25 October, 2011
CANADA

“Cloud” comparison for PS staff

A management consultant in Canada has recommended that Public Servants stop being assigned to Departments or Agencies and instead operate as ‘free agents’ available to be engaged across the PS for specific projects.
   The consultant said he modelled the scheme on cloud computing.
   Global Director for Sector Research at Deloitte, Bill Eggers admitted such a reform could be years away. He said however, it was representative of the possibilities technology offered.
   Mr Eggers said a cloud-based workforce would house employees who did creative problem-based work.
   Departments would reach into the cloud and use the experts and specialists they needed as work came, sending them back to the cloud when they had finished.
   He said this would mean breaking up Departments and “thinning” their workforces. The cloud would have the experts, while the internal services that all Departments use — such as technology, procurement, human resources and finance — would be carved out and given to Shared Services Agencies.
   Mr Eggers said this would leave Departments with a pared-down workforce made up of people who had specialised knowledge of the portfolio, developed policy, or worked closely with Government, Parliament or front-line workers.
   He said the model would give Departments more flexibility, reduce overlap and duplication and let the Departments focus on their mandates.
   Mr Eggers said cloud workers could use crowd-sourcing techniques or borrow from video games to find ways to share information and help drive innovation.
   “Today’s Public Service was designed for an industrial era, long before computers sat on every desk, when most Government workers did clerical jobs,” Mr Eggers said.
   “Today’s Public Service is dominated by professionals and knowledge workers who do more creative, collaborative and complex work.
   He said with such a rigid workforce, Governments had been forced to create new programs or Agencies to tackle a problem or new priority.
   Governments could no longer afford to do that in the face of mounting deficits and pressure to reduce spending, he said.


25 October, 2011
SOUTH SUDAN

New nation’s PS a ‘shambles’

A campaign to find around 65 per cent of South Sudan’s Public Servants believed to have falsified their educational qualifications and other credentials has begun.
   According to the Deputy Minister for Information, Atem Yaak Atem Atem, it appeared that many Public Servants may have won their jobs through family connections, while others had presented forged documents claiming false educational credentials.
   Mr Atem said as a result, the public sector in the newly-formed country was in a shambles.
   “There are a lot of people with so-called degrees that haven’t even completed high school,” Mr Atem said.
   “Some of us will go to extra lengths and send an e-mail to the institutions in question, and if the answer is no, the next thing is to prosecute that person, because this is fraud.”
   South Sudan plans to spend about 42 per cent of its almost $2 billion Budget this year on salaries, while President Salva Kiir has vowed to fight corruption and increase transparency.
   The Ministry of Labour and Public Service found 21 of its senior staff members held forged academic documents, Mr Atem said.
   “I have a feeling that throughout the Departments they could be in the thousands,” he said.
   “For this job I think I will need a bodyguard. Some people will be very angry if we take drastic measures.”
   Government Ministries received a letter last week ordering them to begin the screening process.
   The Government has announced monthly cash limits for spending Agencies and further steps, effective from next month, include controls over payments to vendors and the signing of Government contracts.


25 October, 2011
NEW ZEALAND

Hundreds more go in PS job cuts

The New Zealand State Services Commission’s latest Human Resource Capability Survey of Public Service Departments has reported on Public Service job losses and redundancies.
   The Survey found that 959 Public Service jobs were eliminated and 882 people made redundant in the year to 30 June 2011.
   Acting National Secretary if the Public Service Association, Jeff Osborne said the job losses reduced the capability of the Public Service, created unsustainable workloads and had thrown hundreds of skilled, knowledgeable workers on the scrapheap.
   “The Government talks about balancing its books and belt-tightening, but there’s no mention of reversing last year’s tax cuts which were worth about $5.5 billion and mostly benefitted the well-off or people who don’t rely on public services,” Mr Osborne said.
   He said that in less than three years more than 2,400 jobs had gone from Public Service Departments and Agencies such as Maritime New Zealand.
   He said combined with thousands of unfilled Departmental vacancies, the losses amounted to 5,500.
   “This level of inadequate resourcing and increased demand risks negative consequences,” he said.
   “The loss of permanent positions has seen a rise in fixed-term appointments with 43 per cent of new staff in the Public Service now on fixed-term contracts.”
   He said the latest Human Resource Capability survey also showed little progress on the gender pay gap within the Public Service, despite the workforce being predominantly made up of women.
   “The ethnic pay gap is even more shocking, with Pacific people’s pay dragging 19 per cent behind that of non-Pacific people and Asian and Maori people being paid 11 per cent less than non-Asian and non-Maori,” Mr Osborne said.
   “With wage movement continuing to fall behind the private sector, no job security from fixed-term contracts, mounting workloads and lack of progress on ethnic and gender pay issues, the Public Service is in danger of putting off a new generation of talent at the starting line,” he said.


25 October, 2011
SOUTH AFRICA

Call to sack non-performers

Public Servants who are more interested in their salary and medical benefits than doing any work should be sacked according to South Africa’s Home Affairs Minister.
   The Minister, Nkosazana Dlamini Zuma said that while there were plenty of Public Servants who did a good job, recruiters should be wary of time-servers.
   “For the State to be accountable and adhere to good governance principles, it requires leadership and an excellent team of Public Servants,” Ms Zuma said.
   Laws, systems and technology could assist with good governance, but human resources were critical to the implementation of policies.
   “More important than the required qualifications are that Public Servants have integrity, honesty, discipline, and commitment,” she said.
   Public Protector, Thuli Madonsela said good governance was based on the premise that those in power had been lent their power by the public and it needed to be treated as such.
   Ms Madonsela, whose office is charged with strengthening democracy and uncovering maladministration and abuse of power, said that when power was abused it disempowered the power-giver.
   She said accountability to the people who voted office-bearers into power was the first step in good governance.
   Chairman of the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Justice, Luwellyn Landers said corruption was a sign that accountability had broken down.
   “It is costing the Government R30 billion ($A3.5 billion) a year and we need to be seriously concerned,” Mr Landers said.
   Ms Madonsela said the weaknesses had been identified in leadership ranks and this needed constructive and competent guidance.


25 October, 2011
UNITED KINGDOM

Conduct guidance follows fallen Minister

New guidance on Ministerial conduct has been sent out to senior Public Servants following a “damning” report into the scandal surrounding former British Minister of Defence, Liam Fox.
   The recommendations in the report, produced by the Head of the Public Service and Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnell, have been accepted by Prime Minister, David Cameron.
   Government Leader in the House of Commons, Sir George Young said the Cabinet Secretary was writing to Permanent Secretaries to set out the processes to be followed.
   The report found Dr Fox, who resigned earlier this month, had been in breach of the Ministerial code of conduct as a result of his links with a friend, Adam Werritty, who presented himself as an adviser to the then Minister of Defence.
   Dr Fox apologised to Parliament for allowing the distinction between his Ministerial responsibilities and his personal friendship with Mr Werritty to become “blurred”.
   He said he recognised he should have listened to Public Servants’ warnings about the nature of his association with his friend.
   Sir George updated MPs on Sir Gus’s report.
   “At the end of the last Parliament, public trust in Parliament was at an unprecedented low,” Sir George said.
   “This Government is committed to working to rebuild confidence in our political and democratic institutions and we will continue to put in place any measure necessary to ensure that the highest standards, rightly expected of our elected representatives, are met.”
   He said the Government was committed to a statutory register of lobbyists, with a consultation document due out next month.
   Shadow Leader of the Commons, Angela Eagle said Dr Fox had treated the Ministerial code as an “optional extra”.
   She said the inquiry by Sir Gus, though damning, was limited in scope and merely scratched the surface of potential misconduct in Government.


