SearchArchives for September 2009
29 September, 2009UNITED STATES
New secrecy rules
promote disclosure
A new policy which requires Departments and Agencies to make formerly sensitive official information available to the public has been foreshadowed by the US Department of Justice.
The policy requires Agencies, including the intelligence community and the military, to convince the Attorney General and a team of Justice Department lawyers that the release of sensitive information would present significant harm to national defence or foreign relations.
In the past, the claim that State secrets were at risk could be invoked with the approval of one official and by meeting a lower standard of proof that disclosure would be harmful.
That claim was asserted dozens of times during the previous Bush Administration, legal scholars said.
They said the shift could have a broad effect on many lawsuits, including those filed by alleged victims of torture and electronic surveillance. Authorities have frequently argued that Judges should dismiss those cases at the outset to avoid the release of information that could compromise national security.
The new standard is designed in part to restore the confidence of Congress, civil liberties advocates and Judges, who have criticised both the Bush and the Obama Administrations for excessive secrecy.
A senior Department of Justice official said the move was designed to improve public confidence that secrecy provisions would be invoked very rarely and only when they were well supported.
"By holding ourselves to this higher standard, we're in some way sending a message to the courts. We're not following a 'just trust us' approach."
Under the new policy, a team of career prosecutors must review and the Attorney General must approve any assertions of State secrets privilege before Government lawyers can make that argument in Court.
Officials said the new policy would ensure that the secrecy arguments were more narrowly tailored and that they would not employed to hide violations of law, bureaucratic foul-ups or details that would embarrass Government officials.
29 September, 2009
MALAYSIA
PS corruption still
a problem
Corruption issues in the Malaysian Public Service are yet to be addressed, according to the international watchdog, Transparency International.
President of the Malaysian Chapter of TI, Datuk Paul Low said anti-corruption efforts would remain no more than a token gesture until drastic action is taken to separate the cosy relationship between Government, business and politics.
A TI report said the inter-relationship between the Government, Public Service and private sector negated the concept of check and balance.
“It is good in the context of solving the economic problems and dealing with investments but political funding is the big issue," Datuk Low said.
The report said that the complexity of the relationship between politics the public and private sectors meant corruption could take place with impunity.
"Under the circumstances, the practice of revolving and rotating doors and active Government participation in the economy creates an appearance of impropriety," the report said.
Datuk Low said the establishment of the Malaysian Anti-Corruption Commission (MACC) and other reforms had yet to produce desired results and people perceived the Commission as practising selective investigation and prosecution.
"The Government has put in place key performance indicators (KPIs) and corruption has been placed second among the KPIs, denoting that it is prepared to confront the issue."
He said the efforts of the Performance Management and Delivery Unit (Pemandu), were extremely good but the Government needed a road map to identify areas that required improvement.
Pemandu will conduct eight workshops focusing on six national key result areas of education, low-income households, basic rural infrastructure, urban public transport, corruption and crime.
29 September, 2009
NORTHERN IRELAND
Bikes now part of
pay package
Public Servants in Northern Ireland are now allowed to salary sacrifice bicycles.
Under a scheme being piloted by the Department of Regional Development, staff could save up to 40 per cent on the cost of a bicycle.
Minister for Transport, Conor Murphy said cycling to work would help address the problem of air pollution created by traffic on the roads.
"The scheme makes it easier for employers and employees to make the move towards more sustainable modes of transport as well as helping to create a greener environment and a fitter and healthier workforce," Mr Murphy said.
Cycling Co-ordinator of Travelwise Northern Ireland, Andy Bready said there had been a lot of interest among Public Servants interested in riding to work.
"The levels of enthusiasm and demand we have already seen in the Department are encouraging and I hope that we will be able to extend it to the whole of the Civil Service before long," he said.
The scheme is the first of its kind for the Public Service but is already running in other public and private companies, including Belfast City Council, Allstate, and Langford Lodge Engineering in Crumlin.
The scheme will be rolled out across all the Northern Ireland Departments next year, making more than 30,000 Public Servants eligible.
29 September, 2009
UNITED KINGDOM
Report finds no trust in PS
A think-tank report in the United Kingdom has recommended abolition of the National Audit Office and its replacement by a single body to measure Public Service performance.
The study, from Demos said recent reforms had left frontline staff feeling like “untrustworthy teenagers” and had done little to improve services.
The report, Leading from the Front, said staff should be looking out to citizens, not up to central inspection regimes.
“Where services are failing, Government should look to successful professional peers to turn organisations around,” the report said.
Ministers were also urged to make it more difficult for individuals to become teachers or social workers in order to improve the skill levels of frontline staff, who could then take more responsibility for managing their own time and budgets.
Those who met the new levels should be rewarded with “more independence, more autonomy more prestige, and ultimately, better pay”.
The National Health Service, teaching and social services would improve if staff were given further autonomy, as they knew their jobs better than anyone else.
The report recommended measures to cut bureaucracy and empower frontline staff, through the removal of middle management.
“We can prevent the steady sagging of morale in the public sector, but only if we are prepared to hand back the reins to those who know what they’re doing,” it said.
One of the authors of the report, Max Wind-Cowie said all the talk at the moment was about protecting frontline staff from cuts, but that alone would not make the difference if they were treated like untrustworthy teenagers.
“Every Government has the tendency to centralise. Whoever wins the next election must do everything they can to resist that urge and let go,” Mr Wind-Cowie said.
29 September, 2009
TRINIDAD
Retired Judges ‘living in poverty’
Retired Judges in Trinidad have petitioned the President for an increase in their pensions so they can survive.
Six retired Judges met President George Maxwell Richards saying that increasing food prices, the cost of living generally, and the high cost of Medicare, had pushed some of them close to poverty.
A source close to the Judges said some had high medical bills, and the pensions which they started receiving more than 10 years ago, were not enough.
The source said the retired Judges first made an effort to have their pension packages revised some 10 years ago but two General Elections in two years intervened.
After Mr Richards was appointed President in 2003, the Judges met him and appeared to get a favourable response, but their representations were eventually turned down by Prime Minister, Patrick Manning.
At that point the Judges formed the Retired Judges Association, with a membership of just over 20. Since then five have died
“They no longer have drivers, and when they get old and sick, they cannot drive, so they are left to fend for themselves,” the source said.
“They no longer have access to the priority bus route, Judges who presided in the criminal courts have been abused and threatened, they no longer have use of the VIP lounge at Piarco Airport – these facilities should never have been taken away.”
29 September, 2009
IRELAND
More pain for Irish PS
The Irish Public Service is steeling itself for more cuts to pay, pensions and conditions as Taoiseach (Prime Minister), Brian Cowen makes clear it will have to produce more savings in the coming Budget.
PS unions say the Service was already suffering from the 7.5 per cent pension levy, a pay freeze and a recruitment embargo.
Mr Cowen said the Budget would result in cuts “right across the board”, including public-sector pay, pensions and allowances. He also ruled out any major new taxes except for a carbon tax.
His comments were in response to the latest Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) report which identified a 25 per cent gap between public and private sector pay rates. It also questioned the basis for increases in the public sector.
Unions rejected the findings and warned the Government that any further cuts in pay and pensions would be fiercely resisted by employees in the public sector.
In a television interview Mr Cowen said the Government could not simply ignore public pay rates.
“To have a sustainable Budget going forward, we have to in some way control public expenditure on the pay and pension side” he said.
“The bottom line is that there is not enough money coming in from taxpayers to make the payments on all of these fronts. There will be a tough Budget.”
According to the ESRI, public sector employees earned in excess of 25 per cent more than those in the private sector in 2006 when pensions were taken into account.
The research did not reflect the impact on the PS of the economic downturn however, or the effect of the pension levy.
Unions representing Public Servants - including gardaí (police), nurses, ambulance personnel, defence forces and prison officers - have launched a campaign to oppose cuts in pay, allowances and services.
Chairman of the Frontline Services Alliance, Des Kavanagh said the recommendations would send Public Servants back to pre-1970 conditions of employment.
“We will never accept that working unsocial hours at night, weekends and bank holidays should attract no additional earnings,” Mr Kavanagh said.
29 September, 2009
SCOTLAND
PS fears job cuts
on the way
Public Servants in Scotland are concerned that a proposed ‘effectiveness and affordability’ review could lead to job cuts.
They fear the Scottish Government may be planning to break a “no-cuts” promise.
According to the main Public Service union, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), the Government’s draft Budget made it clear that some tough choices would be needed to be made over the next few years as the Scottish National-Administration tried to cope with the first real cuts in public expenditure since devolution.
With the cost of wages and salaries making up such a large proportion of the public-sector bill, the PCS was fearful that jobs would be in line for the axe but the Secretary of Finance, John Swinney gave an assurance that there would be no compulsory redundancies.
However, the assurance has now been called into question by a decision of the Permanent Secretary at the Scottish Government, Sir John Elvidge, to carry out an "effectiveness and affordability" review of the current shape and working practices across the Government and all its agencies.
Called Shaping Up, the review will take a detailed look at the way Public Servants serve their political masters.
Sir John said in a review document issued to staff that some radical and important changes to the way Public Servants work had been made since devolution and it was time to build on that success.
"We are also facing the test of a significant reduction in public spending which gives the review added focus and urgency,” he said.
“For Ministers to protect important policies and programs in Scotland we will have to spend less money on running the business.
“We are therefore going to look at how we are currently organised and resourced and ask ourselves whether that fits with the new approach to government in Scotland.”
Secretary of the PCS, Eddie Reilly described the review as a vehicle for unprecedented cuts to jobs and services for the first time since devolution.
"There is only one conclusion,” Mr Reilly said.
“This review is not about shaping up but is about shipping out.”
“It is the beginning of Public Servants and public services in Scotland paying the price for the banking crisis and the recession.”
