27 October, 2009
UNITED KINGDOM
Business calls for PS
pay freeze
British business groups have called on the Government to freeze PS pay and outsource more services as a way of recovering from the recession and saving £120 billion ($A212 billion) by 2016.
   In a strategy released by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), the peak UK employers association said that the Government needed to make that saving if sustained growth is to be achieved.
   The strategy called for rebalancing the country’s public finances, the introduction of low-cost measures and the radical re-design of public service provision.
   Chief Economic Adviser to the CBI, Ian McCafferty, said it may also be necessary for the PS to start a senior executive recruitment search to find the best talent in the private sector in order to achieve these aims.
   “The skills and experience necessary to achieve reform in the delivery of public sector services, such as change management, process re-engineering, culture change and communication, are specialised and rare throughout the economy, but can be found to a greater extent in the private sector,” Mr McCafferty said.
   “The public and private sectors will need to work closely together if these much-needed reforms are to be delivered.”
   The CBI has drawn up a detailed plan to shrink the public sector significantly, cutting costs and handing over many tasks to private companies. The group also wants public sector staff pay and benefits to be curbed.
   The Opposition Conservative Party has proposed a one-year pay freeze for all public sector staff earning more than £16,000 ($A28,300). The CBI has called for a bigger squeeze on pay, saying the entire public sector pay bill should be frozen for two years, saving £19 billion ($A33.5 billion).
   It says cutting the number of sick days public sector workers take could save £8 billion ($A14 billion) over the next five years. It has calculated that absence in the public sector is 55 per cent higher than in the private sector.
   The group also wants a “fundamental overhaul” of Public Service pension schemes while some £30 billion ($A53 billion) could be saved by contracting out many State services to the private sector. Public bodies should pay companies for cleaning, catering, security and maintenance services, the CBI said.
   It said a further £13 billion ($A23 billion) could be saved by making Government procurement work properly. In particular, private companies should handle more Defence procurement projects, the report said.  
   It said another £3 billion ($5.3 billion) of “non-essential” spending could be cut by stopping ineffective advertising campaigns and hiring fewer consultants.


27 October, 2009
IRELAND
Special FoI deal for embattled Minister
The Secretary of a Department in Ireland has agreed to furnish the former Speaker (Ceann Comhairle) of the Irish Parliament’s (Dail) with documents about him when they are released under Freedom of Information laws.
   The decision was made following a complaint the former Speaker, John O’Donoghue, made to the Attorney-General and the Secretary of the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism when earlier FoI requests had led to details of his travel appearing in the Irish media.
   According to the media, the first request yielded “hundreds of pages” of documents whereas those that followed the complaint – which was for a longer period of time – amounted to just four pages.
   Mr O’Donoghue stepped down from the Speaker’s position in early October after his travelling expenses were made public, including those relating to a visit to the Melbourne Cup in his former role as Minister for Arts, Sport and Tourism.
   In letters to the two Ministers, the former Ceann Comhairle accused staff at the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism of “leaking” against him and demanded that in the future all FOI correspondence should be sent to his office “prior to, or simultaneously with” its release to the media.
   Secretary General of the Department of Arts, Sport and Tourism, Con Haugh subsequently agreed to furnish him with all overseas travel documents that were due to be publicly released, even though he was under no obligation to do so. He said he took the decision “as a matter of courtesy to a former Minister”.
   Mr O’Donoghue’s complaint came just days after a newspaper published more details of his overseas travel arrangements, including a request to the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) seeking use of the Government jet for a six-day period to transport himself (Mr O’Donoghue) from Cannes to a constituency event in Kerry and on to a rugby final in Cardiff.
   In his letter, Mr O’Donoghue wrote: “It has come to my attention that the letter from my former Private Secretary to Mr Nick Reddy, Private Secretary to the Taoiseach [requesting use of the jet], was not part of the official FOI release from your Department, copies of which were sent to my office.
   “I have to say that I am extremely concerned if it proves to be the case that this material was effectively leaked to the media.”
   Mr O’Donoghue asked that the matter be examined as a matter of urgency.
   “ I would also appreciate it if, in respect of the release of any further information pending under other FOI requests or in the future, that copies would be forwarded to... [my office] as a courtesy prior to, or simultaneously with its release to the media concerned.”
   The letter came as Mr O’Donoghue was refusing to comment on the expenses controversy, insisting that his position as Speaker had to put him above controversy and politics.
   In a return letter, Mr Haugh said he had no reason to believe there was a leak. The correspondence had been made available to the newspaper as part of a separate FOI request for documents arising from the controversy.


27 October, 2009
NEW ZEALAND
Jobs cuts at Health called ‘alarming’
The New Zealand Department of Health is to lose up to one in eight positions in a cost cutting measure PS unions have described as “alarming.”
   Minister for Health, Tony Ryall has announced that 500 administrative jobs are to go in a bid to save $700 million over the next five years.
   Mr Ryall said a National Health Board would be set up to oversee “back office” functions, such as IT, payroll and procurement. Set-up costs would be between $NZ5 million ($A4.1 million) and $NZ10 million ($A8.2 million) but savings of about $700 million ($573 million) are expected in the first five years.
   Chief Executive of the provincial Otago District Health Board, Brian Rousseau said the proposal looked sensible and was “in line with a lot of the thinking across Otago and Southland”.
   However, Otago organiser for the Public Service Association, Julie Morton slammed the announcement as “craziness”.
   She said there was already poor morale and unhappiness among administration workers, who were overworked and had not received pay increases for the past three years.
   Of the 500 job losses, 320 will come from District Health Boards (DHBs) and 180 from the Ministry of Health.
   Mr Ryall said job losses would be managed as much as possible through attrition and voluntary redundancy. He said savings would go to frontline services.
   “To better focus on patients, the public health service needs to stop reinventing the wheel 21 times,” Mr Ryall said.
   “These changes are an urgent priority and implementation will begin immediately.”
   Mr Rousseau said the Otago Board had 121 people working in the areas of human resources, payroll, IT, finance and procurement.
   “You can have one national payroll system, but you still have got to have some people on the ground to manage issues at a local level,” Mr Rousseau said
   Changes he favoured included bulk-buying of medical equipment and a national board managing capital investment.
   National Secretary of the Public Service Association, Richard Wagstaff said the cuts for DHBs could see doctors and nurses assigned to do administrative tasks.
   “The Minister seeks to denigrate workers doing administrative and policy work as `bureaucrats’, ignoring the fact that every organisation requires staff to do administrative and planning work,” Mr Wagstaff said.
   Health Spokeswoman for the Opposition Labour Party, Ruth Dyson said local DHBs would lose autonomy.
   “This is the first step to a wholesale restructure of the health system that will lead to increased centralisation of healthcare, meaning fewer health services in the regions and a reduced ability of DHBs to make decisions for their communities,” Ms Dyson said.


27 October, 2009
IRELAND
PS anger over second
pay cut
Public Servants in Ireland are preparing to take strike action following a Government decision to impose a second round of PS pay cuts.
   The Central Executive Committee of the country’s largest public sector union, Impact, was considering its options after members voted overwhelmingly to strike in the event of the pay cuts.
   General Secretary of Impact, Peter McLoone, said the Government had refused to consider alternatives.
   “This ballot represents a massive shift in opinion among Public Servants since the imposition of the so-called pension levy last March,” Mr McLoone said.
   “Every Public Servant has already suffered a 7.5 per cent pay cut this year, yet the Government is clearly determined to come back again and again to slash their family incomes.”
   He said union members did not want strikes or the disruption they bring, but the Government’s refusal to consider alternatives meant strikes now seemed inevitable.
   Mr McLoone said the Government had not responded to an initiative put forward by Impact as an alternative to pay cuts which would have involved “a massive transformation of public services to do much more with less money”.
   He said the Government had told trade union leaders it wanted to secure savings of €1.3 billion ($A2.10 billion) from the public sector wage bill next year.
   Minister for Finance, Brian Lenihan said the Government had no plans to introduce new taxes – other than a carbon tax – in the December Budget.
   He said the Government would engage in talks with trade unions, representative groups and Opposition parties about the Budget but that it would ultimately have to take decisions on its own which were for the good of the country.
   He denied the need for savings had arisen because of the Government’s measures to support the banking sector.


