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SearchArchives for February 2011
22 February, 2011UNITED KINGDOM PS pensions to be cut by a third Up to five million serving and former Public Servants in the UK are facing cuts of up to a third to their pensions following a revision of indexation arrangements. The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has issued a revised ‘impact assessment’ which states that members of private schemes will also lose more retirement benefit than had initially been believed. The document says the average public sector worker will see annual pension accrual fall from £7,250 ($A11,600) to £4,750 ($A7,600) per year. Until April, public sector pensions are linked to the Retail Prices Index; from April they will be tied to the Consumer Prices Index, which the DWP estimates is on average 0.83 per cent lower each year. The impact assessment makes clear that the actual outcome for any individual worker in the public or private sector will depend heavily on circumstance – those who have retired, or who are close to retirement, will feel the pain less than those who are halfway through their careers. The DWP said it was withdrawing an earlier impact assessment and replacing it with the new one because of technical errors. The development is likely to complicate talks between public sector unions and Ministers who have mandated an average three per cent increase in pension contributions by 2014-15. These additional payments are aimed at raising a further £2.8 billion ($A4.5 billion) in revenue to fill the gap in unfunded super liabilities. Ministers are asking unions to consider the extent to which lower-paid workers should be exempted from higher contributions, meaning that higher-paid workers will have to increase contribution rates significantly. Unions are baulking at the talks because a new Commission on Public Sector pensions is expected to recommend additional cuts in the rate at which workers accrue retirement benefits. The unions say they want to see the proposals before any changes in contribution rates are made. 22 February, 2011 SINGAPORE Whistleblower policy proposed Singapore’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has called on the island’s Public Service management to develop a formal whistleblower policy to be adopted across all PS Ministries and Boards. The recommendation came in the PAC’s report to Parliament and follows an alleged $S12 million ($A9.3 million) scam at the Singapore Land Authority and two other public sector bodies. The PAC said whistle-blowing policies could help to flag fraud from within and noted the Minister for Finance, Tharman Shanmugaratnam’s comment last November that whistle-blowing has a role to play in this regard. Corporate governance expert, Mak Yuen Teen said introducing whistle-blowing policies was a step in the right direction, but much work was required before staff would come forward. The Ministry of Finance (MOF) and the Public Service Division are now studying statutory board governance issues and will be developing a set of guidelines and best practices. Other PAC recommendations included increasing the audit frequency of Statutory Boards from once every five-to-seven years, to at least once in five years; and having the Ministry of Information, Communications and the Arts serve as the central Agency for IT security in the public sector. In the case of nursing homes that had used Government payouts to patients without their consent, the PAC recommended that MOF and other relevant Agencies obtain a letter of undertaking from patients or their legal representatives before monies are used. 22 February, 2011 CHINA Recruitment overhaul announced Recruitment into the Chinese Public Service is to be restricted to staff with at least two years work experience under reforms to the Public Service examination system, announced last week. The reform will take effect from 2012. Deputy Head of the State Administration of Civil Service (SACS), Yang Shiqiu said Governments would improve the system to reserve vacancies for college graduates with experience as village officials, as well as workers and farmers. The highly competitive annual National Public Servant Examination, offered in December last year in major cities across China, attracted 1.03 million candidates for 16,000 vacancies. This means only one out of 64 candidates could be accepted. In an extreme case, 4,961 people contended for a single position offered by the National Energy Administration. Mr Yang said the reasons for this phenomenon were complex. He said applicants might be driven by the attractive post, face fewer restrictions in recruiting conditions, or make decisions out of “a certain blindness”. “One post may attract thousands of applicants, while others may end up with less or even no candidates,” Mr Yang said. As China’s employment situation became increasingly grim, the Public Service was an increasingly attractive choice for job seekers. Candidates who did well in the first round of written tests will still face more examinations, including specialised tests and interviews organised by different Government Departments through to the end of March. 22 February, 2011 THE NETHERLANDS Economy drive to cost 15,000 jobs An economy drive in the Dutch Public Service could see up to 15,000 PS jobs go. Minister for the Interior, Piet Hein Donner said Government bodies dealing with unemployment benefits and job reintegration would be merged and Government data storage centralised. The Benefit Office, the Education Sector Re-employment Bureau and the Social Insurance Bank, all semi-independent Government bodies, would be merged in order to increase efficiency. Mr Donner said implementation of the plan should be complete by 2015. The Minister’s plan for a ‘compact Public Service’ also sees mergers of Government inspectorates currently residing under the Ministries of Social Affairs and Infrastructure. The measures were also likely to affect the Tax Office. As a side-effect, the mergers are expected to lead to a reduction in the number of Government data centres from the current 60-plus to four or five. In a related development, Public Servants are ready to take industrial action over a two per cent pay claim. The unions have given Mr Donner an ultimatum to come up with an offer. The Minister wants to freeze Public Service pay for two years. Unions are planning a mass demonstration in support of the pay claim and against Government cuts. A key demand is that no Public Servants will lose their jobs against their will. 22 February, 2011 UNITED KINGDOM PS redundancies due to surge Public Service redundancies in the UK are expected to surge in the months ahead as Departments and Agencies finalise their staff cutback programs. A survey by the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development CIPD) has found that 52 per cent of employers in the public sector are planning to cut jobs, a majority in the first three months of this year. Overall, the number of organisations signalling an intention to offer redundancies has risen to its highest level since the survey began in 2004. The report’s author, Gerwyn Davies, said the first three months of 2011 were always going to be a quarter of reckoning for the jobs market, and last year’s modest recovery would be turned into a modest relapse. “While private sector jobs generation is encouraging, it’s more important than ever that the Government continues its growth efforts in the private sector so as to offset the jobs gloom in the public sector,” Mr Davies said. The report also found that 77 per cent of Local Government employers and 36 per cent of National Health Service employers would make redundancies in the same period. KPMG executive, Malcolm Edge said the figures showed that there continued to be a marked divide in the UK jobs market, with the public sector still fearing the worst while the private sector showed signs of better health. “Manufacturing and services are engines of the national economy,” Mr Edge said, “so it is encouraging to see positive growth there and with this resurgence in the manufacturing sector, one hopes that the trend will continue. “However, the private sector recovery is not yet fully established and therefore remains susceptible to shocks.” 