29 September, 2009
HONG KONG
Public broadcaster
to stay in PS
The Government of Hong Kong has announced that its public service broadcaster Radio Television Hong Kong (RTHK) is to be retained as a Government Department.
Secretary for Commerce Economic Development for the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government, Rita Lau said the new RTHK would be given more resources to enhance its service and editorial independence would be maintained.
Measures would be introduced to ensure greater public accountability and oversight of its programs, she said.
A recent Government survey found 60 per cent of respondents felt RTHK should be maintained as it is or its operation enhanced. Only 20 per cent were in favour of establishing a new organisation to replace it.
Ms Lau said rhe recruitment of Public Servants to fill vacancies at RTHK will resume. Non-Public Service contract staff could also apply.
Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Government, Donald Tsang said the decision was good for the general public, for RTHK and the station’s staff.
“Members of the public will be able to enjoy services of higher quality and greater diversity from RTHK,” Mr Tsang said.
“The station will be tasked to launch digital TV and radio services, promote community participation in broadcasting, and provide multi-cultural programs and national broadcasting.”
He said RTHK would be given new opportunities and resources to expand into new areas of services, thus strengthening its role as the public broadcaster of Hong Kong.
For the RTHK staff, the new arrangement would mean greater job certainty, confirmation of editorial independence and an improved production environment. These would help them serve the public better.
“With its 80 years of service, RTHK occupies a special place in the hearts of many people in Hong Kong and I believe many of us would want to see RTHK continue to take on the role of public broadcaster, and provide better services with higher standards of operation,” Mr Tsang said.
29 September, 2009
GHANA
PS urged to lift its game
Public Servants in Ghana have been called on to stop turning up late for work and for being disinterested in their duties.
The call was made by Head of Civil Service, Joe Issachar who said unless they lifted their game, they could no longer be considered worthy partners with the Government.
His comments were contained in a statement read at the opening of the Professional Leadership Skills Course, run by the Civil Service Training Centre in Accra.
The course caters for selected officers in the Executive Class of the Public Service and is aimed at promoting professionalism through human resource development.
Participants were called on to conscientiously, judiciously and assiduously help to move Government machinery forward for the benefit of the country.
Principal of the Civil Service Training Centre, Dora Dei-Tumi commended participants for exhibiting maturity and cooperation during their stay there.
She hoped the tuition and the knowledge they had acquired would help them be examples that others would wish to emulate.
Director of the Recruitment, Training and Development Division, Okyere-Darko Ababio urged participants as professional leaders to put into practice the knowledge and skills gained at the workshop to help move the country forward.
He advised them to attend more courses periodically to update their knowledge, especially in Information and Communication Technology.
Participants were taken through topics including administrative writing, ethics and their relevance, safety and risk management at the workplace, interfacing with the public, and gender issues.
29 September, 2009
And From the World in Brief...
PORTUGAL
Public Service reform has been an issue during the Portuguese election campaign and may have cost the Socialist Government some support.
Since it took office four years ago, the Government has slashed public sector benefits such as special health care provisions. It has also raised the Public Service retirement age to 65 from 60 and introduced an evaluation system for teachers.
The Government says its strategy to thin the public sector by admitting only one new employee for every two who leave has been a success, cutting total staff to 696,000 from more than 747,000 four years ago.
However, the moves have upset the trade unions, traditional supporters of the Socialist Party.
BORNEO
Civil Service Day in Borneo this year was scaled down because of measures taken against the spread of the H1N1 flu virus.
The celebrations, on 28 September, began with thanksgiving prayers at all main mosques throughout the nation and a tahlil [ceremony of rejoicing] was followed by various activities including sporting competition between the various Ministries.
Public Servants also renewed their pledge of loyalty to the sovereign.
UNITED STATES
A web program that allows people applying to immigrate to the US to follow their status via text message and e-mail has been launched.
The program also keeps track of average processing times in each immigration field office and at various stages.
A spokesman for President Barack Obama said a central method for Americans to receive Government emergency information, consumer product recalls and other alerts electronically was also being developed.
ISLE OF MAN
The Civil Service Commission has warned that any rise in Public Servants’ pay this year would result in reductions in services and cuts to jobs.
The Commission made the statement after 95 per cent of Public Service union members voted against a pay freeze proposed for 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010.
There are about 2,400 Public Servants in the Isle of Man, including those working part-time.
Unions spokespeople said Public Servants would already take pay cuts of up to six per cent if current public sector pension reforms were adopted.
ZAMBIA
Public Servants have been urged to stop corrupt practices and enhance development in the nation.
Vice President George Kunda said Public Servants should be implementing the Government’s programs as budgeted for and should not misappropriate public funds as this tarnished the image of the Public Service.
Instead they should work with the Government to uplift the living standards of Zambians.
22 September, 2009
UNITED STATES
PS losing hacker battle
A senior officer of the United States Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has told the US Senate that computer hackers were better organised to attack important Government IT systems than the Government was organised to defend them.
Deputy Undersecretary for the National Protection and Programs Directorate at DHS,, Philip Reitinger said hackers had better information-sharing capacity than the Government. He was speaking during a hearing of the Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs.
Another DHS witness, Assistant Director of the Office of Investigations, Michael Merritt said cyber criminals linked up anonymously, exchanging hacking tools and information such as stolen credit card numbers.
He said unlike traditional organised crime families, the virtual criminal teams were a loose hierarchy in which members didn’t know one another.
“A hacker in the Ukraine can buy stolen credit card numbers from someone in the Baltic anonymously - with anonymity, it's laborious to identify these criminals,” Mr Merritt said.
Mr Reitinger said Government and business were partnering to come up with solutions to battle cyber criminals. He cited work on new ways to authenticate users without requiring a username or password, noting it was hard to steal personal identifiable information if usernames weren't employed to access systems.
He said the DHS's National Cybersecurity Division - charged with safeguarding Federal communications networks – planned to more than double its establishment from 111 staff to 260 in the coming year.
"I've seen incredible commitment from people in both the private sector and public sector," Mr Reitinger said.
"I believe we have a real opportunity here. We built the framework to work together. Now we need to drive toward outcomes.”
22 September, 2009
SINGAPORE
New IT system to
link whole PS
The first Agencies to be connected to the Singapore Public Service’s whole-of-Government communications network (SOEasy) have been hooked up.
Described as the largest ICT project ever undertaken by the Singapore PS, the scheme will see all 60,000 staff connected to a common environment and using the same applications, programs and services.
Agencies included in the first batch are the Ministry of Finance (MOF), Ministry of Information, Communications and The Arts (MICA), Infocomm Development Authority of Singapore (IDA) and National Heritage Board (NHB).
Head of the Singapore Public Service, Peter Ho said the SOEasy Programme was a step towards integrated Government.
“The implementation of this ambitious project indeed marks another significant chapter in the history of Singapore’s infocomm journey,” Mr Ho said.
Deputy Secretary (Performance) at the Ministry of Finance, Lim Hup Seng said the SOEasy Program was a major undertaking that would bring many benefits to the Public Service.
“SOEasy is conceived to make public officers more efficient and effective in their work. It is also a challenging project to implement due to its magnitude, involving over 60,000 Public Servants across 75 Government Agencies at more than 800 locations,” he said.
Deployment began in July with messaging, collaboration, desktop, network and common services rolled out to the first batch of Agencies.
He said it was quickly found that the common environment and utilisation of the same set of applications and services translated into greater efficiency at work for Public Servants.
According to Mr Ho, one example was the automated delivery of software and security patches, applications and services to each individual Public Servant. Previously, such updating activities would interrupt workflow.
SOEasy will roll out in three releases. The first will replace existing services. New services will be packaged into the second and third releases which will roll out in October 2009 and February 2010 respectively.
22 September, 2009
NEW ZEALAND
Vacancies abound despite job cuts
Despite shedding over 1,400 jobs in a cost-saving exercise, the New Zealand Public Service has revealed it still has almost 2,400 vacancies.
The biggest number of vacancies is in education at 260, followed by the Justice Ministry with 249 and the New Zealand Transport Agency with 114 openings.
State Services Minister, Tony Ryall confirmed the vacancies but said some Ministries were still involved in restructuring so not all of the jobs might be filled.
There were also hundreds of vacancies in Corrections, the Conservation Department, Internal Affairs and the Social Development Ministry.
Mr Ryall said a wave of restructuring had swept through most Departments after the Government ordered an efficiency drive. He said savings from cutting "back office" jobs would be used to create front-line jobs.
According to commentators, however the savings that were redirected to the front line led to just 170 more posts.
National Secretary of the Public Service Association, Richard Wagstaff said the figures raised questions about the Government's job summit and its commitment to keeping New Zealanders in work.
“During the election the National Party said it would maintain a cap on the Public Service. That promise has been broken, it's now trumpeting the fact it's cutting Public Service jobs," Mr Wagstaff said.
Head of the New Zealand Chamber of Commerce, Charles Finney said the cuts had not significantly impacted on the economy.
"The figures that have been released suggest it's not the carnage some have suggested,” Mr Finney said.
“We don't want the Government to stop from making it a more productive Public Service, but we hope it is done in a well managed way".
Mr Ryall said the axed jobs were mostly achieved by not replacing those who left. He said up to 300 of them were seasonal and 252 officers had been made redundant.
22 September, 2009
FIJI
Facilities overhaul for efficient PS
Upgrades of all buildings, offices, equipment and systems used by the Fijian Public Service have been foreshadowed as a way of improving its productivity and efficiency.
Permanent Secretary of the Fijian Public Service Commission (PSC), Parmesh Chand said the right type of working environment was one of the major ingredients in the ongoing reform process.
Mr Chand said the Commission would ensure that the office space provided for the various Government Agencies was appropriate and suitable.
“With the improved working environment, State employees are expected to provide services that are timely, and are also of a very high quality and standard,” Mr Chand said.