27 October, 2009
UNITED KINGDOM
PS popular with young professionals
Applications to join the UK Public Service’s “Fast Stream” have jumped 40 per cent as young professionals see the PS as an attractive career option during the economic recession.
The 2010 fast-track scheme for graduates opened for applications on 21 September, and does not close until next month, but already, the number of youngsters seeking to join the Public Service is significantly up against the 2009 figures.
   A Cabinet Office spokeswoman said that while precise numbers were not available, applications were already up by 40 per cent.
   That follows a six per cent increase in applications last year, after which Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnell, told MPs he did not attribute the rise purely to the financial turmoil in the economy at the time.
   He said talented graduates also saw the Public Service as an “interesting, active area” of employment when compared with other big recruitment sectors, such as banking, finance and law.
   However, Cabinet Office sources now acknowledge that the economic uncertainty was likely to direct more applicants for senior jobs towards the Public Service.
   While thousands of Public Service job cuts have been announced, most have been aimed at lower-grade or temporary staff.
   One Cabinet Office source said it was too early to have done any qualitative research into the rise in applications for the fast stream.
   “Anecdotally, there is some evidence that talented graduates see the Civil Service as a strong and steady sector when economic conditions are tough,” the source said.
   Outside of the Public Service fast stream, however, there are growing fears over the range of new jobs available.
   Online recruitment firm, Monster reported that total UK hiring levels were down by 33 per cent against last year, with the education, health care and social work sectors badly hit.


27 October, 2009
KENYA
Standard allowances disadvantage some
Reclassifying hardship postings and standardising allowances across the Kenyan Public Service are expected to advantage some PS staff at the expense of others.
   Teachers fear they will be the major losers with some of the 94,000 entitled to the hardship allowance slated to lose up to Sh7,000 ($A101) per month in the new rates announced by the Minister for the Public Service, Dalmas Otieno.
   Starting on 1 July next year, all Public Servants and teachers entitled to the allowance will receive a fixed monthly stipend, depending on the category of hardship in which their areas have been designated.
   The Government has come up with a new classification of hardship areas and also scrapped the label from other areas.
   Those working in areas that are now considered ‘moderate’ will receive a monthly allowance of Sh5,000 ($A72) irrespective of their job group or marital status. Those living in areas classified as ‘extreme’ will receive the highest allowance of Sh10,000 ($A144).
   Workers in the Public Service will benefit more from the program than some others since they were earning less in the scheme before the announcement.
   Mr Otienosaid 25 divisions in four provinces that had previously been considered hardship areas would be de-gazetted.
   The Kenya National Union of Teachers said the move as unfair.
   Secretary General of the union, Lawrence Majali said it was still negotiating the matter with the Teachers Service Remuneration Commission and as such it was premature for the Minister to make the announcement.
   “The new figures now mean that teachers will earn less. This is unfair,” Mr Majali said.


27 October, 2009
ISRAEL
Study finds PS pay
above average
A report on salary levels by the Israeli Finance Ministry has revealed Public Service wages to be 60 per cent higher than the national average.
   Supervisor of wages with the Ministry, Ilan Levine said average salaries in the Department of Defence were the highest, coming in at over double the national mark and 45 per cent higher than the rest of the Public Service.
   The top earners in the Public Service were the Director of Legal Medicine at the Assaf Harofeh Medical Centre, Yehuda Hiss, and Director of Sheba Medical Centre at Tel Hashomer, Shlomo Noy who each earn salaries of NIS 66,000 ($A19,200) per month.
   Professor Noy defended his high salary saying the Finance figures were misleading.
   “The figure absolutely does not reflect my salary as the director of Sheba, but additional professional work that I perform outside of my work there, as a psychiatrist for the Transportation Ministry’s Supreme Appeals Committees,” Professor Noy said.
   “The Transportation Ministry granted me a personal appointment to serve on the committees on behalf of the State, and the two jobs, which are paid on the same pay slip, add up to the amount reported.”
   The report also included central findings on the salary cost for the State’s 144,980 Public Servants in 2008 - 57,189 workers employed in Government Ministries (including 22 State hospitals), and 87,791 teachers. It also specified the various salary rankings within the Israeli Defence Force, police force and prison services.
   The report found that the vast majority of Government Ministry workers (94.3 per cent) were employed under collective wage agreement contracts. Only 5.7 per cent, or 3,147 employees, worked under special personal contracts.


27 October, 2009
BRUNEI
More training for middle managers
Middle-ranking officers in the Brunei Public Service are to be given more training and personal development in an effort to make the PS more responsive to community needs.
   Deputy Director General of Public Services, Jaini Abdullah said staff at that level required more training in leadership and management to improve themselves.
   “To do this, they need to participate in programs to develop their management and leadership skills to improve themselves to be more transparent and to provide the public excellent service,” Mr Abdullah said.
   “We are working towards being [more] transparent now, but there is always room for improvement and that is why we are sending participants from various Ministries for training through these programs,” he said.
   Participants who had shown the potential to be future leaders had been specifically chosen to attend the program.
   “Our intention is to upgrade the quality of our Civil Service. In order to achieve that, we need to upgrade their leadership and management skills,” he said.
   “This year’s program is more applied and practical. There is not so much of an emphasis on the academic side.”
   The program was initiated by the Prime Minister’s Office’s Public Service Department in collaboration with the Civil Service Institute and Universiti Brunei Darussalam’s (UBD) Institute for Leadership, Innovation and Advancement (ILIA).
   Director of the ILIA, Diana Cheong said she hoped the participants would become more “effective leaders” of the Public Service.
   “This year, we have a revamped the whole curriculum,” Dr Cheong said.
   “Previously, the content focused on public policy and administration, but now we have more content on management and leadership to deal with challenges of the world.”
   She said Government officers must assist Bruneians face a constantly changing and challenging global future.
   “To do so, training opportunities must be continuously provided for executive development, particularly along the relevant streams of public policy and development issues, public governance, leadership, business and related topics.”
   Director General of the Public Service Department, Hj Ibrahim Hj Hassan urged all participants to take up the “golden opportunity” to increase their knowledge and skills.
   The full-time program will run for nine-and-a-half weeks at UBD with a total of 30 participants selected from a number of Government Departments to undertake the training.


27 October, 2009
UNITED KINGDOM
BBC share plan judged
‘too complicated’
The governing body of the British Broadcasting Corporation has rejected as too complicated a proposal by its management to make content from all the UK’s public service TV channels available on the BBC’s iPlayer catch-up service.
   The proposal envisioned the formation of an on-line federation between the BBC and the UK’s other public service broadcasters, ITV, Channel 4 and Five, which would make content from those broadcasters available on the BBC iPlayer. It would have been done through a combination of commercial and public service elements.
   In rejecting the proposal, the Trust reiterated its support for the principle of sharing the iPlayer more widely and stated that it was open to alternative proposals for sharing iPlayer technology.
   However, it said that the BBC would need to find simpler ways to achieve this goal, and that the proposal was not the best way to share the BBC iPlayer or to deliver increased public value to licence fee payers.
The proposal, known as Open iPlayer or Project Marquee, was presented to the BBC Trust’s Strategic Approvals Committee. Its elements included the establishment of a new commercial service which would license the BBC’s iPlayer technology to third parties.
   This would be achieved by the formation of a federation of UK public service broadcasters and links between the BBC iPlayer and other UK public service broadcasters’ web sites that would drive mutual traffic by, for example, allowing users to search for non-BBC content on the BBC iPlayer site.
   The BBC Trust said the combination of commercial and public service activities was too complex
   “The proposed public service activities were of considerable strategic significance but it was not clear whether they were the best way of increasing the public value of iPlayer for the benefit of license fee payers,” the Trust said.
   “This issue ought to be re-assessed in the course of the broader ongoing strategic review, in which the BBC Trust and Executive are looking at the post-switchover world of 2012 and beyond to develop a clear strategy for what kind of BBC could best serve the public, and best support the media sector.”
   Chair of the Trust’s Strategic Approvals Committee, Diane Coyle said the federation part of the proposal was where the complexity came in.
   “We didn’t see the structure as necessary. We have a preference for an open model, open standards,” Ms Coyle said.
   “When proposals get beyond a pretty straightforward definition like that it gets more problematic.”


27 October, 2009
UNITED KINGDOM
A Conservative Government would consider selling off the UK equivalent of the Weather Bureau which is currently run by the Ministry of Defence if it wins the next election.
   Shadow Defence Secretary, Liam Fox said the Opposition was committed to reducing Ministry of Defence costs and the sale of the Met Office was one way of doing this.
   The Conservatives have pledged to cut the overall Public Service Budget by a third and the third largest party in Parliament, the Liberal Democrats, have pledged to cut 10,000 ‘desk jobs’ in Defence.
   The Met Office was established in 1854 as a small Department within the Board of Trade, later becoming part of the Ministry of Defence.

