29 November, 2011
UNITED KINGDOM

Strike breakers recruited

The British Home Office has asked Public Servants to act as strikebreakers and work as border control officers during this week’s one-day strike against public sector pension reform.
   Selected employees have been asked if they would be willing to cross picket lines and check passports as passengers arrived at airports and ports from abroad.
   The move comes after it emerged that full checks on visa nationals from outside Europe had been regularly suspended at Heathrow because of staff shortages.
   It is the first time that the Government has sought to recruit other members of the Public Service to break a strike by immigration officials.
   A Government source confirmed the plan but added that any responders would be restricted to checking British passports and other “low risk work”.
   The internal source could not say whether the Public Servants who worked would be given any training.
   Immigration staff in British embassies around the world had already been offered free flights back to Britain if they were willing to work during the strike.
   Staff agreeing to return and cross the picket lines would also be allowed time off to extend their stay and spend time with family or friends.
   About 18,000 immigration officials are expected to join the strike which has been called a month before the deadline for a deal between the Government and union leaders on pension reform.
   Elsewhere, an estimated three million public sector workers, including teachers and probation officers, are also expected to take the day off.

29 November, 2011
IRELAND

PS cuts reach ‘extraordinary’ level

The Government of Ireland has foreshadowed even more staff cuts to the Public Service, reaching levels even the Minister for the Public Service, Brendan Howlin has said are “extraordinary”.
   Mr Howlin made the comment when announcing a further reduction of 23,500 positions by 2015.
   He said those cuts would result in a fall by some 37,500, or 12 per cent in PS employees, since the peak in 2008.
   “That’s an extraordinary reduction,” Mr Howlin said.
   “When delivered, we will have reduced the Public service pay bill by more than 2.5 billion euro ($A3.4 billion) again a significant saving.”
   He also announced a cut in the number of State Agencies.
   “We are now proceeding to rationalise 48 bodies by the end of next year, and will be reviewing the position of a further 46 bodies by the middle of the year,” he said.
   “These measures are designed to make service delivery more effective and more efficient.”
   He said the decentralisation program, introduced in 2003, had been shelved, thus ending 40 projects.
   “Discussions have been ongoing between the Public Service Unions and officials of my Department to produce a model for the standardisation of annual leave allowances right across the Public Service,” Mr Howlin said.
   He said final proposals for the standardisation of annual leave had been sent to the Public Service Unions for their agreement.
   The Minister said the proposed changes should see the abolition of historically-based local leave arrangements such as festival and race days.

29 November, 2011
CANADA

Sacked whistleblowers awarded

Three sacked whistleblowers have won an integrity award in Canada for being “outspoken and dedicated”.
   Shiv Chopra, Margaret Haydon, and Gerard Lambert were presented with the Canadian Journalists for Free Expression (CJFE)’s inaugural Integrity Award.
   The award honours “individuals who acted courageously in the public interest without thought of personal gain, and in doing so risked reprisals in the form of threats to their careers, livelihood, or personal freedom”.
   The three Health Canada scientists were dismissed for insubordination in 2004, after they publicly expressed serious reservations regarding the approval of products they believed would harm the food chain, and ultimately jeopardise the well-being of Canadians.
   After years of legal wrangling, the Public Service Labour Relations Board (PSLRB) dismissed all but one of eight grievances filed in response last August.
   The three scientists have since filed an application for judicial review of the decision, with the exception of the grievance that was upheld.
   President of the Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC), Gary Corbett said that bestowal of the award represented a proud moment, not only for Drs Chopra, Haydon and Lambert, but for all Public Servants.
   “It sends a strong message that Canadians recognise and appreciate how Public Service professionals put the public interest ahead of all other considerations,” Mr Corbett said.
   “While existing legislation remains inadequate, honours such as the Integrity Award will help raise awareness amongst Senators and Members of Parliament of the critical importance of fully protecting Public Service whistleblowers,” he said.