22 February, 2011 ZIMBABWE Consultancy report rejected Zimbabwe’s Public Service Commission (PSC) has rejected a consultants’ report critical of PS management and staffing as “incomplete” and “unsubstantiated”. The PSC also said the Public Service Ministry had received only one volume of the substantial report and two other volumes had been published without its knowledge. It said the report ignored Cabinet’s terms of reference and limited itself to checking non-compliance to regulations in relation to police clearance, medical clearance, appointment forms and appointment letters. The audit report alleged 75,273 Public Servants were “ghost workers” against 112,746 it found to be genuine. Critics of the audit said the attempt to create a huge “ghost” workforce was designed to make State workers think they were being poorly paid because of corruption within the Public Service system. “The statistical misrepresentation of facts on the ground is a clear sign of Western machinations on Zimbabwe,” the PSC said in a statement. The row over the audit came as Minister of Finance, Tendai Biti said almost 70 per cent of Zimbabwe’s monthly revenue was going towards a ballooning Public Service salaries bill, an amount he said was unsustainable. “The monthly wage bill of $US$117.6 million (about the same in Australian dollars) leaves very little room for other Government operational requirements as well as projects,” Mr Biti said. “It means certain areas will have to suffer.” 22 February, 2011 UNITED STATES Americans back their Post Office A national survey of the United States public has found a majority against selling the ailing US Postal Service to private interests. The survey by Rasmussen Reports found that 31 per cent of adults thought the Government should consider selling the money-losing Postal Service to a private company but 50 per cent disagreed and 19 per cent were undecided. The Postal Service is seeking Congress’ permission to drop Saturday mail delivery as a way to cut costs, and 52 per cent would accept that with 34 per cent against. According to the survey, most Americans continue to give the Postal Service high marks with 64 per cent rating it as good or excellent and just 11 per cent saying it was doing a poor job. Interestingly, younger adults feel as strongly about the continuing need for the Postal Service as older adults do, but only one per cent said they used the mail the most to communicate with friends and family. However, 52 per cent still use it to pay their bills. Asked if private companies should be able to compete with the Postal Service by offering mail delivery, 52 per cent said yes but 36 per cent believed the mail service would be worse if run by a private company. Federal law now prohibits private companies from competing with the Postal Service for mail delivery. Nearly half of American adults say postage stamps cost too much. But if they were charged a small amount for each email they sent, 37 per cent said they would stop sending e-mails altogether. 22 February, 2011 BOTSWANA Strike looms over PS pay stand-off Public Servants in Botswana are planning a nationwide strike in support of a salary increase. Their claims have been rejected by the Government. The Public Servants’ union, BOFEPUSO, said workers were unanimous that they would down tools if the Government refused to budge. Minister of Finance, Kenneth Matambo announced in his Budget speech that there will be no salary rise for Public Servants. The union’s demand is for a 16 per cent rise. Secretary General of BOFEPUSU, Andrew Motsamai said it was clear that the Government was not prepared for talks. Statistics indicated that inflation had risen to 27.6 per cent, in which case the union’s claim was reasonable. “It is our strong view that the Government is negotiating in bad faith, and this we cannot tolerate,” Mr Motsamai said. “We have thus called all our members, and have their mandate to embark on industrial action. “Should the Government continue to come to talks empty handed we shall be heading to the Commissioner of Labour to declare a dispute of interest in which if we do not agree at arbitration and mediation we shall go for a strike.” he said. BOFEPUSO is made up of five public sector unions - Botswana Public Employees’ Union, Botswana Teachers’ Union, Botswana Land Boards and Local Authorities Union, Botswana Secondary School Teachers’ Union and the Manual Workers’ Union. It has an aggregated membership of 98,000, or 93 percent of the total Public Service workforce. 22 February, 2011 ZAMBIA PS called on to change culture The Public Servants of Zambia have been challenged to change their mindset and work culture. Permanent Secretary of the Management Development Division (MDD), Medson Lisati said cultural reform was crucial and should involve Public Servants, regardless of their positions, when dealing with public issues. He said the MDD was advocating a program called Institutional Assessment and Organisation Development (IAOD), a new approach aimed at improving the quality of Public Service delivery. IAOD is currently being conducted as a one-year pilot project in the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Labour and Social Security and the Ministry of Energy and Water Development. Mr Lisati said cultural reforms were about a fundamental shift in the way Public Servants think about themselves, how they go about their work and their commitment to national development as a whole. The service they rendered to the nation made a difference to its social and economic health as well as to the individuals who use the services. He said the Ministry of Education was the source of order in any nation as it was responsible of educating the people who later become leaders and responsible citizens. Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, Andrew Phiri said the exercise was the cornerstone of the re-engineering and repositioning of the Ministry and would help identify the bottlenecks and challenges. It was everyone’s wish that the Ministry gets to a position where it would provide equitable quality education for all. 22 February, 2011 IVORY COAST Rival presidents in the political crisis in the Ivory Coast have each given Public Servants varying days off for the celebration of the Eid el Maouloud President Alassane Ouattara declared Wednesday for rest, while the embattled Laurent Gbagbo declared Tuesday as a public holiday. A delighted Public Servant, Ally Coulibaly, said that finally the crisis had played to the advantage of Government workers. “We hope that conflicting signals like this continue to favour us,’’ Mr Coulibaly said. SCOTLAND Audit Scotland has reported that the backlog for repairs to Scotland’s roads now stands at £2.25 billion ($A3.6 billion). It has found the roads to be in an unacceptably poor condition and getting worse. It called on the Scottish Government to consider a national review of how the road network is managed and maintained. CHINA A Public Servant who was suspended on full pay for more than eight years has returned to his job Jiang Jinxiang explained that his long absence was down to the fact he was suspended after raising concerns about a local construction project. Rather than investigate his concerns over the project the authorities moved him to a different Department without telling him. Despite his continued absence he was still paid every month. PERU A Bill that will prohibit severance payments for Public Servants who leave a position due to a promotion, is expected to pass through the Peruvian Congress. The Bill aims to prevent cases like that of Fernando Barrios, former President of Essalud, the State-run health care system, who charged it close to 198,000 soles (around $A71,000) in severance pay benefits when he left last year to become a Cabinet Minister. In addition, Mr Barrios’ then Head of Administration at Essalud, Edelmira Barrantes, who followed him to the Interior Ministry as the Deputy Minister of Institutional Management, received 64,856 soles ($A23,300) for “arbitrary dismissal,” and another 80,000 soles ($A29,000) for labor rights. UNITED STATES (KENTUCKY) A Bill to end guaranteed pensions for new State and Local Government employees in Kentucky has passed its first hurdle in the State Legislature, but is unlikely to go further. Supporters of the Bill, designed to address the public pension funds’ growing liability, say that taxpayers in the private sector, struggling with lay-offs, stagnant wages and benefits cuts, should not be expected to support generous public pensions. The Republican-controlled Senate voted 24-13, along party lines, to send the Bill to the Democratic-led House, where its future appears grim. 15 February, 2011 NEW ZEALAND “Bloated” PS to be overhauled The Public Service in New Zealand