UNITED STATES
A proposed Government-run health-care plan now has a clear majority of support from the public, a new Washington Post-ABC News poll has found.
   Americans remain divided on the overall packages, reflecting the partisan battle that has raged for months over the Administration’s top domestic legislative priority, but sizable majorities now back two key and controversial provisions: the so-called public option and a new mandate that would require all Americans to carry health insurance.
   Independents and senior citizens, two groups crucial to the debate, have warmed to the idea of a public option, and are particularly supportive if it would be administered by the States and limited to those without access to affordable private coverage.

NEW ZEALAND
Lower and middle range Public Servants have been urged to moderate their pay demands despite the announcement of significant increases in the top-level ranks.
   Last year five Public Servants earned more than $300,000 ($A245,000); this year 34 earned more than that - an almost seven-fold increase.
   State Services Commissioner, Iain Rennie said the rises flowed through from a decision in 2005 to increase the overall funding for Chief Executives by five per cent a year for five years.
   The wage bill for Public Service Chief Executives “won’t move more” in the next year, Mr Rennie said.

NIGERIA
An audit of staff payments in the Nigerian State of Kogi has discovered that ‘Ghost workers’ have been receiving some N450 million ($A3.25 million) from the State Government.
   Governor Ibrahim Idris said the Government was shocked at the results.
   He said that while the workers and their unions had opposed the staff audit, nothing would stop his Administration from ‘sanitising’ the Public Service as well as making sure salaries were paid only to real and living workers.
   He said appropriate action would be taken against anyone found wanting after the exercise had been completed.

PHILIPPINES
A resolution of the Civil Service Commission (CSC) prohibiting Local Government executives whose terms are on the point of ending from making mass appointments has been upheld by the Supreme Court.
   The Court decision nullifies the “midnight appointments” of 89 employees by the Mayor of Dumaguete City, Felipe Antonio Remollo. Mr Remollo had lost a bid for re-election and his term was about to end.
   The new Mayor, Agustin Perdices immediately announced he would not honour the appointments and ordered the City Treasurer and Administrator not to pay their salaries.
   The Supreme Court pointed out that Mr Remollo issued the appointments on three separate dates, but within a 10-day period in the same month that he left office.


20 October, 2009
UNITED KINGDOM
PS pensions frozen to 2011
Public Servants in the UK are to have their pensions frozen until 2011 as the British equivalent of the CPI returns a negative increase.
   The decision followed the deflation of retail prices in September and will affect public sector pensions of workers in the National Health Service, the Civil Service, teachers and the armed forces.
   Figures released by the Office for National Statistics showed the Retail Prices Index (RPI), which both State and public sector pensions are pegged to, registered a fall of 1.4 per cent in the year to September.
   Consultant at Watson Wyatt, John Ball said there were more than two million pensioners receiving benefits from the four main unfunded pension schemes for the public sector.
   “Pension increases in these schemes are based on RPI inflation in the year to September but pensions can only go up and cannot be reduced. They will therefore stay flat in cash terms and rise in real terms,” Mr Ball said.
   By not increasing public sector pension payouts the Government will have frozen the cash sum received, however, as deflation means prices are falling their real purchasing power will rise.
   An inflation spike last September saw a 5.2 per cent public sector pensions increase in April 2009.
   Neither State nor public sector pensions can fall in response to negative inflation, and following the backlash against the 75p increase in 2000, the Government’s policy has been that the basic State pension will rise by a minimum of 2.5 per cent each year.
   The basic State pension is set to increase next April from £95.25 ($A162.75) to £97.65 ($A172.25) a week for a single pensioner and from £152.30 ($A268.65) to £156.15 ($A275.45) for couples.
   All three parties have pledged to restore the link between the State pension and average earnings which was severed in 1983 by then Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. She instead linked it to the slower rising Retail Prices Index.
   Any changes to the welfare system will be announced in the Pre-Budget Report later this year.


20 October, 2009
NEW ZEALAND
Justice workers call for
pay justice
Staff of the New Zealand Ministry of Justice who administer the nation’s Courts and Tribunals have launched industrial action in support of a stalled pay agreement.
 National Secretary of the Public Service Association, Richard Wagstaff said the more than 1,700 staff were taking action to protest against the Ministry’s refusal to grant them a pay rise despite paying them well below the Public Service median pay rate.
   The workers have been trying to negotiate a pay rise since their two collective employment agreements expired on June 30, he said.
   “They’ve voted to take industrial action that begins on Wednesday with a work to rule and will escalate this into strike action if they do not get a fair settlement,” Mr Wagstaff said.
   “The Ministry of Justice underpays its staff despite the essential work they do running the country’s courts and tribunals and collecting fines.”
   Mr Wagstaff said the Ministry of Justice’s own figures showed it underpays its staff.
   “They show some Justice staff are paid 13 per cent below the Public Service median; that a total of 1,200 staff are paid 9.25 per cent below the median; and that on average the Ministry of Justice pays its staff 6.3 per cent below the Public Service median pay rate,” he said.
   “Justice staff are underpaid because the Ministry has an unjust pay system that denies them the right to collectively negotiate how much they’re paid. The Ministry needs to recognise that this unjust pay system is not working for the staff or the Ministry.”
   General Manager District Court, Tony Fisher said the Ministry of Justice was committed to resolving industrial action and achieving a fair settlement for its staff.
   “Our staff do a great job delivering services that support the work of the Ministry and the courts system, and we value them,” Mr Fisher said.
   “Like many organisations the Ministry faces tight financial constraints and cannot afford the current union demands; it is keen to move forward to resolve collective agreements that are affordable as quickly as possible.”
   He said the Ministry had offered performance-based pay increases for staff effective from 1 July 2010.
   “Our preference is to reward performance, not time in the job,” he said.
   “The Ministry is a lean organisation. It continuously looks for ways to improve service delivery and achieve productivity gains through greater efficiency and effectiveness.”


20 October, 2009
NORTHERN IRELAND
Decentralisation plan scrapped
A plan to relocate public sector jobs from Belfast to other areas of Northern Ireland has been scrapped as unaffordable.
 A review completed last year by Sir George Bain, said at least 5,000 public sector jobs should be moved out of Belfast
   He said the move could create “better economic balance” in Northern Ireland.
   The Bain review team recommended that public sector jobs should be relocated to six locations: Ballymena, Coleraine, Craigavon, Londonderry (Derry), Newry and Omagh.
   However Minister of Finance, Sammy Wilson said he believed the £40 million ($A70.5 million) cost was “simply not affordable.”
   Mr Wilson said that in the face of a tightening financial situation it was not the time to set aside normal value-for-money principles.
   “The Bain report was written when public finances were not as constrained as they are now,” Mr Wilson said.
   He said he was giving his financial assessment, but individual Ministers could use their budgets how they wanted.
   Former Mayor of Derry, Northern Ireland’s second city, Helen Quigley said Mr Wilson’s statement was “absolutely appalling”.
   “This is like a form of economic apartheid and particularly apparent in the north-west,” she said.
   A spokesman for the Public Service union, NIPSA, John Corey said there should be public consultation on the issue.
   “Locating Public Service jobs in Northern Ireland on a fair and equitable basis could save taxpayers’ money in the future,” Mr Corey said.
   The Department of Agriculture was among 13 organisations which the team said could move.
   Other organisation which had been in line to move included the Victims and Survivors Commission; Charities Commission; Education and Skills Authority Headquarters; the Northern Ireland Environment Agency and the Northern Ireland Water Headquarters.


20 October, 2009
KENYA
PS ordered to keep ethnic balance
Heads of Departments and Agencies in Kenya have been ordered to maintain an ethnic balance when recruiting for positions in the Public Service.
   Prime Minister, Raila Odinga warned that the Government would no longer tolerate a trend where tribalism and nepotism is allowed to influence appointments in the Public Service.
   Minister for the Public Service, Dalmas Otieno reinforced the message by saying the Government did not want a situation where all officers “from the top to the bottom” came from one tribe.
   Mr Otieno, who was inviting the Prime Minister to officially launch Public Service Week at the Kenyatta International Conference Centre, said public institutions should urgently develop a work plan that would see all appointments reflecting the face of Kenya.
   “If you are the head of a Government Department, a State Corporation or a public institution where appointments do not reflect the face of Kenya, always think about it when you wake up every morning,” Mr Otieno said.
   “Come up with a clear action plan that can show us that you are doing something about it.”
   Mr Odinga described nepotism and tribalism as the new monsters that had to be dealt with in the Public Service.
   “We are keen to create a Government that all Kenyan communities feel they are part of,” Mr Odinga said.
   Chairman of the Public Service Commission, Titus Gateere decried a growing trend where certain regions and communities never forwarded their graduates for recruitment to the Public Service.
   “It means that these areas may not produce top Civil Servants like Permanent Secretaries in 20 years to come if they are not represented at the entry level,” Mr Gateere said.
   Mr Odinga also said corruption would no longer be tolerated in the Public Service.
   “Public Servants who frequent the altar of corruption and incompetence will have to look for jobs elsewhere,” he said.