“The Commission will ensure that the calibre of staff engaged in each Government Agency is of the right type and with appropriate skills to match the needs of the organisation.”
He said the PSC had stepped up its training programs in a continuing effort to improve the skills of Public Servants.
Following the implementation of compulsory retirement at 55, succession plans had been put in place to address the exit of a large number of Public Servants in the middle to senior management levels.
“The Public Service Commission is also committed to ensuring that a performance measurement and reward system is in place to assess the levels of productivity and the efficiency of all State employees and that any salary increases are performance and productivity based,” said.
22 September, 2009
UNITED KINGDOM
PS School seeks funding reform
The United Kingdom’s National School of Government has called for its funding needs to be allocated centrally, rather than contributed by Departments and Agencies on a pay-for-service basis.
Director of Strategic Client Relations at the school, Patricia Greer said a new core, cross-Government program she is developing in partnership with Public Service leaders would be complex to deliver under the current cost-recovery system.
“Quite honestly, it doesn’t really make sense for us to be invoicing Government Departments which then have to pay the invoices. There’s a lot of cost involved in all of that,” Ms Greer said.
“What would make sense is for the core program to be centrally funded in some way, either through a grant, or though the money being transferred to a body that we draw down from, or by ‘top-slicing’ Departmental budgets.”
She said the school's running costs were around £30 million ($A60 million) a year and income for 2008-09 was £31.4 million ($A62.8 million).
Ms Greer said talks with the Cabinet Office were at an early stage, although Permanent secretaries had agreed in principle to the idea.
“The challenge is making it happen and how we make it happen over a period of time,” she said.
The school would continue to sell individual training to Departments but wanted to make sure that its products helped the Department as a whole as well as the individual receiving the training.
“There hasn’t always been that connection,” she said. “An individual says ‘I want to go on this course’, but it is not clearly obvious what the benefit has been to the Department or the Civil Service.”
Ms Greer dismissed the suggestion that the school should be concerned by the prospect of public spending cuts, or that a future Conservative Government might not consider an internal training provider as value for money.
22 September, 2009
UNITED STATES
Move to save cyber records
The Attorney-General in the US State of Florida has ordered that all text messages stored on Government-issued electronic devices be kept and made available as public records.
The Attorney, Bill McCollum issued the directive after a controversy erupted in which staff of the local Public Service Commission were disciplined for lending their BlackBerry codes to a lobbyist.
The three staff members were either reassigned or put on administrative leave after they sent their BlackBerry PIN codes to the lobbyist for a power company.
Mr McCollum’s directive shone a light on what was a common practice in the State capital of Tallahassee.
Lawmakers and lobbyists regularly communicate with each other on key issues via BlackBerrys, iPhones and cell phones.
Often, the messages are sent via text messages or by PINs which are unique instant messages routed between individual BlackBerrys which don’t leave a paper trail.
Executive Director of the PSC, Mary Bane, said she was concerned at the practice.
"We don't want to violate public records laws, but it seems like a grey area," Ms Bane said.
"We are concerned about public perception. We don't want to lose the public trust."
Citizens for Sunshine, a non-profit organisation devoted to transparency in Government, has asked the PSC to provide the PIN messages of its staff and commissioners, as has the Times/Herald newspaper.
Chairman of the PSC, Matthew Carter ordered the disabling of all text messaging on State-issued BlackBerrys, with further calls for the purchase of software to allow the Commission to monitor BlackBerry use.
22 September, 2009
CAYMAN ISLANDS
Legal advice sought on PS pay cut
A decision by the Cayman Island Government to cut Public Service salaries by two per cent has prompted PS unions to seek legal advice.
The cut, announced by Chief Secretary, Donovan Ebanks, caught the unions by surprise with the President of the Civil Service Association, James Watler saying he still needed to “wrap his head round” the decision.
“One of the first questions is how legal this is,” Mr Watler said. “I don’t know how this came about but legal advice is being sought.”
He said the unions had not agreed to any cut.
Mr Ebanks attempted to allay the union’s fears by saying the pay cut was only a suggestion.
“While things are being considered, we are keeping them under wraps. We don’t have any answers before we discuss it. When something is mentioned, you don’t always have all the answers,” Mr Ebanks said.
He had announced, however, that the Government was considering a two per cent reduction in salaries for Public Servants as part of its continuing efforts to develop the 2009-10 Budget.
“Those Public Servants would receive, in exchange, four days paid leave to be taken by 30 June 2010,” his announcement said.
Mr Ebanks was unable to say how many people would be affected, but pegged the potential savings at approximately $2.5 million ($A2.85 million)
Mr Watler said he would be meeting his union colleagues to discuss the matter.
“I need to find out what is being proposed so I can be perfectly clear,” he said.
“I am not trying to cut anyone down. I want fairness all around in the Civil Service.
“Our members are good enough to see the country is in bad shape, and we are all helping, putting country before self,” Mr Watler said.
22 September, 2009
UNITED KINGDOM
Report finds PS hard to sack
A report prepared for the UK Government has revealed that poorly performing Public Servants were less likely to be sacked than their private sector equivalents.
According to the report, prepared for the Public Accounts Committee, penalties for failure were weaker in the PS than in other Government areas or private firms.
The report said Public Service manages had made progress in the way they dealt with their staff, but there was still a need for significant improvements.
It said things had improved since 2006 when the Cabinet Office introduced its first capability reviews of Departments, subjecting them to external assessment for the first time.
As a result, senior managers had become more visible and were providing more leadership.
However, subsequent reviews of certain Departments found staff confidence in senior management was "still too poor".
Senior officials in under-performing Departments seemed insulated from the sack, the Committee report suggested.
“We see no evidence that senior leaders in poorly-performing Departments are likely to lose their jobs in the way that has become established in Local Government," the report said.
The Committee also found that not enough attention was being paid to the role of front-line staff in helping Departments boost public services.
The report urged the Public Service to assess new staff by relying less on subjective judgements and more on comparing their performance against similar staff in other public sector organisations and private firms.
The Head of the Civil Service, Sir Gus O’Donnell said he was pleased the report had noted “a significant step forward in the improvement of the Civil Service.".
"The next round of capability reviews will take this further with an added focus on factors such as innovation and value for money,” Sir Gus said, “helping us to do more with less and ensuring that Britain emerges from the recession stronger."
22 September, 2009
UNITED KINGDOM
Unionists face ban on PS jobs
The British Civil Service is on the verge of banning members of the far right British National Party from being appointed to the PS.
Deputy General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Service Union, Hugh Lanning said the Head of the Civil Service, Sir Gus O'Donnell was reviewing the position.
Delegates at the annual conference of the peak trade union body, the Trades Union Congress, unanimously backed the call for urgent talks with the Government about extending the current ban on BNP members working in the police and prison services.
The Cabinet Office declined to respond directly to the claims, but pointed to the Civil Service Code that requires officials "to carry out their responsibilities in a way that is fair, just and equitable and reflects the Civil Service commitment to equality and diversity".
"This forms part of their terms and conditions of service,” the Cabinet Office spokesman said.
“The Civil Service also has a diversity strategy with a clear commitment to zero tolerance of discrimination on any grounds.”
Deputy General Secretary of the Public and Commercial Services Union, Janice Godrich told conference delegates that the BNP's message of hate and fear stood in stark contrast to the values of equality and access for all on which public services were based.
"It is not acceptable that you can be a fascist at weekends, yet work between Monday and Friday accessing confidential information of members of the public," she said.
Meanwhile the Government was accused of funding trade union activity inside the PS by paying salaries to Public Servants who did no work for the taxpayer.
The Times newspaper reported that 10 Departments employed 46 full-time and 87 part-time officials to work exclusively for the unions at taxpayers' expense, with their salaries costing between £150,000 ($A300,000) and £4.5 million ($A9 million) per Department. The three Public Service unions involved are the Public and Commercial Services Union, Prospect and the First Division Association.
The newspaper quoted a source as saying union officials would spend time working on "far-left political campaigns".
A spokeswoman for the Cabinet Office defended the practice saying hat since 1996 Departments and Agencies had been able to set their own levels of trade union facilities time but the information was not collected centrally.
22 September, 2009
And From the World in Brief...
SWITZERLAND
A call for tougher entry criteria to the Public Service has been made by Head of the Army, Lieutenant General Andre Blattmann.
Lt-General Blattmann said that since the abolition of the psychological evaluation – previously used to assess a candidate’s reasons for preferring public service over military service - the demand for the Public Service has soared. He said that as a consequence, the army was losing far too many people.
Apart from stricter criteria, Lt-General Blattmann also wants a ban on military candidates switching to the Public Service.
In Switzerland all males are subject to conscription, but can choose work in the Public Service over the military.
UNITED STATES
Ten branches of the New York Public Library are to expand their hours.
The branches will now be open an average of 52.5 hours a week, the most in more than three decades. In 1990, the average was 31.9 hours a week.
The extended schedules, which follow a pilot project in which hours were increased at five branches, will go into effect immediately at 10 libraries in the Bronx, Manhattan and Staten Island areas
UNITED KINGDOM
The Trades Union Congress, Britain’s peak body for the trade union movement, says there will be industrial action if threatened cuts to public services are implemented.
TUC officials warned the Government against panic measures to tackle high debt levels, saying moves to cut public spending would deepen the crisis.
Ministers have said they will protect current spending until the recession ends, but have warned of tough choices on spending once the recovery is underway.
IRELAND
A cross-border innovation management program had graduated 11 Public Servants from Northern Ireland and eight from the Republic of Ireland.
The graduates were presented with Msc (Innovation Management in the Public Service) certificates by Northern Ireland’s Minister for Finance, Sammy Wilson.
