SearchArchives for April 2008
28 April, 2009UNITED KINGDOM
Budget includes massive PS cuts
Thousands of Public Service jobs in the United Kingdom are officially under threat with the announcement of increased PS efficiencies, asset sell-offs and cuts in services as part of the Government’s 2009-10 Budget.
In his Budget speech, Chancellor Alistair Darling unveiled measures to improve procurement, sell off State-owned operations and buildings and stimulate local innovation.
Mr Darling said this would save £6 billion ($A12.3 billion) a year by 2010-11 and a further £9 billion ($A18.45 billion) by 2013-14. The savings come on top of £30 billion ($A61.45 billion) efficiency savings already being put in place.
According to Mr Darling, the tightened circumstances represented the toughest squeeze on public spending since World War II and were due to pressure to reduce the country's record borrowing levels.
He had already promised to cut this year's borrowing total of £175 billion ($A359 billion) to £97 billion ($A198 billion) in 2013-14.
According to commentators, hitting the wealthy with bigger tax bills would account for one-third of the savings, with the rest coming from "efficiencies" in public spending and reductions in capital spending projects.
They said that would translate into real cuts in services, although the most severe effects would be delayed until after the next General Election, potentially leaving the most difficult decisions to a different Chancellor.
While the Government was unlikely to give details of further cuts until after the election which was expected in the first half of 2010, Mr Darling indicated that he had set a target of increasing public spending by just 0.7 per cent in real terms from 2011-12 – little more than half the level being projected six months ago.
The ruling Labour Party has said it wanted to protect front-line spending on health and education, while the Opposition Conservatives have guaranteed that budgets for health, schools and international development would not be reduced.
With Government Departments also having to meet huge interest payment bills as well as benefits for steadily-increasing unemployment levels, most areas of Government spending are expected to suffer cuts and job losses.
Cash was expected to be raised by the sale of a minority stake in Royal Mail, the partial or complete sale of the Royal Mint and heavy cuts to the size of the Land Registry.
Union leaders protested that the attack on budgets would lead to job losses.
General Secretary of Unison, Dave Prentis, said the PS had returned more than three per cent efficiency savings in each of the past three years.
“Studies show you cannot extract any more without damaging services," Mr Prentis said.
28 April, 2009
NEW ZEALAND
PS to be “right-sized”
Confirmation that the New Zealand Government plans to “right-size” the Public Service has drawn criticism from the Labour Opposition which says it amounted to Public Servants being treated as second-class workers.
Opposition Spokesman on State Services, Grant Robinson said the Public Service appeared to be exempt from Prime Minister John Key’s expressed desire to keep New Zealanders in work.
“Mr Key seems to forget that Public Servants losing their jobs are just the same as other people,” Mr Robinson said.
“They have families to look after and mortgages to pay.”
He said the previous Government had rebuilt public services over a decade, in order to ensure New Zealanders could receive the services they needed and deserved.
“It seems Mr Key and his Government are determined to repeat the mistakes of the past,” Mr Robinson said
Referring to reports that the Inland Revenue Department is next in line for job cuts, he said some people might say that tax collectors are an easy target for the Government.
“But taxpayers deserve the best possible services,” he said. “Any frustration people might feel with contacting IRD will only be made worse by cutting jobs.”
“This is an issue for all New Zealanders, as job cuts are taking place right across the country.”
28 April, 2009
FIJI
PS taken over by military
Reports from inside Fiji say the military Government has extended its influence into almost every corner of the Public Service, prompting Amnesty International to predict the likelihood of civil unrest.
The international human rights organisation claimed conditions in the troubled South Pacific nation were getting steadily worse since Army Chief Frank Bainimarama was reinstated as interim Prime Minister following the President's decision to abrogate the Constitution.
Amnesty Pacific Analyst, Apolosi Bose said a compliant Police Service was supporting Commodore Bainimarama, while the military was using intimidation to quell dissent.
Mr Bose said Fiji's economy was crumbling, increasing the prospect of a public backlash against the military Government.
"The crime rate will definitely increase and there is a possibility of a grave law-and-order situation in Fiji," he said.
"There are also soldiers who are going to be losing their jobs because of the decree to lay off people who have reached 55.”
This, and a general dissatisfaction with the situation, could lead to a situation of civil conflict, he said.
Commodore Bainimarama has insisted democracy will be restored only when he has rewritten the Constitution and changed electoral laws he claims are biased against the country's ethnic Indian minority.
The United Nations Security Council has demanded the restoration of democracy and fair elections as soon as possible, but Commodore Bainimarama has shown an unwillingness to be swayed by international condemnation in the past.
28 April, 2009
SWEDEN
Bosses monitoring PS internet use
A survey of Public Service Agencies in Sweden has revealed that a majority monitor their staff’s internet usage with about a third also monitoring workers’ emails.
Of the 39 organisations who responded to a questionnaire sent out by a Public Service Union magazine, nearly 90 per cent said they allowed workers to use workplace computers on private business
But five don’t allow workers to use the internet for any private matters whatsoever while on the job.
A lawyer with the Rail Administration, Harald Troive, one of the organisations which had a blanket ban on private internet use, said employees were expected to use “commonsense” when surfing the internet at work.
“The agency’s computers and telephones should be used for company business and not for private matters,” he said.
The survey revealed that six out of 10 Agencies monitored employee internet use and email habits, although the extent of the monitoring varied greatly from one Agency to another.
Four said they monitored all internet use by employees, most performed random checks or extracted data from extensive logs of internet use.
Monitoring of email use was less common than that of web surfing, with only one in three employers reporting that they regulated workers’ email use.
The Kronofogden Enforcement Agency allowed employees to send private emails, but urged workers to do so as seldom as possible.
It requires private emails to be erased continually, and blocked employees from forwarding incoming messages to private email accounts.
28 April, 2009
NIGERIA
Call to investigate PS pensions office
Retired Public Servants in Nigeria have complained about the way they are treated at the official Pensions Office.
They have called on the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) to investigate Pensions Office officials saying they attend quickly only to those who pay bribes.
A newspaper reporter who visited the Office heard employees rudely telling the elderly former Public Servants that they could not be attended to because there were no computers to work on.
An elderly pensioner said the Pensions Officer had taken months to correct a simple problem with her name and bank account number.
"Most pensioners have almost similar problems and when we came to the Pensions Office to complain of the non-payment of our pensions due to the faults, we were made to fill a 'Bank Complaint Form',” she said.
The forms were then shuffled between various officials for several weeks, eventually ending with the Assistant Director Computer.
This official had refused to treat the cases urgently, telling them to come back in three weeks. When they returned they were told the form had been misplaced and they should start the process all over again.
Another pensioner said staff in the computer section came late to work and complained there was no light for them to do their work.
A Pensions Office official said there were not enough employees in the computer section to handle all the complaints brought by retired Public Servants.
SERVICOM, a Government organisation that investigates complaints of poor Public Service performance, said the performance of the Pensions Office was “abysmal”.
Acting Public Awareness Manager, Ikenna Emeka Okpani said weaknesses discovered included non-existent waiting facilities, no form of reception and administrative delays.