is in for another shake-up. In a statement to Parliament, Prime Minister, John Key said the Government was going to spend less and borrow less. Mr Key said the Government’s Savings Working Group had identified increased efficiency in the State sector as a quick initial fix in a Public Service that was, by international standards, “bloated and inefficient”. He said the Government had reduced the Public Service workforce by five per cent in two years and there was more to be done to make “Government bureaucracy smaller and better”. The Government had asked officials for advice on “further reforms to streamline and improve” the Public Service’s performance. Mr Key said that would include further mergers of Departments along the lines of last year’s amalgamation of the National Library and Archives NZ into the Department of Internal Affairs. Officials are reportedly working on a merger of the Ministry of Agriculture and Forestry with the Ministry of Fisheries. Mr Key said the Government had already set specific performance targets in the health sector. This year would also bring a “special focus” on improving the results of public services for vulnerable children. National Secretary of the Public Service Association, Richard Wagstaff dismissed Mr Key’s criticism of the State sector, saying it actually stacked up well internationally. “Public Servants accept the requirement to increase efficiency, but to beat up on the Public Service because they’ve made tax cuts for the rich and need to find that money by cutting public services to everyone is really what this Government’s trying to do,” Mr Wagstaff said. 15 February, 2011 GREECE PS pay cuts at the top Greece’s highest paid Public Servants are to have their salaries cut by 30 per cent as the Government continues its search for savings. At the same time, the lowest paid PS staff can expect pay rises ranging from 10 to 15 percent. Reports of the planned changes emerged following a meeting between Interior Minister Yiannis Ragousis and officials representing Greece’s international creditors who were in Athens to inspect the Government’s progress in pushing through reforms. Mr Ragousis would not confirm or deny the reports but, in an interview, said the new salary scale for Public Servants would be simple, updated and fair. He said under the new regime, employees working in the same post and with the same qualifications would always receive the same salary. Mr Ragousis also confirmed the Government’s plans to recruit one Public Servant for every five that left the service, defusing speculation that the ratio had been shifted to one hiring for every seven departures. The Minister said that this rule would apply to all areas of the Public Service, including health, education and social security. He said 53,335 Public Servants had left the sector last year. According to the new rule, 10,600 new staff would be hired this year, including 2,700 who were to be transferred from the debt-ridden Hellenic Railways Organisation to other parts of the Public Service. Mr Ragousis said his meeting with representatives of the European Commission, European Central Bank and the International Monetary Fund - known collectively as the troika – had gone well. “There were no observations or criticism,” Mr Ragousis said. 15 February, 2011 IRELAND Job cuts to cost a billion The Irish Government might have to borrow up to €1 billion ($A1.35 billion) to fund a plan to lay off 10 per cent of the Public Service. Leader of the Fine Gael Party Opposition, Enda Kenny said this could be the cost of severance payments. However, the voluntary redundancy scheme was a once-off cost and would be off-set by up to €10 billion ($A13.45 billion) in savings over five years. While the outgoing Fianna Fail-led Government was committed to 12,000 redundancies in the Public Service, the Opposition Fine Gael has gone further and called for an additional 18,000 voluntary redundancies. That brings Fine Gael’s total to 30,000 through normal retirements and voluntary redundancies in back-office services. Spokesman for Fianna Fail, Sean Fleming claimed it was a forced confession from Mr Kenny which exposed the party’s campaign of election gimmicks. Mr Fleming said that when Mr Kenny was previously asked about the costs involved, he said he had no idea about the figures involved. Mr Kenny had initially said he was reluctant to give an absolute figure on the costs. He then went on to concede the ballpark figure would put the bill as high as €1 billion in redundancy payments. When asked how Fine Gael would cover the costs of the redundancy scheme, Mr Kenny said: “That money’s got to be borrowed.” He promised frontline services would be protected however if Fine Gael was elected to Government. He said it would target 4,500 Public Servants every year for the next four years to meet it voluntary redundancy targets. 15 February, 2011 NEW ZEALAND Minister wants war on waffle The New Zealand Minister for Finance, Bill English, has declared war on ‘waffle’ and suggested PS staff unwilling to do more with less look for jobs elsewhere. Mr English criticised policy Agencies across the health, education, social welfare and justice systems for continually restating problems rather than proposing new ways of fixing them. “Generally in social policy, we want results rather than advocacy,” Mr English said. “Right across the social sector there’s been too much waffle, Government Departments going over the problems, not being solution-focused.” He said the Government would soon release a benchmarking study that had been conducted across the public sector, which would give guidance on Government Agencies that performed well and where they needed to lift their game. “As Departments work through their four-year plans, which they’re doing now, they are realising squeezing isn’t going to be enough” he said. “The most obvious example is how Air New Zealand changed their service model, cut costs 40 per cent and gave better service.” He said for PS staff with a strong belief in public service and can deal with change, the next few years would be exciting. “If they’re not interested in better service and are waiting for more money to drop out of the sky, they might be better to go somewhere else.” Mr English declined to speculate on which Government Agencies might face amalgamation, reduced budgets, or disestablishment, but pointed to the inability of the Tax and Social Welfare Departments’ computer systems to give the people they served modern levels of service that are increasingly being expected. 15 February, 2011 SCOTLAND Super contributions up An audit report into public sector superannuation in Scotland has recommended increased employee contributions and a cap for future increases. The report, The Cost of Public Sector Pensions in Scotland, by Audit Scotland, also highlights inconsistencies in the contributions made by employees across the six main public sector schemes, saying there was no clear reason for the variations. It comes ahead of next month’s final report by the Independent Public Services Pensions Commission, chaired by former Secretary of Work and Pensions, Lord Hutton, which is expected to recommend a three per cent increase in the amount PS employees pay into their pension funds. An ageing population and a soaring public sector has resulted in the total amount paid out in pensions rising in the United Kingdom by 30 per cent in real terms over the past five years. The cost is mainly shouldered by employers, with public bodies currently paying in about £2.2 billion ($A3.5 billion) a year compared to £810 million ($A1.3 billion) by employees. Scotland’s six major public pension schemes analysed by Audit Scotland cover around one million people, both current pensioners and those yet to retire. Councils should now decide on the extent and pace of reform to ensure the scheme stays sustainable The report recommends that the Scottish Government and Councils should have a clear policy on whether to set a cap on the level of future employers’ contributions as a percentage of pay. In the past, employers’ contributions increased automatically while employees’ contributions remained static unless specific changes were made. 15 February, 2011 CYPRUS Move against PS pension rort The Government of Cyprus is planning a crackdown on the Public Service practice of promoting staff shortly before retirement so they receive a higher pension. All people employed in the public sector receive two pension payouts on retirement: one from Social Security, to which