The program, which was set up in 2003, was designed in response to the challenges of providing better public services and focused on the needs of the citizen. It was jointly accredited by the University of Ulster and the Republic of Ireland’s Higher Education and Training Awards Council (HETAC).
Its main sponsors are the Department of Finance and Personnel at Stormont and the Office of An Taoiseach (Prime Minister) in Dublin.
TRINIDAD & TOBAGO
Talks between the Transport and Industrial Workers Union (TIWU) and the Public Service Transport Corporation (PTSC) in Trinidad and Tobago have reached a stalemate with industrial action now taking place.
Negotiations broke down when the Corporation brought a lawyer and its consultant, Larry Achong, into the meeting, the union said.
President of the TIWU, Roland Sutherland said the workers felt betrayed because earlier in the day management had promised they would present an interim agreement to the representatives.
Further meetings are likely.
UNITED STATES
The White House has announced a series of nominations for key positions in his administration:
Chai R. Feldblum has been nominated for Commissioner, Equal Employment Opportunity Commission; Carmen Lomellin for Permanent Representative to the Organization of American States, with the rank of Ambassador; Frederick Barton, for Representative to the Economic and Social Council of the United Nations, with the rank of Ambassador; Jide Zeitlin for Representative to the United Nations for UN Management and Reform, with the rank of Ambassador and Charles Collyns for Assistant Secretary for International Finance, Department of the Treasury.
The President also announced the appointment of seven board members of the Federal Service Impasses Panel.
15 September, 2009
UNITED KINGDOM
Defence defends PS attack
Revelations that the number of civilian Public Servants in the UK Ministry of Defence outnumber the personnel in the Royal Navy and Royal Air Force combined have sparked a debate over staffing imbalances in the critically important Department.
The statistic, produced by the Opposition Conservatives to attack the Government’s record on Defence manpower, followed condemnation by former Chief of Defence Staff, General Lord Guthrie of Craigiebank, over the differences between uniform and non-uniformed personnel.
Shadow Defence Secretary, Liam Fox said 16 per cent of the Public Service were in the MoD, and that the number of civilian officials (86,620), was about 12,000 more than the Royal Navy (34,830) and RAF (39,260) put together.
“It is time for the MoD to get its house in order,” Dr Fox said.
He said the focus on MoD civilian manpower at a time when the Army (99,920 strong) is stretched by the commitment to provide 9,000 troops for Afghanistan would be an issue between the Conservatives and the Government in the lead-up to the General Election next year.
The MoD rejected the implied criticism of its PS component saying it was wrong to suggest that Public Servants “just pushed pens”.
“The Armed Forces are supported on the front line by Civil Servants,” an official comment from the Ministry said. “These are not just men and women sitting behind desks.”
“We are talking about the thousands of scientists who design protective equipment such as body armour or research antidotes for troops under biological attack, not to mention the MoD police force or Britain’s Merchant Navy - the Royal Fleet Auxiliary.”
The Ministry said that wherever the civilian workforce could be reduced without putting troops at risk, steps had been taken.
“The civilian workforce has been reduced over the last four years, which has helped to streamline the Department and provide better value for money.”
15 September, 2009
GHANA
New Council to review Public Service
An eight-member Civil Service Council has been appointed in Ghana to examine the work processes of the country’s Public Service with a view to recommending reforms.
Minister of State at the Office of the President, Alhaji Seidu Amadu said it was time to critically examine the work processes and practices in the Public Service and to simplify them to enhance service delivery.
Mr Alhaji Amadu said the Council would, among other things, deliberate on overall Government policy relating to the management of the Public Service and suggest improvements or modifications as well as promoting policies aimed at ensuring that the cost of the Public Service was not excessive.
He said it would also promote the training of Public Servants by collaborating with institutions of higher learning.
Mr Alhaji Amadu reminded the new Council of the onerous tasks it faced, especially the challenges of inadequate staffing in terms of the right mix of skills and numbers, relatively low salaries and poor conditions of service, and insufficient budgetary allocation for the operations of the Public Service that had eroded confidence and performance.
He said the Government was looking to the Council to provide leadership and direction by pursuing the implementation of a robust performance management system that measured the performance of each Public Service organisation as well as individual managers.
The Council should also complete amendments to the Civil Service Law, Rules and Regulations and explore the use of information and communication technology in speeding the delivery of information and transactional services.
Mr Alhaji Amadu said the Council’s goal should be a transformed Public Service of the highest standards of integrity, hard work and selfless devotion to duty.
Council Chair, Robert Dodoo said the revitalisation of the Public Service was a key priority.
15 September, 2009
SOUTH AFRICA
Report finds Senior staff most corrupt
A report by the South African Public Service Commission has found that senior members of the Public Service were more likely to engage in fraud and corruption than junior staff.
It found that although senior managers constituted just 0.7 per cent of employees in the Public Service, a relatively high proportion of them, 2.5 per cent, were involved in financial misconduct.
Of the reported cases of fraud and corruption it was found that the State lost R21 million ($A3.20 million) in the 2007-08 financial year, down from the R130 million ($A20 million) it lost in 2006-07.
Although most of the cases of financial misconduct involved junior employees, this was explained because junior-level workers made up a large part of the Public Service, at 86.2 per cent.
Some 85.9 per cent of cases of financial misconduct, including fraud, corruption, theft, misappropriation and abuse of funds, involved junior officials.
But the Commission expressed concern at the high ratio of dishonest senior managers compared with the overall numbers of senior managers employed.
The Commission said it was concerned that there had been a significant increase in the number of senior officials involved in acts of wrongdoing, because these individuals were largely entrusted with the responsibility of guarding against corruption and fraud in Government.
"This is a worrying trend given that the Senior Management Service plays a critical role in the promotion and maintenance of sound financial management, and are the stewards of public resources," the Commission’s report said.
"This trend cannot be ignored and must be addressed."
15 September, 2009
UGANDA
New College to teach PS skills
The Ugandan Ministry of Public Service is to build a Civil Service College to train and educate all future PS staff in the efficient and professional delivery of public services.
Commissioner for Human Resource Development at the Ministry, Jane Kyarisiima said all Public Servants will have to go through the college before they are deployed.
Ms Kyarisiima said the decision to start the college was reached after it was discovered that Government employees lacked good attitudes, transparency and morals.
"The Civil Service college will train all Government employees in right Public Service values and in the reforms the Ministry has introduced," Ms Kyarisiima said.
She was responding to numerous complaints raised while launching consultations on the development of a policy paper on the transformation of the Public Service.
Local Government leaders cited poor attitudes, absence of accountability, lack of integrity, poor leadership as well as inadequate pay for workers as the key factors frustrating better service delivery.
Managing Consultant of Reev Consult International, Augustine Nuwagaba said if the Government continued to pretend that it was paying its workers well while paying them little, they would also keep on pretending that they were working.
Ms Kyarisiima admitted that though the Ministry had been introducing reforms, it had yet to impart the right values to Public Servants. She said the Ministry was currently looking for a consultant to assist in formulating a business plan for the college.
Minister for Public Service, Henry Mugamwa Kajura has appointed a taskforce to formulate a Policy Paper on the transformation of the Public Service.
The taskforce will be chaired by Deputy Head of Public Service and Secretary for Administration Reforms, Hilda Musubira, and consist of 24 members.
Mr Kajura said he had trust that the taskforce would help to address the Public Service challenges which have existed for the last 20 years in all sectors.
15 September, 2009
NEPAL
PM admits importance of PS
The Prime Minister of Nepal has marked the nation’s 54th Civil Service Day with a speech reminding Public Servants that their performance could decide on the success or failure of the Government.
Prime Minister, Madhav Kumar highlighted the importance of the Public Service, saying they needed to get rid of prevalent bad practices like corruption and procrastination that had marred service delivery in the past.
“There is a need for making the Civil Service more disciplined and service-oriented,” Mr Kumar said.
However, the Prime Minister criticised Public Servants who engaged in criticism of others instead of fulfilling their responsibilities.
“People can't feel the Civil Servants are there for the service of the nation or the people,” he said.
"We lack the dynamism and coordination to fulfil the needs of the hour."
The Prime Minister said the Ministry of Government Administration was soon to have its title changed to the Human Resources Ministry.
The Government has rewarded 20 Public Servants for their outstanding performance.
Five of them received the Best Civil Service Award that included a Certificate of Merit and a cash prize of R100,000 ($A1,489) and the remaining 15 have been awarded with a prize that includes a Certificate of Merit and a cash prize of R50,000 ($A745)
Recipients of the Best Civil Service Award were: Under Secretaries Ananda Raj Dhakal, Keshav Prasad Regmi and Nirmal Hari Adhikary; and Accounts Officers Bhagirath Shah and Surendra Kumar Bajracharya.
15 September, 2009
UNITED STATES
Washington wins from PS growth
A massive recruitment drive by the United States Federal Pubic Service could mean the Federal capital of Washington will be the first area in the US to emerge from the current economic downturn.
The hiring boom is expected to bring 120,000 people into Washington and could reduce the region's unemployment rate, now at 6.2 per cent and revive stagnant home sales. As Agencies expand to accommodate more workers, more office space will also be required.
The non-profit organisation Partnership for Public Service which helps find candidates for Federal jobs, has released a report that listed projected employment for hundreds of Agencies between now and 2012.
In total, the Government is expected to hire 600,000 new staff, including 19,071 nurses at the Department of Veterans Affairs, 9,800 Border Patrol Agents, 3,774 criminal investigators for the Labor Department, 6,282 contract representatives at the Treasury Department, and 3,500 claims assistants and examiners at the Social Security Administration.
The report, Where the Jobs Are, focuses on 273,000 "critical needs" positions that are necessary for the operation of the Agencies - 45,000 of which would be located in the Washington area.
President and Chief Executive of the Partnership, Max Stier said Federal spending represented 33 per cent of Washington’s economy and a surge in hiring was important for the economic foundation of the area.