“Staff do not adhere to laid-down procedures and there are hidden costs associated with service as monetary gratification is demanded from some of the Pensioners before they are attended to,” he said.
“We recommended that there should be no administrative delays such as missing files, documents etc; pensioners should be attended to immediately, while monetary gratification should not be demanded from pensioners before service is delivered.”
28 April, 2009
UNITED STATES
Army reservists take on border duties
The United States Customs and Border Protection Agency has signed an agreement with the US Army to use reservists as Border Patrol agents, agriculture officers and air interception pilots.
The Agency has 11,000 vacant positions.
It is the first Federal entity to join the Army Reserve's Employer Partnership Initiative, a collaborative project established last year to place reservists with a host of employers in the public and private sectors.
The Chief of the Army Reserve, Lieutenant General Jack C. Stultz, said he was seeking similar agreements that will start more reservists on careers with the Government.
The 206,000-strong Army Reserve has about 10,000 soldiers trained in law enforcement, nearly one-fourth of the Army's total military police force. About 12,500 reservists are deployed in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait.
General Stultz said if this deployment was to be sustained, employers needed to help.
"The benefit for me is a soldier with a good, steady job," he said.
Under Federal law, employers must hold jobs for military reservists called to active duty, but some reservists did not have jobs when they left, and others do not want to return to the same job.
Customs and Border Protection, a Division of the Department of Homeland Security, is the largest law enforcement organisation in the United States, with responsibility for securing trade and travel.
Assistant Commissioner for the Agency, Christine Gaugler said the 11,000 vacancies covered a wide range of positions, including frontline Border Patrol agents, agriculture officers and air interdiction pilots.
“Many Army reservists are well-qualified for such jobs,” she said.
"They have experienced many of the stressful situations we have experienced on the border, situations where they have to make decisions quickly, in difficult terrain and in the dark."
General Stultz said the Army Reserve had begun preliminary discussions about establishing a similar partnership with the Federal Aviation Administration, which is in need of air traffic controllers.
“We are also considering approaching the FBI,” he said.
28 April, 2009
GHANA
PS accused of ‘sitting idle’
One hundred days after a change of Government in Ghana, the users of public services have complained that nothing was being done and Public Servants were sitting around idle.
A symposium organised to assess the early performance of the President John Evans Atta Mills found his Administration had not shown sufficient commitment towards the targets it set itself within its first 100 days in office.
One of the speakers at the symposium, Dr Ato Conduah, complained of a policy vacuum.
While emphasising he was not calling for new policies and programs, he stressed the urgent need for the Government to continue pursuing existing policies which were prudent.
"There are Ministries which have been scrapped; there are also Civil Servants sitting idle in the Ministries, and I don’t think this augurs well for our Government," Dr Conduah said.
“It looks as though the Government is on a long holiday…we do not know whether we are moving or sitting at one place."
A security expert at the Kofi Annan International Peacekeeping Training Centre in Accra, Dr. Kwesi Aning, expressed shock and disappointment at the increasing rate of crime in the country.
I think there is still fear in towns, people are beginning to fear that when they talk, they will be arrested", he said.
He also expressed concern at the appointment of former military officers to the positions of Minister of Defence, National Security Coordinator and Security Adviser to the President, saying it gave the impression these offices were being militarised.
28 April, 2009
NEW ZEALAND
Tax Office faces
the job axe
New Zealand’s Inland Revenue Department has announced plans to lay off up to 250 staff.
IRD Commissioner, Robert Russell said that like many businesses and organisations, the Department had to tighten its belt in the current recession.
"We are cutting the cost and complexity of our business to provide better services to customers," he said.
"As we look to become a more streamlined organisation, we believe the responsible and mature thing to do is to give our people the ability to ask for voluntary redundancy if they believe it suits them."
However the Public Service Association (PSA), representing IRD staff, rejected a claim by Mr Russell that there was less need for staff because the KiwiSaver Scheme was slowing.
PSA National Secretary, Richard Wagstaff said one million workers had joined the scheme in the last 21 months.
"That's more than 2,000 people joining every working day and yet the IRD is cutting jobs because the Government is cutting its budget," he said.
"It's time the Government recognised that its cost-cutting in the public sector is putting vital services at risk and taking away jobs from hard-working New Zealanders who provide those vital services."
Mr Wagstaff said he was dismayed the Government was cutting staff just when the IRD was needed to help businesses make it through the recession.
The redundancy offer to staff was likely to be made in early May. A reduction of 250 staff equates to a four per cent cut in the IRD’s total workforce.
Prime Minister John Key said as many as 18,000 more people may become unemployed compared to a year ago.
Opposition Labour Party leader, Phil Goff said the Government was breaking its word on capping the number of Public Service workers without cutting jobs.
"Clearly it's going to slash jobs in Inland Revenue, Social Welfare, Health and other areas," he said.
28 April, 2009
KENYA
Praise for PS reforms
A survey by a Kenyan newspaper has revealed that despite criticism for inefficiency and corruption, the Kenyan Public Service has remained focused on its work and has introduced much-needed reforms.
However, the Sunday Nation reported that while some top Public Servants remained focused on their work, there were still some who would not serve the public unless bribes were given.
“It is this group that Public Service managers must now target,” the newspaper said.
It praised reforms which had resulted in rigid promotion criteria being overhauled that had previously made it difficult for staff to progress in their careers.
“With improved remuneration packages and the opening up of recruitment for people from the private sector, the Civil Service is fast becoming the employer of choice for many,” the Sunday Nation said.
“Some 4,000 people have so far joined the service from the private sector in just three years.”
The newspaper said this was improving the image of the Public Service which had lost a large number of top-rate employees to the private sector where the pay was much more competitive.
“Emphasis on internal recruitment led to inbreeding of bad practices. These should cease when the private sector personnel bring in a breath of fresh air,” it said.
“Yet the Government must not rest on its laurels. Some career Civil Servants are yet to embrace this change with bribe-taking still routine in some areas.”
28 April, 2009
INDIA
Speeches mark Civil Service day
India has celebrated its fourth annual “Civil Service Day” with awards for excellence and a renewal by PS staff of their commitment to public service.
The event was attended by the representatives of the 61 All India and Central Civil Services.
Keynote speaker, Vice President Shri M. Hamid Ansari said the concept of the Public Service had evolved over time and so had notions of its role and responsibilities.
“Independent India inherited from the British period a comprehensive Civil Service structure and established practices,” Vice President Ansari said.
“Its utility for ensuring national unity and good administration in the country is recognised by the Constituent Assembly and incorporated in the Constitution.”
India’s Public Service could not distance itself from the fundamentals of State policy, nor could it function effectively without being supportive of the policies developed through due process.
Mr Ansari said attempts by politicians to influence the functioning of the professional bureaucracy were not peculiar to India, though the quantum and frequency did matter.
“Civil Servants are the servants of the State and not of the Government alone,” he said.
“The challenge for the Civil Service is to explore and develop avenues for proper functioning in the context and the spirit of the responsibility assigned to it by the law of the land and the policies developed through appropriate legislative processes.
“More than at any time in India’s history as a republic, the necessity for the Civil Servant to be guided by the Directive Principles of State Policy is paramount and immediate.”
