28 June, 2011
IRELAND
PS chiefs take pay cut
The most senior Public Service chiefs, Judges and other highly paid PS staff in Ireland have agreed to take pay cuts to cap their salaries at €250,000 (A$340,000)
   The Government proposed the Prime Minister’s salary of €200,000 (A$270,500) as the cap but a small number of senior staff will receive more.
   Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin said wage rules would be stretched for five bosses in the commercial end of the PS including the Electricity Supply Board chief Padraig McManus whose €318,083 (A$430,000) would still be on more than the quarter of a million wage cap .
   Mr Howlin said said the top level pay cuts were a symbol of leadership.
   “This Government is not going to shy away from the tough decisions needed to get our public finances in order but we are going to ensure that these actions are taken in a fair and equitable manner,” Mr Howlin said.
   He said the wage rules enforced a €250,000 pay cap for all but the one chief executive in the semi-states and €200,000 for new appointments to senior public service roles.
   Mr Howlin said the Department of Finance had asked for all chief executives of semi-states to volunteer pay cuts of 15 per cent or less to bring their wages down to the €250,000 benchmark before new rules could be enforced.
   He said all the General Secretaries - the top ranking Public Servants in Government Departments - who currently earnt more than €200,000 had agreed to the voluntary cuts before the new wage structure comes in.
   Mr Howlin said their pay cuts ranged from 18 per cent to 29 per cent.
   “There is an understanding in the general public now that if we are asking people on the very lowest levels of income to pay a Universal Social Charge then it is incumbent on those earning very good money in the public sector to apply discipline to ourselves,” Mr Howlin said.


28 June, 2011
UNITED KINGDOM
Unfunded super blows out
The level of unfunded superannuation liabilities for Local Government pension schemes in Britain has ballooned to £71.5bn after coming in at just £41.3bn in 2009.
   Research by a daily newspaper revealed that the funding gap faced by Local Government pension schemes in England had grown, despite a rally in equity markets boosting returns on investments.
   The newspaper found that the collective deficit of Local Government pension schemes rose by 73 per cent during the year ending 31 March 2010, and the figure collated from the latest set of annual council reports would grow to about £90bn if district Councils were included.
   The paper said Birmingham City Council had the largest gap between its assets and liabilities of the 151 county, metropolitan, unitary and London borough Councils investigated with a £1.65bn shortfall.
   It said Birmingham was followed by Leeds City Council at £1.47bn and Surrey County Council at £1.23bn.
   The paper said the shortfall was driven by changes to the way Councils calculated their liabilities.
   It said the figures contrasted sharply with the funding positions of most corporate defined benefit pension schemes, which had enjoyed improved returns on equity market investments in recent months.
   Chairman of the Local Government Association’s workforce board, Sir Steve Bullock, said despite substantial gains in the value of assets, changes in actuarial assumptions would have seen the deficit rise for many local authorities from March 2009 to March 2010.
   “This is down partly to increases in life expectancy and partly to the effect of lower interest rates,” Sir Steve said.
   “However, the position between March 2010 and March 2011 will have improved markedly for many local authorities.”
   He said changing the calculation of pension increases from the retail price index to the generally lower consumer price index was a major reason.
   Chief Executive of JLT Benefit Solutions, Duncan Howorth said the figures were a stark reminder of the public sector pensions “time bomb”.
   “As with the private sector, pension liabilities will continue to grow exponentially unless specifically addressed,” Mr Howorth said.


28 June, 2011
UNITED NATIONS
Women win on Public Service Day
The United Nations used its UN Public Service Day this year to present awards for gender-responsive service delivery for the first time.
   The United Nations Public Service Awards represent international recognition of excellence in public service and reward the creative achievements and contributions of PS institutions that lead to a more effective and responsive public administration in countries worldwide.
   The Public Service Awards ceremony was held in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, the first time an African nation has hosted the event.
   The award winners presented their experiences and led discussions on how their services could be replicated and tailored to the specific circumstances of other countries.
   For the first time, gender-responsive service delivery awards were presented to PS innovations and initiatives that improved services.
   The awards rewarded new programs that increased the quality and affordability of services for female users and improved women’s access to health, education and employment services by recognising different constraints they faced, such as discrimination, gender roles, mobility, and low socio-economic status.
   The United Nations Committee of Experts on Public Administration selected the award recipients for the category and the first-place winners were from India and Egypt, and the second place winners were from Korea and Oman.
   The winning program from India was designed to increase access to justice for poor women who were victims of sexual violence, while the Egyptian winner was a health outreach program.
   In its citation, the UN said there were two awards presented to Korea for a program to self-empower young women at risk of prostitution in the Seoul metropolitan area, and for an online resource centre for women whose employment had been interrupted due to reasons such as family or childcare responsibilities.
   The winner from Omanwas an initiative by the National Association for Cancer Awareness to introduce Mobile Mammography Units (MMU) as an alternative to hospital-based radiological facilities.


28 June, 2011
CANADA
PS strikes against staff cuts
Public Servants in Canada have taken to the streets to protest against planned cuts to PS staff numbers.
   President of the a branch of the Canada Employment and Immigration Union, Sueanne Allen said they did not want a repeat of the job cuts in the mid-1990s when tens of thousands of Public Servants lost their jobs.
   “What we really want to do is let the public know – it’s our jobs, but it also can have a great effect on them,” Ms Allen said.
   Ms Allen said deep cuts to some Federal Public Service programs were anticipated after the new Conservative majority government pledged to undertake a comprehensive review of public sector operations and set itself a goal of finding $11 billion in direct spending reductions.
   She said the majority Liberal government, including then-Finance Minister Paul Martin, eliminated an estimated 55,000 positions as it cut $13.3 billion in spending following its own deficit-fighting program review in 1994.
   Conservative Finance Minister Jim Flaherty said his Government would avoid a similar “slash and burn” through such methods as not replacing retiring bureaucrats and getting rid of programs “that have outlived their usefulness.”
   Ms Allen said the Public Service Alliance of Canada had launched a nationwide summer offensive against any plans to radically reduce its membership ranks.
   “No cuts have been made for our area yet, but they are looming, we hear it,” Ms Allen said.
   President of the Treasury Board, Tony Clement said any speculation about where the cuts might occur was just that until the review had been done.
   Mr Clement said details would be outlined in the 2012 budget.
   President of the Canadian Association of Professional Employees, Claude Poirier said 700 jobs at Public Works Canada could also be slashed within the next three years.
   “We got a standard letter from the department with a list of 103 names of our members who at risk of losing their job this year,” Mr Poirier said.


28 June, 2011
NORTHERN IRELAND
Committee wants PS head
The head of Northern Ireland’s Public Service, Sir Bruce Robinson, has been called before the country’s Public Accounts Committee to explain why he allowed a Public servant to keep his job after the man had written threatening letters about the Committee and criticised three of its members.
   The Committee said Sir Bruce had allowed senior Public Servant Paul Priestly to return to work and demoted him one level for serious misconduct.
   The Committee said there was anger that Mr Priestly had been allowed to return after it emerged he had been involved in drafting the threatening letter which attacked three members of the committee that investigates potential abuses of public funds.
   The Committee said its longest serving member, John Dallat, was among those threatened with legal action in the letter.
   Mr Dallat said he had done his job as a member of the Committee to the best of his ability but had been attacked by Mr Priestly behind his back.
   “I have had no communication, no phone call, no memo, no nothing from Sir Bruce Robinson other than to read in the press that there’s going to be no discussions, no meetings, no nothing,” Mr Dallat said.
   “So where do I as an elected representative, elected by the people of East Derry and nominated by my party to come here and look after public money, where do I stand, where does Patsy McGlone stand and Dawn Purvis, if she was still here?”
   Mr Dallat said that the committee was increasingly concerned at “a deterioration of the relationship between the civil service and the committee”.
   The Sinn Fein chairman of the committee, Paul Maskey, said that the committee was “standing together” on the issue and it was a unanimous decision to request that Sir Bruce attend.
   The committee cannot compel Sir Bruce to attend.