25 October, 2011
INDIA

Bribery charges hit PS Commission

Raids at the houses of 14 Board members of the Tamil Nadu Public Service Commission (TNPSC) have resulted in the seizure of documents relating to alleged corruption in the recruitment process for jobs in the State’s Public Service.
   A special team from the Directorate of Vigilance and Anti-Corruption conducted the raids which were launched after it received complaints.
   The Directorate alleged that Board members tried to collect bribes from candidates for Public Service positions and that they blocked inquiries into allegations of graft in the recruitment of some candidates who had already been deemed ineligible for jobs as motor vehicle inspectors.
   A member of the Directorate said the team had seized documents pertaining to recruitments, such as mark sheets, candidates’ lists, recommendation letters and a selected candidates list.
   The team also seized a considerable sum of money from the house of one Board member and 23 bottles of liquor from the house of another.
   Papers were also seized from the TNPSC office.
   The Directorate officer said that apart from booking them under the Prevention of Corruption Act, criminal charges had also been filed against the Commission members for abusing official powers by not providing papers for inquiries on earlier occasions.


25 October, 2011
MALDIVES

Corruption in Corrections

An audit of the Department of Penitentiary and Rehabilitation Services (DPRS) has found that corrupt practices and a poor working environment were rife.
   The report, compiled by the Civil Service Commission (CSC), identified 46 problems in 16 areas that needed to be reformed, including abuse of lower-ranked employees by senior officials, personal use of office equipment, and salaries paid out to staff on supposed leave without pay.
   The DPRS report is the second compliance audit report to be made public following that into the Islamic Ministry.
   It said that the Department’s vehicles and sea vessels were used for personal purposes.
   Some employees complained of sexual abuse although there were no reports of this in the Department’s records.
   The report found that due to a lack of coordination between the human resources section and the budget section, salary payments had been made to dismissed staff, employees on leave without pay and employees with poor attendance.
   The CSC noted that additional amounts paid out with salaries were unaccounted for.
   “As a result, it is not possible to determine for what reason the amounts were paid,” the report said.
   The report found that some employees were not paid for overtime hours while senior employees filled out a slip to show that they arrived at the office on time after coming late.
   Employees also took longer than the one-hour lunch break during working hours and ‘going out to tea’ during official hours was common.
   The report concluded that the Department had not made adequate use of its training budget.


25 October, 2011
GIBRALTAR

Opposition seeks PS reform

A discussion document on the future for Gibraltar’s Public Service has been drawn up by the Opposition in the lead-up to next month’s election.
   Leader of the Opposition, Fabian Picardo said the time had come for a “rebirth of the Service”.
   The document includes consideration of flexible and changed working hours in a modern context, making getting the job done in the required time the priority.
   “We must provide the resources for Civil Servants and other public sector workers to be able to provide a modern Public Service,” Mr Picardo said.
   “The Civil Service must evolve in tandem to enable it to interface properly with our new social, economic and political vision for Gibraltar.”
   He said the Opposition wanted to share its views about the future of the Public Service and work with the people to shape it to community needs.
   “I know that there are so many talented people within the Civil Service and the Gibraltar Development Corporation that one of the things I am most looking forward to, if we do win the election, will be working with the people who are in the Service,” Mr Picardo said.
   “It involves much of what we have already talked about in respect of freedom of information, changing the development and planning process, reforming Parliament and making Government fully responsive to its citizens.”


25 October, 2011
HONG KONG

Paternity leave for PS next year

New paternity leave provisions for Public Servants are to come into force in the second half of 2012.
   Secretary for the Civil Service, Denise Yue Chung-yee said no such timetable had been set for the private sector.
   Ms Yue said her responsibility was to Public Servants while the remainder of Hong Kong’s working population came under the office of Secretary for Labour and Welfare, Matthew Cheung Kin-chung.
   “As the two Bureaus have different concerns, it might be seen as if the Government is dividing the policy,” Ms Yue said.
   “In actual fact, though, it is a division of labour in the administration.”
   She said a two-month study would be held and stakeholders, including Public Servants, Department heads, staff of the four Central Consultative Councils and the Legislative Council (Legco) would be consulted.
   Legco members expressed support for the decision but regretted it would not be extended to all Government-funded public bodies and other public sector organisations, not to mention a definite policy on statutory paternity leave for all workers.
   One Legco Member, Cheung Man-kwong said all sectors should be covered.
   “Most couples do not have more than two children and as such, the effect on the economy will be very limited,” Mr Cheung said.
   Matthew Cheung said the concerns of small and medium-sized enterprises had been noted and the Labour Department was studying the feasibility of statutory paternity leave.
   Mr Cheung said the Department would consult the Labour Advisory Board and the Legco Manpower Panel and prepare a comprehensive study report in the first half of next year.


25 October, 2011
And From the World in brief...

BARBADOS
The International Monetary Fund has urged the Barbadian Government to introduce a two-year wage freeze in the Public Service.
   The IMF said Barbados should limit its social spending to the “most vulnerable parts of society”.
   “Additional measures will be needed and implemented quickly if the debt-to-GDP ratio is to stabilise from its high level and be further reduced over the medium term,” the IMF said.

UNITED STATES
The United States Postal Service is to increase postage rates in the New Year, including a one cent rise in the cost of first-class mail, to 45c (about the same in Australian currency).
   The Post Office lost $US8 billion in the financial year 2010 and the bottom line is likely to be even worse when final figures for 2011 are released next month.
   The rate increase will make only a small dent in those losses caused by the recession, movement of mail to the Internet, and a requirement that the Agency fund future retiree medical benefits years in advance.

JAMAICA
A fund-raising concert in aid of Jamaican charities has been organised by the Civil Service Association.
   The concert will feature the talents of Public Servants and provide an evening of fun, relaxation and laughter, one of the organisers said.
   Many “celebrity” Public Servants, who wanted to do their part for charity, had turned up for recent auditions, the organiser said.

ZIMBABWE
Members of the Government, including President Robert Mugabe and Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai had spent the equivalent of $US50 million on travel (about the same in $A) in September, according to the Zimbabwean Finance Ministry.
   President Mugabe is known to travel with an entourage of 60 aides, all paid daily allowances of up to $US250 on top of the cost of their air fares and hotel rooms.
   One taxpayer quoted in the Zimbabwean press said that some of the travel money could have been used to buy food for the many undernourished people in Zimbabwe.