He said the Public Service should be above party politics and should ensure that political considerations, either in its recruitment policies or its discipline and control, are kept to a minimum.
Mr Ansari concluded by quoting advice given to Public Servants in the eighth century AD:
“The ruler cannot dispense with you. You alone make him a competent ruler.
“Your position with regard to rulers is that you are the ears through which they hear, the eyes through which they see, the tongues through which they speak, and the hands through which they touch.
“No craftsman needs more than you to combine all the praiseworthy good traits and all memorable and highly regarded qualities…”
21 April, 2009
UNITED STATES
Staffing crisis threatens PS policies
A looming crisis in staffing at the US Federal Public Service has been described as a “slow fuse” that was threatening to derail the Obama Administration's plans for economic recovery, healthcare reform, financial regulation, and other goals.
Lecturer in Public Finance at the Harvard Kennedy School, Linda Bilmes raised the alarm saying the advancing age of Public Servants combined with years of neglect had left the new Administration with a Public Service that was chronically weak, poorly trained, understaffed, and facing an acute skills shortage.
Ms Bilmes said that nearly half of all Federal employees were on the verge of retirement - including 90 per cent of the managers who ran the biggest programs.
She said Americans were finally realising that markets alone would not keep the country safe, secure, and prosperous.
“We need a strong, effective public sector, with a highly-functioning workforce, for the well-being of the nation,” she said.
“This will require a huge shift in our national mindset.”
She said the public, the media and elected officials needed to drop their destructive attitudes towards Public Servants which had prevailed since the Reagan era.
She said this discouraged talented people from joining the Public Service and undermined the morale of current employees.
“Instead of accentuating the negative, we need a culture that recognises and rewards the dedication of Government workers and restores the prestige and satisfaction of a Civil-Service career,” Ms Bilmes said.
She also accused the Government service of having its people management capabilities “rooted in another era.”
“The idea of investing in the workforce - which is what drives superior performance at America's best companies - is still largely foreign to the Civil Service,” she said.
“While we entrust Federal employees with public safety, security, and health, we spend less than one-third per capita on their training compared with private firms and the military.”
Ms Bilmes said lack of attention to people skills had sullied the Government's image among potential recruits with two-thirds of college seniors saying they would prefer to work for private or non-profit organisations because they didn’t see the Federal Government as a "caring" employer where there were opportunities for advancement.
“They are also put off by practical impediments - for example, 70 per cent of graduates say they can only afford to wait four weeks to begin a job, but the Federal Government takes three months to make a job offer,” she said.
She called for reforms designed to train Federal workers in leadership, management, procurement, and technical skills.
“Today, as the country faces serious challenges on many fronts, we have an unprecedented opportunity to reinvigorate public service,” she said. “Let's not let this moment pass.”
21 April, 2009
ZIMBABWE
PS and Ministry take funds for programs
A Cabinet Minister in Zimbabwe has admitted that the Government has only enough money to pay salaries for Ministers and allowances for Public Servants, with very little left for programs.
It is currently spending $US23 million ($A32 million) a month on salaries for Ministers and allowances for the PS.
Minister of Industry and Commerce, Welshman Ncube told a meeting in Bulawayo that the Government was able to raise only $US30 million ($A41.6 million) through taxes and other sources, leaving just $US7 million ($A9.7 million) for other purposes.
The more than 70 Ministers along with the Public Servants were costing US$23 million, he said.
Mr Ncube was speaking to stakeholders at a meeting called to try to salvage this year’s Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF), which is faced with collapse through lack of support.
Most Public Servants are currently paid $US100 ($A138.7) a month. Mr Ncube said he hoped they would be paid proper salaries once funding is secured.
“The major problem is that the Government has so far failed to attract meaningful financial aid from other countries,” he said.
“This has forced Zimbabwe to find ways of generating its own funds to finance major programs.”
He appealed to the business community to support the ZITF. Exhibitors have indicated they may not participate due to what they called the exorbitant tariffs demanded by the organisers.
21 April, 2009
FIJI
PS denied internet access
Fiji’s Public Servants have been cut off from the internet as the nation’s military rulers tighten their control on censorship.
The crackdown came as part of a general curbing of freedom of speech which the country’s military leader, Commodore Frank Bainimarama said was necessary to allow his Government to carry out reforms.
Commodore Bainimarama said freedom of speech "causes trouble”
“We want to come up with these reforms and the last thing we want to do is have opposition to these reforms throughout," he said.
Internet café owners have been told to shut down while their business permits, internet networks, software, technology and archives are investigated and approved by Government officials.
The Raw Fiji News (RFN) website reported that the Public Service’s internet connection had been disabled.
"Civil Servants report that they are forbidden from discussing anti-regime matters in the office and are discouraged from reading blogs after hours," RFN said.
The internet remains the only way for locals and tourists to get uncensored information about the political unrest after tough media restrictions were put in place to limit all non-positive reporting of political events.
International journalists have been deported, including ABC correspondent Sean Dorney, and the broadcaster has been ordered to shutdown its two FM transmitters.
All local news organisations must have coverage vetted by Government officials before it can be released, and a local journalist was detained after giving footage to a New Zealand television station.
Commodore Bainimarama said Fijians’ freedoms were a matter for him and his Government.
"We (the Government) now decide what needs to be done for our country," he said.
21 April, 2009
UNITED STATES
PS partnerships back on table
The United States Public Service looks set to reintroduce labour-management partnerships after eight years in which they were illegal.
The partnerships were introduced during the Clinton Administration in 1993 with the aim of building a more cooperative workplace relationship between management and employees with unions seeing them as an opportunity to play a part in workplace decisionmaking traditionally left to management.
The Clinton order was revoked by President George W. Bush less than a month after he took office in 2001 but the Obama Administration is considering establishing a new and improved version of the partnerships.
But even before President Obama acts, there has been movement on partnerships at the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
The Executive Board of the EPA's National Partnership Council has held its first meeting in years with Co-Chairman Mark Coryell, saying said there were some “good signs” that it could be effective again.
Mr Coryell is also the President of a Michigan branch of the American Federation of Government Employees.
EPA Administrator, Lisa P. Jackson said she met union leaders shortly after taking office and agreed to reestablish the partnerships at her Agency.
"I'm excited about it," she said. "They asked, and I was thrilled that they wanted to be part of a partnership again."
At partnership meetings the focus is on how workers and their supervisors can cooperate to improve Agency services.
Mr Coryell said the EPA panel, which has six members from the union and six from management, will eventually discuss such general workplace issues as telecommuting.
21 April, 2009
KENYA
PS pension fund
closed to PS
The Kenyan Government has ordered its Public Servants not to contribute to their own superannuation fund following charges of mismanagement.
The fund has labelled the move illegal and has refused to transfer payments to the private fund named to replace it.
Labour Minister, John Munyes, said the Government-backed National Social Security Fund would not transfer contributions in its custody until the relevant law is repealed.
“Unless the law is changed my hands are tied over this matter,” he said
However, Public Service Minister Dalmas Otieno – the architect of the new Public Service scheme - had earlier said that 26,000 Public Servants would not contribute to NSSF as required by law, but would direct the funds to the private scheme.
The NSSF Act requires any employer with more than five workers to contribute a specified amount of money to the public pension services provider.