28 June, 2011
SEYCHELLES
Efficiency drive for PS
The President of the Seychelles, James Michel, has promised a crackdown on corruption and inefficiency in the Public service.
   Mr Michel said he was committed to eliminating all bad practices which could hold back the development of the country and damage its international image.
   He said he would take “harsh measures against xenophobia and systematic propaganda, which sow hatred in the name of freedom of expression.”
   He said that he would also target corruption.
   “I say it loudly that corruption in the new Seychelles, in both the public and private sectors, will not be tolerated,” Mr Michel said.
   “It is not a phenomenon that is widespread in our administration and our country in general, but I will cut its head off once and for all if and where it exists.
   “Firm action, without pity, will be taken where we hear there is corruption undermining us, and where we have proof of it.”
   Mr Michel said the Public Service must aim for excellence in the context of a “New Seychelles”.
   “I will not tolerate mediocrity and laissez-faire,” Mr Michel said.
   “It is important that we undertake positive changes that address public concerns.”
   Mr Michel said Public Servants would be given appropriate schemes of service to ensure they stayed within Public Service.
   He said the Department of Public Administration had been instructed to start preparing the schemes.
   The President said there would be major changes in public service early next year, a budget would be allocated and changes made in certain regulations and policy to guarantee change.


28 June, 2011
INDIA
Corruption wins spark PS inertia
A crackdown on corruption in the Indian Public Service has left PS staff unsure of their positions as they fear investigation by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI).
   One former minister, a number of MPs, and senior corporate executives are all in jail facing corruption charges as is former Public Sector manager Siddhartha Behura who has been put away for nearly six months.
   Ex-Cabinet ecretary TSR Subramanian said the PS was feeling stifled.
   “After Behura’s arrest, they are becoming aloof,” Mr Subramanian said.
   “Decision making becomes difficult when everything can be questioned and motives attributed.
   “If everybody is playing safe, nothing gets done.”
   The Economic Times reported that at least a half-a-dozen senior Public Servants confessed they felt very vulnerable, forcing them to stall decision-making just to prevent any blame falling on them.
   The Economic Times said all of them declined to be identified for their story.
   An unnamed secretary in an economic ministry said Behura’s case had caused public servants to be cautious and fewer were prepared to take risks.
   “If you allow something wrong under your watch, you go to jail,” the source said.
   “In today’s environment, the executive won’t save you and the judiciary won’t grant you bail.”


28 June, 2011
NEPAL
Promoted staff to get new jobs
Up to 17,000 new jobs are to be created in the Nepalese Public Service to accommodate staff automatically promoted under the country’s Civil Service Act.
   Minister for General Administration Yubaraj Karki said the administrative committee of the Cabinet had already formed a seven-member taskforce to accelerate the process.
   “Some government offices are facing workforce problems to meet the increasing demand of service seekers, which has necessitated more new positions in the civil service,” Mr Karki said.
   “However, the number of posts will be determined after conducting the Organisation and Management Survey of the ministries.”
   Mr Karki said Public Servants receiving automatic promotion had been pressuring the Government to entrust them with more responsibility.
   He said despite many PS staff holding senior positions, they claimed they had virtually nothing to do.
   Mr Karki said the Government was also considering introducing a new system to replace the automatic promotion system to encourage its senior workforce.
   He said provision in the Civil Service Act, which gave public servants an automatic promotion after 12 to 15 years in a particular position, would be scrapped.
   Mr Karki said creating new jobs would facelift the country’s existing public service pattern.
   “With the creation of new posts, the pecking order in the civil service will be completely different,” Mr Karki said.
   Former finance minister and Congress leader Ram Sharan Mahat said if the current plan was implemented, it would add to the financial burden of the country.
   “Any decision to this effect requires extensive study and research,” Mr Mahat said.


28 June, 2011
MALAYSIA
Ethnic balance a challenge
Attracting a reasonable balance of ethnic groups to the Malaysian Public Service is proving difficult for PS management with very few ‘non-bumiputra’ applicants putting in for jobs.
   Minister in the Chief Minister’s Department, Datin Fatimah Abdullah said more than 80 per cent of the country’s 22,134 public servants were bumiputra, while non-bumipuras comprised only 13.6 per cent.
   Ms Abdullah said the Public Service had 14,272 officers in Ministries and Departments, 4,878 in statutory bodies and 2,984 in local authorities.
   She said 74.5 per cent were male and the rest female.
   Ms Abdullah said the State was committed to multi-racial representation and was transparent in the recruitment process.
   She said the number of non-bumiputra applicants appeared to be decreasing over the years with the percentage of Chinese applying to join the Public Service in 2004 being 9.3 per cent of the total of 9,331, with the percentage dropping to 6.2 per cent the following year.
   She said in 2011 there had been only 589 Chinese among some 8,000 applicants.
   “Despite our all-out effort to encourage the Chinese to apply for vacancies, the number of applicants is still low,” Ms Abdullah said.
   “Perhaps they are more interested in joining the private sector.”


28 June, 2011
ZIMBABWE
The Zimbabwean Public Service has been offered another payrise despite the Minister for Finance saying the country couldn’t afford the last one which was not delivered.
   President Mugabe assured Public Servants that they would receive a salary increase this month but Finance Minister Tendai Biti said he would only increase the salaries after an audit of Public Service staff levels.
   The lowest paid Government worker is currently taking home an average of US$150 a month, below the datum line estimated at US$502 and Cabinet recently agreed to raising it between US$253 and US$397.

IRELAND
Ireland’s most senior Public Servant has been asked to postpone his retirement until a replacement is found.
   Dermot McCarthy announced in April that he intended to step down as Secretary General of the Department of the Taoiseach as part of sweeping changes at the top of the Public Service.
   The Government has since asked Mr McCarthy to postpone his retirement because an agreement has still not been reached about his successor or on the post of second secretary general at the department.

UNITED KINGDOM
More than a million public sector workers are poised to launch a sustained series of rolling strikes to oppose cuts to their pensions.
   The public service union is to co-ordinate action with 11 local government unions and 19 health unions.
   The strikes are threatened over plans for public sector workers to pay more into their pension scheme and receive less on retirement.
   The unions say they have built up a £20million fighting fund for the action.

INDIA
Hundreds of millions of Indians in overcrowded cities should start paying more for better public service as the Indian government pushes for a massive infrastructure privatisation program.
   According to the Minister for Urban Development, Kamal Nath, city Councils are struggling to pay for increasingly expensive electricity, clean water and good roads in some of the most populous cities and biggest slums in the world.
   Mr Nath said the Indian government needed to foster the growth of domestic and foreign companies to lift the lid on privatisation in public utilities, passing the costs on to consumers.