BAHRAIN
A two-day workshop on the writing of job descriptions has been held for human resources specialists in Bahrain.
   The workshop discussed topics such as the concept of job description and its importance in terms of determining the requisite duties, responsibilities and qualifications for each job.
   It also pointed out the need to avoid over-prescription of duties and for the descriptions to be checked and cleared by the Civil Service Bureau.


18 October, 2011
CANADA

Cost savers to share in rewards

Canadian Public Service managers stand to receive extra ‘performance pay’ for cutting jobs and realising savings for the Government.
   The Treasury Board says pay for senior managers will be based on how much they contribute to the Government’s target of finding at least $C4 billion ($A3.8 billion) a year in permanent savings.
   This is the first year the performance-based incentive has been tied to Government cuts. President of the Board, Tony Clement said the 2012 Budget would be the ultimate yardstick for deciding who receives the performance bonuses.
   While the Budget is still at least four months away, each Department must submit two proposals: one for a five per cent cut and another outlining what a 10 per cent cut would look like.
   Unions are concerned financial rewards may encourage managers to go too far in their quest for cuts.
   President of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada, Gary Corbett said there was the potential to be overzealous.
   Salaries for the Executives in line for the bonuses range from $C101,100 ($A96,700) to $C191,900 ($A183,000) and the “at risk” proportion of their pay – based on achieving performance goals – can be as high as an additional 20 per cent.
   In a further development, the Canadian Government is planning to make many more internal documents, statistics and spending plans freely available to the public as part of its own open government plan.
   The Government has faced criticism over the years for its tight grip on information – including major parliamentary battles over Afghan detainee documents and the cost of Federal crime bills.


18 October, 2011
UNITED KINGDOM

PS training school to close

A school in Britain dedicated to the training of Public Servants is to be closed next year.
   The Government estimates that shutting the National School of Government at Sunningdale Park, Berkshire, coupled with a number of other reforms, would save £90 million ($A138 million) a year.
   The facility provides policy and management training and research for the United Kingdom Public Service.
   Outgoing Cabinet Secretary, Sir Gus O’Donnell previously said the school was the key to the revamp in the public sector, which includes tens of thousands of job losses, but it will close on 31 March as part of the Government’s cost-cutting program.
   Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude said the Public Service had relied on expensive residential and classroom-based training, duplicating efforts across Departments, for too long.
   “The new Civil Service Learning will focus on work-based approaches, including e-learning, and will directly involve managers in the training process,” Mr Maude said.
   Previously called the Civil Service College, the facility runs training, development and consultancy courses for Public Servants. It employs 168 staff and has an annual budget of £20 million ($A31 million).
   Sir Gus had described the National School of Government as a vital tool to help meet serious forthcoming challenges in the UK public sector, but Mr Maude said a shake-up of training would improve its quality and impact.


18 October, 2011
NORTHERN IRELAND

Union calls for pensions strike

Northern Ireland’s biggest public sector union has warned of an impending strike that would bring the Province to a standstill.
   Almost 45,000 Public Servants, Local Government employees, libraries staff, Housing Executive workers and Social Services employees are being asked to stage a one-day walkout on 30 November in protest over pay cuts, pensions and job losses.
   Members of the Northern Ireland Public Service Alliance (Nipsa) will vote on 7 November and if they decide to strike, it will coincide with a UK-wide day of action — the largest union mobilisation in the country in a generation.
   General Secretary of Nipsa, Brian Campfield said public sector workers were being used to plug the financial gaps created by the banking crisis.
   “Our members are incensed that the attacks on Public Service pensions are unjustifiable and unfair,” Mr Campfield said.
   “The facts clearly demonstrate that public sector pensions are affordable, and indeed the cost of public sector pensions going forward will decrease as a percentage of gross domestic product.”
   He said Public Servants had also experienced years of pay restrictions and a two-year pay freeze imposed by the UK Government.
   “Increases in employee contributions are not about making the pension schemes sustainable, but about reducing a deficit mainly caused by the Government bailout of the banks,” he said.
   The strike ballot was announced after the Executive agreed that public sector workers should contribute an extra 3.2 per cent towards their pensions.
   The Department of Finance and Personnel said that without increasing pension contributions, the cost of the PS pension scheme to the Government would rise from £55 million ($A88 million) in 2012-13 to £140 million ($A216 million) in 2014-15.


18 October, 2011
IRELAND

Plan to end lump sum payments

The Government of Ireland wants to abolish severance payments for Public Servants and reduce lump sums and pensions in a new system of retirement packages for senior PS staff.
   The plans would not affect existing contracts however.
   Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin said he was meeting each obstacle to his plan as it arose.
   He was replying to a question from Sinn Fιin MP, Mary Lou McDonald who asked if he had attempted to rescind the special severance gratuity payment and other benefits awarded to former Secretary General of the Government, Dermot McCarthy.
   She said Mr McCarthy had received a pay-off of €713,000 ($A959,000) at the time of his retirement.
   “His retirement occurred on the Minister’s watch,’’ Ms McDonald said.
   She accused Mr Howlin of ignoring his powers under legislation, specifically, the Superannuation and Pensions Act 1963, which said severance gratuity payments could only be paid on the Minister’s say-so.
   Mr Howlin said they were speaking about a very senior Public Servant who had served the State well over a long period.
   He said a breach of contract would have had legal repercussions.
   Ms McDonald then asked about the packages to be given to the Secretaries General of the Department of Enterprise and the Department of Education, whose terms were soon to end.
   Mr Howlin said there were two more potential retirees at the grade at which they would be entitled to terms awarded by the Top Level Appointments Committee.


18 October, 2011
KENYA

PS medical plan caught up in politics

A proposed medical scheme for Public Servants in Kenya appears to have stalled.
   Originally proposed by the Government as a way of revolutionising the provision of medical services to Public Servants, the scheme has faced a series of problems with its implementation.
   Initially, it was supposed to roll out on 1 July, with the Treasury having allocated funds in this year’s Budget.
   Under the plan, the Government would reroute the medical allowances given to Public Servants as part of their salaries and pool them all together to offer the medical cover.
   However, a controversy arose over plans to add the National Health Insurance Fund (NHIF) as one of the service providers – even thought it did not take part in the original tender process
   The NHIF and a consortium of 10 insurance companies wanted to off-load most of the risk of providing the medical insurance to the Government despite the fact that the tender for the business stated the risk should be restricted to private underwriters
   As a result, the latest deadline of 1 November for rolling out the plan is unlikely to be met.
   In addition, the NHIF-led consortium is demanding the right to increase premiums it begins to lose money on insurance pay-outs.
   This is seen as an attempt to tie the Government’s hands to an arrangement where it would have to automatically agree to increase premiums whenever the insurance companies were overwhelmed by claims.
   Thirdly, the consortium wants a “stop loss” clause when claims reach 100 per cent.