29 November, 2011
SOUTH AFRICA

Charges corruption uncontrolled

Revelations that the number of South African Government employees found to have engaged in financial misconduct had skyrocketed from 434 in 2001-02 to 1,135 in 2009-2010 have prompted calls for the Government to explain what it is doing to overcome the problem.
   The details are contained in a report of the Public Service Commission (PSC) presented to the Public Service and Administration Portfolio Committee.
   Spokesperson on Public Service and Administration for the Opposition Democratic Alliance Party, Ena van Schalkwyk said she would be writing to the Minister of Public Service and Administration, Roy Padayachie to find out what steps were being taken to tackle increasing misconduct in the Public Service.
   “I will also ask whether he agrees with the National Development Plan’s (NDP’s) proposals that legal action be taken against Public Servants who misuse public funds,” Ms van Schalkwyk said.
   “Not only are levels of financial misconduct in the public sector increasing, it was also disclosed to the Committee that Government Departments can’t cope with the cases referred to them by the National Anti-Corruption Hotline.”
   She said this was a double blow for delivery.
   “On the one hand, public funds were increasingly being misappropriated by corrupt State officials, which meant there was less money for Departments to deliver,” Ms van Schalkwyk said.
   “On the other, Government increasingly lacks the capacity to track down those responsible, so the looting of the public purse is allowed to continue,” she said.

29 November, 2011
CHINA

Study finds PS discrimination rife

A survey of national Public Service appointments in China has found they do not always offer equal opportunities to qualified job seekers.
   Conducted by the Constitutionalism Research Institute of China University of Political Science and Law, the survey showed that while they never publicly acknowledge any form of discrimination, PS employers in China didn’t hesitate to hide their preferences on age, gender, education and state of health.
   Official statistics showed that more than two million eligible candidates sought 15,290 job vacancies in national-level Public Service offices in 2011.
   The survey scrutinised 9,762 employment posts, including those from the Cabinet Departments and State judicial organs, in 2011.
   Public Service recruitment rules restrict eligible candidates to Chinese nationals aged from 18 to 35, which the survey defines as discrimination, saying that “no evidence suggests people aged above 35 cannot be competent enough to become Civil Servants”.
   Meanwhile, vacancies in which successful candidates were allegedly recruited based on gender increased from 1,203 in 2010 to 1,519, accounting for 9.9 per cent of the total number in 2011, the survey said.
   “These vacancies were mostly for males only, or the job descriptions explicitly announced that males should register for them,” the survey said.
   The survey also found that some employers disqualified either AIDS patients or HIV carriers.
   One of the co-authors of the survey, Liu Xiaonan said Government Departments and public institutions at the State level should have zero tolerance for discrimination in employment and take the lead in rooting it out.

29 November, 2011
SPAIN (Basque Region)

PS entitlements to be cut

The Basque Government plans to cut PS entitlements in a bid to save 100 million Euros ($A137 million)
   Among the benefits to be affected are sick leave and redundancy payments and the option of retiring at 65.
   Vice-Councillor for Public Services with the regional Government, Juan Carlos Ramos said the aim was to discuss the implementation of measures to reduce staff expenditure in 2012.
   “In order to meet this objective, the Government is calling for an agreement regarding the sustainability of public employment versus the efficiency of civic services,” Mr Ramos said.
   He said the Basque Government would apply a total of six blocks of measures across all Departments within the Basque Administration in 2012, which would allow for savings of 100 million Euros.
   He said the first measures would suspend all voluntary retirement bonuses granted by the general administration. The second would do the same in the case of relief contracts which, according to Basque government estimates, could affect 365 employees.
   “The option of retiring from public service at the age of 65 will also be withdrawn,” he said.
   “This would affect 201 employees and falls squarely within the policy of job depreciation.”
   He said a fourth block included the revision of temporary incapacity payments for employees suffering sickness. Basque Government figures indicated that in the first 10 months of this year, 48,135 people had taken time off sick at a cost of 43.8 million Euros ($A60 million) in incapacity benefits.
   “The Government’s proposal will also include the suspension of career-related pay, which will affect the Home Office, Justice, Education and Health Departments,” Mr Ramos said.
   “The sixth and final block will contain the general costs of administration.”
   He said that in this year “extreme savings” had been achieved by doing away with temporary workers to cover leave and delegating tasks to the remaining workforce.

29 November, 2011
INDIA

Scheme to run PS IT in the cloud

The Indian Department of Information Technology (DIT) is to help individual States boost their IT capability by centralising their back-office processes in the cloud.
   The Department is to do this through a new series of Agencies called State Information Utilities (SIU), which will function as an outsourcing division, offering data centres, networking, software and other platforms to the State Governments.
   The move will allow the Public Service to make better use of the cloud, in which multiple users share computing resources over the Internet.
   An official at DIT said that once the SIUs were in place, they would save not only considerable time spent by States in getting their projects started but would also lead to efficiencies in technology resources.
   The official said State Departments faced several issues in procuring equipment and identifying the right technology platforms.
   “This will centralise it all,” the official said.
   However others have warned of the possibility that the proposed SIUs could duplicate existing institutions at the State level.
   One partner at the accounting firm Ernst and Young, Guru Malladi said that as a concept it was sound but States already had various coordinating Agencies such as computer and electronics corporations in addition to State divisions of the National Informatics Centre, which are currently coordinating outsourcing activities
   Mr Malladi said it was important that the future role of the Agencies be thought through so that there were no issues at the State level which could be counterproductive to the initiative.