21 June, 2011
UNITED KINGDOM
PS union votes to join strike
Public Servants in the United Kingdom have voted to join teachers and lecturers in a day-long strike on 30 June.
   General secretary of the Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) Mark Serwotka said up to 750,000 state employees were expected to take part in the strike over proposed pension reforms.
   Mr Serwotka said the action was principally against cuts but also against Public Service reforms.
   “The clear majority in favour of a strike shows that Public Servants – who provide vital services across the country – are not prepared to stand back while everything they have ever worked for is taken from them,” Mr Serwotka said.
   “The government claims this is about rebalancing pensions, but it has already admitted that the money it saves will go straight to the Treasury to help pay off the deficit.
   He said it therefore amounted to nothing more than a tax on workers in the public sector.
   Mr Serwotka said people just wanted to defend themselves against mass job cuts, the pay freeze and “the biggest raid on pensions in living memory”.
   “I have been at every one of the negotiating meetings with the government, and what we’ve been told is that they won’t budge on increasing the pension age, they won’t budge on their plans to double or triple contributions, and they won’t budge on the value of our members’ pensions being slashed,” Mr Serwotka said.
   “In reality, the talks are a farce.”
   Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, said the unions should await the outcome of the pensions talks before striking.
   “There was a very low turnout for this ballot, and less than 20 per cent of their members are supporting this unnecessary industrial action,” Mr Maude said.
   “There is no justification for any civil servant going on strikes while discussions are continuing.”
   Mr Maude said public sector pensions would remain among the very best, providing a guaranteed pension level for all employees.


21 June, 2011
NEW ZEALAND
Giant call-centre to cost jobs
The establishment of a single contact point for all New Zealand Government enquiries is expected to cost the jobs of thousands of NZ PS staff.
   Deputy Chief Executive of the Social Development Ministry, Marc Warner said the planned mega call-centre ServiceLink could ultimately employ several thousand staff.
   Mr Warner said the new organisation would handle everything from phone and internet inquiries to applications for benefits, tax returns, fines and other payments for State services.
   He said ServiceLink could one day provide a single front office where people could do most of their business with the Government.
   Mr Warner said the Government could save $100 million a year from efficiencies, including avoiding the duplication of information technology systems and merging call centres.
   He said the goal was also to make services more convenient for the public and could involve up to 17 departments dealing with everything from tax, welfare, motor registration, licensing, births and deaths, passports and courts.
   He said the concept could see people having all their transactions with the State going through one account.
   The National Secretary of the Public Services Association, Brenda Pilott said the union had not been briefed and was worried the change could result in job cuts.
   Ms Pilott said the Association supported initiatives that helped join up services and make life easier for the public but that change shouldn’t be used as an excuse to cut jobs.
   “If jobs become surplus because of new initiatives, those workers should be redeployed to provide more extended services to the public,” Ms Pilott said.
   “If ServiceLink is going to be a success, an enhanced working environment...is vital for improving service delivery.”
   Ms Pilott said more than 2,000 public servants had lost their jobs since the National Party took office.


21 June, 2011
CANADA
PS job cuts won’t be enough
Slashing 6,000 Public Service jobs won’t be enough to meet the Canadian Government’s savings targets according to the Parliamentary Budget Officer, Kevin Page.
   Mr Page said the job cuts would bring the number of full-time equivalent workers down to 365,000 in three years.
   “We’ve heard attrition talked about as a strategy,” Mr Page said.
   “(The Federal Government said) it would make it easy, because people would be leaving and they just wouldn’t replace those people.”
   He said using those strategies, the Government would only get about one-third of the way to its planned reductions.
   He said between 2010-11 and 2013-14, Canadian Heritage would cut almost 34 per cent of its employees; Environment Canada would cut 21 per cent; Aboriginal Affairs would cut 13.5 per cent; and Human Resources would cut more than 16 per cent of its employees.
   Mr Page said that at the same time, personnel costs (MP and senator salaries and allowances, and federal contributions to employee benefits and pensions) were expected to increase $1.7 billion from last year’s levels, reaching $38.5 billion by 2013-14.
   He said many of those spending increases could be traced back to new collective bargaining agreements, which would see an increase in severance payments.
   Mr Page said overhead expenses were also set to increase $235 million from last year, topping $9.8 billion by the end of this fiscal year.
   Treasury Board President Tony Clement defended the spending increases.
   “We’re just starting the Strategic and Operating Review and obviously that’ll be the go-forward way by which we make sure that Departments spend within their means and that any targets they have that the government gives them in order to get to the balanced budget one year early,” Mr Clement said.
   In the meantime, the Minister for Finance, Jim Flaherty said a spending freeze on Departmental operating budgets would result in another $1.8 billion in savings by 2013-14.
   Mr Flaherty said the Federal Government had committed to slashing $4 billion from the budgets of Federal Departments, with much of the savings achieved through staff attrition.


21 June, 2011
UNITED KINGDOM
Personal details of PS expanded
The UK Cabinet Office has published extended details of all Public Service staff on an official website in the interests of transparency.
   Minster for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, said the new organisation charts would add more detail to the ‘organograms’ which were published on the site in October 2010.
   Mr Maude said information already included on the web showed structural information of the PS such as the numbers, grades, pay ranges and professions of staff within each team as well as individual staff salaries and the job titles of senior personnel and directors.
   “The new charts will make it easier for the public to view and compare the structure of government bodies because, for the first time, all central government Departments and their agencies will present their charts together in the same format,” Mr Maude said.
   He said the move had been made to open up the structure of the Civil Service to public scrutiny with the lists making it easier for the public to view and compare the structure of government bodies.
   “We will be setting out plans shortly to publish more data which will increasingly help inform people about the public services they use every day, helping them to make more informed choices and drive better services,” Mr Maude said.
   The organisation charts of the UK Civil Service can be accessed at this PS News link.


21 June, 2011
IRELAND
More jobs losses threatened
The Irish Public Service has been advised to expect “substantial” job losses despite shedding 5,400 positions to save €600 million (A$808 million) so far.
   Minister for Public Expenditure, Brendan Howlin said the Government was under pressure to find savings of over €20bn per annum (A$27 billion) in the public services bill.
   “In view of the severe fiscal constraints we face, the reality is that further significant cuts in expenditure, coupled with further substantial reductions in the numbers employed in the public sector, are unavoidable,” Mr Howlin said.
   He said payroll savings had also been generated as a result of a reduction in overtime payments, costs of running medical laboratory services and a cut of allowances for special responsibilities in the education sector.
   “We need to move forward quickly to build on the important progress that has been achieved to date and accelerate the delivery and implementation of urgently needed reform,” Mr Howlin said.
   “At the same time, we must also ensure that services to the public are maintained and improved to the greatest extent possible.”
   He said the Croke Park agreement with unions protected the pay of Public Servants to 2014, and committed to a review of payrates each Spring.
   He said the Government would now seek to increase the pace of reform in the Public Srvice under the same deal.
   Mr Howlin said it was unlikely Public Service workers would get back some of the money lost as a result of pay cuts and the pension levy over the past two years, as originally promised.
   He said instead that if the savings targets were not reached, the Government would have no option but to impose further pay cuts.
   Private enterprise has also had its say on PS changes complaining that although some progress had been made, the pace of reform was too slow, and the level of savings generated to date “negligible in comparison to what is urgently required to address the deficit.