20 October, 2009
SOUTH KOREA
Corruption probe on PS high flyers
The new head of South Korea’s Anti-corruption and Civil Rights Commission has identified high-ranking Public Servants and executives at public companies as prime targets in his campaign to assess the level of corruption in the country.
   Lee Jae-oh said he would reveal the exact level of corruption among high-ranking Public Servants and executives at public companies from next year.
   The former Floor Leader of the governing Grand National Party, Mr Lee spoke at length about anti-corruption measures against those working for the Government during his first press conference since he started his new job on 30 September. He is a close confidant and political affairs adviser to President Lee Myung-bak
   “Anti-corruption and integrity-related policies should be considered to step up national competitiveness,” Mr Lee said.
   “We are considering inviting external consultants to gauge the degree of integrity in the regular evaluation of Public Servants. If necessary, I intend to hold a meeting of anti-corruption-related Government institutions including the Board of Audit and Inspection of Korea.”
   Under President Lee Myung-bak Korea would be transformed into the cleanest country in the world, he said.
   However, some high-positioned Government officials were not happy with the Commission head’s comments.
   “The Anti-Corruption Commission is not an audit institution,” a senior prosecutor who declined to be named, said.
   “Why would he come forward when the Audit Board is above the Commission in hierarchy?”
   An official at the National Tax Service, who also declined to be named, said Mr Lee was exceeding his authority.
   Spokesman for the Democratic Party, Noh Young-min said Mr Lee seemed to want to wield his omnipotence with Audit Agencies.


20 October, 2009
BRUNEI
HR functions set for upgrade
Human Resources functions across the Brunei Public Service are to be modernised and improved under a new program being introduced to a number of Departments early next year.
 The program is to be run by a private company, BAG Networks, and will be known as the Government Employee Management System (GEMS). It will aim to improve the performance of human resources, planning and management of organisation, succession planning and administration.
   GEMS will strive towards providing and excellent, interactive and integrated Public Service in line with 21st century expectations.
   The system will automate a significant number of tasks that were previous manual, including setting up a database of staff and personnel data, which will be accessible by all Ministries at all times.
   It will streamline the processing of applications in the areas of housing, loans and training. This will help enhance decision-making as all information will be at the Government’s fingertips.
   According to the GEMS team, the system is secure and there should be no fears of personal data being available to anyone other than HR administrators. Changes to any data within the system will also be logged and can be tracked.
   Project manager for the GEMS Project, Michael Chong said the system should be up and running by January.
   Director General of the Public Service, Sa Bali Abas said that the Public Service Department (IPA) hoped to transform services in a manner which would benefit not only the 40,000 Public Servants, but also to the citizens of the country.
   However, it would be a difficult task for organisations to learn the necessary skills and knowledge to use the new automated system in the short time left.
   To deal with this, BAG Networks had a group of ‘change analysts’ to help with the transition.


20 October, 2009
BANGLADESH
New PS pay rates to be announced
A new pay scale for the Bangladesh Public Service is to be announced next month.
 Minister of Finance, A. M. A. Muhith, speaking at a news conference in Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, said the Government had also taken initiatives to formulate a new Civil Service Act in a bid to ensure transparency and accountability in the Public Service.
   “We hope to declare the details in a month,” Mr Muhith said in his first meeting with the media since returning from two key international conferences in Cyprus and Turkey.
   “Whenever the declaration comes, Civil Servants will get their salaries and bonus in accordance with the new pay scale from July 2009.”
   The Minister said the National Pay Commission, Secretary Committee and Judicial Commission had all submitted their reports and it was taking time to collate their recommendations.
   “I will soon scrutinise the reports and forward them to the Cabinet Committee,” Mr Muhith said.
   The Pay Commission was formed in September 2008 with former top Public Servant, Mostafizur Rahman as its chief. The Commission submitted its report to the Finance Minister in late April, and proposed pay scales for Public Servants ranging from Tk4,500 ($A71) to Tk45,000 ($A708) per month.
   However, the Secretary Committee has recommended Tk4,150 ($A65) to Tk39,000 ($A614).
   Mr Muhith said he could not give details of the new Civil Service Act.
   “It will be formed based on everybody’s opinion,” he said.


20 October, 2009
SINGAPORE
Exchange program strengthened
A Public Service exchange program between Singapore and Thailand is to be reviewed and expanded.
   The aim of the Civil Service Exchange Program (CSEP) is to ensure the Public Services of both countries remain relevant to new challenges arising from a rapidly-evolving strategic environment in the region.
   This was discussed at the Ninth Coordinating Meeting of the Exchange Program in Singapore at which Singapore’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, George Yeo and his Thai counterpart, Kasit Piromya officiated.
   Senior officials from both countries reviewed CSEP projects and discussed future areas of collaboration, including continuing the Singapore-Thailand Leadership Development Program and initiating new projects to enhance the employability of disabled people.
   Other areas up for debate included IT security development in the public sector and exchanges on capacity building and skills enhancement as well as experience and knowledge sharing on the destitute and homeless, children, youth and ageing issues.
   Officials also exchanged ideas on common challenges such as managing cross-border transmission of infectious disease, strengthening the family against negative influences that put youths at risk and meeting the social economic and healthcare needs of the elderly
   Since its inception in 1998, CSEP has been an important bilateral mechanism in promoting closer contact and cooperation between various agencies of both countries, especially in the areas of education, health, social welfare and technology.


20 October, 2009
KENYA
PS told to love its critics
The Speaker of the Kenyan National Assembly, Kenneth Marende has told the nation’s Public Servants that criticism will help them improve their shortcomings.
 In a speech read on his behalf by Deputy Speaker, Farah Maalim during Public Service Week, the Speaker said the public sector had a responsibility to perform to optimum levels to deliver the best possible service to Kenyans. Mr Maalim later delivered his own comments.
   “The Public Service uses resources that are from the public themselves; we will promote reforms in this country that is going to make it easier and going to give quality service to Kenyans,” Mr Marende said.
   “I would like to mention the importance of measuring performance through regular staff appraisals as a critical aspect of service delivery - as they say, what gets measured gets done and what does not get measured does not get done.”
   Mr Maalim said Kenyans deserved professional service for their taxes adding that Parliament had set the pace by opening up House and Committee sittings and its other operations to the public.
   “There should never be any secrecy about how institutions are run, how resources are utilised and how fast services should be delivered to Kenyans. Kenyans are encouraged to ask for nothing short of the best,” Mr Maalim said.
   The theme of this year’s event is ‘modernising public service towards realisation of Vision 2030’.
   Public Service Week has registered a huge turnout. The most visited stands were those of the Kenya Police, Administration Police and Kenya Army where most of the visitors were inquiring on the working and recruitment processes.
   Another favourite was the Ministry of Immigration and Registration of Persons where most of the visitors inquired about the process of getting a passport and other identification documents.


20 October, 2009
UNITED STATES
The prospect of heading straight into a war zone has not deterred recruits to the US military which has met its personnel goals for the first time in more than 35 years.
   A spokesman for the Pentagon, which made the announcement Tuesday, said the economic downturn and rising joblessness, as well as bonuses, had led more qualified youths to enlist.
   The military has not seen such across-the-board successes since the all-volunteer force was established in 1973, after Congress ended the draft following the Vietnam War.
   In recent years, the military has often fallen short of some of its recruiting targets with the Army, in particular, struggling to fill its ranks, admitting more high school dropouts, overweight youths and even felons.

UNITED KINGDOM
The British Government plans to raise £16 billion ($A28 billion) through asset sales to ease the spiralling public debt.
   Included in the sell-off is the Tote, the Dartford Tunnel and the Channel rail link
   Prime Minister, Gordon Brown said the sales were keys to Labour’s “clear and credible” plans for halving the deficit over the next four years.
   The sales were supported by Liberal Democrat Party Treasury Spokesman, Vince Cable who said they made sense “at least in principle”.