29 November, 2011
JAMAICA

‘Tremendous work’ of PS praised

Public Servants in Jamaica have been urged to continue their efforts towards national development.
   In a message for the opening of Civil Service Week 2011, the Minister with Responsibility for the Public Service and Information, Senator Arthur Williams said Public Servants had stood firm in their commitment to high-quality services, despite their own personal and professional challenges.
   “We value the tremendous work that you do for the country and the people every day of the year,” Senator Williams said.
   “Through good and bad times, you are always faced with the tough challenges to meet the increased needs of the populace by delivering quality services with less resource.”
   He was proud to say that great strides had been made, however, there was a long way still to go.
   Civil Service Week 2011 has the theme Civil Servants - Repositioning for National Development.
   Highlighting the importance of the theme, Senator Williams said it signalled the strong commitment to help advance the efforts and energy required to make Jamaica the place of choice to live, work, raise families and do business.
   “People are quick to blame you for poor service delivery; some accuse you of outright corruption, while others deem you to be lazy,” he said.
   “It is my belief, however, that the majority doing good works get overshadowed by the very few who forget the promise they made to be honest, fair and transparent.”

29 November, 2011
MOZAMBIQUE

Top Officers told to be professional

The Mozambique Government is committed to a more professional Public Service, a capacity building course for senior officers has been told.
   Minister for the Public Service, Victoria Diogo stressed the importance of a professional attitude from the Permanent Secretaries of Ministries and of Provincial and district Governments.
   She said the Permanent Secretaries were being trained in the Performance Management System that her Ministry had set up and the challenge of their continual professional training was a key component in the efficient functioning of the State.
   “The Permanent Secretaries play an important role in galvanising the implementation of decisions and have the responsibility to lead and manage the human resources employed by the State”, Ms Diogo said.
   The one-day seminar was based on issues such as legality, transparency, accountability, the role of the Permanent and General Secretaries, performance management in the Public Administration and the electronic records of the State employees.
   She said it was organised by the Higher Institute of Public Administration (ISAP) and was part of the Government’s efforts to ensure that Public Servants adopted harmonised methods, aimed at achieving common goals.
   Director of ISAP, Almiro Lobo said the training of State managers was a continuous process to fill the gaps and consolidate the knowledge of the target group.

29 November, 2011
And From the World in Brief...

UNITED KINGDOM
Striking public sector unions have been warned that the massive industrial unrest planned for this week across Britain could cost the economy £500 million ($A798 million)
   Ministers warned that the impact on the public and private sectors would be so large it could lead to job losses.
   Unions have been told the strike will not deliver them a better deal because there was no more money on the table.

CANADA
The Canadian Federal Government has unveiled a set of rules for the use of social networking sites like Twitter in the hope of spurring modernisation within the Public Service.
   The rules lay out how bureaucrats should use public social networks to communicate with citizens and with each other, via Facebook or others which allow multiple users to create and share information online.
   They also set out steps that staff must take before going online to engage with the public.
   The guidelines are extensive and provide lists of dos and don’ts as well as reminders to PS staff of their Public Service obligations.

JAMAICA
A Jamaican delegation of PS leaders is visiting Singapore for a one-week study tour of the country’s public sector.
   Headed by the Minister with Responsibility for the Public Service, the tour was recommended by the former United Nations Development Program.
   Singapore is known internationally for best practices within the Public Sector.

SINGAPORE
Public Servants in Singapore are set to receive an end of year bonus of 1.75 months’ pay.
   This payment will be made up of the annual variable component (AVC) - this year, 0.75 months’ pay - and another month’s pay for the standard bonus.
   The AVC amount was decided against a backdrop of 5.4 per cent economic growth in the first three quarters of 2011, with overall growth for the year forecast to be around five per cent.