21 June, 2011
ISRAEL
Soldier preference hits trouble
A new law that would give former members of the Israeli Defence Force preference in appointments to Public Service jobs has struck a snag in the Israeli Parliament.
   Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein said the Israel Beiteinu Bill was discriminatory and has asked the Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to block the legislation.
   “The Bill creates discrimination that cannot be constitutionally justified,” Mr Weinstein said.
   “It is targeted at populations that already suffer from deep discrimination, like the Arab population and people with disabilities, and is accompanied by a feeling of insult and humiliation, which also constitutes injury to human rights.”
   Mr Weinstein wrote a letter to the Prime Minister but was yet to receive a response.
   He said that even though the government formally opposed the Bill, it was doing nothing to block its passage through the legislative process, with coalition members voting in favor of it.
   He said the Bill was passed by the Ministerial Legislative Committee in July 2010, but the motion was since frozen due to appeals by two Cabinet Ministers.
   Mr Weinstein said the Bill was currently awaiting a vote before the second and third reading in the Constitution Law and Justice Committee.
   Speaker of the Knesset, Reuven Rivlin said turning civil service into a political weapon would undermine it.
   “Those who finish army and national service can be rewarded with housing, scholarships and grants – but they should not receive benefits that harm other populations and the civil service,” Mr Rivlin said.


21 June, 2011
SWAZILAND
PS Commission to work weekends
Members of the Swaziland Civil Service Commission should consider working nights and weekends to deal with a backlog of issues according to the Minister for the Public Service, Mtiti Fakudze.
   Mr Fakudze said the Commission members were expected to resume office as soon as possible because there were many issues on the ‘to-do list’ for them to deal with.
   He said because of the amount of work that needed to be done, the Commission members should actually expect to work on some nights and sometimes on weekends.
   Mr Fakudze said the new Civil Service Commission would be led by Chairman Peter Mamba with members including former Cabinet minister and erstwhile Member of Parliament, Magwagwa Mdluli, Princess Maxine, Ntfombi-yenkosi Dlamini, and Prince Matatazela.
   “There will be times when you will work at night or even on weekends because there is work to be done in the positions that you are assuming,” Mr Fakudze said.
   “Your office is the heart of all Government operations, and it is essential to ensuring effective service delivery.”
   Mr Fakudze said the Ministry hoped the commission members would contribute positively and help the country in such dire economic times.
   He also warned the members against corruption.
   “Corruption is a threat to government and the private sector,” Mr Fakudze said.
   “As the King highlighted during the opening of Parliament, corruption poses a threat and is a big issue.”
   “My request is that you do all you can to make sure that we kick out corruption.”
   He said corruption would kill service delivery.


21 June, 2011
KENYA
PS warned on corruption
The President of Kenya, Mwai Kibaki, has issued a stern warning to PS staff not to misappropriate Public Service funds.
   President Kibaki said decisive action would be taken against those found guilty of misappropriating funds.
   “The concept of performance contracting encompasses the core precept of accountability which, as your President, I wish to bequeath the country and leave as a legacy for posterity,” President Kibaki said.
   He said his vision was for a highly effective Government whose record would be defined by the quality of public service delivery in terms of accessibility, quality, timeliness, courtesy and affordability as well as entrenching the sovereignty of the citizens.
   “As part of the commitment to accountability for results, we must also ensure maximum probity in the management of public funds and resources.”
   He said the requirement to perform to international standards should be legislated to underwrite the delivery of services beyond political regimes and party political motives.
   President Kibaki said the Government was committed to improving service delivery and ensuring proper utilisation of public resources.
   He said since adopting the performance contracting system in 2003, the Government had continuously reengineered public sector management in order to meet the growing public demand for better services.
   He said with the new constitution in place, initiatives relating to improved efficiency in the Public Service must reflect the spirit and letter of the new law.
   President Kibaki said he wanted the performance contracting system to make service delivery fully seamless.
   “This is the only way we can justify the stewardship of tax revenues and any further demands on our taxpayers,” President Kibaki said.
   He said the performance contracting system had enabled the country to stand out in the region and the continent, with visible developments in many key areas including infrastructure growth, health, and education.


21 June, 2011
UNITED STATES
Standardised SMS alerts issued
The United States Department of Health and Human Services has issued a public health toolkit that includes standardised text messages for use in emergency alerts.
   Public affairs specialist at the HHS’ Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response, Elleen Kane, said text messages would be an easy way to deliver information people needed during a disaster to protect their heath.
   Ms Kane said the Department worked with state and local emergency managers from 400 agencies spanning 44 states and Washington DC, to determine what topics would be most beneficial.
   She said emergency managers and public health officials could download the tool kit from the Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s website and distribute the text messages using their existing cell phone message distribution system.
   Ms Kane said the messages were limited to 115 characters or fewer including spaces and could be customised by the user agency.
   She said having standardised messages reinforced information from other sources, like public service announcements, and could save officials valuable time during and after an emergency.
   “The text messages have already been developed by people who are experts in the field,” Ms Kane said.
   “So they know that it’s good, solid information and is one less thing that they have to worry about at the time.”
   Ms Kane said currently the text messages focused on hurricanes, floods and earthquakes, but the tool kit would be built out to include information about other natural disasters as well as biological and nuclear emergencies.
   She said the Department was also looking for people who were interested in participating in future development of the messages.
   Ms Kane said the tool kit was a collaborative effort of five HHS divisions: the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response; the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Public Affairs; the Center for Disease Control and Prevention; the Food and Drug Administration; and the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration.


21 June, 2011
BOTSWANA
The Botswana Federation of Public Sector Unions (BOFEPUSU) has announced that it has suspended its Public Service strike.
   Unions and the Ministry of Education and Skills Development will now chart a way forward, primarily concentrating on how to cover for work that is behind schedule.
   The six-week strike by more than 90,000 workers involving nurses and teachers was the first to hit the diamond-rich nation since the formation of labour unions in 2007.
   Union leaders who initially demanded a 16 per cent raise but accepted a three per cent compromise said the strike was a success as it highlighted workers’ rights.

UNITED KINGDOM
Measures to reduce the number of Public Servants in the UK have made little progress.
   So far the Government is well short of its target to cut 100,000 positions and realise its anticipated cost savings by the end of the financial year.
   Departments have pushed through only a small number of redundancies and a limited program of natural wastage.
   The Office for Budget Responsibility, estimated that 490,000 public sector jobs would disappear over the next four years as part of the government’s spending cuts.

TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS
A Power Company disconnected power to Government offices and some schools because the Interim Government of the Turks and Caicos Islands did not pay several thousands of dollars in power bills.
   Provo Power Company said it was forced to take the drastic action after the situation with the arrears became untenable.
   Discussions between PPC and the Government have taken place with a view to resolving the matter.
   Government departments affected by the power cut included Immigration and Customs, where customers were unable to have documentation processed and schools where parents who dropped their children were told to take them back home.

FIJI
Public servants have been told to “clear all the clogs” in systems that hinder rural development.
   Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama said Public Servants should be doing all they could to support PS staff working in rural areas, and not sit comfortably in their homes and offices in Suva.