18 October, 2011
CANADA

Minister promotes PS as a career

Canada’s Minister for Finance has encouraged university students to consider a career in the Public Service since it was the “most satisfying and personally enriching career” they could expect to find.
   Jim Flaherty, a former Public Servant himself, said job satisfaction was worth the often long hours and low pay
   “I want you to consider the Public Service as part of your career path,” Mr Flaherty said.
   “I recommend it, knowing from experience that the Public Service will not be easy to take at times, but it will be good for you in the end.”
   He referred to public service as a moral calling - a higher calling that offered satisfactions unavailable to those who devoted their lives to the singular pursuit of money-making.
   “If money was all that mattered to me, I would still be working as a lawyer in downtown Toronto,” he said.
   “Because I can tell you, I would be making a lot more money than I am now.”
   His remarks come in the face of Government plans to reduce spending by five or 10 per cent in every Department.”
   A recent study suggested that the Federal Public Service was not the place to be for those who were highly ambitious.
   The study found that post-secondary graduates recruited to the bureaucracy tended to become less ambitious and motivated the longer they were there.


18 October, 2011
GAMBIA

PS head angry at power failures

The Head of the Public Service has expressed his disappointment at the performance of the National Water and Electricity Company (Nawec).
   The comments, by Ousman Jammeh, follow power outages that have hit the country over the past three weeks.
   Mr Jammeh said the Brikama power station’s generator had operated for only two months before it needed to be shut down.
   “My disappointment is that millions of dollars went into the power plant,” Mr Jammeh said.
   “Wartila (the company that installed it) should take an interest, especially when it knows the warranty period is still on.”
   Mr Jammeh said Nawec should be flying Wartila engineers in to address the problem.
   “Already, it is taking almost close to three weeks and in my own view, a good client should make sure that the customers are given the best kind of service,” he said.
   “In this case, I believe the engineers of Wartila should have been here even within a week to make an assessment of the whole problem and make sure that as quick as possible, they bring their engine back on line.”
   The nine-megawatt generator produced a lot of power and its outage left many people without a reliable supply.
   Managing Director of Nawec, Ebrima Sanyang said the utility was doing everything it could to make sure that the system was restored.
   He said he believed the situation would improve within two to three days.


18 October, 2011
IRELAND

Senior PS pensions spark row

The fact that more than 100 retired Public Servants are receiving PS pensions of more than €100,000 ($A135,000) a year has sparked a major controversy in Ireland.
   Details of the extent of the pensions being paid to the retired top-level Public Servants came just weeks after a separate controversy surrounding the retirement package of the former Secretary General of the Government, Dermot McCarthy.
   In addition to an annual pension of €142,670 ($A192,000), Mr McCarthy was also paid a once-off lump sum of €428,011 ($A576,000).
   He was also entitled to another special severance payment of €142,670.
   Overall, Ireland is paying pensions to 18,993 retired Public Service staff or spouses of deceased Public Service pensioners. The vast bulk of payments are relatively modest – many cases less than €30,000 ($A40,000 annually).
   The figures for pension payments for retired Public Servants were provided by the Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin to MP, Mary Lou McDonald in answer to a Parliamentary question.
   Ms McDonald called on the Government to introduce changes to pension rules.
   She said the Government’s new Public Service Pensions Bill would not conclusively deal with existing public sector workers, only new entrants.
   Under the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme) and Remuneration Bill 2011, new entrants’ pension would be based on an average of career earnings rather than their final salary at retirement, as it is at present.


18 October, 2011
TAIWAN

France to train Taiwan PS

Senior Taiwanese Public Servants and heads of Local Government are to be trained in France under a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) reached in Paris.
   The initiative comes 30 years after the idea was first proposed.
   Taiwan’s representative in France, Michael Ching-lung Lu signed the agreement on behalf of his country’s Civil Service Development Institute, with France’s Ecole Nationale d’Administration (ENA).
   The ENA, established in 1945, selects and trains senior Government officials in France and produces about 100 graduates every year.
   Deputy Director of the International Affairs Division at ENA, Max Brunner said it was the first time his Institute would provide Public Service training to Taiwan, and he expected the deal to lay a good foundation for long-term cooperation between the two countries.
   Mr Brunner said he hoped the courses would be helpful to the trainees in enhancing their ability to serve their country.
   Under the program, Taiwan’s Government will regularly send officials to the Institute for short-term training sessions.
   After signing the MOU, Mr Lu said he has been impressed by the deepening cooperation in bilateral ties between Taipei and Paris, in particular in the fields of culture, education and technology.
   “Taiwan tried negotiating a similar plan with ENA as early as 30 years ago, but the negotiations fell through because the timing was not quite right,” Mr Lu said.
   “Had the talks succeeded then, I might have been among the first group of Local Government officials to receive training in France.”


18 October, 2011
And From the World in Brief...

UNITED KINGDOM
Britain’s most Senior Public Servant, Sir Gus O’Donnell, is to step down at the end of the year to be replaced as Cabinet Secretary by current Downing Street Permanent Secretary, Jeremy Heywood.
   However, two others strands to Sir Gus’ job – as head of the Public Service and Permanent Secretary, Cabinet Office – are to replaced with separate appointments
   A spokesman for Prime Minister, David Cameron said the splitting of Sir Gus’ role was an acknowledgement of how much it had grown in recent years and also due to the election of a new coalition Government.
   Sir Gus, 58, will stand down after 32 years as a Public Servant and become a life peer.

UNITED STATES
The U.S. Postal Service has not made the excessive pension payments to the Federal Government pension plan as it has claimed according to the Government Accountability Office.
   The Postal Service had claimed it overpaid between $US55 billion (about the same in $A) and $US85 billion into the Civil Service Retirement System for pre-1971 benefits because of faulty calculations and it wanted the funds back to make other retiree benefit payments and for general revenue.
   The GAO found the payments to be correct.

CARIBBEAN
Nine Permanent Secretary positions in the Turks and Caicos Public Service are being targeted for a shake-up by a new Interim Government.
   The Permanent Secretaries run all the day-to-day functions of the Government.
   Reports suggest that all nine will be dismissed and their number reduced to five.

NORTHERN IRELAND
A recruitment freeze has failed to halt an increase in the number of people employed by the Northern Ireland Public Service.
   Official figures reveal there were 27,701 employees in the Public Service at the start of this year, an increase of more than 300 on two years ago.
   The rise was largely due to changes in the justice system, which brought an extra 1,000 staff into the Public Service.

UNITED KINGDOM
The United States Public Broadcasting Service is to launch a satellite television service in opposition to the British Broadcasting Corporation, BBC.
   The service, PBS UK is an extension of PBS in America and is described as an up-market channel devoted to US history, science and arts.
   The new channel will be seen on BSkyB and Virgin Media from 1 November.
   PBS is hoping to capitalise on cuts to the BBC budget that will mean less current affairs on BBC2 and reduced funding for BBC4.