Even before the report was published, some experts were projecting that employment in Washington would pick up next year, with net job losses becoming net job gains.
Senior fellow at the Center for Regional Analysis at George Mason University, John McClain said Washington was expected to suffer a net loss of 21,000 jobs by the end of the year.
“But in the next few years the region is expected to see net gains in jobs: 23,900 in 2010; 34,900 in 2011; 42,000 in 2012; 47,600 in 2013; and 53,300 in 2014,” Mr McClain said.
"Our metropolitan economy will be the first having positive job growth. We will recover before the rest of the country."
To what extent the hiring boom benefits the region depends on whether a substantial proportion of new jobs would be created and whether many of them would be filled by jobless people in the region.
Officials at some of the Agencies said they are recruiting in the region but were also looking nationally and internationally.
15 September, 2009
UNITED KINGDOM
Opposition prepares for PS shake-up
A change of Government in Britain could see the UK Public Service reshaped along the lines of the ‘West Wing’ model with an emphasis on service delivery rather than process.
According to media speculation, the Conservative Opposition was poised to take closer control of the workings of Government, including a major overhaul of the Public Service.
Under one plan, the entire Cabinet could be housed in one large open-plan office, with Secretaries of State from different Departments sitting side-by-side. Junior Ministers would be based in Departments throughout Westminster.
The Junior Ministers would have ‘goals-based' job titles, such as the Minister for Obesity Reduction, while Secretaries would be renamed Chief Executives, to give their roles a more operational focus. Many Whitehall Departments already have finance directors and chairmen, as well as boards of directors.
According to commentators, this would allow a Government led by current Opposition Leader David Cameron to keep its top team focused on delivery, and to reduce the risk of Departmental turf wars between different Ministers.
Whitehall experts have warned that Governments struggle to deliver because individual Departments operate independently and do not coordinate their work.
It represents an expansion of the so-called 'West Wing' model, named after the popular American television series, which has seen Mr Cameron group his key advisers around him in a suite of seven offices in a corner of the Parliamentary area in Westminster.
The Conservatives' transition into Government, should the party win the General Election scheduled for next year, is being organised by Francis Maude, head of the party's implementation team, and the team's director, Nicholas Boles.
If the Conservative Part wins power, it is likely to be one of the most detailed transitions ever. Part of Mr Maude's role has been to coordinate meetings between Departmental Secretaries and their opposite numbers in the shadow Cabinet under the Douglas Home Convention, which dates from the 1960s.
The meetings, which are intended to ensure a seamless handover if the established party loses power, started in January this year when the Cabinet Secretary and Head of the Civil Service, Sir Gus O’Donnell met Mr Cameron.
Since then, every Shadow Cabinet member has met with the Secretary of the Department he or she shadows, on average once every eight weeks.
According to a Public Service spokesperson, the meetings were going well.
“People were nervous that in effect there was an 18-month window [before the next General Election] in which a lot of dialogue would put pressure on the relationship,” the PS source said.
“There was a danger the Civil Service might not like what it was told, but that hasn't happened."
15 September, 2009
IRELAND
PS pay cuts to balance Budget
Public Service pay rates in Ireland have again been singled out for possible cutting as the Government grapples with its Budgetary difficulties.
Taoiseach (Prime Minister), Brian Cowen said that while the flexibility, redeployment and other productivity measures were being pursued with the trade unions to protect services, there needed to be a recognition that major savings were also required.
“The Government, as employer, must therefore look at all of the options that would minimise the impact on the Public Service and Public Service jobs of unavoidable spending reductions,” he said.
Mr Cowen said a new National Asset Management Bill had been signed off by Cabinet and would be published shortly.
In addition, the Chairman of the Government’s costs watchdog An Bord Snip, Colm McCarthy called for a review of pay levels in the Public Service, saying the review panel should be free to recommend pay cuts where necessary.
Mr McCarthy acknowledged that staff in the public sector had already seen their pay reduced by 7.5 per cent under the Government’s pensions levy and an examination of top level pay rates was currently under way
He said public officials were entitled to be paid similarly to people in the private sector, but that might involve pay reductions.
Commenting on the establishment of a new campaign by public sector unions to oppose the An Bord Snip recommendations on cuts, Mr McCarthy said the reality was that the country was bust.
“There is no shortage of compassion; there is a shortage of money,” he said.
“If people think we can fire ahead and keep borrowing money to maintain the current levels of public spending that the Government is committed to, then they are out of touch with reality."
However, Economic and Social Research Institute economist, John Fitzgerald strongly criticised the Government’s program as a disaster that was causing chaos in the public sector.
“People who know about it cannot speak about it because they are Public Servants,” Mr Fitzgerald said.
15 September, 2009
NORTHERN IRELAND
PS back pay bill bigger than thought
Estimates that the amount of back pay owed to Northern Ireland’s Public Servants would be around £100 million ($A200 million) could be well short of the final figure according to the Province’s Finance Minister, Sammy Wilson.
Mr Wilson did not rule out going back to United Kingdom Prime Minister, Gordon Brown to ask to borrow more money to pay the bill.
Around 9,000 current and former Public Servants, mostly female clerical staff, are entitled to payments under equality legislation because in the past their jobs were not afforded the same salary as equivalent posts within the Northern Ireland Public Service.
Some workers could be owed as much as £20,000 ($A40,000). Union representatives and officials from Mr Wilson's Department are locked in negotiations over the total bill.
Last year, Mr Brown agreed to give the Northern Ireland Executive an ability to borrow £100 million from Whitehall coffers to deal with the back pay issue and other pressing financial issues, without cutting into the main block grant Northern Ireland receives.
Mr Wilson said this amount may not be enough, but refused to give even a ballpark figure on the bill, saying it would be irresponsible to do that while talks with unions were continuing.
The Minister stressed that even if a deal was struck with the union, individuals still had the right to proceed to a tribunal.
He hoped, however, that that could be avoided and all affected staff would be satisfied with the settlement.
Committee member, David McNarry said the longer the issue dragged on the worse it would get in money terms.
15 September, 2009
MALAYSIA
Special cash assistance is to be given to 860,000 support staff in the Malaysian Public Service.
Prime Minister, Datuk Seri Najib Tun Razak said the RM500 ($A165) payment would be made in two parts - half before the Festival of Hari Raya and the remainder in December.
“The decision was made after taking into consideration the welfare of Public Servants in this category especially to ease their financial burden to prepare for the festive season and also for the new school term at the end of the year,” Datuk Seri Najib said in a statement.
He said the Government would spend RM430 million ($A142 million) as a result of the cash assistance.
MALDIVES
The Civil Service Commission has sacked 96 firemen and 136 other staff from the Home Ministry.
Permanent Secretary of the Home Ministry, Mariyam Waheedha said the firemen were sacked because providing basic fire and rescue services was not part of the Home Ministry’s mandate and because the firemen really didn’t have anything to do.
“They’ve been signing in at office every day and doing nothing else for almost two years now,” she said.
The Government recently decided to reduce the Public Service from 32,000 to 18,000.
FIJI
The Public Service Commission has corrected an estimate that the Fijian Public Service had 6,000 more staff on its payroll than it had positions.
It now says the discrepancy is about 3,800.
Permanent Secretary of the Commission, Parmesh Chand said the variance did not mean that taxpayers were paying "ghost" workers.
He explained the workers involved were not permanent Public Servants or Government wage earners but specialists recruited to complete projects.
"We have to work out a system where we can capture the number of workers who truly reflect the Public Service," Mr Chand said.
UNITED KINGDOM
A senior backbencher of the ruling Labour Party is calling for a £50,000 ($A100,000) a year cap on public sector pensions.
Chair of the House of Commons Work and Pensions Committee, Terry Rooney said with salaries for the best-paid executives in the Public Service and Local Government soaring in recent years to as much as £250,000 ($A500,000) a year, pension entitlements had risen in some cases to excessive levels.
His proposal could prove controversial, with unions representing senior Public Servants likely to resist any restriction.
UNITED STATES
More than 270,000 workers have to be hired for "mission-critical" jobs over the next three years, the increase prompted in part by the large number of baby-boomers reaching retirement age.
A government-wide survey said the numbers also reflect the intent of the Administration of President Barak Obama to take on several significant challenges, including the repair of the financial sector, fighting two wars, and addressing climate change.
8 September, 2009
UNITED STATES
Obama puts lid on PS pay rise
United States President, Barack Obama, has intervened in a pay case for Federal Public Servants, limiting the rise to two per cent when unions were negotiating for 3.4 per cent, the same rise approved for the military.
The move has angered employees and some politicianswho had pushed for pay parity between civilians and members of the military, but Mr Obama said pay parity could wait for easier times.
"A national emergency... has existed since September 11, 2001," President Obama wrote in a letter to Speaker of the House of Representatives, Nancy Pelosi.
"Likewise, with unemployment at 9.5 per cent in June to cite just one economic indicator, few would disagree that our country is facing serious economic conditions affecting the general welfare.”
Director of the Office of Management and Budget, Peter Orszag echoed the President’s sentiments in a letter to Majority Leader of the House, Steny Hoyer. However he said the Administration shared a commitment to a strong Public Service.
“The Administration is therefore committed in future years to the principle of pay parity between the annual pay increase for the Federal civilian workforce and members of the armed services," Mr Orszag wrote.
Congress could still override the President's plan.
President of the non-profit group Partnership for Public Service, Max Stier criticised President Obama for refusing to acknowledge that he simply does not want to raise Federal pay.
"We're operating under a fiction where every year, every President cites a national emergency to avoid a pay raise the law otherwise requires for the Federal workforce," Mr Stier said.
"That's not a way to run a railroad or a way to run a Government. For an Administration that wants transparency, this is not transparency."