INDIA
A change in the syllabus of the Public Service Commission’s Civil Service Preliminary examination has left candidates unhappy as they had a tough time with the new pattern of questions.
   The examination comprised two papers, Paper I and Paper II, for 200 marks each and was held in over 84 test centres.
   More than 34,660 candidates had registered for the exam.


14 June, 2011
UNITED KINGDOM
Super scheme workers to walk off
Public Service staff who administer the United Kingdom’s PS superannuation scheme have voted to take strike action in response to a plan to privatise their work.
   General secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) Mark Serwotka said Ministers wanted to turn the Government Agency ‘My Civil Service Pension’ into what could be the first of many ‘mutual’ organisations.
   Mr Serwotka said the move was privatisation by the back door, with no genuine co-ownership, and the decision flies in the face of what staff say they wanted.
   He said in a ballot of the union’s 250 members across MyCSP sites in Basingstoke,
   Cheadle Hulme, Liverpool, Newcastle and Worthing, 77 per cent voted for a strike and 87 per cent voted for other forms of industrial action, on a 46.5 per cent turnout.
   He said unlike the government, PCS had consulted MyCSP staff in all the offices and the overwhelming view was that they did not want to go down the mutual route, and wanted to retain their Public Service status.
   “There is a severe deficit between the Government’s rhetoric about co-operation and mutualism and the reality of what is being imposed on staff who have made their views perfectly clear,” Mr Serwotka said.
   “This is privatisation by another name, as our members will be forced out of the public sector, with their civil service contracts ripped up, and we will do everything we can to oppose it.”
   Mr Serwotka said after pressure from the union, the proposed transfer date had already been put back from June to autumn.
   He said the strike vote comes a week ahead of the close of a ballot of more than 250,000 PCS members for a national strike over cuts to jobs, pensions and pay.


14 June, 2011
IRELAND
Complaints hit 10-year high
Complaints about the Irish Public Service hit a 10-year high in 2010, a record the Ombudsman puts down to the country’s testing economic conditions.
   Ombudsman Emily O’Reilly said the 30 per cent rise in complaints received last year indicated an increasing number of people were experiencing difficulties with public services, especially in relation to unemployment and social welfare benefits.
   Ms O’Reilly said a total of 3,727 cases were received by the PS watchdog.
   She said 1,317 other complaints were submitted to the Ombudsman but ruled out, as they didn’t come under her remit, while her office also handled almost 9,400 general queries.
   Ms O’Reilly said a 53 per cent increase in complaints relating to the Department of Social Protection last year was unsurprising given the economic situation.
   She said the surge in the number of complaints was both “exceptional and challenging”.
   Ms O’Reilly criticised a number of Government Departments and local authorities for their continuing failure to provide contact details for her office on their own websites, despite repeated requests to do so over the past three years.
   She said she had no option but to “name and shame” 11 public bodies who ignored what was “a simple and cost-free request”.
   “Given the drive towards Public Service reform, the lack of co-operation shown by these bodies, funded by the taxpayer, is both enlightening and disappointing,” Ms O’Reilly said.
   She named the offending departments were Tourism, Culture and Sport; Education and Skills; Foreign Affairs, Justice and Equality; and Transport.
   She said the County Councils were Carlow, Clare, Fingal, Galway, Kerry and Donegal.
   Ms O’Reilly said Government Departments accounted for 45 per cent of all complaints last year followed by local authorities 26 per cent.


14 June, 2011
NEW ZEALAND
PS women in unpaid overtime
A survey of female Public Servants in New Zealand has found that one in five work overtime for no extra pay.
   National secretary of the Public Service Association, Brenda Pilott said female members were estimated to contribute 2.5 million hours of unpaid work to the Government each year, which was worth about $54.5 million ($A42.5 million) and equivalent to 1,360 full-time jobs.
   Ms Pilott said the survey of 7,292 women in the Public Service Association conducted by Victoria University’s industrial relations centre, found more than 50 per cent of respondents worked more hours than they were contracted for, but only 14 per cent of those were paid to do so.
   “Public servants work hard and are committed to getting the job done,” Ms Pilott said.
   “But the extent of additional hours worked is not recognised, not valued and is probably not sustainable when it’s being used to prop up under-resourced Agencies and unfilled vacancies.”
   She said a fifth of the PSA’s roughly 40,000 female members responded to the survey last June, making it the most comprehensive study of women public servants in New Zealand to date.
   Ms Pilott said the survey found about 60 per cent of workers had some flexibility in scheduling work hours, but more than 30 per cent had little or no opportunity to vary their hours.
   She said the survey also found high rates of unfair management practices and workplace bullying.
   Researcher at Victoria University, Sarah Proctor-Thomson, said risk factors that made women feel victimised at work included pressure to put in extra hours, systemic work pressure and the denial of flexible work requests.
   “Increasing work pressures, uncertain career pathways, the low uptake of flexible work policies and perceptions of unfair or inconsistent performance management practices pose significant risks to the health and well-being of New Zealand workers and to the productivity of our public sector,” Dr Proctor-Thomson said.
   She said there were some positives in the survey, with the majority of women keen to develop and progress in their careers.


14 June, 2011
BOTSWANA
Sacked strikers offered reappointment
Public Servants dismissed for going on strike in Botswana have been advised not to reapply for their jobs.
   Publicity secretary with the Botswana Federation of Public Service Unions (BOFEPSUSU), Goretetse Kekgonegile said the Unions did not encourage their dismissed members to reapply for government jobs because doing so would mean they were guilty.
   Mr Kekgonegile said the Unions had taken a position to fight for the reinstatement of the dismissed essential service workers in court and they would not agree to conditional reinstatement.
   “We don’t encourage them to re-apply as it will mean they are guilty,” Mr Kekgonegile said.
   He said the Government had started processing applications for employment of essential services public officers, who were dismissed “following their engagement in an illegal and unprotected strike action”.
   He said PS workers had downed tools for eight weeks, initially demanding a 16 per cent payrise.
   Mr Kekgonegile said in a bid to end the walkout, the unions later lowered the rate to three per cent without preconditions.
   Government spokesperson, Jeff Ramsay said 25 doctors and 67 nurses had already submitted applications for reappointment to the Ministry of Health.
   Dr Ramsay said this followed the government’s undertaking to “welcome striking
   public officers back at work”, and to allow dismissed essential services officers to reapply for employment.
   He said public officers on strike should remain within gazetted assembly points, to avoid any danger to themselves and to members of the public.
   Mr Kekgonegile said BOFEPUSU would continue with its court case.


14 June, 2011
KENYA
Freeze on PS pay, jobs
The Government of Kenya is to freeze Public Service salary reviews and recruitment as the nation’s PS wage bill reaches unsustainable levels.
   Minister for Finance, Uhuru Kenyatta said wage levels in Kenya were now among the highest in Africa and posed a challenge for the country’s competitiveness.
   Mr Kenyatta said in the Public Service, there were wage gaps among officers with similar levels of training.
   “This situation is occasioned by uncoordinated wage awards and reviews,” Mr Kenyatta said.
   He said the overall wage bill in the Public Service, excluding Defence and National Security and Intelligence, was 7.2 per cent of gross domestic product (GDP).
   He said this was an increase from about 6.9 per cent last year and it now cost the Exchequer Sh222.6 billion ($A2.5billion).
   “Unless this level of wage bill is checked going forward, the government will not be able to provide adequate resources for operations and maintenance, let alone fund critical development programs,” Mr Kenyatta said.
   He called on the Parliament to establish a Salaries and Remuneration Commission to handle all salary reviews and awards in the Public Service.
   Mr Kenyatta said inflation had continued to increase for the past seven months and was at 12.95 per cent in May.
   He said the increase had been fuelled by high international oil prices in the face of a weak shilling and food shortages.
   The Treasury had promised the International Monetary Fund a three-year public sector wage freeze, putting pressure on government employees battling high inflation.
   Mr Kenyatta said employees should expect marginal or no adjustments to their pay.