MACAU
No decision has been made on whether Public Servants in Macau will have their wages increased next year.
   The only promise from the Government is that a mechanism for automatically adjusting Public Servants’ wages will be ready in the first half of the year.
   The PS has called for a salary adjustment to help Public Servants cope with a rising inflation rate and the appreciation of the Yuan.

22 November, 2011
UNITED STATES

Report reveals PS job dissatisfaction

A new report shows that US Public Servants are becoming increasingly disenchanted with their jobs.
   The report, Best Places to Work in the Federal Government was produced by the Partnership for Public Service and reveals declining job satisfaction among PS ranks creating concerns that it could be difficult for Government recruiters to attract and retain talent.
   The report found that while pay was a key contributor to declining satisfaction, it was less important than workers’ misgivings about their Agency’s leadership and the match of employee skills with their organisation’s mission.
   It found that Government-wide, employee satisfaction with their payrates dropped by 6.1 per cent and the higher the pay level, the greater the fall.
   For staff in the Senior Executive Service (SES) and other senior-level positions, the drop in pay satisfaction was 7.8 per cent, declining to just 2.4 per cent on the lowest Federal Wage Grade.
   President of the Senior Executives Association, Carol A. Bonosaro said many talented experienced GS14s and 15s (the grades immediately below the SES) who might otherwise aspire to the SES did not see any financial advantage to taking on more responsibility and less job security.
   Legislation currently being debated in Congress includes a five-year Public Service pay freeze, more employee contributions to pensions which would be based on the five highest years of earnings rather than the current highest three.
   So far, there was no indication that declining job and pay satisfaction had hurt productivity, but unions believe it will only be a matter of time, especially if the five-year pay freeze law is passed.

22 November, 2011
UNITED KINGDOM

Senior PS staff join national strike

The very senior levels of Public Service management in the UK have elected to register their opposition to public sector pension reforms by supporting a planned national strike on 30 November.
   The First Division Association (FDA) which represents the top 18,000 Public Service staff in Great Britain voted by a majority of 81 per cent to strike, on a turnout of 54 per cent.
   This result is seen as a blow for the Government since the FDA is seen as a moderate union, only having once previously held a vote for industrial action.
   General Secretary of the FDA, Jonathan Baume said the vote should send a message to Ministers.
   “This is a decisive vote for industrial action, but this ballot should not have been necessary,” Mr Baume said.
   “No one has worked harder than the FDA to seek a negotiated settlement, often in the face of Government delay and procrastination.”
   He said many FDA members faced a pay cut of up to six per cent over the next three years because of the pensions levy.
   In the context of a pay freeze and high inflation, he said this was a cut in living standards of up to one fifth.
   Mr Baume said the Government had made concessions to its original plans for reforming pensions, with those in the last 10 years of their careers given protection from the changes and a slight uplift in accrual rates.
   However, he said there had only been limited progress on talks because Ministers had not come up with full details.
   The Chartered Society of Physiotherapy also voted to join the strike, as did Public Service union Prospect.
   The largest public sector union, Unison, and the Public and Commercial Services Union are among those also committed to the walkout.

22 November, 2011
SWAZILAND

PS paid on borrowed money

The Government of Swaziland has been forced to borrow money from local banks and businesses to pay its Public Service salaries for last month.
   This has allayed fears that the salaries would be delayed by up to 15 days due to the Government’s financial problems as it had been battling to raise E346 million ($A48 million) in time for the salaries deadline.
   The exact amount loaned to government was not disclosed.
   Initially the Government had said it would shift the November pay date, but after Cabinet discussions it was decided that payment of salaries for Public Servants would continue on their normal dates.
   Spokesman for the Government, Percy Simelane said the Government had secured loans from the domestic market, which included financial institutions and private companies, to facilitate the payments.
   “As a Government we remain committed to meeting our obligations towards the welfare of the Swazi nation in spite of the serious fiscal challenges the country is facing,” Mr Simelane said.
   In an interview before issuing the statement, Mr Simelane said parastatals (quasi-Government organisations) did not contribute towards the bailout despite initial reports the Government might turn to them for funds.
   An expert in the financial industry has questioned how the Government can hope to sustain its fiscal position through borrowing just to pay salaries.
   The expert, who wished to remain anonymous, said the Government should push towards meeting the conditions set out by the International Monetary Fund (IMF), part of which includes the implementation of a voluntary early retirement scheme for Public Servants.
   “If we don’t do this, then we will not survive,” the expert said.