MALAYSIA
A successful nation was dependent on close ties between the Government and the Public Service, Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said recently.
   History had shown that the country’s success thus far was due to this close relationship, the Prime Minister said.
   “May this special relationship be defended as there are still many more challenges which we need to overcome,” Datuk Najib said.

CAYMAN ISLANDS
A freeze on Public Service hiring looks to be being ignored with 100 new PS staff members to be taken on.
   Chief Secretary Donovan Ebanks said the Public Service planned to hire people for the positions which needed to be filled due to new posts being created or vacated positions due to retirement.
   He said there had been a policy in place for the past 12 months to replace only essential staff and this had resulted in a reduction of 150 personnel.

NEW ZEALAND
The NZ State Services Commission has reported an almost 600 per cent increase in the number of senior Public Servants earning more than $NZ300,000 ($A242,000).
   The Commission’s annual report also showed that the number of Public Servants earning more than $NZ100,000 ($A81,000) also swelled by more than 20 per cent.
   Last year the highest earning non-Chief Executive Public Servant received between $NZ360,000 ($A290,000) and $NZ369,999, ($A298,000) but this year’s report showed the highest was on $NZ490,000 ($A395,000) to $NZ499,999 ($A403,000)
   Last year five Public Servants earned more than $NZ300,000, but this year 34 earned more than that - an almost six-fold increase.
   Secretary of the Treasury, John Whitehead received a large pay increase moving from his original salary of between $NZ510,000 ($A411,000) and $NZ519,999 ($A419,000) to between $NZ550,000 ($444,000) and $NZ559,999 ($A452,000).


13 October, 2009
UNITED KINGDOM
Plan to create ‘PS Companies’
The British Treasury has proposed a plan to create “'public service companies” to provide administrative functions to the Government such as pay and human resources functions.
   The ‘companies’ would be floated on the stock exchange and up to 30,000 PS jobs transferred into them.
   Proponents of the concept say there would be benefits all round - the Government, badly strapped for cash, would save money and the new companies would deliver a cheaper service.
   The stock market float would deliver windfall income for the Government.
   Long-term Government contracts would ensure a steady stream of dividends from the companies for their shareholders.
   Shifting tens of thousands of workers off the Government payroll and potentially out of the Public Service pension scheme could also be popular with voters.
   The Treasury admits that opposition is likely from Public Service unions and traditionalists to whom the 'back office' is a key part of each Government Department and not simply a mundane service activity that can easily be outsourced.
   While it is known that the Treasury has been looking at the possible sale of existing units, from the Royal Mint to British Waterways, this new development is something very different - the creation and then privatisation of new companies carved out of the public sector.
   A theoretical timetable sees the flotations taking place in about three years.
   A source said there was a lot of radical thinking going on inside the Treasury about how to reshape the public sector.
   “The expectation is that, whoever is in power, it will have to be done,” the source said.
   Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling's Pre-Budget Report later this year is expected to contain Public Service cost-saving measures alongside planned public spending cuts.
   It is unlikely however that plans for the new Public Service companies would be sufficiently developed by that time to be included.


13 October, 2009
IRELAND
Call to stop PS bashing
The head of a major Public Service union in Ireland has defended the PS against growing criticism and ridicule saying the "relentless" condemnation of Public Servants by politicians and the media has been “incredibly damaging” to the sector and morale of the people working in it.
   General Secretary of the Impact trade union, Peter McLoone said public services and those who provide them were not the cause of the economic or budgetary crisis and that attempts to cut pay, pensions or enforce redundancies would be resisted.
   He said if industrial conflict was to be avoided, there needed to be meaningful negotiation between public sector unions and the Government ahead of the Budget in December.
   “Our message to Government is that it should seek an alternative way to affecting the public spending reductions which we all agree are necessary,” Mr McLoone said.
   “The Government at the moment seems hell bent on pursuing a further reduction in pay as the only option and what we’re suggesting is that it sit down and negotiate with us and other Public Service unions to achieve the efficiencies we believe can contribute to the reduction in expenditure but at the same time ensuring we minimise the reduction of services to the public.”
   Mr McLoone said singling out Public Servants for pay cuts was neither fair nor likely to resolve the State’s economic problems, which were caused by “unacceptable practice” in banking, finance, construction and property.
   Speaking at the launch of an Impact advertising campaign entitled Public Services: Transformation Not Cuts, which responds to that criticism, Mr McLoone said Public Servants had already taken a pay cut of 7.5 per cent and demonstrated a willingness to preserve the services people needed and valued during a difficult time.
   “We are arguing for a transformation in Public Service delivery to preserve the quality and range of public services while budgets decline,” he said.
   “This would include identifying and cutting waste, changes in work practices and vastly increased productivity.”
   Impact is balloting 55,000 members for a mandate for strike action in the event that the Government introduces pay cuts.


13 October, 2009
SINGAPORE
Survey shows PS happier
A survey conducted by a leading recruitment agency in Singapore has found that the Island’s Public Servants are happier than private sector employees.
   The survey by JobsCentral found Public Servants scored 58.5 on its ‘Work Happiness Indicator’, higher than the average score of 55.9 for employees in the private sector.
   A score of 50 indicates that an employee feels neutral about his work happiness, and a full score of 100 will mean that they are very happy.
   Chief Executive Officer of JobsCentral, Lim Der Shing said the result was not surprising.
   “The Civil Service in Singapore is well run and has rather progressive human resource policies in place,” Mr Lim said.
   Employees in education and training have emerged as the happiest, followed by those in public relations and consulting.
   In the industrial section, employees engaged in the arts, entertainment and recreation were the happiest.
   The Singapore Public Service is the largest employer in the island State, covering more than 60 vocations. It advertises itself as the service with a myriad opportunities for advancement in areas such as economic development, social services, security and international relations, as well as the more normal governmental administration.
   Singapore Public Servants have exclusive access to several clubs, featuring high-quality live entertainment, casinos, swimming pools and gymnasia.


13 October, 2009
UNITED STATES
PS ordered to target greenhouse
Federal Government Agencies in the United States have been ordered to measure their greenhouse gas emissions and set targets to reduce them by 2020.
   The measure, signed by President Barack Obama, affects such things as the electricity Federal buildings consume and the carbon output of Federal workers' commutes.
   President Obama said that as the largest consumer of energy in the US economy, the Federal Government should lead by example.
   “This executive order builds on the momentum of the Recovery Act to help create a clean energy economy and demonstrates the Federal Government's commitment, over and above what is already being done, to reducing emissions and saving money,” President Obama said.
   Each Agency must report its 2020 emission targets to the Council on Environmental Quality within 90 days.
   Administration officials said they could not estimate the Federal Government's carbon footprint, since it has never been measured before, but the Government ranks as the nation's largest energy consumer.
   It occupies nearly 500,000 buildings, operates more than 600,000 vehicles and employs more than 1.8 million civilian workers.
   Under the Executive Order, all Federal Agencies will have to meet a series of environmental targets over the next decade. They include 50 per cent recycling and waste diversion by 2015; a 30 per cent reduction in vehicle-fleet petroleum use by 2020; and a 26 per cent improvement in water efficiency by 2020.
   Former President George W. Bush signed an executive order in 2007 that asked four Agencies to draw up regulations to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from cars and trucks by the end of his Administration, but didn't ask for specific targets.
   His move came after the Supreme Court ruled that his Administration was not following the requirements of the Clean Air Act by regulating greenhouse gas emissions from motor vehicles.


13 October, 2009
UNITED KINGDOM
Staff survey is biggest ever
The biggest-ever survey of staff in the UK Public Service is being conducted to give management a clear view of what is working and what isn’t in the PS, and set the scene for widespread efficiency improvements.
   More than half a million people are set to take part in the survey, which runs until 10 November. For the first time all Government Departments will ask the same questions of all their staff.
   Coordinators of the survey expect that the information received will help the Public Service focus resources and expertise where they are most needed, resulting in more efficient and effective frontline public services.
   Director of Human Resources at the Department for Transport, Mervyn Thomas said the best employers recognised how crucial employee engagement was in enabling their staff to achieve their full potential.
   “I'm delighted that the Civil Service is undertaking Britain's largest-ever employee engagement survey," Mr Thomas said.
   "It will give Civil Service managers an enhanced opportunity to fully understand the issues that are most important to all our staff, be they policy officials, JobCentre Plus workers, prison officers or coastguards.”
   He said employee engagement had a vital role to play in making all organisations –whether from the public or private sector – more innovative and more efficient, as well as improving the health and wellbeing of staff.
   “By launching a survey on this scale the Civil Service will not only improve the public services we deliver but also set a positive example for other employers," he said.