14 June, 2011
SWAZILAND
Staff numbers to be audited
The Minister for the Swazi Public Service, Mtiti Fakudze, has been ordered to conduct an audit of staff numbers across the entire Service.
   The direction came from the country’s Senate, which is concerned that the nation’s PS wages bill is higher than it needs to be.
   The audit is to be aimed at identifying the number of employees required to carry out each Ministry’s core business and to uncover overstaffing. It is also to propose restructuring strategies where necessary.
   Senator Themba Msibi proposed the audit to ensure that all Ministries employ only necessary employees.
   Senator Msibi said it was necessary that the audit be conducted to reduce the wage bill.
   He said the motion to conduct an audit was brought up in consideration of recommendations of the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
   He said if the Government wanted to reduce its wage bill, it needed to reduce the civil service.
   Minister Fakudze said that as the proposed audit would have financial implications if it was conducted by a consultant, the ministry should take responsibility for the project.
   Senator Msibi said the motion did not require that the Minister appoint a consultant to do the job and he agreed the ministry had people who could do it.
   He said this should be a responsibility of the Management Services Department, which is responsible for creating and eliminating positions within the Public Service.
   Senator Msibi was supported by other senators on the motion to conduct a “comprehensive staff audit in all government ministries to identify the number of employees that are required to carry out each ministry’s core business.”


14 June, 2011
UNITED KINGDOM
Ex PS-head warns on climate
A former head of the British Public Service, Lord Turnbull has warned today’s bureaucrats to beware of climate change “alarmists” who would lead the world into high fuel bills and economic misery.
   Lord Turnbull said MPs and Public Servants had failed to challenge the ‘climate change consensus’ and by following the green agenda, the Government had hit hard-working families with a range of costly policies.
   “It is regrettable that the UK Parliament has proved so trusting and uncritical of the (global warming) narrative and so reluctant to question the economic costs being imposed in pursuit of decarbonisation,” Lord Turnbull said.
   “From our politicians we need open-mindedness, more rationality, less emotion and less religiosity; and an end to alarmist propaganda and to attempts to frighten us and our children.”
   Lord Turnbull said the UK had committed to halving greenhouse gas emissions by 2025 and by cutting emissions by 80 per cent by 2050 – the toughest targets of any country in the world.
   He said climate advisers had warned the move to a low carbon economy would cost one per cent of GDP – £13billion ($A20billion) a year in economic growth.
   He said Britain was rushing too quickly into a costly low carbon future.
   “The UK, producing only two to three per cent of world CO2 emissions can have only a minimal effect on the global warming outcome,” Lord Turnbull said.
   He said that global temperatures had been rising for the past 150 years and that some of that increase was caused by rising levels of CO2 in the atmosphere, however there was still ‘huge controversy’ about the role of the of the sun, cosmic rays, clouds and oceans in climate change.
   “There has been a consistent pattern of cherry-picking, exaggeration, highlighting of extremes and failure to acknowledge beneficial effects,” Lord Turnbull said.


14 June, 2011
AZERBAIJAN
Retirement rule to be enforced
Public servants in Azerbaijan will have to leave their jobs when they turn 65 under changes to the Public Service laws.
   Up to now they could extend the stay in the PS for up to five years but that provision is to be removed.
   President of Azerbaijan, Ilham Aliyev said under the amendments, Public Servants could have their term extended one year at a time for five years with the consent of state officials.
   Mr Aliyev said the number of PS staff whose term of office was extended, could not exceed five per cent of the total number of employees in the Agency.
   He said reaching the age limit for Public Servants was a basis for dismissal.
   Meanwhile, the Public Service Commission Chairman, Bahram Khalilov said he was dissatisfied with the knowledge of the Azerbaijani language among candidates wishing to join the Azerbaijani Public Service.
   Mr Khalilov said interviews with potential candidates revealed the problem.
   He said changes would be made in the interview process to include questions to test the applicants’ level of knowledge of their native language.
   “A civil servant must know the Azerbaijani language perfectly,” Mr Khalilov said.
   “Taking into account that the paperwork in State bodies is in the Azerbaijani language, one of the important conditions is civil servants’ knowledge of the Azerbaijani language.”
   Mr Khalilov said candidates for the Public Service must now provide a high school certificate in their first round of applications.


14 June, 2011
SOUTH AFRICA
Document sets vision for future
The performance of the South African Public Service was uneven and sometimes “lousy” according to the Minister for Planning, Trevor Manuel, who said corruption was undermining service delivery and the standing of the State.
   Mr Manuel said the National Planning Commission (NPC) research would help map out a vision for the country.
   “Productivity remains low in labour intensive parts of the Public Service like education, health and policing,” Mr Manuel said.
   “The Public Service needs to get better at consistent long-term thinking and implementation.”
   He said the recently released diagnostic document and vision statement for 2030 was open for public comment.
   The document had been drawn up after a year of intensive work by 26 NPC Commissioners and outlined seven other problem areas.
   He said these included poverty, inequality, spatial problems, and poorly located, inadequate and poorly maintained infrastructure.
   Mr Manuel said South Africa’s growth path was highly resource-intensive and hence unsustainable.
   He said its “ailing” health system confronted a massive disease burden and the nation remained divided.
   “Of these nine challenges we feel that two of them are more important,” Mr Manuel said.
   “These are that too few South Africans are employed and the quality of education for most black people remains poor.”
   Mr Manuel said the Commission’s research showed that only 41 out of 100 adults were employed - an unusually low ratio by international standards.
   He said the performance of major parts of the schooling system remained poor.
   “While we have made some progress, especially on access to education and equity in the funding of education, we have not made sufficient progress in improving the quality of schooling for the majority of black learners,” Mr Manuel said.
   He said the high rates of HIV/Aids and tuberculosis, injuries and trauma, infant and maternal mortality, non-communicable diseases like diabetes and heart disease had played the biggest role in putting the health system under “severe strain and distress”.
   Mr Manuel said the Commission found the country needed a developmental path that promoted growth and social equity.
   “The Commission urges the public to comment on this diagnostic document, to strengthen our analysis of what is wrong and what needs to be fixed,” Mr Manuel said.


14 June, 2011
NEW ZEALAND
More cuts are likely in the NZ Public Service after the State Services Minister said recent losses were still well away from the “tipping point” where services would suffer.
   The Government has announced plans to merge the Qualifications Authority and Education Review Office and get rid of five Crown entities and three tribunals.
   It has also merged the ministries of fisheries and agriculture and forestry and moved Archives NZ and the National Library into the Internal Affairs Department.