11 October, 2011
NEW ZEALAND

Public happy with cut-down PS

Most New Zealanders believe the standard of their public services has increased in the past three years despite thousands of jobs being cut, a new survey has shown.
   The Government has welcomed the finding as evidence that cutbacks hadn’t affected core services, but the Public Service Association (PSA) which represents most Public Servants gives credit to the goodwill of PS employees working extra hours and maintaining standards in the face of difficulty.
   It warns that cracks will soon start to show.
   The survey of 1,000 respondents asked people how they rated overall standards in five key areas: public transport, policing, public hospitals, pre-schools, and primary and secondary schools.
   Primary and secondary schools was the only sector where more voters believed standards were worse than three years ago but in all five categories most voters believed there was no difference in the quality of the services with support rates ranging between 35 per cent to 46.5 per cent.
   More than 2,400 jobs have been cut from the NZPS in the past three years and a further 1,000 have been identified for abolition in the next 24 months.
   Minister for State Services, Tony Ryall said the poll showed moving resources from the back office to the frontline had worked.
   “We’ve got more police, more doctors, more nurses, more teachers and a strong focus on getting value for money,” Mr Ryall said.
   Opposition Spokeswoman on the State Sector, Ruth Dyson said the poll did not reflect where the cuts had hit.
   “The public hospitals have lost some services, particularly access to accident and emergency, but most of the cuts in the health sector have been in the community health sector,” Ms Dyson said.
   Acting National Secretary of the PSA, Jeff Osborne said the poll showed the public valued the State sector.
   He said the cuts were being felt but there was a lag before frontline services would be affected.


11 October, 2011
IRELAND

New card to cut fraud

The Department of Social Protection in Ireland has begun issuing social welfare recipients with a new public services card, designed to cut down on welfare fraud.
   The card, which incorporates anti-fraud mechanisms such as a biometric photograph, is designed to provide access for those entitled to public services and free travel.
   By the end of the year it is expected 4,000 people will be issued with the card, which is the size of a credit card and supposed to be tamper-proof.
   The front of the card will show a person’s name, photograph and signature, while the back will hold their Personal Public Service (PPS) number and a magnetic strip for compatibility with existing social services cards.
   Information including the person’s name, PPS, date of birth, sex, nationality, photograph and signature will be stored electronically on the card.
   The Department said that, in time, the magnetic strip would be replaced by chip-and-pin technology.
   Assistant Secretary at the Department, Ann Vaughan told the Joint Parliamentary Committee on Social Protection that the Department aimed to make €625 million ($A860 million) in ‘control savings’ next year by cutting down on welfare fraud, up from €540 million ($A743 million) this year.
   Control savings are defined not as monies recovered but as expenditure avoided.
   Ms Vaughan said that last year, €7.8 million ($A10.7 million) was recovered from the estates of deceased social welfare recipients who had been overpaid.
   Committee Chairman, Damien English welcomed the card and the progress made in tackling fraud.


11 October, 2011
SOUTH SUDAN

New nation reforms PS

The Public Service of the newly independent country of South Sudan is to be reformed.
   President, Salva Kiir Mayardit ordered that employees who did not have the skills, qualifications or experience for the job they were in to be weeded out and dismissed.
   South Sudan became independent on 9 July as part of a peace deal between the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM) and Sudan’s ruling National Congress Party (NCP).
   When the SPLM began governing South Sudan as an autonomous region in 2005 its Public Service was an amalgamation of its own Public Service in the areas it controlled and the Southern Sudan Coordinating Council (SSCC) which was operating in areas controlled by the Sudanese Government in Khartoum.
   According to data from the Ministry of Labour, Public Service and Human Resource Development, 60 per cent of the current workforce in South Sudan was unqualified and therefore unproductive.
   To counter this, the Government has initiated a process of absorbing and reintegrating qualified South Sudanese Public Servants who were returning from the north, as well as overseas, into its Public Service.
   All southern Sudanese public sector workers in the north were relieved of their positions after partition.
   President Kiir said the process should involve all levels of Government, including the 10 State Governments of South Sudan as well as Local Government.
   With a tiny private sector, and some Southern Sudanese employed at international charities, the United Nations and diplomatic missions, South Sudan’s Government is the nation’s main employer.


11 October, 2011
ZAMBIA

New President reshapes PS

Some of Zambia’s top Public Servants, and many hundreds from the lower ranks, have been dismissed.
   The sackings were ordered by new President Michael Sata just two weeks after he took office.
   They include the Police Chief, a top anti-corruption official, the Central Bank Governor, and the Chief Executive of the State Utility.
   President Sata said many of the changes were part of a campaign against graft but commentators said it was more like a campaign against his political enemies.
   “There is so much corruption that this country stinks,” President Sata said as he swore in the new National Police Chief, Martin Malama.
   He also announced Rosewin Wandi as a replacement for Godfrey Kayukwa as Director-General of the Anti-Corruption Commission, saying women were less corrupt than men.
   In the run-up to elections last month, Mr Kayukwa had refused to investigate corruption charges involving the award of the ballot paper printing contract to a South African company.
   President Sata also brought in anti-corruption fighter, Max Nkole as the Head of the Ministry of Home Affairs, which oversees police, prisons and immigration.
   Mr Nkole is a respected former policeman who once served as chief of investigations for the United Nations War Crimes Tribunal on Rwanda.
   He led the Zambian Task Force on Corruption created by the late President Levy Mwanawasa which was disbanded by Mwanawasa’s successor, Rupiah Banda amid speculation Mr Banda was trying to block high-profile corruption investigations.
   President Sata also directed the Minister for Justice, Sebastian Zulu to amend the Pensions Act to allow Public Servants to retire at 65 rather than the current compulsory 55.
   The President said it was illogical that Public Servants should retire when they still had the strength to serve the country.


11 October, 2011
UNITED KINGDOM

Call to end subsidised unionists

Plans to curtail what it describes as the “taxpayer subsidy” of union activity in the Public Service have been announced by the British Government.
   Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude wants to limit the amount of time public sector staff can spend on union duties, saying that it was costing all levels of Government too much.
   Mr Maude put the cost of paying union officials – some of whom worked full time on their union duties, at £30 million ($A48 million) a year.
   “Trade unions are an important part of a free society, but the support they get from the taxpayer has got way out of hand,” Mr Maude said
   “There are around 150 Civil Servants who are actually full time trade union officials, all on the public payroll - we can’t go on like this.”
   Unions immediately hit out at the announcement, with the General Secretary of the union ‘Unison’, Dave Prentis saying that public services were facing cutbacks and workers had a right to have their voices heard.
   “Trade union facility time makes good business sense, and any attempts to cut it will end up costing the taxpayer money,” Mr Prentis said.
   He pointed to research commissioned by the Department for Business that showed that effective union representation saved the taxpayer money because it improved staff retention and productivity.
   Deputy General Secretary of another union, ‘Prospect’, Dai Hudd said raising the subject now would do nothing to help industrial relations, given the parlous state of talks on Public Service pensions.


