cronies” to Government positions, saying that the party had to employ people who agreed with the party’s principles to do the work properly.


4 May, 2010
ITALY
Official email service
in chaos
A new secure email system introduced in Italy to allow citizens to contact the central Government direct has been plagued by teething troubles.
   Citizens wanting to register for the new service, which officials said they believed was the first of its kind in the world, were frequently greeted by a photograph of a smiling young woman and the message: “The maximum number of connections has been reached. Try again later.”
   Some users complained that the system crashed while they were halfway through the initial stage of registration, leaving them in a kind of administrative limbo, with their request entered into the system but no confirmation and none of the identification details that are required to take the process forward.
   A spokeswoman for the Italian Post Office said it did not expect that Italians would adopt the service in such massive numbers. The Post Office and Telecom Italia have the contract to provide the service, which is available free of charge to all Italian citizens.
   The companies said they had been receiving around 20,000 online registration requests every hour since the service was launched.
   Citizens wishing to use the service are required to register online and then complete the registration process in person at designated Post Offices, where they must provide confirmation of their identity.
   The certified electronic mail service, known by the acronym PEC, is intended to replace registered letters as a means of official communication with the State administration.   The certified e-mails will enable citizens to communicate with State-run schools and hospitals, with the national tax authorities and with their local Council.
   Doctors will be able to use it to provide medical certificates confirming a worker’s right to sick leave.
   Minister for the Civil Service, Renato Brunetta who has been pressing for the modernisation of Italy’s cumbersome State bureaucracy, said the new measure would promote efficiency and help to combat corruption.
   He said the initiative would enjoy the enthusiastic backing of the country’s 22 million Internet users.
   “They are the most dynamic section of the population. When the PEC is widely distributed and they turn to the State administration for the most part online, they will provide a decisive incentive for the creation of a digital society,” Mr Brunetta said.


4 May, 2010
GREECE
PS protests over
austerity plan
Public Servants across Greece walked off the job for 24 hours last week as a protest against cost-cutting measures put in place by the Government to appease EU Commissioners and the International Monetary Fund.
   The workers’ action was against PS wage cuts, increases in the retirement age and tax rises. Public services were disrupted and schools closed while emergency staff tended to patients at State hospitals.
   Members of the All Workers Militant Front (PAME) union maintained a blockade of Athens’s main port of Piraeus, disrupting ferry services.
   But airports remained open after air traffic controllers agreed to suspend their participation in the strike so as not to pile more misery on travellers who had been grounded by Iceland’s volcanic ash cloud.
   Thousands of protesters gathered in central Athens for protest marches, carrying banners reading “tax the rich” and “don’t take the bread from our table”.
   Riot police unleashed tear gas after about 150 demonstrators challenged police lines near the city’s central Syntagma Square.
   A spokesman for PAME, George Perros said the strike was a necessity due to the Government’s attack on pensions, employment rights and incomes.
   “We want measures that will protect the unemployed,” Mr Perros said.
   Ministers have begun talks with top International Monetary Fund and European Union officials on an expected three-year $A64 billion “rescue package” that unions warn will lead to even more cuts.
   Secretary General of the 500,000-member public-sector ADEDY union, Ilias Ilopoulos warned that more “bloodthirsty measures won’t help Greece pull out of the crisis”.
   A Public Servant, Pavlina Parteniou said she and her colleagues “won’t tolerate any more austerity measures because we already can’t make ends meet”.


4 May, 2010
UNITED KINGDOM
Call to dump top
Public Servant
An independent think tank in Britain has called for the appointment of a new head of the Public Service from private enterprise.
   Director of the think tank ‘Reform’, Andrew Haldenby said that in order to address the “mountainous” problems facing the country, the new Government would need to draw on every ounce of Whitehall’s expertise.
   “Yet The Civil Service has its own agenda, with a predilection to spend rather than save, and with great experience in talking Ministers out of their attempts to reform Government,” Mr Haldenby said.
   “This is why I would urge the next Prime Minister to make an extraordinary decision: to replace the head of the Civil Service, Sir Gus O’Donnell, with an outsider, one with a track record of management success at the highest level.”
   He said the new PM should to be bold, and aim very high for people such as Sir Terry Leahy, of Tesco, or Sir Stuart Rose, of Marks & Spencer.
   “There are, of course, many Civil Servants motivated by genuine public spirit who would like nothing more than to reduce waste and improve efficiency, but just as many will protect their own jobs, and those of their friends, at the expense of front-line services,” he said.
   Mr Haldenby said Sir Gus O’Donnell had been notably obstructive to reform.
   “A basic principle of good government in countries like Australia and New Zealand is that Ministers should appoint Permanent Secretaries, who are then clearly accountable for their performance and can be moved if they are no good,” he said.
   “ When my own think tank published research on the subject last year, Sir Gus caused a diplomatic incident, telling the press that the US Civil Service was slow and bureaucratic – just as Gordon Brown was concluding his first meetings with the newly elected President Obama.”
   By doing this Sir Gus had judged the defence of the Public Service to be more important than the Prime Minister’s relationship with Britain’s most important ally
   “Sir Humphrey would be proud,” Mr Haldenby said.