MALAYSIA
A former senior government official has said the overwhelmingly Malay civil service was “completely loyal to the United Malays National Organisation political party (Umno)” and was the main stumbling block towards economic reforms, according to a leaked United States diplomatic cable.
   The confidential report sent to Washington from the US embassy in Kuala Lumpur was leaked by whistleblower website WikiLeaks and published in the Malaysia Today news portal.
   According to the cable, the Public Service had a “narrow worldview” and was completely loyal to Malaysia’s largest political party.

SOUTH AFRICA
The Constitutional Court in South Africa has decided that members of the SA police force employed under the Public Service Act were not an ‘essential service’ and therefore retained the right to strike.
   The ruling supports a Labour Appeal Court ruling in favour of the Police and Prisoners Civil Rights’ Union on the subject after the Constitutional Court dismissed a challenge by the police minister.
   It is an interpretation of the meaning of an ‘essential service’ as defined in the Labour Relations Act (LRA).

CANADA
The head of Canada’s Treasury Board has told a group of government executives they should seek “transformative” change of the bureaucracy to reduce costs, including considering the introduction of user fees.
   The government spending review will focus on grants, capital investments and payments to state- owned businesses in addition to wages and salaries, in an effort to find C$4 billion ($A4 billion) in annual savings.
   The Treasury Board said departments should develop a “full range of options” in “administrative and program efficiencies, business consolidation and user fees.”

COMMONWEALTH
Secretary-General of the Commonwealth, Kamalesh Sharma is to stress youth employment, underachievement by boys and strengthening economic resilience during his trip to the Caribbean region.
   Mr Sharma said finding imaginative ways of creating jobs and skills development for youth was a priority for the Commonwealth.
   During the Caribbean visit Mr Sharma will call on Prime Ministers of Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, Jamaica, and St Vincent and the Grenadines to discuss priorities for the next Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), which is scheduled to take place in Perth in October.


7 June, 2011
IRELAND
PS ‘super group’ for top officials
A new “Senior Public Service” to be made up of the top officials in the Irish PS has been proposed by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin.
   A feature of the new group will be its emphasis on rotating senior managers across the public sector.
   Mr Howlin unveiled the plan when addressing a networking event for top Public Servants, hosted by the Department of Justice.
   “The creation of a Senior Public Service is a commitment in the program for Government because we recognise that a key to Public Service reform is supporting leadership at senior levels,” Mr Howlin said.
   “I am personally committed to making the Senior Public Service a reality.”
   He said a similar management tier had been established in other countries to promote a shared leadership culture and joint problem-solving.
   He described it as a structure where there would be an “interchange of ideas, a free flow of people, so that people could move more freely between Government Departments and between other sections of the Public Service”.
   “There is an appetite across the system for a more structured approach to senior management – in how we fill vacancies, how we manage succession and how we facilitate mobility at senior levels,” Mr Howlin said.
   In a separate development, serving and top-level staff in the Public Service, as well as in State-owned companies, could face pay cuts under new Government proposals.
   Mr Howlin said he was reviewing the current provisions.
   He acknowledged there might be contractual issues in relation to the application of any cap to current incumbents.


7 June, 2011
NEW ZEALAND
More job cuts on the way
Proposed changes to Statutory Authorities as part of sweeping reforms to Government in New Zealand could result in the loss of hundreds of jobs according to the Public Service Association (PSA).
   The losses would be on top of more than 2,000 Public Servants who have already lost their jobs since the current Government took office.
   Officials have begun work on seven proposals which include scrapping five Crown entities and three Tribunals, merging two Government Agencies and setting up shared corporate services across three central Agencies.
   Consolidating the services of a number of others is also being examined.
   An advisory group has been established to carry out due diligence on the changes, and includes in its membership top-level sector heads such as State Services Commissioner, Iain Rennie and the Chief Executive of Watercare Services, Mark Ford.
   The changes include bringing the Charities Commission into the Internal Affairs Department and merging the Education Review Office and the New Zealand Qualifications Authority.
   National Secretary of the PSA, Richard Wagstaff said hundreds of jobs would be lost under the proposals, with more to come.
   He said the continuing cuts were hurting frontline services despite the Government’s insistence that services would not suffer.
   The PSA agreed the Public Service was too fragmented and had argued with a previous National Government not to split up Departments during a restructure in the 1990s.
   New Zealand has 39 Government Departments, more than 150 Crown entities of various types, not including school boards of trustees, and more than 200 other Agencies.
   Minister for Finance, Bill English said the costs of running the Government were too high and there was too much duplication and waste.
   He said cuts could not be avoided.
   “It isn’t really a choice, it’s a necessity, with the constraint on Government finances,” Mr English said.
   “Things are going to change and they’re going to keep changing.”
   He said over the next 12 months the Government would look at other possibilities to save money.
   “Today’s list is by no way exclusive,” Mr English said.
   The PSA points out that the Government went to the election with a promise to cap, but not cut, the public sector.


7 June, 2011
KENYA
Clampdown on recruiting promises
New Public Servants in Kenya have been told they will have to be content with Public Service pay regardless of what they earned before joining.
   Chief Executive of the Permanent Public Service Remuneration Review Board, Grace Otieno said it was unfair that people recruited from the private sector sometimes demanded salaries and allowances equal to those they had previously enjoyed.
   The practice, she said, created serious distortions in salaries among people in the same positions.
   Ms Otieno said the Government was not a profit-making entity and that recruits from the private sector opting to work for it should accept salaries the Government paid.
   She said she was working on a plan to pay Public Servants according to the importance of the work they did.
   “The policy will see the huge disparities between senior staff and junior staff as well as those that exist among officers of the same rank removed,” Ms Otieno said.
   She said some current Permanent Secretaries and top Public Servants had been recruited from the private sector and had only agreed to join after being awarded salaries above PS rates, a move said to have generated resentment from career Public Servants.
   Ms Otieno also regretted the gender imbalance in Government staffing, saying women formed only about a third of the employees.


7 June, 2011
SINGAPORE
Half-year bonus announced
A mid-year bonus comprising more than half a month’s salary has been awarded to Singapore’s 74,000 Public Servants.
   The Public Service Division (PSD) said the Government had decided on the bonus as the Singapore economy continued to grow at a healthy pace, expanding in the first three months by 8.3 per cent over the same period last year.
   The latest bonus is comparable to one paid last year.
   Deputy Secretary-General of the National Trades Union Congress (NTUC), Heng Chee How said the mid-year payment came after close consultation and negotiations between the PSD and representatives from the NTUC and its Public Service unions.
   The PSD said the Government would decide on this year’s year-end bonus for Public Servants after taking into consideration Singapore’s economic performance in the second half of the year.
   The Trade and Industry Ministry increased its growth forecast of four to six per cent for the full year to between five and seven per cent, despite noting there were still downside risks such as sovereign debt issues in Europe, political unrest in the Middle East and North Africa as well as the nuclear situation in Japan.
   The NTUC said it would work closely with its tripartite partners to further enhance workers’ capabilities and organisational productivity and to ensure that workers benefited from such gains.