11 October, 2011
SCOTLAND

PS reminded public is boss

The Scottish Public Services Ombudsman has reminded a number of organisations funded by the taxpayer that they are expected to be accountable.
   The Ombudsman, Jim Martin said he had detected an unhealthy culture around ownership and a lack of customer focus in a range of public bodies.
   “Some organisations appear to have lost sight of the basic fact that public services are the people’s services and that providers exist to deliver these on behalf of the public,” Mr Martin said.
   “The public are more than just customers to public authorities - they are owners, shareholders, stakeholders rolled into one.”
   Calling on public sector organisations to try to meet a “gold standard”, Mr Martin said that in too many cases, particularly in Local Authorities and Housing Associations, complaints systems were confusing, difficult to access, slow, cumbersome and overly bureaucratic.
   “The National Health System has a good system in place and has at least grasped that a simple system is in everyone’s best interest,” he said.
   “There is still room for improvement.”
   He said he received a total of 3,489 complaints in 2010-11, up from 3,307 the previous year and of all the complaints fit to investigate, a total of 34 per cent were upheld either fully or partly.
   “This level of upheld complaints is unacceptable and demonstrates that public bodies need to have better processes and policies, and a better culture of valuing complaints to support staff in making the right decision first time round,” the Ombudsman said.


11 October, 2011
THAILAND

Big pay push for PS

An overhaul of the salary structure for Public Servants has been announced by the Government of Thailand.
   The restructure is expected to cost Bt18.8 billion ($A63 million) in improved earnings for all grades and qualifications.
   Secretary-General of the Civil Service Commission, Nonthigorn Kanchanachitra said Cabinet was expected to choose between two options - a two- or four-year spread to implement the pay scale upgrade.
   Deputy Minister for Finance, Viroon Techapaiboon urged the Cabinet to adopt the two-year option saying the overall cost to the Government would be the same, but speedy adjustment to the pay scale would boost the morale of the country’s two million Public Servants.
   Under the new pay scale, graduates with a vocational education certificate wouldreceived a salary of Bt10,690 ($A356) after working for one year, an increase from Bt6,400 ($A213).
   After 10 years in the Public Service, they could expect to earn about Bt17,110 ($A570) per month.
   Graduates with a higher vocational education certificate would be paid Bt12,010 ($A 400) after a year, a raise from Bt7,670 $A255).
   After 10 years on the job, they could expect to receive Bt19,810 ($A660).
   At the highest end of the scale, those with a PhD would be paid Bt24,810 ($A827) per month after one year in the job, an increase from Bt17,010 ($A567) and after 10 years would be earning Bt33,210 9 ($A1,107) a month.


11 October, 2011
MALAYSIA

PS payrises an election issue

The Opposition in Malaysia has promised to increase the pay of 300,000 Public Servants if it wins Government at the next election.
   Unveiling an alternative Budget, the Opposition said it would maintain public spending at RM220 billion ($A71 billion) trimming the Budget deficit to 4.4 per cent or the equivalent of RM14 billion ($4.5 billion).
   Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said this could be achieved by cutting the Prime Minister’s Department’s allocation by RM10 billion ($A3.2 billion) and reviewing Government procurement.
   Datuk Seri Anwar said the Opposition would implement a RM1,100 ($A356) minimum wage which would immediately benefit 300,000 Public Servants earning below that base.
   “The restructuring of Civil Service wages due to the introduction of a minimum wage will involve an annual allocation of RM5.9 billion ($A2 billion),” Datuk Seri Anwar said.
   He also said that RM22 billion ($A7 billion) must be maintained for subsidies to avoid any rise in fuel prices and keep inflation, that has persisted at a two-year high of over three per cent since March, under control.
   The Government had seen its subsidy bill double to RM22 billion despite price rises to basic goods such as fuel, electricity and sugar earlier this year.
   The Government is expected to counter the Opposition initiatives by announcing a new Public Service pay scheme that would see wages rise by as much as 40 per cent.


11 October, 2011
BOTSWANA

‘Essential’ ruling hits PS strikers

The nationwide Public Service strike earlier this year continues to reverberate though Botswana with the Minister for Labour and Home Affairs declaring a range of Public Service jobs ‘essential’, and making strike action illegal for them.
   The ruling is being challenged by an umbrella group of Public Service unions.
   In their notice of intention to sue, the unions are demanding that the Minister, Peter Siele, must revoke his amendment to the Public Service Act immediately.
   Failure to do so would prompt them to approach the High Court for an order either reviewing and setting aside the amendment or declaring it unconstitutional.
   They could also seek a court declaration that the amendment would not affect anyone appointed to the PS before 1 May.
   The unions are also threatening to seek orders for Mr Siele to be personally liable for their court costs.
   In a statement, the unions said the purpose of the initial strike action was to inflict economic harm.
   “It therefore makes no sense at all to try and avert future economic harm by classifying a service as essential,” the unions stated.
   “To do so goes against the entire spirit of Trade Dispute Act, which protects the right to strike and in so doing legitimises the infliction of harm on the employer as a legitimate bargaining weapon.”
   The unions involved are the Botswana Public Employees’ Union, Botswana Teachers Union, Botswana Sector of Educators Trade Union, the National Amalgamated Local and Central Government and Parastatal Workers Union.


11 October, 2011
And From the World in Brief...

IRELAND
The Irish Business and Employers Confederation has called for a radical overhaul of the pensions arrangements for serving Public Servants in a move it said would save €20 billion ($A27.4 billion) over the next few years.
   It claims a survey has shown the current arrangements are unaffordable.
   The Confederation has also called for pension entitlements for serving public sector workers to be based on average income, and not final salary.

SCOTLAND
A Public Service Network is planned as one of the key features of the Scottish Government’s ICT public sector infrastructure.
   A paper prepared has been prepared to work out the optimum way of achieving a network for the country’s public services in an effort to provide savings for the public sector.
   While there is no precise timeframe, the move is part of a group of procurements planned for delivery by 2016.
   Others in the pipeline are a tender for the provision of web-conferencing services across the Scottish public sector, and another for mobile telephony services.

ZAMBIA
Public Servants in the Zambian Foreign Service have been warned they will be arrested if they misuse or steal public resources.
   Minister for Foreign Affairs, Chishimba Kambwili said the officers should work harder because the time for relaxation and playing had come to an end.
   Mr Kambwili said there was a tendency by some people in the Foreign Service to abuse and steal public funds because the Governments had changed.
   “I will also not tolerate a situation where people come to the office at 10am - that must come to an end,” Mr Kambwili said.

AZERBAIJAN
A working group of lawyers and international experts has been given the task of codifying legislation governing the Public Service.
   The work, which has the aim of making the legislation more understandable to those that have to interpret it, is expected to take several years.
   Public Service legislation in Azerbaijan includes more than 30 laws and more than 10 other legislative Acts.
   The code is aimed at simplifying the implementation of this legislation, especially in the regions.