13 October, 2009
UGANDA
PS entry to become tougher
The Public Service Commission (PSA) of Uganda has tightened up its recruitment procedures in a bid to reduce the numbers of graduates applying for PS jobs.
   PSA Chairman, Patrick Muzaale said employment capacity had remained stable and could not absorb the increasing number of graduates.
   “The Commission has reviewed the recruitment guidelines in order to get only the best brains,” Mr Muzaale said.
   Unlike in the past when the PSA would select on the sole basis of interviews, the applications would now be screened and a few people selected basing on their academic qualifications.
   “Once the applications are received, they are short-listed, so that those who do not meet the qualifications are dropped. Others will drop out after the oral interviews,” Mr Muzaale said.
   He said the PSA had taken steps to discipline officials who did not follow the Code of Ethics. During the 2007/8 financial year, 19 appointments were terminated, 36 resigned, two retired in the public interest and six were dismissed. He declined to give further details.
   Parliament has approved the re-appointment of Mr Muzaale and Commissioners Joyce Kaddu and Catherine Akot.
   However, MPs expressed concern over delayed recruitments and indiscipline in the sector.
   A source that attended the closed meeting, chaired by Speaker of the Parliament, Edward Ssekandi said the MPs raised concern about the increasing number of vacant posts in almost all Ministries, adding that it caused low output in those sectors.


13 October, 2009
NIGERIA
Forced retirement row continues
A new policy limiting contracts for senior Public Servants to eight years maximum has led to accusations from affected staff that it was only introduced to discriminate against officers coming from the country’s mainly Muslim North.
   The policy has led to mass sackings of senior staff in recent months, most of whom were Northerners.
   The claims have been rejected however by the Forum of Northern Federal Civil Servants which says it is not ethnically or religiously based.
   Chairman of the Forum, Abubakar Musa said his group will not back agitation against the reform by some senior Northern Officers who have been forced out of their jobs over the past two weeks.
   “How will the continued retention of the affected officers in the Federal Civil Service impact positively on the socio-economic development of the North?” Mr Musa asked.
   “While they were serving as Permanent Secretaries and Directors, what personal contributions have they made to the development of the North, either in terms of granting of scholarships or provision of basic amenities to their communities?
   Mr Musa said it was morally reprehensible for the Officers to continue to equate their individual or collective selfish interests to those of the Northern Region.
   He admitted the most recently dismissed senior Officers were all from the North but said they were using this to claim that the policy was deliberately conceived and deployed to deplete the Northern Region of its strategic human resource base in the Federal Public Service.
   Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Stephen Oronsaye decreed in April that all Federal Permanent Secretaries should hold office for a term of four years, renewable for a further term of four years, subject to satisfactory performance.
   The circular also stated that Directors should compulsorily retire upon serving eight years in office. Other provisions of the Public Service Rules, prescribes 60 years of age or 35 years of service as triggers for mandatory retirement.


13 October, 2009
CAYMAN ISLANDS
PS forced to borrow for salaries
The British territory of the Cayman Islands is bankrupt and on the verge of being unable to pay its Public Servants.
   The island’s Government has secured permission from the UK to obtain a CI$50 million ($A68.5 million) bail-out loan to plug a 35-to-40 per cent collapse in revenue this year.
   The Government has also signalled it is ready to agree to UK conditions on slashing expenditure and an independent report on reform of its tax system that could see it start to impose direct levies to obtain further loans worth CI$229 million ($A313.6 million).
   Government adviser, Richard Parchment said a letter would be sent to Britain with a formal agreement.
   The Cayman Islands authorities claim that the UK has backtracked on stricter original proposals that insisted on direct taxation
   Although the loans are commercially-funded, Britain would be likely to end up footing the bill in the event of a default by the jurisdiction. The Foreign Office is understood to be concerned that the Cayman Islands could trade on Britain's reputation to secure loans that it cannot afford – making British approval for the loan a tacit guarantee.
   The Cayman Islands has so far resisted the idea of direct taxation of its residents and companies, arguing that this would jeopardise its livelihood as one of the world's biggest financial centres with the 12th richest Gross Domestic Product per head.
   Director of the Cayman Islands Financial Services Association, Tony Travers has been on an aggressive public relations offensive in recent weeks, insisting that the islands were being unfairly victimised as tax shelters.
   "I am baffled, bemused and bothered that people call the Cayman Islands a secretive tax haven," Mr Travers said.
   "We are simply tax neutral. It is unfair that when you see an article about tax havens it's always illustrated by a palm tree, never a Swiss Alp."
   Critics find it hard to agree to the notion that the islands already have a fully transparent financial system and Mr Travers dismissed the idea that anyone – such as a journalist or member of the public – should get access to company records.
   “It is a legitimate right to commercial privacy. We give companies protection but are always ready to pass on information to the authorities if they suspect criminal activity.”


13 October, 2009
CANADA
Jobs cut to balance Budget
Up to 1,630 Public Service jobs are to be cut in the Canadian Province of British Columbia over the next three years to help balance the Budget.
   Officials said much of the reduction will be accomplished by not filling vacant jobs and retirements, but there will also be layoffs this year of one per cent of the 30,000-strong Public Service.
   P resident of the B.C. Government and Service Employees' Union, Darryl Walker said it was hard to tell from the B udget exactly how many jobs will be lost through layoffs, attrition or retirement.
   "We may be up around 1,500 or 2,000 people or more come out of the Public Service sector before this is over and done," Mr Walker said.
   The 300 immediate layoffs are spread across nine Ministries and Premier’s Deputy Minister and Head of the Civil Service, Jessica McDonald, acknowledged in an internal memo to Government staff that it will be a "very difficult and emotional time for those directly affected and for many of you as their colleagues."
   Ms McDonald said more layoffs were avoided through cost savings. These included a voluntary four-day work week, Senior Executive reductions, and previously announced layoffs in the Public Affairs Bureau and Human Resources Department.
She said buyouts and early retirement incentives are not an option, but there was a team investigating a voluntary reduced work week for Public Servants between Christmas and New Year's to save additional money.


13 October, 2009
UNITED KINGDOM
The British Public Service has scrapped the mandatory retirement age for all staff below the most senior levels.
   The move defies the option given it by a recent High Court decision which ruled in favour of employers, allowing them to have the choice to cut people from their books at 65 and not have to pay compensation or be charged with unfair dismissal.
   Two charitable institutions, Age Concern and Help the Aged, which mounted the campaign to get rid of mandatory retirement in the UK, hailed the Public Service’s decision.

NEW ZEALAND
Industrial action by Parliamentary staff has intensified with the calling of a one-hour stop-work meeting to protest against a pay freeze and changes to redundancy provisions.
   The meeting involves all staff, including librarians, receptionists and security guards, who are members of the Public Service Association (PSA).
   National Secretary of the PSA, Richard Wagstaff said the employer, Parliamentary Service, had frozen pay, was denying staff the right to collectively negotiate, had said there would be no redundancy payments made during the first year of employment and had reduced the maximum level of redundancy for new staff.

IRELAND
Dentists employed by the Irish Health Service Executive (HSE) are to vote on taking protest action if the HSE makes further cutbacks to the sector.
   Public dental surgeons are employed by the HSE to provide free dental services to vulnerable adults and school children.
   The group said protest action “up to and including appropriate industrial action” would be taken if the HSE made unilateral changes to their terms and conditions of employment or undermined the standard of care available to patients.
   The dentists said that cutbacks already in place meant that vacancies were not being filled and more and more dental surgeons were leaving the service due to the difficult working conditions.

UNITED STATES
Pay rises of up to six per cent based on job performance will replace automatic yearly pay raises for Louisiana State workers if a plan being considered by the State’s Civil Service Commission is implemented.
   State House of Representatives Appropriations Committee member, John Shroeder said Louisiana is facing a billion dollar Budget shortfall for the next fiscal year.
   "Only in Government can you pass taxpayers money on, when you're losing money," Mr Shroeder said.
   The Civil Service Commission will consider the pay raise adjustment and its meeting in November.