Mr Otieno said the decision to move Public Servants away from the NSSF was prompted by gross mismanagement of the fund.
Under the new scheme, Public Servants are required to contribute five per cent of their salaries to the private pension fund, relieving the Government of the burden of paying 185,000 pensioners at an annual cost of Sh26 billion ($A45 million).
Mr Munyes appears determined to support the NSSF and has announced measures aimed at re-positioning it as a key player in the pensions industry.
He has directed a newly-constituted Board of Trustees to come up with an investment schedule to enable the provider to comply with the Retirement Benefits Authority regulations before the end of the year.
The Board is also required to urgently clear the more than 700 pending litigation and arbitration cases involving misused funds and property. It must also come up with a plan to dispose of idle land and property belonging to the NSSF.
21 April, 2009
TAIWAN
Contract workers call for equal rights
Workers on contracts in the Taiwanese Public Service have launched a campaign for an adequate pension and other employment conditions available to their PS colleagues.
The contractors say they often work for the Government for years without receiving an adequate pension. They also fear being fired arbitrarily.
The campaign represents Taiwan’s 26,000 Public Servants who were not protected by the Labor Standards Act and other laws governing public employees.
Leaders of a demonstration outside the Council of Labor Affairs building in Taipei urged the Council to protect their rights by announcing that the Labor Standards Act was applicable to them, and cited Article Three of the Act, which said that it “shall apply to all forms of employee-employer relationships.”
The protesters described themselves as just “disposable chopsticks” that could be thrown away after use.
One of the protest leaders, Labor Rights Association President, Wang Chuan-ping urged the Council to move quickly.
“We don’t want unstable work. We live with the fear of being the first to be laid off,” Ms Wang said.
A woman who had worked for the Taipei Police Department for 22 years as a contractor said that although the Labor Standards Act applied to temporary workers, the Department signed them on as short-term contractors so they could legally lay them off.
When she left she received only $ NT150,000 ($A6,100) pension from the Government.
The Council of Labor Affairs said the issue was under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Civil Service."
21 April, 2009
NEW ZEALAND
Ministerial staff safe from cutbacks
The New Zealand Government has attracted criticism for imposing a line-by-line search for cost reductions in the Public Service, but leaving its Ministerial staffing and services levels completely untouched.
The Gisborne Herald has expressed the opinion that Parliament House (known as the Beehive Building because of its shape) looks to be the best place to work to ride out the cost-cutting storm.
It said the Government's decision to leave untouched the $NZ56 million ($A44.65 million) budget for Ministerial services will be like manna from heaven for the Government's critics.
Prime Minister Key's explanation to journalists was that the money-saving options presented by officials for Ministerial services would have made little overall difference.
Mr Key has launched a campaign to curb New Zealand's bureaucracy, but has not extended it to the Beehive despite staff numbers under the previous administration increasing from under 1,000 to over 1,500.
Mr Key currently has a staff of 26, the same as his predecessor, and Deputy Prime Minister, Bill English has an office staff of 12, also the same as his predecessor.
The newspaper made the point that staffing levels in 2009 compared unfavourably with those of former Prime Minister Sir Keith Holyoake, who in the 1960s and early ‘70s, presided over Ministerial offices with two secretaries, a secretary-typist and an office messenger.
21 April, 2009
UNITED KINGDOM
Police plan to link all CCTV cameras
A plan to link all of London’s public and privately owned closed circuit television (CCTV) cameras has been proposed by the Metropolitan Police to fight crime.
The proposal has been attacked by civil liberties campaigners as excessive.
According to the police, London has half a million CCTV cameras trained on its citizens with just 10,000 operated by them and the rest used by private citizens, Local Councils and the city’s transport authorities.
If they follow up on their plan, it will be the first time all the city's cameras have been networked together.
Civil libertarians are fearful of the plan saying it would result in a massive surveillance infrastructure with no-one really in charge.
Leading campaigner, Guy Herbert said people monitoring CCTV feeds have sold images of everything from couples canoodling in their living rooms, to children of celebrities staggering out of their cars drunk, as well as compilation tapes of the most bone-headed driving manoeuvres. In his view, all of this is an invasion of privacy.
Mr Herbert also believed that under proposed new legislation, the police could demand CCTV footage from anyone operating a camera without needing a warrant.
There is nothing wrong with CCTV footage being taken by a shopkeeper or the police, but it must be used for a purpose and the tapes should not be kept in perpetuity," Mr Herbert said.
Crime fighting and the fight against terrorism are the main justifications given for allowing the number of cameras to grow, but according to British Government figures, 80 per cent of CCTV images are of too poor a quality to help a criminal investigation.
Home Secretary, Jacqui Smith has called for "commonsense rules" on how CCTV cameras are used, but Mr Herbert said legislation should ensure their use didn’t infringe on privacy, and "an accountable authority" should be appointed to manage the CCTV grid.
21 April, 2009
UNITED KINGDOM
Enquiry rejected by
PS head
The Head of the United Kingdom’s Public Service, Sir Gus O’Donnell, has refused to investigate accusations that more Ministers or Ministerial advisers, other than an adviser who resigned, were involved in a smear campaign against Opposition MPs.
Sir Gus was asked to investigate whether the Cabinet Office Minister, Tom Watson, was aware of plans for a smear website called Red Rag to run untrue gossip about the Conservative Party, including Leader of the Opposition, David Cameron and the wife of Shadow Chancellor, George Osborne.
But sir Gus appeared to have rejected the request in a letter to the Shadow Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude.
"Tom Watson has made his own position clear," Sir Gus said.
Mr Watson said through his solicitors that he had "no involvement in or knowledge of" the proposals to set up the website.
Sir Gus said Prime Minister, Gordon Brown had made it clear "that he has been assured that no Minister or political adviser other than Damian McBride had any knowledge of, or involvement in, the e-mails".
Mr McBride, Mr Brown’s former Head of Strategy and Planning, resigned after it emerged he had written e-mails making unfounded personal allegations about senior Conservatives.
Independent investigations into members of the Government would normally be carried out by the Ministerial Adviser on Interests, Sir Philip Mawer, after a request from Mr Brown. Such an Investigation does not appear to have been asked for.
In his letter, Sir Gus said that the actions of Mr McBride fell "far short" of the public's expectations.
He warned that any repeat of the behaviour by Special Advisers would result in automatic dismissal.
Sir Gus confirmed Mr McBride had not received severance pay
"As the PM has made clear, the events reported over the past weekend were not acceptable, and fell far short of the high standards the public has a right to expect," he said.
He said he had written to all Permanent Secretaries inform them that the Code of Conduct had been updated.
"In particular, under this strengthened guidance, it has been made specifically clear that special advisers will automatically be dismissed if they are ever found to be preparing and disseminating inappropriate material," he said.
Government MPs are appalled by the scandal with some warning further revelations could trigger a crisis of confidence in Mr Brown's leadership.
21 April, 2009
BAHAMAS
Public wants a better PS
A newspaper survey of residents in the Bahamas has found that they believe higher quality and better delivery of public sector services were well overdue for the island nation.
People who spoke to the Freeport News were of the opinion they had not noticed any improvement in the services being offered by Government offices.