4 May, 2010
JAMAICA
PS to be paid in kind,
not cash
The Government of Jamaica is looking at paying its Public Servants in kind as it has insufficient funds to pay them in cash.
   Faced with an unprecedented financial crisis, the Government said it was examining “non-monetary options” as a means of settling outstanding payments.
   Unions representing public sector workers were left disappointed following a meeting with Prime Minister, Bruce Golding who, they said, presented no favourable offer.
   Mr Golding reiterated that only $J2 billion ($A24.3 million) had been allocated in this year’s Budget to pay Public Servants despite there being more than $13 billion ($A158 million) owed.
   State Minister in the Ministry of Finance and the Public Service, Senator Arthur Williams, said meetings were being scheduled with the relevant groups on Wednesday and Thursday of this week.
   “These meetings will focus on alternatives to the seven per cent increase due to Civil Servants,” Senator Williams said.
   He said that following the discussions, a report would be prepared and presented to the Prime Minister.
   The Jamaica Civil Service Association (JCSA) has already indicated that it was open to accepting alternative payment arrangements from the Government.
   Jamaica has been hard-hit by the Global Financial Crisis and Mr Golding has said that there were “harsh realities that we must recognise, understand and confront”.


4 May, 2010
KENYA
Performance contracts
for all
The President of Kenya, Mwai Kibaki has unveiled performance contracts for all Public Servants including judges and Ministers.
The President said performance contracting must be applied uniformly across the entire public sector.
   “I wish to clearly indicate that implementation of performance contracts is not a selective requirement. This goes for all public institutions without exception. We must therefore place punitive punishment for those who fail to implement the program,” President Kibaki said.
   He said the full benefits of performance management would only be fully harnessed if the practice was extended to all arms of the government and called for the quick inclusion of the legislature and the judiciary.
   “I wish to note that, while the process of performance contracting has progressed remarkably well it has been limited to the executive arm of Government. Needless to say, the performance and actions of any of the three arms of Government has a direct bearing on the other arms,” he said.
   “The ultimate benefits of performance management cannot be fully harnessed until the requirement for accountability for results is extended to all the three arms of Government.”
   The President said the guiding principle in the introduction of the performance contracts was to restore order in the administration of public affairs. The process was also intended to create a sense of accountability.
   A more efficient Public Service had already led to immense infrastructure development, exceptional expansion of the education and health sectors and increased food production by local farmers.
   Improved revenue collection had enabled the country to finance the revival of important industries in various sectors of the economy.


4 May, 2010
CANADA
Recruitment program
fails audit
The Canadian Auditor-General has been unable to evaluate a revolutionary new PS recruitment and staff management system because the Public Service has not kept adequate records.
   The Public Service Modernisation Act is up for a standard five-year review, but Auditor General, Sheila Fraser said Parliamentarians had “limited information” when deciding whether the legislation needed fixing.
   Ms Fraser found that the changes had been put in place, but discovered relevant information and “performance indicators” were not gathered to assess whether they had worked.
   “One would expect that for an initiative of this importance that touches so many people, that they would have this information, especially with a parliamentary review coming,” Ms Fraser said.
   “To do a good review, one would expect there would be information on what the Act accomplished and what areas need to be modified or changed.”
   The Act was supposed to streamline the Government’s staffing process, but the audit found it still took more than 23 weeks to fill a job, which is even longer than before the law was changed.
   The audit also found the Treasury Board was repeatedly late in introducing its annual reports on human-resource management to Parliament. The 2005-2006 and 2006-2007 reports were both introduced two years late and the 2007-2008 report had yet to be delivered.
   Ms Fraser said the Act’s success was critical for the Public Service. The Government had to manage its people well so they could effectively advise the Government and deliver services.
   “This is even more critical as thousands of baby boomers retire and are replaced by a generation of new bureaucrats who have different expectations about work,” she said.