UNITED KINGDOM
Senior public sector workers in Britain face a pay freeze that will also cover doctors and judges, but not teachers, nurses, police officers or members of the armed forces.
   Other Public Servants will find their rises limited to one per cent.
   Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling has called on the various salary review bodies to implement the measures.
   The news will be worse for Public Servants should the Opposition Conservative party win power at next year’s General Election. Shadow Chancellor George Osborne has said that all public sector workers earning over £18,000 ($A32,000) would have their pay frozen for a year in 2011.


6 October, 2009
UNITED KINGDOM
Major reorganisation proposed
A restructure of the UK Public Service along the line of ‘themes’ instead of organisation has been put forward as a way of saving billions of pounds.
   The Total Place Program, which is overseeing restructure plans, claims services could be improved in quality and better tailored to the needs of the individual as well as becoming more cost-effective under the proposed system,
   Total Place is being piloted in 13 areas of England.
   State Agencies are working together to calculate how much public money is being spent in each area and to devise ways of using it more efficiently.
   Results of the first phase, totting up total public spending by area, have been submitted to the Government and point to the potential for saving tens of millions of pounds in each case.
   As an example, total public expenditure in Birmingham has been calculated at £7.5 billion ($A13.6 billion) with a potential saving of £34 million ($62 million). However, according to one official close to the exercise, savings could be greater.
   With Government spending on public services running at about £500 billion ($A909 billion), Total Place holds out the prospect of saving anything between £5 billion ($A9 billion) and £50 billion ($A91 billion).
   Ministers are seeking to save a total of £90 billion ($A163.5 billion) through spending cuts and tax increases.
   Total Place is being driven at unusual speed to deliver ideas for reform early next year.
   In its second phase, now beginning, each of the 13 pilot areas is to focus on particular sectors.
    Birmingham is looking at mental health and outcomes for young people leaving care, among other topics; Durham is analysing housing and regeneration; Croydon is concentrating on children's health and wellbeing; and Dorset, Poole and Bournemouth are looking at older people's services.
   Director of the Institute for Government, Sir Michael Bichard is overseeing the scheme. He said the idea had captured the imagination of managers from State Agencies of all kinds and, critically, of national and local politicians from all parties.
   "I have been somewhat surprised at the degree of enthusiasm," Sir Michael said.
    "We are not saying it is the answer, or even an answer, but it could produce some opportunity, some pointers, to how we can address the financial problems we face."
   Sir Michael said one of the problems was the way Central Government organised itself in silos, making it difficult to construct other ways of organising.
   “We have policy silos, funding silos and inspection and regulation silos. We have to get beyond that," he said.


6 October, 2009
NEW ZEALAND
Parliamentary staff
on strike
Staff of the New Zealand Parliamentary Service have launched industrial action in response to the Government freezing their pay and cutting redundancy benefits.
   The dispute involves more than 120 Parliamentary staff and includes security officers, Parliamentary Library staff, reception workers and messengers. They belong to the Public Service Association (PSA) and began negotiations for a new collective employment agreement seven months ago.
   National Secretary of the PSA, Richard Wagstaff said the workers were essential to the daily operation of Parliament.
   “They’ve voted to take industrial action because their employer, Parliamentary Service, has frozen their pay and is denying them the right to collectively negotiate their pay,” Mr Wagstaff said.
   “They’re also opposing a push by their employer to make it easier and cheaper to lay staff off by reducing their redundancy protection and the level of redundancy payments.”
   Mr Wagstaff said the Parliamentary Service wants to have no redundancy payment for any new staff during their first year in the job, and to reduce the maximum level of redundancy for new staff.
   “These Parliamentary workers are taking industrial action after beginning their negotiations seven months ago,” he said.
   “They’ve voted to escalate their industrial action if their employer continues to freeze their pay, denies them the right to collectively negotiate a fair pay increase and reduces their redundancy protection and the level of redundancy payments.”
   He said wrk done by the Parliamentary Service staff taking the action included security officers protecting MPs and other staff working in Parliament, the Parliamentary Library and Bowen House.
   Library staff provide a research service for the 122 MPs in Parliament and their staff. They are required to be available whenever Parliament is sitting which is until 10pm on Tuesdays and Wednesdays and later if the House goes into urgency.
   General Manager of the Parliamentary Service, Geoff Thorn said contingency arrangements would be put in place to ensure the Parliamentary precincts remained safe and secure during any industrial action.
   We are hopeful the PSA will return to the table and the agreement will be concluded in the near future,” he said.


6 October, 2009
GERMANY
PS study shows gaps
in gender pay
Females in the German Public Service earn 18.7 per cent less than their male counterparts according to a study undertaken by a peak union body.
   The difference was particularly stark in middle and high positions, where the difference was 23.2 and 22.6 per cent. Meanwhile female Judges were found to earn 20.1 per cent less than their male colleagues.
   Vice Head of the Confederation of German Trade Unions (DGB), Ingrid Sehrbrock said Public Servants should be a shining example to the private sector when it came to equal treatment of men and women.
   “Instead, this study shows that the sector was nearly on par with the private employment wage gap average of 23 per cent,” Ms Sehrbrock said.
   According to the authors of the study, the unequal pay was largely due to the high proportion of part-time female employees.
    More than half the female Public Servants and judges work part time, the study said, while 80 per cent of public employees who work part time are women.
   But full time employees face unequal treatment too with women earning an average of 7.7 per cent less than men in the same positions, the study said.
   There are approximately half a million workers in the German Federal Public Service, considerably smaller than other European countries when size is taken into account.
   A large number of former Public Servants have now been transferred to the private sector following privatisation of many services, such as the railways.


6 October, 2009
BANGLADESH
Promotion losers
facing action
Public Servants in Bangladesh who missed out on a recent round of mass promotions may face disciplinary action because they complained.
   A Committee of Inquiry headed by a Joint Secretary of the Establishment Ministry, has submitted its report on the Officers who lodged a protest because their cases had been overlooked in the promotion round.
   Sources within the Ministry said the Officers who missed out were well qualified and capable and had a case to complain, raising the possibility that the promotions were not made solely on merit.
   The report recommended however that action be taken against the Officers for breaking discipline.
   The Establishment Ministry is expected to serve ‘show cause’ notices on at least 20 senior Officers by this week on charges arising from their alleged protest.
   Sources say that if the officers’ replies are found to be unsatisfactory, Departmental cases will be filed against them.
   They said that many deserving candidates were overlooked in the biggest mass promotion of Public Servants in recent times with 494 senior Officers rewarded.
   The Establishment Ministry issued the promotion order promoting 271 Senior Assistant Secretaries to Deputy Secretary, 163 Deputy Secretaries to Joint Secretary and 60 Joint Secretaries to Additional Secretary.
   Other Officers were given priority for promotion to Deputy Secretary from Senior Assistant secretary.


6 October, 2009
IRELAND
Mounting storm
over pay cuts
Pay cuts announced for the Irish Public Service are not inevitable according to Opposition Leader, Eamon Gilmore.
   Mr Gilmore pointed out that there had already has been a pay cut for workers in Public Service organisations.
   “It was the so-called pension levy. That was a pay cut,” Mr Gilmore said.
   The cuts were foreshadowed by Taoiseach (Prime Minister), Brian Cowen after the Economic and Social Research Institute reported that Public Servants in Ireland earned on average 25 per cent more than their equivalents in the private sector.
   It also questioned the basis for increases in the public sector.  
   Mr Gilmore said he did not accept that the reported cuts of €4 billion ($A6.5 billion) would have to be made.
   “The question that has to be addressed is what happens if you take €4 billion out of the economy,” he said.
   “There’s been a huge chunk of money taken out of the economy already this year. We see the consequences of that: walk down any street in Ireland.”
   He said retail sales were down and because of that sales tax revenues had been slashed.
   “We’ve already said there are areas where economies could be achieved in the Public Service pay budget, Mr Gilmore said.
   “We have proposed that there should be a cap on salaries at the top end and we have said what that cap should be.
   “Secondly, we have argued, in terms of equity as much as anything else, that there should be a third taxation band and it should apply to earnings of over €100,000 ($A167,000).”
   President of the Services, Industrial, Professional and Technical Union (SIPTU), Jack O’Connor said strike action by Public Servants against pay cuts in the Budget was now inevitable, while the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (IICTU) announced a ‘national day of demonstration’ in early November.
   The country’s largest public sector union, Impact, is balloting 55,000 members in health, local authorities and the Public Service for a mandate for strike action in the event of the Government introducing pay cuts or compulsory redundancies.
   In addition, there is growing anger among more than 100,000 staff in the public sector who provide around-the-clock services over recommendations that there should be cutbacks in various payments and allowances.
   Some union leaders contend that the Government perceived the relatively muted response to the introduction of the pension levy as a sign of weakness, and have pledged to fight further cuts even if only to retain credibility.