One respondent, Greg Christie, said change is needed across the board in all Government Agencies.
"People are complaining about the service - it takes too long and nothing seems to be happening with it,” he said
“They are slow and I think it has something to do with insufficient resources but we need to plan for these things."
However, Gwendolyn Rolle said that not all Public Servants delivered poor quality customer service.
"I feel that there are some good sheep and some bad sheep,” she said.
“There are some of them who would go out of their way to serve you and be cordial and there are some of them who need to go back into some training.”
Another resident, Donald Ward, said consistency was a problem.
"We've gotten into this sporadic pattern where we have a week of good service, then go back to the way we were, or in some cases even worse," he said.
Shirley Mather said her major concern was the speed of Public Servants. "They move too slow; they need more workers,” she said.
“You could be here for hours and hours waiting and can't get inside."
Elkanah Walker gave good reviews to all Public Service offices except the Bahamas Customs.
"If you have a Customs officer checking your stuff, there should be no need for the supervisor to hold you up and check your stuff again,” he said.
14 April, 2009
IRELAND
Over 50s offered early retirement
Public Servants over 50 in Ireland are to be offered early retirement under a new scheme being introduced by the Government.
Government employees who chose to leave under the scheme would not be replaced except in special circumstances.
The Government is also to change the application of the controversial Public Service Pension levy, with very low earners to be made exempt from the measure. Unions have described the levy as tantamount to a pay cut.
New incentivised career breaks and shorter working year schemes are also being introduced for the PS.
According to the Irish Department of Finance, the global economic crisis has affected Ireland more than many other European countries, and the Government has ordered savings to avoid running out of money.
Under the early retirement scheme, staff over 50 would be able to retire on a pension based on their years of service but they would receive only 10 per cent of their lump sum immediately with the balance paid when they reached the normal retirement age of 60 or 65.
At present, lump sum payments are tax-free.
The Government said that the lump sum balance to be paid in future years would be subject to the tax provisions in place at the time the application to retire early was approved.
The lump sum to be paid to those retiring early would also be calculated on the basis of the number of years served.
The Department of Finance said the early retirement scheme would apply to staff in the Public Service, local authorities, the health sector, non-commercial State bodies and certain other Agencies.
However it would not apply to groups such as the Gardaí (police) or Fire Service personnel where existing early retirement schemes were in place.
A Departmental spokesperson said that not all staff in the education sector would be eligible for the new scheme.
Under the rules of the scheme, staff who leave will not be replaced except in specific cases or circumstances sanctioned by the Department of Finance.
Applications will be received from the beginning of May and the scheme will be reviewed before the end of the year with its ongoing arrangements decided “in the light of experience.”
The changes to the pension levy will cost the Government €100 million ($A186 million) this year and €150 million ($A279 million) in a full year.
Low income earners will benefit from the move while those earning more than €60,000 ($A111,500) will pay slightly more.
As part of the reforms the first €15,000 ($A28,000) of earnings will be considered exempt, while five per cent will apply on the next €5,000 ($A9,200) 10 per cent on earnings between €20,000 ($A37,000) and €60,000 ($111,500) and 10.5 per cent on earnings above €60,000.
14 April, 2009
KENYA
New Super scheme for PS workers
A new Public Service superannuation scheme has been established for Government workers in Kenya.
The reform strips sole control from the National Social Security Fund (NSSF), making it easier for Government workers to manage their retirement.
In the past, many retired or laid-off Public Servants had been unable to access their pension funds due to corruption and bureaucracy.
Under the new proposal, PS employees will be allowed to withdraw their contributions from the NSSF and deposit them with the new scheme.
Public Servants and the Government will run the Independent Board of Trustees that will manage the recently-introduced scheme, with PS employees, including teachers, police and the armed services having a 50 per cent representation.
Public Service Minister, Dalmas Otieno said the fund would also be subject to regulation under the Retirements Benefits Act (RBA) with employees able to access information on their contributions on demand.
The scheme will also have a fund manager and custodian.
“The new scheme will operate on a defined contribution basis, with employees contributing 7.5 per cent and the Government 15 per cent of basic salary,” he said.
“On the first year, one would contribute two per cent, in the second year five per cent and third year 7.5 per cent.”
Pensioners will access the Government’s contribution on reaching the mandatory retirement age of 60, or if they opt to leave the Public Service.
Government employees will also be allowed to transfer their services to other employers, without losing their pension benefits.
14 April, 2009
UNITED KINGDOM
Call for BBC to be less commercial
A Parliamentary Committee in the United Kingdom has called on the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to rein in its commercial operations.
The Committee said the BBC’s commercial arm – BBC Worldwide – has had an adverse impact on its commercial competitors and risked jeopardising the reputation of the BBC.
“A loosening of the rules that govern the limits to Worldwide’s operations has permitted new business ventures such as minority stakes in overseas production companies, the controversial acquisition of Lonely Planet, and a growing portfolio of magazines,” the Committee said
“We call for the commercial criteria and fair trading guidelines to be tightened so that in future BBC commercial activity must have a clear link with core BBC programming.”
The Committee also urged the BBC to open up the market for its programs to competitive bidding. BBC Worldwide currently has an exclusive "first look" option on the rights to all BBC programming.
“We are not convinced that this method ensures the BBC obtains maximum value for programming,” it said.
“We find it very difficult to make a case for BBC Worldwide’s investments in overseas and UK production houses and suggest the BBC should support the independent production sector by commissioning programs from a wide range of companies rather than by investing in a small selection of favoured companies.”
The Committee was highly critical of BBC Worldwide’s acquisition of the Lonely Planet publishing company and of the BBC’s commercial websites, which it regards as competing with existing commercial providers.
Committee Chairman John Whittingdale said that while he was in no doubt that the BBC should seek to obtain the maximum value from its brand and assets in order to reduce the pressure on the licence fee paid by the public, in many cases there was no reason why the BBC need undertake commercial activities itself.
“There is a balance to be drawn between generating a return for the BBC and preventing damage to its commercial competitors,” he said.
“We believe that the balance has tipped too far in favour of BBC Worldwide's expansion and we look to the BBC Trust to correct this".
14 April, 2009
PHILIPPINES
Red tape move gathers momentum
Up to 1600 Local Government units and agencies in the Philippines have signed up to a ‘Citizens’ Charter’ which promises to slash bureaucratic red tape for official transactions.
The groups have made a commitment to finish work on the Charter, a covenant of service standards between Local Governments and their clients, before the June 2009 deadline.
Spearheaded by the Civil Service Commission, the Charter groups have produced a 300-page manual that describes the step-by-step procedures and the number of hours or minutes in which a resident should be able to get permits, assistance and access services. It also contains, among other things, a directory of Local and Regional Government Agencies.
The manual says simple transactions should be resolved within five working days with 10 working days for more complex transactions.
Any violations of the charter would make Local Governments or its employees liable for criminal and administrative charges with penalties of up to six years in prison or a fine of P200,000 ($A5,900).
They could also be dismissed and disqualified from the Public Service.
Senator Panfilo M. Lacson said that as the author of the Anti-Red Tape Bill he commended efforts to see through its implementation. He also cited the relevant contributions of former Civil Service Commission chair, Karina David under whose stewardship the Bill was formulated.