they contribute 3.45 per cent of their gross income, compared to the 6.8 per cent paid by employees in the private sector; and a one-off tax-free bonus, which is calculated according to their last (highest) salary. The latter payout is also known as the ‘Government pension’. The crackdown decision came after a newspaper reported that a technical inspector at the Geological Survey Department was promoted on 15 December 2010 and retired less than a month later, on 3 January 2011. The newspaper found that the technical inspector in question had been away from work on pre-retirement leave due to health reasons for a considerable period of time before her retirement. A similar story involved two Public Servants, again from the Geological Survey Department. They were both promoted on 30 July, 2009, only to retire on 1 August of the same year. Another major issue to emerge has been the payment of multiple pensions to retired PS staff. In December the Government backed out of a legislative proposal aimed at rationalising pension payouts for State employees – though it stopped short of outright abolishing multiple pensions. Treasury Department data shows that 820 people received three pensions in 2009 – two from the State for Public Service positions held and one for old age. 15 February, 2011 BOTSWANA No money for PS pay rise - Minister Hopes of a pay rise for Public Servants in Botswana have been dashed with the Minister of Finance declaring that the cost of the running the PS was already over budget. The Minister, Kenneth Matambo, said the new Public Service Act, which came into effect on 1 May 2010, had resulted in the Directorate of Public Service Management (DPSM) becoming the single employer for Government. He said this meant, among other things, adjusting working days for permanent and pensionable employees and recognising various other classes of workers, such as shift workers and people working weekends. Under the new Act, the mandate of the National Employment, Manpower and Incomes Council (NEMIC), which advised Government on the remuneration of the Public Service, ceased. “Consequently NEMIC did not meet to consider any salary adjustment for the Public Sector for the 2011-12 financial year, as has been customary,” Mr Matambo said. The Minister said that in order to finance the shortfall in the current financial year, recruitment into the Public Service had been temporarily frozen. He said a bargaining process, which was required to balance the ability of the employer to pay against the aspirations of the PS staff for a rise, had started. “We hope that all the negotiating partners will take into account the difficult budgetary conditions in arriving at a negotiated outcome,” he said. However, public sector unions say they will continue to push for their original claim of a 16 per cent salary increase. 15 February, 2011 UGANDA President unhappy with PS The President of Uganda, Yoweri Museveni has announced an overhaul of the national Public Service to improve service delivery. Mr Museveni said reforms would be similar to those enacted for the Army. He said the ruling National Resistance Movement Party had a mandate to reform the Public Service, having been disappointed by claims that the newly-installed boreholes in Wakiso District had broken down due to their poor quality. District leaders claimed that the water pumps had become faulty but the President wondered who procured the equipment that had led to the breakdown. President Museveni warned Government officials who procured substandard items that they had to change or face the sack. Residents in the area were faced with water scarcity and a number of roads needed to be repaired. The President said he could not understand how an area in the vicinity of Kampala like Wakiso would fail to get piped water when the Government spent more than SH700 million ($A300,000) each year for water there. He asked the Chief Administrative Officer of Wakiso, Joseph Mukwaya, to explain why the water pumping system that had been procured with the Government’s money was already non-functional. “If me, a 60-year-old man, can still run around and perform all my duties, why is a system that is barely one year old already dysfunctional?” he asked. “Who procured the system?” Mr Mukwaya said the system was procured by another officer before he was appointed. 15 February, 2011 GHANA Call for permanent reform The Ghanaian Government has been called on to strengthen the Public Service by improving its leadership, increasing investment, providing better working conditions and giving it better facilities and technology. A former Presidential candidate, Papa Kwesi Nduom, said the reform work should not be seen as a temporary measure and a permanent Ministry of Public Service should be created to work on continuous reform and improve public sector institutions by investing in them. “When something goes wrong, we must investigate and where wrongdoing is ascertained, act firmly to punish those responsible and follow up with preventive measures,” Dr Nduom said. “Ghanaians are not more corrupt than Americans, the British or Koreans. “They (the others) tend to have stronger institutions that work constantly to prevent corruption with more motivated personnel, better systems and modern technology. “They are quick to act to remove ‘rot’ when discovered. Not much will be achieved without reforming our institutions.” He said it was unfortunate that in 2009 President John Evans Atta Mills scrapped the Ministry of Public Sector Reform and downgraded the reform effort. As a result, public sector reform had become a voluntary task without the force of single purpose leadership required to solve the many problems facing the country. Dr Nduom said he had met thousands of Public Servants and could attest to the fact that most were loyal workers. “They want to do the right thing,” he said. “They are conscientious about their work, many of them. “This includes those in the Civil Service, Judiciary, Police and CEPS,” Dr Nduom said. 15 February, 2011 UNITED KINGDOM Messages posted on the social networking site Twitter by a Public Servant have no claim to privacy, the Press Complaints Commission has decided. The staffer from the Department for Transport who lodged a complaint against newspapers that re-published her Twitter messages has had it rejected. She had told her 700 followers that the leader of a training course she attended was “mental”. The comments were republished by the Daily Mail and the Independent on Sunday. The Commission said any message could easily be re-tweeted and that republication of material by national newspapers did not constitute a privacy intrusion. PHILIPPINES President Benigno Aquino III has been asked to intervene and approve the appointment of seven Civil Aviation Authority officials. The newly-appointed head of the Authority, Ramon Gutierrez, said the Civil Service Commission had rejected the appointments which had been made by the fromer Secretary of Transport and Communications, Jose de Jesus. Mr Gutierrez said Mr De Jesus did not have the authority to appoint people to the Aviation Authority. IRAQ Iraqis have taken to the streets in three Provinces to demand better public services from the Government. The protests, involving several thousand people, took place in Baghdad, Anbar and Basra Provinces. Demonstrators demanded the Government eliminate unemployment and improve electricity and water services. A number of employees from the Ministry of Electricity demonstrated to demand the payment of salaries. NIGERIA Salaries for all Federal Public Servants will be paid by the 20th of every month now that Nigeria’s Integrated Payroll and Personal Information System (IPPS) is operating at full capacity. The Government says it has saved about N12 billion ($A1 million) with the implementation of the system. IPPS was developed at the Bureau of Public Service Reform for the purpose of centralised payment of all Public Servants employed by the Federal Government. UNITED KINGDOM Public Servants in the Department of Health believe they are not involved in decisions about their work and are losing confidence in their senior managers. As a result morale has plummeted, a staff survey has found. About 38 per cent would recommend the Department of Health as a ‘great place to work’, down 12 points on the last survey. When asked to comment on the statement: ‘I have the opportunity to contribute my views before decisions are made that affect me’, 29 per cent showed a positive association, compared to 40 per cent in a previous survey. 