22 November, 2011
UNITED NATIONS

UN opens awards nominations

The United Nations has opened nominations for its 2012 UN Public Service Awards.
   The awards reward the creative achievements and contributions of Public Service institutions that have helped to establish more effective and responsive public administrations worldwide.
   An award category entitled Preventing and Combating Corruption in the Public Service has been created.
   This encourages higher standards of conduct in the public sector and promotes greater awareness of the importance of tackling corruption in order to achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
   By highlighting best practices and promoting excellence and creativity in anti-corruption work, this initiative enhances the ability of States to ensure that public funds are used to improve quality of life through the delivery of basic services.
   The category reflects the need for an increased focus on improving integrity in the work of Public Services, which is seen as central to the fight against corruption.
   Nominations for the 2012 awards are now being accepted online until 31 December. Any Public Service or Public Service-related organisation can submit their applications online on the United Nations Public Service Awards website.
   Award winners will be recognised at an event to be held on 23 June 2012, which will also mark the annual celebration of United Nations Public Service Day.

22 November, 2011
CANADA

Union calls for transparency on cuts

A Public Service union in Canada has called for the decision-making process on proposed cuts to PS services and staff to be made open to the public.
   President of the Public Service Alliance of Canada (PASC), John Gordon said citizens should be able to see what advice is being received on the planned Budget cuts.
   “These cuts could have devastating consequences for families and communities across the country,” Mr Gordon said.
   “The people who depend on public services and the people who provide them must not be shut out of these decisions.”
   The union’s viewpoint comes as President of the Treasury Board, Tony Clement and a Cabinet Subcommittee reviewed proposals on Public Service cuts behind closed doors.
   The Federal Government has set a goal of slashing public services by up to 10 per cent across the board and has hired Deloitte Inc. for advice.
   The high-powered management consulting firm is being paid almost $90,000 a day for its cost-cutting recommendations.
   Government executives have also been offered bonuses tied to their ability to make budget cuts.
   Mr Gordon said Canadian taxpayers were paying a lot of money for advice that will affect families and communities in the years ahead.
   “We should be able to see what the Government has paid for, and comment, before the final decisions are presented as a done deal in the Budget,” he said.

22 November, 2011
IRELAND

Decentralise plans scrapped

The Government of Ireland has abandoned plans to decentralise its Public Service out of Dublin and has set a maximum annual leave entitlement for the PS of 32 days.
   As part of the revised plan, 40 projects for which permanent accommodation had not been obtained are to be scrapped, and 20 others are to be reviewed.
   Around 30 projects where staff had been relocated and permanent accommodation secured will remain in place.
   Staffing levels in the Public Service are to be reduced to 282,500 by 2015. At present there are around 297,000 on the public payroll.
   The Government has also announced that Public Servants will not lose out from moves to reform annual leave arrangements unless they currently have more than 32 days off per year or accept a promotion.
   It said staff in the Public Service, Local Authorities, non-commercial State Agencies, the Health Service and non-teaching personnel in the education sector who currently have more than 32 days leave per year will have their leave entitlements cut back.
   The Government said staff entering the Public Service from the start of next year or who accept promotion will have a maximum of 30 days leave per year.
   It said that just under 50 State Agencies are to be merged or abolished next year as part of measures aimed at tackling so-called quangos.
   However, it is likely there will be some last-minute changes to the plan.
   As an example, the Sports Council and the National Campus Development Agency will now be merged rather than abolished and subsumed into the Department of Transport, Tourism and Sport.

22 November, 2011
MALAWI

Underpaid staff threaten to strike

Malawi’s Public Servants say they will strike unless they get a pay rise.
   President of the Civil Service Trade Union (CSTU), Eliah Kamphinda Banda said Public Servants are getting low salaries which are not keeping up with the high cost of living.
   He said demands to increase the salaries have been raised with the Government Negotiating Team.
   “We have made our case clear to the Government - we expect Civil Servants’ salaries to at least match the poverty datum line,” Mr Banda said.
   He said the union’s approach remained non-confrontational, but warned that it would be compelled to go on to take strike action if the Government did not address its demands.
   Commentators said the Government could not technically adjust Public Servants’ salaries in the middle of the financial year which ends on 30 June, unless through the mid-term Budget review in Parliament.
   Acting Secretary of the Department of Human Resource, Isaac Bondo said the Government was still engaging the labour union in talks.
   He said the Government would address the union’s concerns.
   The demand for salary increase comes at a time when Members of Parliament from both sides of the House have unanimously adopted a report from the Public Appointments and Declaration of Assets Committee which will see their monthly pay package rising from K390 000 ($A2,335) to about K1 million ($5,988).