7 June, 2011
JORDAN
Salary imbalances to
be fixed
Pay rates in Jordan’s Public Service have been found to be inconsistent with some junior and low-skilled employees receiving higher salaries than high-ranking Government officials.
   Minister of Public Sector Development and Political Development, Mazen Saket revealed examples of imbalances and flaws in the salaries of those who worked in Statutory Authorities compared to others in the PS
   According to Mr Saket, a telephone operator’s monthly salary in one of the independent bodies was over JD700 ($A920) while the salary of an Assistant Secretary General for a Ministry was around JD500 ($A650).
   Citing another example of “unreasonable” salaries in the agencies, Mr Saket said some drivers in the authorities were paid around JD1,000 ($A1,313) each per month.
   Under proposed reforms the number of independent agencies would be reduced and the salaries of Government employees raised.
   Mr Saket said the restructuring program, to be effective from next January, would address the salaries and allowances for Public Service employees, the pension system for those who were still working in the Government sector and the salaries and allowances of employees at independent public institutions.
   The plan would also seek to create a unified body to manage and monitor the salaries of PS employees and to control the expenditure on salaries in the independent Government agencies.
   Minister for Finance, Mohammad Abu Hammour said the cost of the restructuring plan was JD100 million ($A131 million) which would be spent over two years.


7 June, 2011
KENYA
Discrimination for
balance plans
Attempts to correct the ethnic balance in the Kenyan Public Service could lead to “reverse marginalisation”, a senior Government Minister has warned.
   Minister for Transport, Amos Kimunya said qualified young Kenyans could be locked out of jobs because their communities were over-represented in the Public Service.
   This discrimination could be challenged by successful candidates who would argue that they had been judged by their tribes and not their abilities.
   “We’ll have young qualified chaps who cannot work as engineers in Government,” Mr Kimunya said, emphasising that there had never before been a policy of exclusion in the Public Service.
   He said the ethnic imbalance at his Ministry, which was cited in the report of the National Cohesion and Integration Commission (NCIC), was the fault of the Directorate of Personnel Management.
   He said his Ministry was unique in that all 305 of its employees were based in Nairobi, which would lock out Kenyans who did not like working in the capital.
   He said the data used by the NCIC was based on employees’ districts of birth, which was not necessarily a reliable indicator of their tribe.


7 June, 2011
ZIMBABWE
PS told to do more
with less
Senior Public Servants in Zimbabwe have been told they must work harder and improve their Service Delivery.
   Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet, Misheck Sibanda said this when opening a management development program for Permanent Secretaries, Principal Directors and Directors.
   “The objectives of this training are enhancement of the capacity of public officials in senior positions to deliver quality services to the Zimbabwean citizens, broadening the bureaucrats’ understanding of their varied roles and responsibilities in the discharge of their mandates,” Dr Sibanda said.
   “We also want to ensure that inclusive Government works as a unified and coherent unit, developing competencies that enable the target groups to respond in a strategic manner to the complexities of management in their sectors.
   He urged program participants to aim at achieving results even with limited resources.
   “With continuous change in public administration, practice and procedures the world-over; it becomes imperative to constantly adapt and refocus our training programs,” he said.
   “Like most Governments elsewhere operating under conditions of increasing scarcity of resources, where the pressure is on us to achieve more with less, to be more responsive to the needs of our stakeholders and to prioritise, the provision of quality service is critical.”
   Deputy Director of Protocol in the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Claudius Nhema said he was concerned with Directors in other Ministries who delegated their juniors to attend important inter-Ministerial meetings who did not have the authority to make decisions.
   “We want to be represented at the appropriate level,” Mr Nhema said.
   “When we call for those meetings we want you Directors to come because you can make decisions for the Ministry.”
   The workshop was organised by the Office of the Chief Secretary to the President and Cabinet. The Office has engaged the Eastern and Southern African Management Institution to train senior Public Servants.


7 June, 2011
MALAYSIA
Staff warned to serve Government
Public Servants in Malaysia must disregard their political leanings and implement policies set by the present Government, a top Ministerial official has warned
   Chief Secretary to the Government, Tan Sri Mohd Sidek Hassan said the obligation of the country’s 1.4 million Public Servants was to serve the public and not the politicians.
   Tan Sri Sidek said that it was imperative for the PS to be neutral and implement policies made by the Government of the day, even if the State was led by Opposition parties.
   Politics should never be a factor in Public Servants carrying out their duties, he said.
   The Public Service must first answer to the Government and the Government, in turn, must answer to the public.
   Tan Sri Sidek referred to the six National Key Results Areas (NKRAs) of the Government Transformation Program (GTP) and said PS staff should be concerned about ensuring that their desired outcomes were achieved.
   He said the Government no longer operated in isolation where each Ministry was focused only on its own agenda.
   “The introduction of the GTP’s NKRAs and their requirement for cross-Ministry ventures and cooperation have created more opportunities for the Government to be innovative in fulfilling its aspirations for the people,” he said.


7 June, 2011
PHILIPPINES
Video contest to push patriotism
A video competition aimed at promoting patriotic citizenship among Filipinos has been launched by the Civil Service Commission.
   The CSC said the contest was to popularise its R.A.C.E. motto, which stood for Responsive, Accessible, Courteous and Effective Public Service.
   The theme of the competition will be Every Filipino is a Hero. Every Filipino is Part of the Solution.
   It said the contest was open to amateur filmmakers and there was no limit on the number of entries from individual or group contestants.
   It was also free to enter.
   “We want videos that will stir every Filipino to do something concrete for the country,” the CSC said in a Memorandum sent to all Government Agencies and institutions.
   It said the style could be animation, documentary or commercial, but must be clear, intelligible, and not offensive.
   Entries could be submitted in English or Filipino. Those using other Filipino dialects should include subtitles in either English or Tagalog.
   Preliminary submission of entries wis to be done via YouTube with the title of the video to include the name of the competition and a personal title following.
   Kabayanihan Foundation, which is to partner the Civil Service Commission in running the competition, is a non-political, non-profit organisation committed to improving the lives of Filipinos through fund-raising and volunteer efforts focused on education and community development.


7 June, 2011
NEW ZEALAND
A working group, comprising eight people with expertise across Central Government, Local Government, business and the non-government area, has been set up to look at more reforms to the State sector.
   The group has been instructed to bring a clear focus on value-for-money, innovation, high-quality service provision and effective change management.
   It will be supported by officials from the three central Agencies of Government.

NETHERLANDS
PS staff in the Netherlands have been told they may get a pay rise of up to 0.6 per cent.
   In return, unions will have to agree to a reduction in some benefits and changes in redundancy regulations.
   Talks on pay and conditions started in December. The unions have called for a two per cent pay rise this year to offset the effect of inflation, currently running at around the same level.

MALAYSIA
Students who failed to obtain Public Service Department (PSD) overseas scholarships will instead be given scholarships to pursue the degrees of their choice at local private higher education institutions
   Meanwhile, appeals by the 86 students against their exclusion will continue.
   The move comes as the Cabinet decided it would review the nature of how PSD scholarships were awarded.

UNITED KINGDOM
The first ever ICT strategy for public services at a local level has been published in the United Kingdom.
   Socitm, the professional association for information and communications technology (ICT) managers in the Public Service, has published detailed version of the strategy Planting the Flag, which focuses on ICT-enabled reform for Local Authorities, emergency services, health, education, and the civil society sector.
   It addresses six strategic capabilities including leadership, governance, organisational change, strategic commissioning, shared services and professionalism.

OMAN
A seminar organised by the Ministry of Civil Services had as its target the upgrading and promotion of the level of service to the public.
   The seminar consisted of several workshops on the subject of Human Resources, ‘Omanisation’ and Public Service Laws.
   The Ministry aims to make the seminar an annual event.