8 February, 2011 GREECE More hours, less pay for PS Public Servants in Greece should work longer hours and must make themselves more available to the public according to the Minister for the Interior, Yiannis Ragousis. Mr Ragousis said weekly hours are to be raised to 40, up from 37.5 hours and work timetables changed so the public can access more services in the afternoon. Speaking after a meeting with the public sector union, ADEDY, he said the measures were intended to provide the best service for citizens, and that would come from an increase in the public sector’s productivity. He said the move to increase the working week for the PS was not one of the conditions of an $A150 billion bailout from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund last year. ADEDY said it had rejected Mr Ragoussis’s proposals. “The Government is preparing a new attack against the public sector and the public services,” ADEDY said in a statement. Private sector workers have long complained that PS offices are filled with idle employees protected by the constitution against dismissal. Private companies cite bureaucracy and corruption as a hurdle to growth. Public sector staff have seen their salaries reduced by about 15 per cent since the debt crisis broke out in 2009 with private employees also suffering, losing jobs or facing more competition as a result of labour market reforms. The main public and private labour unions, representing about 2.5 million workers or half the country’s workforce, are to stage a joint 24-hour anti-austerity strike on 23 February. 8 February, 2011 GERMANY Ban on burqa spreading The German State of Lower Saxony is looking to ban the Islamic full-face veil for Public Servants, saying that it had no place in Government offices. An announcement was made by the State’s conservative Christian Democratic Minister for the Interior, Uwe Schünemann, in a newspaper interview. The move follows a decision by the neighbouring State of Hesse to prohibit the wearing of the veil in the PS, the first of Germany’s 16 States to enact such a regulation. The burqa debate in Hesse, home to the financial centre of Frankfurt, was reportedly sparked by a 39-year-old woman who had previously worn a headscarf to work and then insisted she would only wear a burqa to carry out her duties. The City Council of Frankfurt prevented her from doing this. Minister for Social Affairs in Lower Saxony, Aygul Ozkan, herself of Turkish origin, said she backed a burqa ban in her State. “A burqa in a public office oversteps the principle of tolerance,” Ms Ozkan said. “The citizen must have the right to see the face of the administration.” The burqa has been a subject of controversy in Europe and around the world with French Muslim schoolchildren banned from wearing it since 2004. In Britain a poll found 67 per cent in favour of banning it in all public places and Australian Liberal Senator, Cory Bernardi called for the burqa to be banned, branding it “un-Australian”. 8 February, 2011 NIGER Ghost workers found on PS payroll About 2,000 ‘ghost workers’ have been found among the more than 34,000-strong Niger Public Service. Head of the Service, Alhaji Ibrahim Matane said an ongoing verification of staff in the PS had discovered e-payment irregularities involving 4,700 workers. A total of 2,300 names had been discovered to have been repeated several times with variations on the salary payments allocated to the names. “As a responsible Government, we will do everything to protect the interest of Public Servants and as such we have seen that the issue of repeated names represents 2,300 extra names,” Mr Matane said. “We asked top Government officials to produce their staff strength for verification and when the submissions were made, we compared the names of what was submitted on the staff list against what we have on our payroll and that is how we were able to come up with 4,700 names.” He maintained however, that most of the names were genuine workers who were not captured accurately due to transfer and other reasons. “All those concerned must submit themselves for investigation,” Mr Matane said. “Until they do so they will be identified as non-existent in the State Civil Service.” He said the Government was currently contending with a monthly wage bill of N1.4 billion ($A2.9 million) for the Public Service and ‘ghost workers must be “fished out”. 8 February, 2011 UNITED KINGDOM PS morale takes a dive Analysis of an official staff survey in the UK Public Service has found that morale among Public Servants has fallen as a result of the Government Spending Review. The analysis, by the Institute of Government, was based on a poll of 325,000 workers and found morale down in 16 of 17 major Departments Led by former Cabinet Minister Lord Adonis, the Institute said a “clear vision” was needed to reverse the slump, but the Government said it was committed to supporting its staff. The Institute said its first Public Service-wide staff survey was carried out in 2009 and the second conducted at around the time of last October’s Spending Review, which outlined the Government’s spending cut plans. The analysis found that all major Departments, except the Ministry of Justice and Department for Transport, reported falls in “employee engagement”. Departments facing large-scale upheavals - including Health and Education - had seen the biggest declines in positivity among staff. The Department for Communities and Local Government experienced the biggest fall in the proportion of staff agreeing that “my Department as a whole is managed well”. The highest employee engagement rating was at the Department for International Development, which has had its funding ring-fenced. Director of Research at the Institute for Government, Julian McCrae said the Public Service was facing an unprecedented challenge in overseeing an ambitious agenda for reform at the same time as facing major cutbacks in spending. “Most Departments are also having to reduce their own administrative costs by a third,” Mr McCrae said. “Falls in staff engagement levels are not unusual as organisations start tackling challenges on this scale. “The important thing is for Departments to have a clear vision and effective leadership, so any falls are rapidly turned around,” A spokesman for the Cabinet Office said the Government was committed to supporting the PS in focusing on the challenges of delivering high-quality advice and helping create world-class public services. 8 February, 2011 SCOTLAND Complaints chief complains at transfer The Police Complaints Commissioner has criticised a proposal to transfer his role to a general complaints body. The Commissioner, John McNeill said transferring police complaints to the Scottish Public Services Ombudsman (SPSO) could damage public confidence. Professor McNeill, who was appointed Commissioner in August 2009, made the comments as part of consultation into the move proposed by the Secretary of Justice, Kenny MacAskill. “The police enjoy very significant powers to intervene in our lives,” Professor McNeill said. “The public’s consent and trust in them hinges on the robustness of the oversight applied to their actions.” “Any perceived scaling back of that oversight would be a regressive step that could erode trust and undermine public confidence in the police.” He said doing away with the dedicated police complaints oversight body and moving its functions to a general complaints oversight body would go against the powerful trend in police oversight elsewhere in Europe and many other progressive jurisdictions. Professor McNeill also criticised the timing of the proposal, ahead of a planned consultation on fire and police reform, due to start this month. “As matters stand, the cost of any transfer and in particular whether it is likely to place a greater or lesser burden on the taxpayer remains wholly unclear,” he said. A spokesman for the Scottish Government said the future of police complaints handling in Scotland was being considered as part of work taking place across Government to ensure that external scrutiny of public services is efficient and effective. 