6 October, 2009
MALDIVES
PS Commission supports pay cuts
The Civil Service Commission in the Indian Ocean republic of The Maldives has supported a Government decision to slash PS salaries by 20 per cent.
   CSC Spokesperson, Mohamed Fahmy Hassan said the Commission had independently verified the country’s financial predicament through consultation with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and World Bank and from information contained in reports from the Maldives Monetary Authority.
   “We have reason to believe the country is in a special economic situation. We are in no doubt that the country is in negative growth,” Mr Fahmy said
   The Ministry of Finance said in a statement that allowances for Public Servants in support services would be cut by 10 per cent, those at support officer level and above by 15 per cent, while Permanent Secretaries and Deputy Ministers would see cuts of 20 per cent.
   Mr Fahmy said the cuts would apply to Public Servants’ overall take home pay, inclusive of salary, allowances and overtime.
   The Ministry statement said while the wage cuts would be up for a three-monthly review, they would most likely be in place until the Government was able to increase its revenue beyond Rf7 billion ($600 million).
   Cuts to Public Servants’ salaries are part of a raft of austerity measures announced by the Government to stave off a looming economic crisis.
   President Mohamed Nasheed has argued that while Rf5 billion ($A450 million) was spent on Public Servants, the country’s revenue was only Rf7 billion ($A600 million).
   The Government has also announced plans to halve the Public Service by 2011.


6 October, 2009
JAMAICA
PS slashed in
austerity drive
Job cuts, agency mergers and office closures have been announced in Jamaica as the Government attempts to reduce a PS wages bill Prime Minister, Bruce Golding says can no longer be sustained.
   Mr Golding said there was no choice but to trim the 117,000-member Public Service and a special unit would to be set up in the Office of the Prime Minister to look at modernising and restructuring the country's entire organisation.
   "Some Departments and Agencies will have to be eliminated. Some will have to be merged," the Prime Minister said.
   He said that Agencies which collect fees for their services - like the Registrar General's Department and the Firearm Licensing Authority – would be forced to finance their own operations.
   These moves would not only reduce the wage bill - which he put earlier this month at $J127 billion ($A1.65 billion) - but result in greater efficiency.
   However, he gave no indication as to how many workers would be affected by the adjustments or when the changes would occur.
   The announcement comes six weeks after Mr Golding said his Government was determined to avoid job cuts in the public sector.
   More recently, the Prime Minister put Jamaicans on a warning that some major changes would have to be made to Government spending in order to pull the country out of its financial hole.
   Earlier this month, former Minister without Portfolio in the Finance Ministry, Don Wehby said that the International Monetary Fund (IMF), which Jamaica has approached for $US1.2 billion ($A 1.35 billion) in balance of payment support, had suggested the public sector wage bill be cut.
   Mr Wehby, who has since returned to the private sector after serving the Golding Cabinet for two years, said the resultant proposal was that it be slashed by about $J15 billion ($A20 million).
   Minister for Finance, Audley Shaw has announced increases in Departure Tax, as well as the General Consumption Tax (GCT) on telephone calls and instruments, to help fill the total J$1.7 billion ($A21 million) budget gap.


6 October, 2009
HONG KONG
Winners announced in Service Awards
Hong Kong’s top Public Service teams and Departments have been congratulated for their successes in the 2009 Civil Service Outstanding Service Award Scheme
   Acting Chief Executive of Administration, Henry Tang called on the Service to sustain its efforts in striving for excellence and embracing changes in a proactive and pragmatic manner.
   Secretary for the Civil Service, Denise Yue and more than 600 guests and Public Servants, celebrated the outstanding achievements of the winning Departments and teams at the ceremony.
   "The significance of the award scheme lies not with the identification of winners, but with the opportunity for colleagues in the Civil Service to review successful quality service schemes, consolidate experiences and broaden perspectives, so as to further enhance the quality of service delivered to the public," Ms Yue said
   The award scheme attracted 141 entries from 51 Departments. A total of 50 nominations from 25 participating Departments were given awards under the eight award categories.
   In his address, Mr Tang spoke highly of the outstanding achievements of the winning Departments and teams. He quoted two cases of exemplary service, including the project of intercepting drains at the Queen's Road in Central and the Sichuan disaster relief operation in 2008. Both, he said, amply demonstrated the pursuit of excellence and people-based culture of the Public Service.
   The award scheme was first launched by the Civil Service Bureau (CSB) in 1999 with the aim of promoting a people-based service culture. Apart from recognising the efforts of winning Departments and teams in providing excellent service, the awards also inspire other Departments and Public Servants to emulate the best practices for continuous improvement.


6 October, 2009
MALAWI
Plan to eliminate
salaried ‘ghosts’
The Malawi Department of Education is to introduce a new smart-card system linked to teachers’ bank accounts in a bid to eliminate ‘ghost teachers.’
   The system, introduced in collaboration with the State-owned Malawi Savings Bank (MSB) through which teachers’ salaries are paid, is intended to eliminate the long standing problem of the ‘ghosts’ and other illegal workers from the State payrolls.
   Secretary for Education, Bernard Sande told journalists during an interview in the capital, Lilongwe, that there were 12 primary and secondary schools on the pilot project in all six education divisions of the country.
   “We are implementing the system in order to curb the problem of non-existent workers on school payrolls,” Mr Sande said.
   People took advantage of deaths, resignations and transfers to keep names on lists of workers receiving salaries, resulting in the Government losing considerable sums of kwachas (dollars).
   In addition, the Government had adopted the Malawi Civil Service Human Resources Management System (HRMS) that leaves an audit trail.
   “This also will help to trace Officers who enter illegal employees in the system for the purpose of paying them salaries,” he said.
   Meanwhile, a recent United Nations report criticised the Public Service for being “generally weak, inefficient and lacking in client orientation when delivering services”.
   “It also lacks transparency and is slow in facilitating private sector development. Public administration is generally poor and this is worsened by dysfunctional political influence on the Public Service,” the report said.


6 October, 2009
FRANCE
Almost 35,500 Public Service jobs are to go as part of a continuing program of cuts in Government spending.
   On taking office in 2007 President Nicolas Sarkozy promised that one out of every two retiring Public Servants would not be replaced.
   The drive to reduce the Public Service payroll predates the onset of the severe economic downturn sparked by last year's acute credit crunch and is unlikely to make much of a dent in France's ballooning public deficit which is now believed to be 8.2 per cent of Gross Domestic Product.

NORTHERN IRELAND
Women took twice as many sick days off as men in the Public Service, a report by Northern Ireland’s Statistic and Research Agency has found.
   On average the Public servants took 11 days off during 2008/2009.
   The report found that anxiety, stress, depression and other psychiatric illnesses were the main reasons for absence - accounting for 26.7 per cent of days lost.
   It also said the majority of working days lost were due to 10.2 per cent of staff who were absent from work on a long-term basis for an average of 61.7 working days.

CANADA
Provincial Governments across Canada are likely to tighten the purse strings in coming months as the Global Financial Crisis continues to bite.
   At the same time, however, the employment outlook remains healthy for public sector workers given that many employees will retire soon, while demand for services grows.
   While each Province pursues its own public-sector hiring policy, they all share the common trait confirmed by numerous studies that show employees in the public sector tend to earn more, on average, than workers doing equivalent jobs in the private sector.
   Measures taken by various Provinces include investment in wellness programs, leadership development initiatives, enhanced training, succession planning and creating a more efficient system as the available workforce shrinks due to baby boomers' retirements.

MALAYSIA
Government Departments and Agencies have been ordered to address several long-standing social, economic and educational issues affecting the Indian community.
   Vice President of the Indian Congress, S. Subramaniam, said Prime Minister, Najib Tun Razak has agreed to the initiatives.
   These included extra allocations for the redevelopment of Tamil schools and the recognition of existing pre-university courses to enable more Indians to enter public universities.
   Mr Subramaniam said that the target of a 7.4 per cent intake of Indians into the Public Service would be expedited.

NIGERIA
Nine sacked Federal Permanent Secretaries are planning to sue the Government.
   They have been directed to hand over to the most senior Directors in their various Departments under an interpretation of the rules governing the compulsory retirement age.
   However, the sacked Secretaries say they will challenge the ruling with one claiming that Nigerian President Umaru Yar’Adua wanted to destroy the Public Service, “but we will not allow him”.