14 April, 2009
NORTHERN IRELAND
PS backpay creating issues
Disagreements have arisen over who should pay Public Service backpay in Northern Ireland with the Finance Minister meeting Union leaders in a bid to resolve the stand-off.
At stake is a £100 million ($A205 million) package which, if unresolved could lead to industrial action.
The Northern Ireland Government has agreed the money should be paid, but believes the British Treasury should pick up the bill because the problem arose at the time the Province was ruled directly from Westminster.
General Secretary of the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance (NIPSA), John Corey said there had been some expectations the 13,000 staff involved might be offered a ‘deal or no deal’ package of about £3,000 ($A6,680) for every year in back pay owed, in the run up to Easter.
A spokesperson for Northern Ireland Finance Minister, Nigel Dodds said officials in Mr Dodds’s Department were keeping in close contact with the NIPSA and the Minister would consider any request for a meeting.
The Finance Minister, and his predecessor, Peter Robinson, have accepted the “moral and legal” obligation to pay the staff.
In an address to the Northern Ireland Assembly however, Mr Dodds said his Department was working to clarify the precise level of liability.
“Work that has been done suggests the liability may amount to a figure in excess of £100 million as a minimum,” he said.
14 April, 2009
CANADA
Watchdog to probe internet privacy
The Canadian Privacy Commissioner has set up an on-line discussion on the use of internet technology to intercept and examine information sent across the worldwide web.
Deep Packet Inspection, allows internet service providers and other organisations to intercept and examine packets of information as they are being sent over the internet.
Director of Research, Education and Outreach for the Commissioner's Office, Colin McKay said the decision had been made to conduct research into this technology after the Office received several complaints.
“We realised it was an opportunity to inform Canadians about the privacy implications,” he said.
The Office has launched a website where the public can discuss a series of essays on the technology written by 14 experts ranging from the Privacy Officer of a deep-packet inspection service vendor to technology law and internet security researchers.
The website also offers an overview of the technology, which it describes as having the potential to provide "widespread access to vast amounts of personal information sent over the internet" for uses such as targeted advertising, scanning for unlawful content or surveillance for national security and crime investigations.
Mr McKay said the discussion on the website was not an alternative to public consultation, nor was it expected to result in policy.
"It's really an attempt to take some of our research and make it more public and see whether that research can develop any more insights into the issue," he said.
"Technology can often be beneficial, but sometimes you do have to be, if not critical, at least questioning to make sure… the technology really is positively affecting your life."
14 April, 2009
CHINA
Universal health scheme being planned
A national health care plan is to be introduced in China to provide affordable health services to the nation’s 1.3 billion residents by 2020.
The decision, by the Central Committee of the Communist Party and the State Council, has been made after three years of intense discussion and revision
Providing basic health care as a public service will demand greater Government funding and is expected to cost 850 billion Yuan ($A174 billion) in its first three years alone.
Experts say this is the first time that basic medical services in China have been clearly defined as a public service for all citizens. The reform apparently aims to address long-standing criticism that medical services are difficult to access and increasingly unaffordable for many Chinese.
China's Social Security network, already burdened by expensive education, an ageing population and unemployment, has been further stretched by soaring medical bills forcing many ordinary Chinese to save money as a precautionary measure, instead of spending.
With the advent of the People's Republic of China in 1949, most city residents had almost all medical expenses paid for, while in rural areas healthcare was basic but completely free.
The economic reforms in the early 1980s resulted in a switch to a market-oriented health care system, but low Government funding forced doctors at State-run hospitals to "generate" incomes for the hospitals through prescribing highly-profitable, sometimes unnecessary drugs and treatment making medical services unaffordable for many citizens.
Peking University Professor, Li Ling said under the reform, the Government will improve the public health network for disease prevention and control, health education, mother and child health care, mental health and first aid services.
"I think all Chinese people will benefit from the new reform very soon,” Professor Liu said.
“However, the Government is still facing many difficulties.”
One of those was effective cooperation between all related Departments, she said.
“Only through balancing costs and investments can an effective medical system be achieved,” Professor Li said.
14 April, 2009
UNITED KINGDOM
PS challenges best and brightest
The UK Civil Service Association is calling for applications for the Civil Service Challenge, a new team-based competition which will be a feature of the second Civil Service Live event at Olympia in London in July.
The initial Civil Service Live was held last year and was voted an outstanding success by the majority of the 6,000 Public Servants who attended.
Civil Service Live is a brainstorming session at which the best and the brightest members of the British Public Service get together for interaction and networking with Prime Minister, Gordon Brown, Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnell, business and community leaders.
The Civil Service Challenge is open to any UK Public Servant
Organisers say the contestants will have to demonstrate pace, passion, pride and professionalism in their work as well as showing innovation in action.
“The challenge is designed for ambitious, exceptional individuals to show what the best of the Civil Service can do to transform the UK,” an organiser said.
“Contestants will be filmed at different venues around the country for Civil Service Live 2009 where they will appear on stage with Sir Gus O’Donnell as he decides the winning team.”
The organiser said applications would be accepted from individuals initially, with the Cabinet Office and the competition producers deciding on who should be placed into teams of four.
“They will be given a brief to address, it will be a real challenge, although for obvious reasons we can’t give any more details,” the official said.
The winners will take part in a personal Leadership Course with a chance to meet the Cabinet Secretary, he said.
14 April, 2009
ZIMBABWE
New body to tackle PS corruption
Public Service activists in Zimbabwe are pressuring for the establishment of a long-awaited Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to fight graft and corruption in the country’s Government and Public Service.
The establishment of such a Commission was part of the agreement signed between
President Robert Mugabe and leaders of the two Movement for Democratic Change (MDC), factions in September, 2008.
The ACC’s terms of reference would include, among other things, investigating cases of corruption with a view to bringing any culprits to justice.
Zimbabwe is ranked 130 out of 163 countries on the Corruption Perception Index produced by Transparency International
The Zimbabwe Parliament has constituted a committee to look into the formation and composition of an anti-corruption commission with strong powers.
Executive Director of Transparency International Zimbabwe (TIZ), Mary Jane Ncube, said her organisation welcomed the creation of an ACC but insisted that the process should be done in the public arena, rather than politicians cherry-picking Commissioners.
"It is not just the composition of the new proposed ACC that needs to be addressed but the composition and representativeness of the Commissioners,” she said
“They must be nominated through public platforms with their profiles set out in the public newspapers. The final selection and criteria for selection must also be in the public arena.”
Ms Ncube said the independence of the ACC and the nomination, selection and appointment procedures should be guaranteed by the new Constitution, which must also guarantee the oversight role of Parliament.
Coordinator of the Centre for Community Development in Zimbabwe, Phillip Pasirayi, said the Coalition Government should send clear signals that the new political dispensation would be corruption-free,
"There is a need to stem the rot and put an end to the looting of the public purse," Mr Pasirayi said.
14 April, 2009
IRELAND
Economic crisis accelerates PS reforms
The Irish Public Service is to undergo major reform in a bid to bring it up to world’s best practice.
Prime Minister (The Taoiseach) Brian Cowen announced the overhaul saying the time had come for PS change.