8 February, 2011 UNITED STATES Federal workers vie for medals Nominations for the 2011 Service to America Medals have closed, the Partnership for Public Service (PPS) has announced. PPS President, Max Stier said the men and women who did the nation’s work were too often overlooked and underappreciated and the Service to America Medals sent a powerful message to the American people about the importance of their Federal workers and the vast impact they had on everyone’s. Mr Stier said nine medals, including the Federal Employee of the Year Medal, would be awarded to outstanding Federal employees. A new award this year was the Management Excellence Medal category to be awarded to a top employee for demonstrating superior leadership/management through a significant contribution to the nation. He said winners would be selected based on three main criteria: impact of their work on meeting the needs of the nation, on-the-job innovation, and commitment to public service. Other medal categories include Homeland Security, Career Achievement, Call to Service, Citizen Services, National Security and International Affairs, Justice and Law Enforcement, and Science and Environment. All career civilian Federal employees are eligible, and anyone may submit a nomination. The awards are accompanied by cash prizes. Previous medal winners range from an employee of the Internal Revenue Service who was responsible for the eFile system that produces tax refunds for millions in as few as 10 days, to two scientists with the National Institutes of Health whose discoveries led to new cervical cancer vaccines. 8 February, 2011 ISLE OF MAN Cuts to PS workforce explained A total of 384 public sector positions on the Isle of Man have been abolished in the past two years according to the Chief Minister, Tony Brown. Speaking in the House of Keys (Parliament), Mr Brown said 285 posts had either been abolished or not refilled since 1 April 2010. He said this was in addition to a decrease of 99 posts during 2009/2010. “In relation to teachers I can confirm that 25 positions were abolished, no positions were recruited internally, 39 positions were recruited externally, with two new positions being created,” Mr Brown said. “Fifteen of the 25 positions abolished were limited term and natural discharge contracts which had come to an end.” With respect to nursing, he said no jobs had been abolished since 1 April but 38 positions had been recruited internally and 31 externally. “The number of Civil Service positions shown as created since 1 April 2010 totalled 30,” Mr Brown said. “Of those 30 positions, 19 of them represent existing positions transferred into the Civil Service from separate employing authorities. “This includes 16 positions in respect of the Companies Registry and individual posts in the Department of Environment, Food and Agriculture, Health and Home Affairs.” He said it was not correct to assume that bureaucratic positions were being given priority over those for nurses and teachers. “I can confirm that it is not Government policy to reduce employment opportunities in the nursing and teaching professions or, for that matter, in any other areas of public sector employment, in favour of creating permanent positions in the Civil Service.” 8 February, 2011 CANADA PS pension payouts plunder surplus There has been a dramatic increase in the Province of New Brunswick’s public-sector pension plans over the past decade, soaring to $321.4 million and almost doubling the Province deficit. An Auditor-General’s report has found that pension funds for teachers, judges and the Public Service went from a credit of $51.1 million in 2001 to a $321-million deficit on the Province’s bottom line in 2010. Auditor-General, Kim MacPherson said that the employer’s share of pension benefits earned had increased at an annualised rate of 4.3 per cent. Because public-sector workers had defined-benefit pension plans, which were usually indexed for inflation and guaranteed a set payout for life, any losses to the retirement funds were made up out of taxes. Minister for Finance, Blaine Higgs said the increasing cost of public-sector pensions was a factor in the deficit. He said many private-sector companies had abandoned the defined-benefit pension model in favour of the defined-contribution model, in which the employer’s annual contribution was specified but the employees’ benefits were not guaranteed. Ms MacPherson said in her report that the significant increase in the Province’s pension expense was largely due to volatile returns on the retirement funds. “The Province has incurred two straight years of volatile pension fund investment returns on its two largest plans,” she said, noting that the rate of return swung from negative 18.34 per cent in 2009 to a positive 19.94 per cent in 2010. She said despite average returns from the New Brunswick Investment Management Corporation over a 13-year period of 6.22 per cent, the Province continued to use an assumed rate of return of 7.12 per cent. She said a one percentage point change in the assumed rate of return for a pension fund worth more than $7 billion would have a significant impact on the Province’s bottom line. 8 February, 2011 IRELAND New card for all services A new “Public Services Card” has been issued to eligible citizens in Ireland, to use whenever they access public services. Three million cards will begin to be issued in the coming months to people over 16 who have a need to access public services. Minister for Social Protection, Eamon Ó Cuív said the Public Services Card would ensure that people could access services across a number of channels, including online, via telephone or in person at a public office, while preserving their privacy to the maximum extent possible. “The Public Services Card will replace cards currently in use, such as the Social Services Card and the Free Travel card, with highly-secure cards,” Mr Ó Cuív said. “It will include security features such as laser engraving personalisation, (similar to that used in the Irish passport), a contact chip, a signature, photograph and an expiry date.” He said issue of the Card would involve a registration process and include a photograph and signature. Facilities for the production and issue of the Public Services Card were now in place and undergoing final testing. The first test cards were produced on schedule in December. “Features such as photographs and signatures and electronic card authentication are expected to minimise the rate of fraud and error arising from incorrectly identified and authenticated individuals,” Mr Ó Cuív said. “A further benefit of the Public Services Card will be the efficiencies that can be achieved by all Agencies and customers using the card. “The time spent on establishing identity and authentication will be reduced on both sides, leading to significant potential savings nationally,” he said. 8 February, 2011 PHILIPPINES Closed Circuit Television Cameras have been installed to counter cheating in Public Service examinations. Civil Service Commission employees administering the computer-assisted tests will also be on the alert for fake students paid to take the examinations for others. A Government worker caught cheating will be dismissed from the service and will forfeit their retirement benefits; an offender from the private sector will be banned for life from taking any Public Service examination. UNITED KINGDOM The public sector’s GMB Union says that more than 150,000 Council jobs are under threat, with job cuts in the public sector and a lack of opportunities in the private sphere creating a dire situation for Local Government workers. About 18,240 jobs are in jeopardy in Yorkshire and the Humber, while Councils in the north-west of England are looking at cutting 29,125 jobs. The union believes job losses are going to hit frontline service and badly impact on the public. THE NETHERLANDS Industrial action is likely after talks on a new pay deal between the Government and Public Servants ended in deadlock. Minister for Home Affairs, Piet Hein Donner wants to freeze Public Service pay while the unions are seeking a two per cent increase. Public Service unions also want job guarantees from the Minister, who is preparing to slash the size of the Public Service as part of Government efforts to save €18 billion ($A24.5 billion). UNITED KINGDOM A new report has suggested services such as police, health clinics, fire brigades and job centres should move in with Local Councils to save money. The report said Local Authorities could save £7 billion ($A11.25 billion) a year by rationalising their property portfolios, selling off offices and town halls and sharing buildings. It said the biggest savings could be made “when all public services are provided from the same location”, though it acknowledged that this could meet resistance from some bodies. ETHIOPIA A salary rise for Public Servants, ranging between 35 and 39 per cent, has been announced by the Ministry of Civil Service. The increase is taking into account the rising cost of living and Government’s capacity to pay. The Government will spend an additional 4.76 billion birr ($A300 million) annually on the increased salaries on top of the total Public Service salary bill of 15.7 billion birr ($A950 million). 