SRI LANKA
The Government is implementing moves to produce a more people-friendly Public Service, including an administrative complex in the capital that will provide all services under one roof.
   The complex will involve 42 Government institutions established in one building.
   In addition, a public library, Urban Council offices and 25 office quarters will be established in buildings adjacent to the complex.
   The facility is expected to play a pivotal role in the Public Service as it is the first administrative complex of its kind constructed in the country.


4 October, 2011
UNITED KINGDOM

PS stress levels soar

Stress levels among the UK’s Public Servants have risen by as much as 140 per cent over the past year in one Government Department.
   The internal statistics, obtained under Freedom of Information legislation, indicate that the increasing number of stressed out officials comes as cuts and job losses begin to kick in.
   Stress and anxiety related absence has risen over the past year in more than half of the Departments who answered the requests, and remained steady in one Department, Communities and Local Government.
   However, in the Department of Energy and Climate Change, stress levels had risen by 140 per cent and in the Department for Culture, Media and Sport by 127 per cent.
   Other Departments with significant rises included a 43 per cent increase in the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills.
   Head of the Public and Commercial Services Union, Mark Serwotka said it was no surprise that stress and anxiety were on the increase and this ought to ring alarm bells for Ministers.
   “With job cuts kicking in, those who remain are having to work much harder and for less reward,” Mr Serwotka said.
   Stress and anxiety related absence had declined in three Departments - the Ministries of Defence, Transport, and Health.
   Management Specialist at Lancaster University, Cary Cooper said he was not surprised by the figures.
   “The one thing you had in the Civil Service up until recently was job security,” Professor Cooper said.
   “Now no job is safe.
   “Plus the downsizing means the workloads are much, much heavier.”
   He said most Departments now had 20 to 30 per cent fewer staff but the demands were still the same.
   A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said sickness absences across the Public Service were at their lowest levels for a decade.
   “The Civil Service is generally regarded as having best practice policies and procedures in dealing with sickness absence and individual Departments are taking a number of measures to ensure sickness absence is managed effectively,” the spokesman said.


4 October, 2011
UNITED STATES

PS facing more pain

More cuts to Public Service pay and conditions could be on the way in the United States as the Government seeks to reduce its Budget deficit.
   Director of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) which manages the US PS, Jack J. Lew said he could not rule out cuts to Federal pay or benefits that went beyond the current pay freeze and increases to pension contributions.
   “Everything is going to be under tight fiscal conditions,” Mr Lew said.
   About 100 Federal mangers and leaders met to discuss the lessons they could draw from Government cutbacks during the 1990s and determine how to make better cuts.
   A consulting firm has released a report, Making Smart Cuts, that lays out the pros and cons of eight Budget-cutting strategies.
   Mr Lew said the Government must balance saving money against the need to recruit talented people to work in Government as the Baby Boomer generation retires.
   He said the Government wanted to give Agencies the flexibility to come up with cuts that made sense, rather than dictate across-the-board reductions.
   Federal employees understood the need for sacrifice but struggled against attacks on their work ethic and image.
   “We’ve got headwinds of public opinion that are not necessarily going to be helpful in attracting the next generation of federal workers,” Mr Lew said.


4 October, 2011
IRELAND

New pension scheme to save money

The Irish Government has proposed new legislation for a single pension scheme for all new entrants to the Public Service.
   The change is expected to reduce costs significantly.
   Under the Public Service Pensions (Single Scheme) and Remuneration Bill 2011, new entrants’ pension will be based on an average of career earnings rather than their final salary at retirement, as at present.
   Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin said this would be a fairer approach and of most benefit to lower grades in the Public Service.
   He said further savings would be also made by raising the minimum PS retirement age from 65 to 66 initially and later to 67 and 68.
   A maximum retirement age of 70 is being proposed. At present there is no maximum retirement age for most new entrants.
   Mr Howlin said significant savings were expected from the change in the earnings-linking of pensions.
   He said it was planned that post-retirement pension increases would be linked to consumer prices rather than payrates which have led to increases over the past 20 years twice the size that would have applied if the pensions were linked to the Consumer Price Index.
   He said while the changes proposed in the Bill would not result in immediate savings, by the middle of the century the new scheme would reduce annual expenditure by about 35 per cent or €1,800 million ($A2,485 million).
   The proposed provisions do not affect the pensions of existing Public Servants.


4 October, 2011
WALES

Councils reject services plan

The Welsh Government has stirred up a row with Local Government over the way public services are delivered.
   The Government has told Councils to collaborate across six geographical areas, but all 22 Councils said they want to stick to their current arrangements.
   The Welsh Local Government Association (WLGA) also called on Ministers to end “decrees and diktats” to Councils.
   The WLGA is demanding the Government sign up to a number of pledges, including no policy changes for three years, more budget flexibility and a tighter agreement about when it intervenes in Councils’ affairs.
   Finance Spokesman for the WLGA, Rodney Berman said there was a concern at what he called the sometimes “confrontational” approach from Ministers.
   “I think it’s partly down to the personalities of the current Ministers such as Local Government Minister, Carl Sargeant and Education Minister, Leighton Andrews. I think they have had a tendency perhaps to issue decrees to Local Government,” Mr Berman said.
   “What we are saying is you don’t necessarily need to work with us in that manner, we are happy to collaborate with you, and let’s just sit down more consensually.”
   Mr Berman said Local Authorities would continue to work together as they had done in the past in areas such as education, transport and social care, rather than moving to the Welsh Government’s preferred new model.
   The Government’s plan for six service delivery areas was approved by the Cabinet in July. It would see authorities teaming up to organise services within the boundaries of Local Health Boards.


4 October, 2011
UNITED STATES

Workers rally to save Post Office

Postal workers in the United States have held 492 rallies across the country to save the US postal service.
   The Save America’s Postal Service rallies supporting measures to save the Service from certain economic disaster.
   They backed a plan that would do so without cutting jobs or shutting Post Offices.
   Under the current system, the Postal Service faces an $8.3 billion ($A8.5 billion) Budget deficit which Postmaster General, Patrick Donahue blames on a decline in traditional mail as a result of increased electronic and mobile communication.
   Mr Donahue’s options for cutting the debt includes large job losses, the shutting of thousands of post offices and slowing the mail service.
   In another attempt to increase revenue, Mr Donahue announced that the Postal Service would start making postage stamps featuring living people. In the past, celebrities could only get their faces on a stamp if they were dead.
   Iowa State President of the American Postal Workers Union, Bruce Clark said the union supported an alternative approach.
   He said legislation passed in 2006 required the Postal Service to pre-fund health care benefits for future retirees. Under that law, the Postal Service must acquire funds for 75 years worth of retirees’ benefits over a 10-year span.
   Mr Clark said the union wanted Congress to allow the Postal Service to recalculate the amount it should pay for pensions and reallocate the excess funds paid in years past towards future health benefits.
   He said the Postal Service was still important in Iowa and other rural communities across the country, where post offices give residents access to Government services like passport registration.
   “In small towns a huge part of those people’s identities is the post office,” Mr Clark said.