Leaders of Federal PS unions - including the National Treasury Employees Union, American Federation of Government Employees, and International Federation of Professional and Technical Engineers - said they were disappointed that the Administration was abandoning pay parity as a principle and pledged to continue to fight for higher Public Service raises in Congress.
8 September, 2009
MALAYSIA
KPIs to measure PS performance
The Prime Minister of Malaysia has identified six major national policy areas under which key performance indicators (KPIs) will be used to judge the effectiveness of Ministers and their Public Service advisers.
The areas are crime, corruption, public transport, poverty, rural infrastructure and education.
The new instructions were announced by Public Service Director General, Tan Sri Ismail Adam who said KPIs of Secretaries General and Department heads would automatically be aligned to their respective Minister’s KPIs.
“For example, the reduction of street crime will be very much the KPI of the Inspector-General of Police and that of the Minister of Home Affairs,” Tan Sri Ismail said.
He said that KPIs by themselves were insufficient to assess performance. KPIs were yardsticks that identified areas of performance for the Minister and Department head.
“Only then can the public, Minister and Agency concerned know whether that Agency has lived up to its commitments or whether it has under-performed in a particular area of operations,” he said.
This feedback is especially useful for an Agency to determine where it had gone off-track and what it has to do to put its operations back on course.”
The Prime Minister [Tun Razak Najib Razak] had specified performance targets for each KPI of his Ministers.
“These targets are for the short-term - to be achieved by the year’s end; and for the medium-term - to be achieved over the next two to three years as, for example, the reduction of street crime by 20 per cent by the end of 2010,” Tan Sri Ismail said.
“Similarly, at the start of each year, the Public Service Department sets jointly with Department heads one minimum acceptable level of performance and two stretch targets for each of the mutually agreed KPIs.”
The annual assessment of Department heads at the end of the year would be done against those targets.
“Performance targets for top Public Servants and their Ministers should put service delivery on an accelerated track. However, for that to happen, setting KPIs and performance targets alone will not be enough,” Tan Sri Ismail said.
“As in any management initiative, leadership commitment to the achievement of its targets is vital. All efforts at improving Public Service delivery through bold performance targets will come to naught if leaders do not put in place a delivery plan and execute it to completion.”
8 September, 2009
INDIA
Court scraps PS selection list
A selection list for new Public Servants in India has been scrapped after a Court judged it was not compiled according to merit.
A Division Bench comprising Justice B K Sarma and Justice Ranjan Gogoi delivered the judgment against the list compiled by Assam Public Service Commission (APSC) which had been facing charges of nepotism.
The ruling requires the APSC to prepare a new list based on examination results.
Several hundred students and activists of the All Assam Students Union (AASU) laid siege to the APSC office, staged a dharna (protest fast) and demanded the sacking of all Commission members, including the chairperson.
Alleging that all members of the Commission were political appointees and involved in corruption, AASU members threatened to intensify their agitation if the State Government did not remove the Commissioners.
Spokesman for the AASU, Bipul Rabha said only those who paid lakhs (hundreds of thousands) of rupees were selected in the Assam Civil Service examination. Several brilliant students had been failed
“This speaks volumes about the corruption and irregularities in the Commission,” Mr’ Rabha said.
‘The image of the APSC has been tarnished and brilliant students in the State are losing faith in the integrity of the autonomous board, which is why immediate damage-control work needs to be done by constituting a new board.”
8 September, 2009
FIJI
2,000 forced out of PS
More than 2,000 Public Servants aged 55 and over have been forced to retire from the Fijian Public Service since April this year as the country moves towards a more efficient, economical and responsive public sector.
Permanent Secretary of the Public Service, Parmesh Chand said 241 retirees with scarce skills had initially been re-engaged but most would be gone by the end of the year. The Fiji Public Service Commission (PSC) was now conducting a performance audit in all Ministries and Departments.
Mr Chand said work was progressing on a voluntary retirement policy with a paper being drafted for Cabinet. The rationalisation of office accommodation was also an area that needed to be addressed.
He said some offices would be relocated with vacant Government properties like the Parliament complex, the FVB Building and the Carnarvon Buildings being taken over by Ministries and Departments.
Mr Chand said the modernisation of disciplinary processes was another objective of Public Service reforms to be conducted in tandem with a review of recruitment and promotion policies.
“In the meantime, PSC has stepped up on its role to train and up-skill civil servants,” Mr Chand said.
“The revision of the Public Service Exams Syllabus has been completed, and preliminary consultation works on the new Public Service Staff College is currently under way.
He said the PSC was also developing an integrated computerised human resources system, and submissions had been forwarded to the Department of Finance for acquiring the relevant budget to develop the system.
“With regards to the technicality of the exercise, work is progressing well,” he said.
8 September, 2009
CAYMAN ISLANDS
PS blamed for financial deficit
Claims that the size of the Cayman Islands Public Service was the main reason the nation had gone into the red have been vigorously denied by the local Public Service union.
First Vice President of the Civil Service Association, Christen Suckoo rejected repeated public criticism that Cayman’s 3,199 Public Servants were responsible for the Government’s $C81 million ($A119 million) operational deficit.
“We are well aware of the situation and we have always responded to the call and always contributed,” Mr Suckoo said.
“The notion that all Public Servants are lazy has simply got to stop.”
He said Public Servants worked for the people of the Cayman Islands and had already endured cuts and the changes.
He was responding to a speaker at a public meeting who demanded that the Public Service’s $C21 million ($A31 million) monthly salary bill be sharply cut as a way to address a series of budget shortfalls that have left Government struggling to meet ongoing obligations while unable to borrow funds.
“We are the lowest-lying fruit and have been sacrificed again and again,” Mr Suckoo said
Leader of Government Business, McKeeva Bush said he did want to cut Government roles.
“The ideal scenario as far as Public Servants are concerned is to minimise or completely avoid any cuts in jobs,” Mr Bush said.
“We have attempted to address that by making severe cuts in operational expenditures including the suspension of pension payments. We have already reached $C90 million ($A132 million) savings in this regard,” he said.
Mr Suckoo suggested achievement of further savings could be made by not renewing contracts for expatriate Public Servants - drawing audible dissent from the meeting - and offering early retirement to an estimated 20 per cent of Government employees nearing the 60-year age limit.
8 September, 2009
CZECH REPUBLIC
Election hopefuls target PS
All major parties in the Czech Republic’s coming elections are promising to cut or reform the Public Service in a raft of policies to combat waste, corruption and/or ‘extremism’.
The Civic Democratic Party (ODS) and the center-right TOP 09 promise to cut back the Public Service and introduce the rules for transparent public orders, whereby corruption will be lowered.
The leftist parties and the Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL) are proposing a law on lobbying, while the Czech Social Democrats (CSSD) and the Communists (KSCM) are proposing a law on conflict of interest.
In the field of foreign policy the left is calling for reforms of Czech foreign missions.
Only TOP 09 wants to preserve health fees which are a major issue in the election campaign. This is absolutely rejected by the left, while the ODS is evasive on the issue.
Major topics during the election campaign have included the regular indexation of pensions, additional pension insurance, pension saving schemes in funds and earlier retirement for those engaged in hard manual work.
There have been calls for alternative forms of pre-school education, increases in the number of day-care centres and child benefits with grandparents also to be eligible for maternity leave.
There have been general calls for increases in education funds, increases in teachers' salaries and saving schemes and loans for students with special payments for protracted studies
8 September, 2009
JAMAICA
Job fears pervade PS
Public Servants in Jamaica are reported to be suffering from anxiety over job security as the Government introduces austerity measures that include PS job cuts.
The Sunday Herald reported that contract workers would be at the forefront of any cuts as the Government considers a tight budget for 2010-11 under an International Monetary Fund stand-by loan arrangement.
The IMF has indicated that streamlining the Public Service is one of its main requirements in return for a borrowing program with Jamaica.
Unions representing Public Servants report that anxiety is running high over job security following statements by Prime Minister Bruce Golding that there may be staff cuts in the new fiscal year.
The Prime Minister has been adamant there would be no redundancies in this financial year, but was unable to extend that assurance beyond March 2010.
President of the National Workers Union (NWU), Vincent Morrison said that heads of Departments had been questioning contract workers about their tenure of service.
“The intentions are clear that jobs will be cut and those being questioned about length of service, duration of projects they are working on, show clear signs that these individuals are being contemplated for the chopping list,” Mr Morrison said.
He urged the Government to follow the general procedure of last in first out, meaning persons recently employed would be the first to go.
The Jamaica Civil Service Association (JCSA) is also receiving reports of panic and anxiety among its members, who are expressing insecurity about their future in the Government Service next year.
Vice President of the JCSA, Robert Chung reported that some members feel threatened that they would be prime targets for cuts by vindictive managers and heads of Departments if there was a retrenchment on the way
The JSCA was developing a position paper to submit to the Government about how it could respond to the current situation with minimal staff dislocation.
Mr Golding said he was impatient at the lack of appreciation by certain public groups, whose salaries had been significantly increased over the last two years.
He singled out the police and the teachers, contending that they have been unfair and unreasonable in clamouring for salary increases when both groups had benefited from significant top-ups in the almost two years that his Administration had been in office.
8 September, 2009
JAMAICA
Fast-track promotions follow new rules
New rules that terminate PS appointments in Nigeria after eight years have resulted in 160 middle-ranking Public Servants being promoted to senior levels.
Head of Civil Service of the Federation, Steve Orosanye said the forced retirement of the top Public Servants would propel some younger people whose careers had stagnated at the level of Deputy Directors and Assistant Directors into the highest levels of the administration.
Mr Orosanye said he expected the injection of new blood to reinvigorate the system and bring about fresh ideas necessary for the implementation of the Vision 20:2020 Agenda.