1 February, 2011 IRELAND Junior staff to do bosses’ jobs Lower-ranking Public Servants in Ireland have been ordered to take on their former managers’ duties following resignations of senior managers and a recruiting ban. An updated reform plan has been revealed which says Departments and Agencies must immediately reassign the workloads to staff at “the lowest appropriate level”. The plan says there must be a “more effective” use of staffing resources. The reassignment of duties comes after the cutting of a number of management grade positions over the past three years. Further reductions are planned in the period to 2014. The action plan, revised to reflect targets set in the Budget and the financial bail-out deal with the International Monetary Fund and the European Union, says Public Service numbers are due to fall to 34,600 by 2014. It is expected to be opposed by the officials most likely to be hit with a greater burden of work. The plan is aimed primarily at staff of the Departments of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food, Communications, Energy and Natural Resources, Environment, Heritage and Local Government. Staff in the Departments of Social Protection, Health and Children, Education and Skills, the Office of Public Works and the Property Registration Authority are also expected to be given new responsibilities. A source at the Department of Finance confirmed the outline of the plan. “People at lower grades will have to take on extra responsibility and duties formerly done by their bosses and there will be no ‘acting up’ allowances because this is about savings, not extra cost,” the source said. The plan also reaffirms a previous commitment to review ‘outdated’ absence practices, including controversial ‘privilege days’, and the Public Service policy on office closures. 1 February, 2011 KENYA Workers reject payroll plan Public Servants in Kenya have rejected a plan for a private company to administer the PS payroll. Secretary General of the Union of Kenyan Civil Servants, Tom Odege said there was no reason why the Government should replace the payroll program introduced a few years ago. He said the Integrated Payroll and Personnel Data program was professionally run by Public Servants. In adopting the other system, the Government would be trusting outsiders more than its own staff. “The future confidentiality of payroll information, currently restricted to the level of financial institution with which employees have dealings, is now in jeopardy,” Mr Odege said. Under the new scheme the company, Payment Solutions, would not allow Public Servants to commit more than two thirds of their basic salaries to loans and other forms of borrowing. The move would affect 246,400 teachers and Teachers Service Commission employees as well as 214,000 Public Servants and uniformed staff. Mr Odege also questioned the payment that would be made to the private company to take over the payroll task. He claimed the company would levy a 2.5 per cent charge for managing Public Servants’ salaries. Last July, the Government said its staff were not repaying Sh10 million ($A100,000) in monthly commitments because their pay slips could not support them. Kenya’s Director of Payment Solutions, Patrick Mackenzie declined to comment on the scheme. 1 February, 2011 CYPRUS New rights for temporary staff Temporary staff serving for more than 30 months in the Public Service of Cyprus will be eligible to be transferred to other Agencies under new laws being considered by Parliament. After discussions that lasted over 18 months, the House of Representatives Finance Committee and the Public Administration and Personnel Department (PAPD) have agreed on the final draft of the new laws. The Bills will be examined by Legal Services before being submitted to Parliament. Provided there is no disagreement, the Bills are expected to be passed into law. Temporary workers of indefinite service who complete 30 months at the same Department will now be offered an interchangeable status, meaning that the PAPD will have the authority to transfer them from their current Department or service to another with more needs. Another Bill to come before the Parliament will stop a Ministry from filling all its vacancies with temporary workers. Chairman of the Finance Committee, Nicolas Papadopoulos said a temporary worker would be employed only where there were needs of a temporary nature. He said temporary workers would be employed on a six-month basis and if they or their Department desired to have their service extended, their request would go through the Cabinet and the individual would have to re-join the temporary workers’ register. “In this way, we will theoretically avert the danger of these workers completing over 30 months of service, thus receiving indefinite service status,” Mr Papadopoulos said. 1 February, 2011 NIGERIA Pension scam nets Director Crime fighters in Nigeria have uncovered N800 million ($A5.3 million) in the bank account of a former Public Servant which they say was allegedly siphoned off from the nation’s pension scheme. The investigation followed reports that billions of naira meant for the nation’s pension scheme had been acquired by Public Servants. The scam is likely to have involved ‘ghost pensioners’, false contracts, bogus allowances to non-existent administration staff and other payments. At one stage it is believed the pension scheme may have been leaking at the rate of N600 ($A3.9 million) a month. The female Public Servant involved was a former Deputy Director in the Ministry of Transport and investigators allege the money was the proceeds from pension funds she once managed in the Office of the Head of Civil Service of the Federation, (OHCSF), before she was transferred. A source close to the investigation said the suspect allegedly kept the siphoned money in a bank in both naira and American dollars. The suspect is alleged to have used several accounts and a front company called Pam Investments Ltd of which she was the sole signatory. Head of the Media and Publicity unit of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Femi Babafemi confirmed the arrest of the Public Servant. Mr Babafemi said the arrest was in line with the request by the Head of Service that the EFCC should continue with the investigation. Asked if there were others being investigated in the Pension Scheme fraud, the source said other Public Servants who live above their means were already on the watch-list of the EFCC and would be questioned. 1 February, 2011 UNITED KINGDOM PS IT network to span London A dedicated public sector computer network is to be set up to connect all schools, and potentially PS offices, in London. The network, to be run by Virgin Media Business, will be designed so that it can be offered to any public sector authority in the capital, including hospitals, police forces and Councils. The move will give the institutions access to a network with more bandwidth and increased scalability, and the ability to exploit economies of scale when purchasing software and services. Chief Executive of LGfl, Brian Durrant said that using a public sector network provided a significant financial advantage in the cost of purchasing the network access from Virgin Media Business and in buying IT services. “With 33 Councils forming as one to purchase services we can get a much better deal in other areas like, for example, anti-virus software, which cost us 10 times less to buy for the entire LGfl than if schools had gone to vendors individually,” Mr Durrant said. Assistant director for ICT at Camden Council, John Jackson said ensuring public networks were scalable and secure was vital to help close the digital divide. “Many citizens access the internet in libraries or a community centre, so providing a network that has fast connections is vital to help give a worthwhile experience,” Mr Jackson said. Managing Director of Virgin Media Business, Mark Heraghty said winning the contract for the London Grid for Learning (LGfl) network had been “very important”. “This contract has the potential to be one of our biggest as it’s so strategic due to the reach and access it will