Mr Cowen told Parliament (Dáil) that the current economic crisis would accelerate reform
“We are not in a position to continue to pay for the Public Service to operate in an unchanged manner,” the Prime Minister said.
“There are aspects of how we organise and deliver public services which fall short of the best practice of which our own system is capable, never mind international standards.”
He said there were examples of traditional work practices, staffing levels and management systems which failed to meet the diverse needs of citizens and which frustrated the creativity and innovative capacity of Public Servants.
In many cases, this was a failure of organisational capacity, both on the part of management and on the part of the trade unions and other employee representative structures.
“A gradual approach to reform and renewal can be effective in the Public Service as elsewhere, but when we are faced with a full-blown national crisis, where the business-as-usual model is no longer affordable or sustainable, then we must adopt a different approach,” he said.
“I believe that the reality of the crisis we face as a society is particularly evident to Public Servants who are dealing at first-hand with the consequences – personal, social and economic – of our current difficulties.”
Mr Cowen said he knew that Public Servants resented deeply the unfair criticisms and occasional ideological bias which were expressed against them.
7 April, 2009
FIJI
Agencies ordered to slash budgets
All Government Departments and Agencies in Fiji have been ordered to cut their operating budgets by 50 per cent.
Trade unions immediately opposed the Public Service Commission (PSC) directive, saying the delivery of service will be affected.
Outgoing PSC Permanent Secretary, Taina Tagicakibau urged heads of Ministries, Departments and Agencies to work smarter by reorganising and reviewing their staffing while ensuring that Public Service delivery was not compromised.
She said the Cabinet had mandated the cost-cutting measures, which included the cessation of all acting appointments, and freezes on contractual appointments and job advertisements, with existing advertisements that had not already resulted in appointments to be scrapped.
Fiji Public Service Association (FPSA) General Secretary, Rajeshwar Singh said he had written to the PSC Acting Chairman, Yunush Mohammed raising the Association’s concerns.
However, Dr Yunush said Fiji was facing a cash crisis because of the global recession.
“The 50 per cent reduction in the Government operational Budget has to be done to ease the situation,” he said
Dr Yunush said he had told Mr Singh there was a budget of $FJD663million ($A534.7 million) for salaries and wages and $FJD670million ($A540.3 million) for the Public Service’s operating costs.
"The total operating budget is $FJD1.333 billion ($A1.075 billion) for this year,” he said.
“With these figures, our concern is cutting down on operating costs. We are not touching the wages and salaries.”
Cut-back targets included travel, communications, maintenance and purchase of goods and services.
In a further development, the FPSA has welcomed the decision by the Supreme Court of Fiji to grant a stay order on the Government’s decision to lower the PS retirement age from 60 to 55.
Mr Singh said the imposition of revised retirement age by the PSC will now be suspended pending a decision by the Supreme Court later this year.
7 April, 2009
KAZAKHSTAN
PS employment freeze across board
A freeze on further Public Service employment has been introduced until the end of this year in Kazakhstan in a bid to deal with a worsening financial situation.
Prime Minister, Karim Masimov told the Majilis (Parliament) that the moratorium will extend to the end of the year.
"It will involve the entire Civil Service not just that part of it which directly serves the Government," he said.
This means that State companies, including those serving the lucrative oil and gas sector, will have hiring frozen.
However, Mr Masimov went further, saying the State holding company, Samruk-Kazyna, must reduce its workforce by half, cut pay for the remainder by an average of 30 per cent while its subsidiary companies must cut their payrolls by 15 per cent.
Mr Masimov said 9,000 State vacancies would not be filled and that existing employees will have to do the extra work.
The moves follow an earlier decision to nationalise the country’s four largest banks. The Majilis has approved a revised annual Budget designed to take into account falling revenues from oil and metal exports and a slump in economic growth.
On top of all this, rising unemployment is likely to put strains on the country’s welfare system.
Economy Minister, Bakhyt Sultanov said Gross Domestic Product growth was heading for a meagre one per cent this year, falling from 3.1 per cent in 2008, sparking fears the country is on the brink of recession.
7 April, 2009
HOLLAND
Pension fund hike attacked by Government
Plans by the Dutch Public Service Superannuation Fund (ABP) to increase contributions have drawn criticism from the Government which says it will cost jobs.
The Government faces an increased super bill of €600 million ($A1.1 billion) a year if the increases go ahead.
Home Affairs Minister, Guusje ter Horst is to ask the unions which sit on the ABP Board to back a pension pay-out reduction rather than a premium rise, the Volkskrant newspaper reported.
“The increase in premiums will cost the government €600 million a year. There is no give left. This will cost jobs,” a spokesman for the Home Affairs Ministry said.
ABP is one of the biggest pension funds in the world, and wants to raise its premiums in order to restore its coverage ratio (an indication of how the fund will be able to meet its future requirements) from 83 per cent, to the required 105 per cent.
Premiums for both employers and workers will rise one per cent this year and two per cent in 2010, continuing for four years, ABP said.
The increase will cut the average Public Servant’s take-home pay by €10 ($A19) a month.
While the Government has said it does not have the money to pay its share of the increase, a member of the ABP board, Xander den Uyl, said the increases will go ahead.
“The pension fund has been forced to come up with these measures to get its finances back on track,” he said. “The temporary premium increases will mean more certainty about the pensions when they are paid out.”
7 April, 2009
CANADA
Premier defends PS salaries
The Premier of Canada’s Province of Ontario has defended a 26 per cent jump in the number of State Public Servants earning over $C100,000 ($A130,000) last year despite the economic crisis forcing tens of thousands of other workers onto the dole queue.
Premier, Dalton McGuinty said the increased size of the so-called ‘Sunshine List’ was to be expected, but added his Government was committed to reducing the size of the Public Service by five per cent over three years.
"I think it's only natural that the Sunshine List does keep growing given what happens to salaries and inflation and the like," Premier McGuinty said.
In addition to the Ontario Public Service, the list includes the broader public sector: Crown Agencies, hospitals, municipalities, schools, colleges and universities, and Government-owned energy companies.
Chief Executive of Ontario Power Generation, Jim Hankinson topped the list for 2008 at $C2.4 million ($A2.7 million) in reported salary and benefits. However, the company’s filings with the Ontario Securities Commission revealed Mr Hankinson’s total package, which included the value of his pension, was $C3.4 million ($A3.8 million) last year.
The Chief Executive of the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (OMERS), Michael Nobrega, was second on the list at $C1.9 million ($A2.1 million). Five other executives at OMERS were paid between $C705,000 ($A801,000) and $C839,000, ($A954,000) even though the pension fund lost $C8 billion ($A9 billion) last year.
Energy Minister, George Smitherman defended the high salaries in his area of responsibility. "Anybody who has the skill set to run a nuclear power plant is going to be compensated at a different rate than I am or you are," he said. .
Finance Minister, Dwight Duncan said the Government had no intention of reopening recent contracts that gave most Public Servants pay increases of about three per cent a year. He said the top earners, especially in the energy sector, could see their pay rises limited next year.
7 April, 2009
SRI LANKA
Government denies PS cuts
The Sri Lankan Government has denied media reports that it intended slashing its Public Service.