He said the retiring directors and Permanent Secretaries would be replaced by younger officers from same States. This is in line with the Federal character rule which is strictly adhered to in the appointment of Federal Permanent Secretaries.
According to the Nigerian Federal Charter, each State of the Federation must have one Permanent Secretary in the Federal Public Service. Permanent Secretaries hold office for four years, and can be appointed for a further four years subject to satisfactory performance. Directors in the Federal Public Service must also retire on completion of eight years in the post. This new policy will take effect next January.
In a statement from the Presidency and signed by the Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Olusegun Adeniyi, the new tenure system will arrest the succession crisis in the Service, create vacancies, reinvigorate the system and boost the morale of qualified and deserving officers which had reached a very low ebb in recent years.
“The measure is also expected to render the current situation where subordinate officers are retiring ahead of their superior officers, creating a grave succession crisis in the Service, the statement said.
Opponents of the reforms argue they amount to changing the rules in the middle of the game.
8 September, 2009
PHILIPPINES
EU investigates French TV
An investigation into the funding of public television in France has been launched by the European Commission following suggestions the process may not be consistent with EU rules on State-aid.
The Commission is concerned about aspects of the multi-annual funding program announced by the French Government in May for France Télévision, a network of publicly funded channels.
It said in a statement that the investigation would cover “the use made of taxes introduced by the reform [to financing] and possible over-compensation for Public Service costs up to 2011-12”.
It said that an in-depth investigation is “standard practice” in cases involving “major public intervention of this complexity”.
The French Parliament earlier this year adopted legislation to gradually eliminate advertising from public television, making it dependent on the State for financing. This change was incorporated into the multi-annual program, which foresees €2 billion ($A3.45 billion) of State support for France Télévision between 2010-12.
France Télévision includes the stations France 2, France 3, France 4, France 5, France Ô and RFO. It is France's largest broadcasting group.
The Commission said that despite launching the investigation, it had approved an immediate payment of €450 million ($A771 million) of State aid to France Télévision to support its activities in 2009.
INDIA
Rajasthan Government employees have been told they are required to stand up and greet any Parliamentarian who might visit their workplaces.
The official order says Government employees must show proper respect in the presence of any VIPs. A related order requires them to leave their offices and work stations to farewell Parliamentarians.
Critics of the ruling say it shows the Government of Chief Minister, Ashok Gehlot has a feudal mindset, but a Government spokesman said what the Public Servants were being asked to do was nothing new, just a part of Indian culture.
CHINA
A pay system based on performance is to be introduced into China’s Public Service.
The State Council (China’s equivalent of a Ministerial Cabinet), chaired by Premier, Wen Jiabao agreed that performance-based salary, a major part of the reform on income distribution systems in public sector organisations, would be of great significance in increasing staff initiative and improving Public Service efficiency levels.
The pay-for-merit system was first begun in primary and high schools on 1 January this year and is to expanded to the health care sector on 1 October and to all other public sector organisations on 1 January, 2010.
NIGERIA
The House of Representatives has reiterated its commitment to the passage of the Freedom of Information (FoI) Bill, saying it would engender good governance and strengthen democratic culture.
Spokesman of the House, Eseme Eyiboh, said the delay in the passage of the Bill was caused by the need to engage Members and relevant Committees of the House to address some of the concerns raised by former President, Olusegun Obasanjo who withheld assent after the passage of the Bill by the last Assembly.
Mr Eyiboh explained that more than 85 per cent of the lawmakers who passed the FoI Bill during the last Assembly did not return and the new lawmakers needed time to study the proposed law and make necessary inputs.
PHILIPPINES
The Philippine Government is to provide training to Somalia’s Public Service workers and Coast Guards to boost the anti-piracy campaign in that country.
Announcing the measure, President Gloria Arroyo said she had reached agreement with Somali President Sharif Ahmed.
She said her concern sprang from the fact that many Filipino seafarers worked on ships that passed through the area and had been held hostage by Somali pirates. Some 200 Filipinos are currently in captivity.
UNITED STATES
More than 270,000 Public Servants are to be added to the Federal payroll over the next three years.
A report by the Partnership for Public Service said Federal hiring will be concentrated in the medical and public health, security and protection, compliance and enforcement, legal and program management areas.
The medical and public health requirements are expected to lead the way with 54,114 new jobs followed by security and protection with 52,077 vacancies.
1 September, 2009
UNITED STATES
Council warns on Swine Flu
A Presidential Advisory Council on science and technology in the United States has estimated that Swine Flu could infect half the US population, hospitalise 1.8 million and lead to 90,000 deaths during the main flu season in the northern winter.
Although most of the cases would probably be mild, up to 300,000 people could require intensive care.
Co-chair of the Council, Harold Varmus said this would stress every aspect of the health system.
The scenario is based on previous pandemics and how Swine Flu has behaved in the United States over the past few months.
Marc Lipsitch, from the Harvard School of Public Health, who helped prepare the estimate, said the figures were not a prediction but a possibility.
“The estimates are based on various assumptions, including that the virus will not mutate into a more dangerous form or infect more older people,” Professor Lipsitch said.
"If it turned out to affect a lot more adults, the severity would be a lot worse."
While seasonal flu is associated with 30,000 to 40,000 deaths and 200,000 hospitalisations each year, the lack of immunity to the Swine Flu virus probably will lead to many more people becoming infected, and sick, the Council said.
Professor Lipsitch stressed that the outbreak could turn out to be milder, too with the primary purpose of the estimates being to help guide planning to protect the public.
For example, it was estimated that the outbreak could peak in mid-October, so the Council urged expediting the availability of a vaccine.
In addition, the Council recommended clarifying how antiviral drugs should be used to fight the pandemic, speeding a decision about whether to approve intravenous antivirals in case they are needed, designating someone at the White House to coordinate the nation's response to the virus, and improving the system for tracking the spread of the new virus.
Secretary of Health and Human Services, Kathleen Sebelius said the severity of the virus would not be known until the middle of the flu season.
Overall, the Council praised the Federal Government's response, which has included signing contracts to spend nearly $2 billion to buy at least 159 million doses of vaccine from five companies that are rushing to produce it.
1 September, 2009
SOUTH AFRICA
New rules for more ethical PS
New rules governing the conduct of Public Servants are being introduced by South Africa’s Western Cape Provincial Government with a view to introducing them nationally.
The ruling Democratic Alliance (DA) party said in a statement that the amendments were important to ensure a functional legal and ethical climate in the Public Service.
“We believe the implementation of these amendments will prevent continued corruption becoming business as usual and ensure that corrupt Public Servants are held to account,” the statement said.
It said the amendments included a bar on Public Servants who were facing disciplinary action from being re-employed or "transferred" within the Public Service and thereby avoiding the disciplinary action.
They would also stop certain categories of public officials from carrying out private remunerative work, especially where there was a potential for a conflict of interest. The regulations would also ensure Public Servants were not entitled to receive gifts from outside parties as part of their official duties under any circumstances.
According to the DA statement, the new regulations would also stop tender abuse, ensure the proper enforcement of a list of defaulters, and Public Servants with poor credit records would no longer be able to use the Treasury as a personal bank to obtain car loans.
It said the new rules would prevent the abuse of special leave for sporting events which was currently unlimited.
In addition, Public Servants would be unable to work as councillors and automatic payouts to them on resignation would be outlawed.
1 September, 2009
FIJI
Bid to boost PS efficiency
The Fijian Public Service Commission (PSC) has launched a wide-ranging review of PS procedures, qualifications, entitlements and general orders in a bid to increase efficiency.
Permanent Secretary, Parmesh Chand said the minimum qualifications and grades for posts and promotions were being reviewed.
Mr Chand said the launching of an e-scholarship and enabling scholarship applications to be made online, was part of the many reforms being carried out.
He said the public could already access Government information online at the Government Information Centre located at the old Fiji Visitors Bureau office in Suva.
The Commission is also reviewing staff entitlements, particularly housing, with the Government planning to get rid of its properties in Suva because they are too expensive to maintain.
In a further attempt to reduce costs, moves are also in the pipeline to cluster offices.
This will mean Ministries will be located in one place and not in several places across the city as is the case at the moment.
For example, the Education Ministry currently has offices on Selbourne Street, Gorrie Street and in Marela House.
Mr Chand said Ministries with similar functions would also be housed together.
The Permanent Secretary is widely viewed as the public face of the Fiji Government, often announcing decisions on behalf of the Prime Minister, Frank Bainimarama and answering critics of Government actions, both inside and outside Fiji.
1 September, 2009
NIGERIA
Senior staff to go on contacts
Senior managers in the Nigerian Public Service are to be appointed on eight-year contracts under sweeping changes to the country’s PS tenure system.
The new contracts will replace those that rewarded age and length of service and are expected to spark widespread resignations.
Head of the Nigerian Civil Service, Stephen Oronsaye said the move was designed to address stagnation in the Service whereby competent officers stay for many years in junior posts because there are no vacancies.
But unhappy Permanent Secretaries said the new system was not supported by Public Service rules, which state officers would mandatorily retire only when they reach 60 years of age or have completed 35 years in the Service.
The Permanent Secretaries took their protest to the Secretary to the Government of the Federation, Mahmud Yayale Ahmed, who promised to take up the matter with President Umaru Yar'adua.
Nine serving Federal Permanent Secretaries - all from the north of the country - and more than 100 directorate cadre officers have already been asked to begin retirement preparations under the new arrangement.
A senior Government official who did not wish to be named said the move was a cruel and illegal way of removing top Public Servants and an attempt to decimate the highest level of northerners.
Presidential Spokesman, Olusegun Adeniyi denied that the new system was targeted at the North. He said it was primarily meant to institute due process in the appointment of Directors and Permanent Secretaries, arrest the succession crisis in the Service, create vacancies, reinvigorate the system and boost the morale of qualified and deserving officers.