give us by being in the London area and rolling out to up to 3,000 school sites,” Mr Heraghty said. 1 February, 2011 VATICAN Saint’s values to guide PS The Pope has called on Public Servants around the world to model themselves on the values of French Saint Joan of Arc. Benedict XVI highlighted the life of the 15th century mystic in his weekly general audience. For several months he has used his Wednesday sermons to promote an important woman in the Roman Catholic Church’s history. Joan of Arc led the French to several victories over the English during the Hundred Years War. She said she heard voices from a trio of saints telling her to deliver France from the English. She was tried for heresy and witchcraft and burned at the stake in 1431, though her conviction was later annulled. She was canonised in 1920 by Pope Benedict XV. The current Pope said Joan’s was a beautiful example of holiness for lay people working in public life, particularly during difficult situations. He expressed unhappiness at how Joan had been treated by the Church, saying her heresy trial was an “upsetting page” in Church history and was due to French Churchmen “who had made different political choices” than she. But he noted that the illiterate farm girl nevertheless went to her death professing a love for the Church and for Christ. “May the prayers and example of Joan of Arc inspire many lay men and women to devote themselves to public life in the service of God’s Kingdom,” Pope Benedict said, “and encourage all of us to live to the fullest our lofty calling.” 1 February, 2011 ZIMBABWE Country can’t afford PS payrise Zimbabwe’s 290,000 Public Servants have threatened strike action if their requests for a substantial pay rise are not accepted. They have already rejected a 24 per cent offer and are in negotiation with the Government for more. Several PS unions said their members would go on a nationwide strike, but few believe this will happen as most union leaders say they know Zimbabwe has no more money to increase wages. The Health and Education Ministers have said repeatedly they are in sympathy with teachers’ and health workers’ low salaries, but they do not have much money to work with. Chair of the Apex Council which negotiates on behalf of State employees, Tendai Chikowore said the Government proposed to raise transportation allowances for eligible workers from $US20 (about the same in Australian dollars) a month to $28 and housing allowances to $30 from $12. Ms Chikowore said the lowest-paid Public Servants earned $186 a month. State worker representatives have demanded this be increased to $502, but the Government has said it cannot afford such an increase. Minister for Defence, Emmerson Mnangagwa told army personnel at a staff college that he would have to cut 15,000 jobs, bringing the army down to 40,000. Many civil rights activists have criticised the size of the army for a country not at war and not engaged in any peacekeeping work, claiming it is there simply to support President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF Party. Zimbabwe operates on a cash basis and has no access to international loans. Even though inflation has been brought under control since the country abandoned its currency and adopted the American dollar and South African rand, there is almost no foreign investment. 1 February, 2011 MALAYSIA New role for PS Commission The Malaysian Public Service Commission (PSC) is being redesigned to take on the roles of defining the nation’s strategic human resource policy and developing management processes for the public sector. Chairman of the National Economic Advisory Council (NEAC), Tan Sri Amirsham Abdul Aziz said the PSC was tasked under the Federal Constitution with the responsibility for the appointment, confirmation, promotion and discipline of public sector employees. Tan Sri Amirsham said the recommended reforms would reinvigorate the PSC and allow it to take on a more dominant strategic human resource role. He said this would include defining human resources policies and enabling the Public Service to transform its ranks and embrace a change in mindset. It would also help to bring forward leaders and specialists to drive innovation in processes while continuing to reduce red tape. Tan Sri Amirsham said he wanted PSC members to be made up of top-notch visionary professionals drawn from the public and private-sectors alongside human resources specialists. “With notable professional private-sector figures infused at the high-end level in setting human resource policies, it brings in the required competitive environment expertise that is both new and lacking to current public-sector management,” Tan Sri Amirsham said. He was speaking at the opening of the Public Sector Reform, Best Practice Workshop, organised by the NEAC in partnership with the Australian High Commission and the Crawford School of Economics and Government at the Australian National University. The workshop was a closed door discussion with the aim of enabling Malaysia to gain from Australian experience in public sector reforms. 1 February, 2011 CHINA Recruitment policies show justice The fact that most recruits to the Chinese Public Service in 2010 came from ordinary families proves the country’s social justice policies were succeeding, according to a senior official with the Ministry of Labour. Vice-Minister of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Security, Yang Shiqiu said 93.2 per cent of PS recruits last year came from families with parents working as labourers, farmers, doctors, teachers and the self-employed. “China has made efforts to ensure social justice in recruiting Public Servants, by breaking various limits and giving equal opportunities to every talented person,” Mr Yang said. In the past, recruitment of Public Servants to Local Government has been tarnished by a series of scandals in which powerful parents used their influence to secure positions for their children. China recruits its Public Servants through examinations with the 2011 exam series attracted more than 1.41 million applicants for 16,000 positions. Many Chinese believe Public Service jobs were stable, provided many benefits and had a light workload. Many said they would quit their current jobs to become Public Servants. However, with so many people seeking Government jobs, there has been increasing doubts about the transparency and fairness of the examination and the competition for jobs, especially after reports showed children with powerful parents had been favoured in selection. 1 February, 2011 JAMAICA Senior Jamaican Public Servants are to be required to take lie detector tests. The Government believes that mandatory polygraph testing would help cement the integrity of people occupying public posts of significant responsibility. The announced is part of a commitment to removing corrupt individuals from the Public Service. LAOS A new 10kW radio station primarily serving the Lao People’s Army has been officially opened. The station will serve as the voice of the Ministry of National Defence and will broadcast information and news on the economy, culture, society, and entertainment. There will be items of interest to the general public as well as official statements from the ruling party. BOTSWANA Public sector unions are about to enter negotiations with the Government over salaries. The Botswana Federation of Public Sector Unions confirmed it has written a letter to the Government seeking a meeting. It did not mention details, but it is widely believed the Federation is seeking a 16 per cent increase. Public Servants in Botswana have not received a pay rise for three years. ISLE OF MAN Plans to cut jobs in the Home Affairs division of the Isle of Man Government are to be announced this month. As many as 12 ‘back office’ positions within the Chief Executive’s Office and Emergency Planning Department are expected to be affected. The decision is part of the Transforming Government initiative, brought in following the reduction in the Isle of Man’s share of the United Kingdom’s Value Added Tax revenue. SRI LANKA An e-Government program has been adopted in Sri Lanka aimed at making its Public Service more people-friendly. The program has been described as a “huge transformation” in the country’s information technology sector. It will target getting services to the people quickly and efficiently through online applications, at the same time raising the IT knowledge of the general population. |
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