4 October, 2011
BAHAMAS

E-Government the path to productivity

The Bahaman Public Service would become more client-orientated and productive if it embraced e-Government wholeheartedly, a senior Minister has said.
   Minister of National Security, O.A. Turnquest said the commitment to e-Government would transform Bahama’s Public Service into an even more efficient entity by providing the general public with greater access to public information and Government services.
   The provision of on-line services in areas such as the payment of real property taxes, renewal of driver’s licences and submission of applications for passports, marriage licences and death certificates, in addition to the payment of traffic fines, would assist Public Servants in meeting the needs of citizens, residents, businesses and non-residents, in a more efficient manner.
   Mr Turnquest was addressing a Service of Thanksgiving, which was one of the many activities organised to celebrate the 12th Annual Public Service and Recognition of Retirees Week.
   “The ultimate goal of this initiative is the improved delivery of a wide-range of Government services to clients,” Mr Turnquest said.
   “E-government will also facilitate Public Servants’ secure access to decision-making data and information, while saving time and increasing productivity within a robust and secure network environment.”
   He said that over the years, Public Servants had been criticised for the poor delivery of services to the Bahamian public.
   “Our goal through e-Government is to get the negative perception of the Public Service to nil,” Mr Turnquest said.


4 October, 2011
SCOTLAND

PS job to push ‘separation’

The First Minister of Scotland has created a senior Public Service position to spearhead moves to win independence for the country.
   The move has sparked protests claiming it represented politicisation of the Public Service.
   Opposition MPs have urged Head of the British Public Service, Sir Gus O’Donnell to intervene.
   The MPs, who include Labour, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats, warned that supposedly neutral Public Servants had “crossed the line” and become part of the Scottish National Party Government’s (SNP) pro-separation propaganda machine.
   Their complaints reached a crescendo when it emerged that First Minister, Alex Salmond was to appoint the high-ranking officer on a salary of up to £208,000 ($A331,000) per year to take on the project of planning for Scottish separation.
   Senior politicians in the Scottish Government defended the move saying it was the duty of Public Servants to help implement Government policy but the Opposition said it was ridiculous that their responsibility extended to the break-up of Britain.
   Former Scottish Liberal Democrat Leader, Tavish Scott said that instead of negotiating with the First Minister, Sir Gus should be reading the Riot Act to the Head of the Scottish Public Service, Sir Peter Housden.
   “His job must be to stop the Nationalists introducing politics to the Scottish Civil Service and appointing a Civil Servant with responsibility for splitting up the UK,” Mr Scott said.
   Leader of the Scottish Labour Party, Iain Gray said Sir Gus should question whether Mr Salmond’s appointment of the Public Servant, who has been nicknamed the Director General for Separation, was an appropriate addition to a supposedly neutral Public Service.
   Former Scottish Conservative Leader, David McLetchie said Public Servants had a difficult balancing act.
   “Clearly the boundaries in Scotland are being pushed to near breaking point,” Mr McLetchie said.


4 October, 2011
SOUTH AFRICA

Ill worker’s sacking reversed

The Department of Correctional Services has been criticised for a decision to terminate the service of a gravely ill employee without following proper procedures.
   A five-month investigation found that the process followed by the Department in terminating the employee’s service was not in compliance with the Public Service Act and the Constitution and therefore qualified as maladministration.
   Public Protector Advocate, Thuli Madonsela directed that the employee be re-instated and that the Department conduct an investigation into the incapacity of the employee due to ill health and consider a process of retirement through ill health.
   The Public Protector also directed that the employee be placed on temporary incapacity leave until the finalisation of the ill health retirement and that the employee be compensated for financial damages suffered and for humiliation.
   Ms Madonsela said the conduct of the Minister for Correctional Services, Nosiviwe Mapisa-Nqakula and The Department’s National Commissioner, Tom Moyane had been exemplary in following her instructions.
   The investigation was initiated after Mr Mapisa-Nqakula had decided that the employee’s service should be terminated as his ill health was becoming an impediment to his performance of duties as a senior manager in the Department.
   The employee had complained to the Public Protector that he was offered a “verbal” package of early retirement without the reduction of pension benefits and an added period of thee-and-a-half years of service, including a lump sum salary payment for that period. However, when his service was terminated last October, this undertaking had not been carried out.


4 October, 2011
GHANA

Plans for ‘attractive’ Public Service

The Ghanaian Government has announced plans to make the Public Service and Local Government more attractive to potential recruits.
   Minister for Communication, Haruna Iddrisu said he had instructed the Public Services Commission to work in collaboration with the Public Procurement Authority (PPA) to develop a scheme dealing with the recruitment, training, placement, promotion and posting of all categories of Public Servants.
   Mr Iddrisu said that in order to attract and retain qualified procurement professionals in the Public Service, the PPA would establish a task force to develop a plan.
   Modules on procurement would be taught at various tertiary institutions and would include a three-to-six-months intensive course to be run initially by the Ghana Telecom University College and the Management, Development and Productivity Institute.
   Other tertiary institutions preparing to teach the course were the Zenith University College, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology, Ghana Institute of Management and Public Administration and Central University College.
   Schemes of Service for the Information Technology-Information Management professionals and Internal Auditors within the Public Service have also been launched.
   The Minister said that in the past many potential recruits to the Public Service had gone to private industry or taken their qualifications overseas.
   “It is absolutely vital that we retain our best people here, so that Ghana can go forward as a modern nation,” Mr Iddrisu said.


4 October, 2011
And From the World in Brief...

IRELAND
Up to 1,000 vacancies in the Irish health system will not be filled due to budgetary problems, despite all the positions being exempt from the country’s Public Service jobs freeze.
   Assistant Director Industrial Relations of the Irish Medical Organisation, Eric Young said the decision would mean an increase in waiting lists, making it more difficult for patients to access services and delaying treatment.
   However, a health service spokesman said it did not have the funds to continue to recruit and there would be a pause until the end of 2011.

NIGERIA
Alhaji I. B. Sali has been appointed as the new Head of the Public Service of the Federation of Nigeria.
   Mr Sali, who is currently a Permanent Secretary in the Office of the Head of the Public Service of the Federation, will take over from the incumbent, Oladapo Afolabi.
   Professor Afolabi, who has held the post since November 2010, has retired.

NORTHERN IRELAND
The New Head of the Northern Ireland Public Service is Malcolm McKibbin. He will succeed Sir Bruce Robinson.
   Mr McKibbin is currently Permanent Secretary in the Department for Regional Development and previously served as the Permanent Secretary of the Department for Agriculture and Rural Development.
   He has spent much of his career working throughout Northern Ireland in the Roads Service and was its Chief Executive for five years.

NIGERIA (Edo)
Princess Ekiuwa lnneh has been appointed as the new Head of Service of Nigeria’s Edo State.
   Princess Inneh thanked Governor Adams Oshiomhole for her appointment and promised to do her best to justify the confidence placed in her.
   She joined the Public Service in 1987 after attending the University of Benin. She was the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Finance, before her present appointment.