A senior Minister said it had simply suspended new recruitments, salary increments and promotions temporarily.
The Minister for Agriculture and Agrarian Services, Maithripala Sirisena also rejected assertions that the Government was planning compulsory retirement schemes, the curtailing of trade union activities and a permanent freeze on recruitment.
“Instead of slashing the numbers,” Mr Sirisena said, “the Government has taken steps to fill a number of existing vacancies, with new appointments given to qualified nurses and accountants in more recent times.”
“We have also called up applications from unemployed graduates to fill a number of existing vacancies.”
The Minister said that contrary to what some Opposition politicians had said, the Cabinet had not decided to impose restrictions on the Public Service.
“We discussed matters related to certain irregularities in recruitment done by some provincial bodies,” he said
“These false allegations… have the intention of belittling the Government in the eyes of public sector employees – they smack of political opportunism.”
The Minister said the charges had been made with an eye to the postal vote at the forthcoming Western Provincial Council election.
7 April, 2009
UNITED STATES
Website therapy for crisis victims
The US Government has launched a new online service to help its citizens cope with the pressures of the economic crisis.
The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) has set up a web page warning of symptoms such as persistent depression, anxiety, sleeplessness, fatigue, excessive irritability and anger arising out of the "economic turmoil" of unemployment, foreclosures, loss of investments and other financial distress.
It says these can result in a "whole host of negative health effects".
"It can be particularly devastating to your emotional and mental well-being," the Agency’s website says.
"Although each of us is affected differently by economic troubles, these problems can add tremendous stress."
The site suggests that the nation's economic woes could lead some Americans to develop problems such as depression, anxiety, compulsive behavior or substance abuse.
It provides details of information and resources available in each State and the District of Columbia, as well as from the Departments of Housing and Urban Development, Labor, and Treasury.
The Agency published similar pages after the 11September 2001 terrorist attacks and Hurricane Katrina to address potential mental health or substance abuse concerns arising from those events.
The site is www.samhsa.gov/economy/#warningsigns
SAMHSA, established in 1992, is a division of the Department of Health and Human Services that works to improve the lives of Americans with mental health or substance abuse problems.
7 April, 2009
NIGERIA
Payment for PS network criticised
An integrated data and communications network for the Nigerian Public Service has descended into controversy with 95 per cent of its cost already paid for just 25 per cent of the expected coverage.
About 11.89 billion Naira ($A100 million) has so far been spent on the construction of the network, the Managing Director of the company that will run the project, Gerald Ilukwe, said.
Operation of the network, originally conceived in 2004 as the National Information, Communication and Education Program was transferred to Mr Ilukwe’s company, Galaxy Backbone Plc, in 2006.
It is supposed to provide integrated internet and telephony connectivity to 5,000 locations including under-served rural areas and Public Service organisations located in all parts of the country.
Mr Ilukwe said the Network Operating Centre, which houses the hub of the network and is situated in the Federal Capital Territory had been completed and therefore warranted the payment.
However, Members of the House of Representatives have criticised the level of payment that that had been made to the Israeli company handling the construction of the project, RT COM, claiming it was not commensurate with the work completed.
Members said only about 1,300 sites had been deployed, representing only about 25 per cent of the total.
Mr Ilukwe claimed the Network Operating Centre constituted the bulk of the cost and the remaining deployment could be completed for about 147 million Naira ($A1.4 million).
7 April, 2009
NEW ZEALAND
Review planned for NZ Legal Aid
The New Zealand Government has named a retired Public Service Chief Executive to review all aspects of its legal aid system.
The announcement was made by Justice Minister, Simon Power who said legal systems are likely to face increasing challenges in the current economic environment.
"The purpose is to consider how the system can best be structured so it delivers effective legal services to those who need them most, in a way that is cost-effective and sustainable," he said.
"Quality will be an important focus, as will ensuring that any changes have a positive impact on the wider justice system, especially on the way the courts operate."
Speaking at an international legal aid conference in Wellington, Mr Power said legal aid had a defining role in upholding access to justice.
"By funding legal aid services, Governments give effect to the principles of equality before the law and natural justice," he said.
"This upholds public confidence in the legitimacy and effectiveness of the justice system.
Mr Power said he was committed to the goal of ensuring access to justice for all New Zealanders.
The review will be chaired by former Public Service Chief Dame Margaret Bazley. She has also headed the Commission of Inquiry into Police Conduct, was a member of the Royal Commission on Auckland Governance and is Chair of the Fire Service.
Other members of the review team have yet to be named.
Public consultation will start soon and proposals will be announced early next year.
7 April, 2009
JAPAN
PS retirement practices outlawed
A ban on Japanese Government Departments and Agencies finding jobs for retiring staff is to come into effect at the end of this year.
The long-observed practice, known as ‘watari’, allows retired Public Servants to take post-retirement jobs at entities associated with their former Departments and receive extra retirement packages at each one.
Also eliminated by the ban is the practice of ‘amakudari’, in which senior Public Servants are appointed to post-retirement jobs at entities related to the sectors they formerly supervised. This has long been blamed as a source of corruption.
However despite the Government’s intentions, Opposition parties in Parliament believe amakudari will continue under the newly-introduced system.
A 2007 amendment to the National Public Service Law (NPSL) foreshadowed a ban on Ministries and Agencies playing a role in finding jobs for retiring officials. However, they will be able to continue to do so for a three-year transition period to 2011.
Facing riticism over amakudari and watari, Prime Minister, Taro Aso decided to shorten the transition and said in February he aimed to stop both practices before the end of this year.
The Government also planned to approve related Bills to revise the NPSL and set up a new Cabinet Bureau to take over the personnel functions of senior officials at Ministries and Agencies.
The Bureau, to be established next year, will integrate the personnel functions of the Internal Affairs and Communications Ministry and the National Personnel Authority to give the Cabinet a stronger grip on the Public Service personnel system and to streamline administrative functions.
7 April, 2009
UNITED KINGDOM
Review finds Department a world leader
A Capability Review of the UK Department for International Development (DFID) has reported that the Department is a world leader in overseas aid, enjoys “impressive” leadership, has a clear vision of its goals, and facilitates fresh thinking in its field.
The report also highlights some clear and immediate challenges for supporting developing countries and maintaining public support during the global economic downturn.
The review was part of a Government-wide review program designed to improve the performance of the Public Service.
The report highlights various areas of DFID’s strength, including a uniquely influential position in the international development community based on strong policy analysis, the impressive capability of its staff, real authority on the ground, a strong improvement in helping shape Government policies on trade, climate change, migration, international collaboration and responses to the global financial crisis.
DFID’s Permanent Secretary, Nemat Shafik said the review had revealed a a highly effective Government Department with motivated staff and a reputation for leadership in the world of international development.
“It also recognises the huge range of work DFID staff have done to improve our effectiveness in fighting poverty,” she said.
“DFID is now working very closely with other Government Departments to tackle the complex range of issues which affect world poverty, including the current economic situation, conflict, insecurity and climate change.
However, Ms Shafik said there are increasing challenges ahead.
“The downturn is having serious consequences on developing countries as well as the UK,” she said.
“This review makes clear how important DFID’s work is in these difficult times.”