"While no one has faulted the exercise, there is now a whispering campaign that it is targeted against the North simply because the Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Mr Steve Oronsaye, is from Edo State [in the South],” Mr Adeniyi said.
Under the new ruling, Permanent Secretaries will hold office for a term of four years, renewable for a further term of four years, subject to satisfactory performance, and no longer.
Directors will compulsorily retire at the end of the eight years.
1 September, 2009
THAILAND
PS medical scheme to be overhauled
A medical benefits scheme for Public Servants in Thailand is to be overhauled in the face of mounting costs and suspected abuses.
Deputy Prime Minister, Korbsak Sabhavasu said many Public Servants and their families had been seeking reimbursement for unnecessary medical expenses.
“Some Public Servants have even sought refunds for non-medical service bills, like spa treatment,” Mr Korbsak said.
He said under a new system, Public Servants would be required to contribute to a proposed medical savings account which would pay up to 20 per cent of their expenses.
Mr Korbsak said the national medical welfare budget for Public Servants had skyrocketed from 30 billion baht ($A1 billion) a year to 80 billion baht ($A2.8 billion) a year in the past four years.
He said Public Servants were entitled to free medical care provided by the Government and any other medical expenses they incurred were also reimbursed by the Comptroller-General's Department under the Finance Ministry.
Mr Korbsak has proposed that the medical welfare scheme change from a "free-for-all" system providing coverage for Public Servants and their families to one whereby Public Servants would have to contribute between 10 per cent and 20 per cent of their bills.
He expected this would help to cut unnecessary medical claims and reimbursements.
"There are two million Public Servants and with their families this swells to four to five million," Mr Korbsak said.
"A skin care clinic recently reported that 400 of its 500 customers who came in for a skin rejuvenation injection worth 10,000 baht ($A355) were Public Servants.”
1 September, 2009
JAPAN
Job placement agency to go
A job placement agency set up to find positions for retired Public Servants in Japan is to be abolished under the newly-elected Government.
The Agency was earmarked for the chop by the victorious Opposition during the election campaign.
The move would put an end to amakudari, the practice of giving officials jobs at organisations or companies operating in areas they supervised before retirement.
Officials from the Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) said they would submit a Bill to an extraordinary Diet [Parliament] session in the northern autumn to revise the National Public Service Law to implement the plan.
A watchdog panel that oversees services provided by the job placement body and looks into cases of possible conflicts of interest would also be abolished, the sources said.
The job placement body, officially known as the Centre for Personnel Interchanges Between the Government and Private Entities, was set up last December in the Cabinet Office to provide Public Servants with jobs after they retired. It followed an earlier ban on job placements by individual Government Ministries and Agencies.
Amakudari literally means "descent from heaven" and the DPJ maintained the job placement body gave an unfair advantage to Public Servants.
DPJ President, Yukio Hatoyama said Public Servants should go to Hello Work - public offices that help job seekers find jobs - just like members of the general public.
The DPJ has also opposed personnel appointments for the watchdog panel in the Diet, effectively preventing the panel from starting its work.
During the election campaign it advocated banning the involvement of any Ministry or Agency in the provision of post-retirement jobs for Public Servants, abolishing the practice of urging bureaucrats to take early retirement and extending the mandatory retirement age from 60 to 65 over time.
These plans are seen as difficult to implement swiftly however, given the extent of work required to put them into practice, including a need to alter the seniority-based pay system to cope with an expected increase in personnel costs.
1 September, 2009
NORTHERN IRELAND
Still no date for back pay
The Minister for Finance in the Northern Ireland Assembly has been urged to pay up to £100 million ($A200 million) in back pay to the province’s Public Servants.
Owed to Catholic and female workers and dating back 40 years, the Assembly gave the Government three months to make the payments, a deadline which has now passed.
Declan O'Loan of the Social Democratic and Labour Party, said he had written to the Minister, Sammy Wilson asking for a likely end date for the dispute but was told none was yet in sight.
“I accept the Minister's opinion that the process must be robust but there is still no sign of a firm offer,” Mr O'Loan said.
Last year the then Minister for Finance, Peter Robinson said low-paid Public Servants could receive £100 million in back-pay.
Mr Robinson said he was planning to deal with inequality in pay which hit thousands of workers.
But in a letter to Mr O'Loan, Mr Wilson said a series of issues had yet to be resolved.
“It is difficult, if not impossible, to lay down a timescale within which a final resolution can be achieved,” Mr Wilson said.
“I agree that the financial implications of a resolution to this matter will have to be faced but it is my responsibility to ensure that this is done in a manner that is compatible with our legal obligations, fully informed by the facts, but also in a manner that minimises any impact on public services.”
Mr O'Loan welcomed the Minister’s assurances but called for a resolution without delay.
“Nonetheless, I am disappointed that the three-month target set by the Assembly will not be met,” he said.
1 September, 2009
JAMAICA
Union doubts assurance on jobs
An assurance by the Jamaican Government that Public Service jobs would not be lost when the International Monetary Fund (IMF) comes to town has been dismissed by a public sector union.
President of the National Workers Union, Vincent Morrison said he was treating these assurances with a pinch of salt.
“The Government cannot provide a bankable guarantee when it comes to maintaining public sector jobs," Mr Morrison said.
"In fact, the fiscal account is in such a mess that the Government may not even be able to make salary payments far down the road."
He also attacked the Government for what he said was its attempt to further beat down PAYE wage earners who were already experiencing severe hardship, noting that IMF loans were not granted to build roads, but to facilitate balance of payments.
"An important factor in maintaining a stable economy in this recession is to halt the rate of job losses,” he said.
“So far, there is no expanding private sector where public sector employees can find jobs.”
Mr Morrison said if the Government was serious about managing costs it would have to look at the size of the public sector.
Meanwhile, State Minister in the Ministry of Finance, Senator Arthur Williams, told members of the Jamaica Police Federation that the Government was sticking with its decision to maintain a public sector wage freeze.
Senator Williams said the country could not afford to increase the wages of public sector workers and asked that they be sympathetic to the situation now facing the country.
Senator Williams said the Government would pay improved benefit rates for all public sector groups in September.
However, he said it would not be able to pay arrears in this financial year. Instead it would make every effort to settle outstanding payments in the first quarter of the new financial year.
1 September, 2009
PHILIPPINES
Public Service month launched
September is Civil Service Month in the Philippines with this year’s theme highlighting patriotism and sacrifice.
The title for the month is Honouring our Heroes in Republic Service and a statement from the Civil Service Commission says the best way for Public Servants to honour the best and the brightest among them was to emulate their example.
“Responsiveness is the primary duty of Public Servants,” the Commission said.
“They must address immediately and adequately their constituents’ needs and be vigilant in defence of the Republic against terrorism.
“A Public Servant should be ethical in the highest order of principle and imbue our life with deepest integrity to retain public trust and support.”
The Commission’s statement said the Public Service existed to serve the general citizenry.
“The interest and welfare of the people shall always be at hand,” the Commission said.
“The public must come before its servants.”
“We in the Government force are here only to serve with courtesy, competence, honesty and promptness. As servants, we must always deliver the services expected from us.”
The Commission urged Public Servants to have the vision to build a better Philippines, guided by the nation's body of laws and rules, various national, regional and sectoral development plans and the policies and edicts of elected leaders that determines the impact on the lives and future of the people and the land.
A media campaign during the month will recognise hundreds of Public Servants honoured under the various programs of the Commission.
1 September, 2009
FIJI
There are still some 6,000 Public Servants unaccounted for after a head count of the Service taken earlier this year.
The Public Service Commission (PSC) is trying to determine the reasons for the discrepancy as well as the exact number of ‘ghost’ Public Servants.
PSC Permanent Secretary, Parmesh Chand confirmed some irregularities but could not confirm the exact number unaccounted for.
The missing Public Servants are spread around various Ministries. A PSC source said the Commission did not know whether they remained on the State payroll.
ISRAEL
Proposed restrictions on entry to the Foreign Service would be likely to bar most Israeli Arabs.
Ultra-Nationalist Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman wants applicants for the Foreign Ministry's diplomatic training program to have served in the army or performed the equivalent time in the Public Service.
The move would effectively bar most Israeli Arabs, along with ultra-Orthodox Jews, as they do not perform Israel's mandatory military service and few are Public Servants.
Mr Lieberman wants to change the current Israeli law that guarantees all citizens equal access to Public Service branches.
MALAYSIA
Public Servants who take part in street demonstrations are to be disciplined, the Public Service chief has ruled.
Director General of the PS, Tan Sri Ismail Adam said Public Servants should always pledge their loyalty to the Head of State and the Government of the day and not to be taken in by any illegal movement out to create public disorder.
"You are not allowed to use the office printer, photocopier or computers to produce leaflets on any such demonstration,” Tan Sri Ismail said.
“Also, you can't leave your workplace during working hours even if your intentions are to just see the demonstration."
ISLE OF MAN
A Public Service union’s proposal for a pay award has been met with counter proposals from the Civil Service Commission.
The Commission's proposals are No compulsory job losses for the period up to 31 March 2010; pay and allowances to remain unaltered for the same period and restrictions on access to the sick pay scheme to be removed.
A statement from the Commission said its offer was a better reflection of the prevailing economic climate and could be self-funding through adjustments to benefits or existing terms and conditions of service.
Discussions between the Commission and the union, the Government Officers’ Association, would continue.
BAHRAIN
Protests by hundreds of jobless teachers and school counsellors are being reinforced with the threat of legal action.
The protesters plan to continue holding their weekly demonstrations until they are given jobs.
They are demanding the implementation of a Civil Service Bureau decision in 2007 to recruit more trained graduates at the ministry.
A spokesman said they may now take legal action because the Ministry had done nothing to implement a Government directive that they be found jobs.