4 May, 2010
ZAMBIA
PS wins 25% pay rise
A collective bargaining process in Zambia has returned Public Servants a 25 per cent pay rise over two years.
   The unions that have signed the agreement include the Zambia National Union of Teachers (ZNUT), Secondary School Teachers Union of Zambia (SESTUZ) and the Basic Education Teachers Union of Zambia (BETUZ).
   Others include the Agriculture Technical Professional Staff Union of Zambia, Civil Servants and Allied Workers Union, National Union of Public Service Workers, Zambia Union of Nurses Organisation and the Health Workers Union of Zambia.
   President of BETUZ, Victor Mwanza said that the agreement will be implemented in two phases beginning with the salary increase of 15 per cent with effect from 1 April this year.
   Under phase two there would be a salary increase of 10 per cent with effect from 1 April, 2011.
   Mr Mwanza said other improvements to existing conditions of services such as housing allowances had also been agreed.
   With the increasing house rentals, both Government and the unions would remain committed to reviewing the same allowances during the life span of the new 2010 to 2012 collective agreement.
   He urged the Government to quickly resolve any problems which may arise from the administration and management of the re-defined rural-remote hardship allowances during the implementation period.


4 May, 2010
IRELAND
More staff cuts on the way
The number of Public Servants employed by the Irish Government is expected to fall by about 800 over the next two years in line with a Directive issued by the Department of Finance.
   The new employment control document mandates a fall from 37,376 at the end of this year to 36,594 at the end of 2012.
   The reduction is expected to come about mainly as a result of a moratorium on recruitment in the Public Service.
   The Government has also put in place an incentivised early retirement scheme for PS personnel in a bid to reduce the numbers on the State’s payroll.
   The employment control document states there will be a reduction of more than 170 in the number of authorised staff in the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food over the next two years.
   Reductions will also hit a number of other PS areas, including the Central Statistics Office, Department of Education, Department of Foreign Affairs, Department of Health, Office of Public Works, the Courts, the Department of Justice, and the Taoiseach’s (Prime Minister’s) Department.
   In a proposed new Public Service pay and reform deal negotiated with unions at Croke Park last month the Government signalled that it wanted to “substantially” reduce the number of State employees over the coming years. However, it gave no specific details.
   It said that this reduction would be implemented by new employment control frameworks covering various parts of the Public Service.
   Earlier this month, The Irish Times revealed that more than 1,500 posts in the Health Service are to go over the coming year under the terms of the new directive on employment numbers agreed by the Department of Finance and the Department of Health.


4 May, 2010
GREECE
About 100 young men and women whose jobs as tax inspectors have been frozen under the Greek Government’s austerity measures, have joined nationwide protests.
   The young people, demonstrating outside the Finance Ministry, had passed the tough PS entry examinations and signed contracts only to be told that the work was no longer available.
   Ironically, they are the people whose contribution might have eased the crisis as tax evasion is rife in Greece and a source of its problems.

ANGOLA
The Minister of Finance, Carlos Alberto Lopes, has promised that the Government has enough money to pay its Public Servants and there would be no generalised delays in salaries.
   He admitted there had been some technical problems that had stopped the Finance Ministry in making the payments but said 98 per cent of salaries had now been paid and there were no current widespread delays.

UNITED STATES
Public Service Recognition Week, an annual series of events to honour public sector workers at the Federal, State and Local levels, has begun in the United States with a Senate Sub-committee hearing on attracting and retaining Federal workers.
   It is continuing with exhibits from more than 100 Federal civilian and military Agencies on the Washington Mall.
   Hundreds of astronauts, fire-fighters, police officers and members of the military will meet Washington-area students during the week. Other events in the Recognition Week, now in its 25th year, include a Federal job fair and a letter-writing project for PS staff serving abroad.

GHANA
The website of the Public Services Commission (PSC) has been officially launched with the aim of promoting information-sharing and dissemination within Ghana and abroad.
   The website address: www.psc.gov.gh is expected to serve as a platform to inform and educate the public about the Commission’s activities.
   The PSC was established to embark on a more rigorous policy of training and appointing Africans to positions in the Public Service.

TURKS & CAICOS ISLANDS
A 10 per cent cut to Public Service pay has been put off for a month.
   The decision came after an appeal from Consultative Forum members who pointed out that the 2,500 public sector workers had already suffered months of late wages.
   The Consultative Forum is an appointed body, with members drawn from the community, which advises and recommends on legislation.
   The pay cuts will now take effect in May, rather than April, as originally envisaged.

BRITISH VIRGIN ISLANDS
The castigating of Public Servants by Members of the House of Assembly has drawn fire from Leader of the Opposition, Orlando Smith.
   Dr Smith said that while it was a fact that the cost of running the Public Service needed to be reduced, it was absolutely wrong to tell off the Public Servants so openly.
   The Opposition Leader said that Public Servants carry out their work based on instructions by the various Ministers and without them, the country would not be able to function.