22 November, 2011
MALAYSIA

PM calls for better service

A call for a “paradigm shift” in the delivery of Malaysia’s public services has been made by the Prime Minister in his regular blog.
   Under the title Relics of the Cold War, Datuk Seri Najib Razak described the level of service in the country as still stuck in a previous era.
   “Many countries had once shared our belief in similar policies and practices, but they have moved on,” Datuk Seri Najib said.
   “In particular, the Cold War period between the 1940s to the early 1990s had largely influenced Governments everywhere to be more cautious and rigid in their policies and views.”
   He said however that the Cold War was over, and the world was a different place now.
   Datuk Seri Najib said the public and private sectors should move forward together and make the transformation.
   “A nation with a first-world mentality believes in a level of service that is efficient as it is courteous, according people respect as a means to earn mutual respect,” he said.
   “ It believes in taking pride in a service delivery system that functions smart, without being bogged down by redundant rules and excessive red tape.”
   He gave as an example the forms needed in Government transactions.
   “In a number of policies, forms are part of the law, and unless they are correctly filed, the public may find their appeals and requests slowed down by mere administrative paperwork,” the Prime Minister said.
   “In reality, the actual process, with the right approach, could take a matter of hours or days to resolve, rather than weeks or months because of an incorrectly filed form.”
   He thought the forms should be supplementary to the law, rather than part of the law.

22 November, 2011
BAHRAIN

Row over King’s PS decree

A new law governing human relations procedures in the Bahraini Public Service has been passed by Royal Decree despite it clashing with existing laws affecting the Financial Audit Bureau
   Lawmakers have expressed their concern, saying their powers to remedy the situation were limited because King Hamad had ratified the law during a Parliamentary recess.
   They have suggested it be referred to the Constitutional Court for a ruling.
   Members of the Shura Council (Upper House of Parliament) can only vote in favour or against Royal Decrees without making any amendments.
   Councillor Lulwa Al Awadhi said that it was not the Council’s duty to ensure new laws came into line with others that currently existed.
   “Our duty is to see if the law is accessible and can be implemented and if it clashes with another existing one, then the newest becomes the standard,” Ms Al Awadhia said.
   President of the Civil Service Bureau, Ahmed Al Zayed said that the law didn’t change the fundamentals of the current legislation, only the procedures in the way it was implemented.
   “By-laws will be ready within two weeks and it will make things clearer to Councillors on how procedures will improve,” Mr Al Zayed said.
   “Claims from Councillors that the Civil Service Bureau will become a higher authority than Ministers are wrong, because we will only supervise and monitor human resources in Ministries and Government establishments.”
   He said Ministers would still have the upper hand in deciding policy.

22 November, 2011
And From the World in Brief...

UNITED KINGDOM
Sir Bob Kerslake has been appointed head of the UK Civil Service.
   The new Cabinet Secretary has already been named as Sir Jeremy Heywood.
   Sir Bob will also continue in his current role as the top Public Servant at the Department of Communities and Local Government and replaces Sir Gus O’Donnell, who had held the post for six years.
   Sir Jeremy will be the Prime Minister’s principal policy adviser as well as being the new Cabinet Secretary.
   The two appointments split one position that had previously been held by Sir Gus O’Donnell.

UNITED STATES
The Partnership for Public Service has announced its list of the best places to work in the United States Federal Government.
   The rankings are based on responses from the Office of Personnel Management’s Employee Viewpoint Survey and reflect perceptions of leadership, work/life balance and teamwork.
   After ranking number one for the past two years, the Nuclear Regulatory Commission was relegated to number two this year by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.
   The Surface Transportation Board continued its two-year run at the top of the small Agency list.
   The lists are:

Large agencies:
   Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation, Nuclear Regulatory Commission, Government Accountability Office, Smithsonian Institution, NASA, Social Security Administration, Department of State, Intelligence community, Office of Personnel Management, General Services Administration.

Small agencies:
   Surface Transportation Board, Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, Federal Mediation and Conciliation Service, Peace Corps, Farm Credit Administration, Overseas Private Investment Corporation, Federal Labor Relations Authority, Commodity Futures Trading Commission, National Endowment for the Humanities, Federal Trade Commission.

CANADA (Ontario)
Further reductions have been announced for Ontario’s Public Service.
   The new cuts aim for a further two per cent reduction by 2014 after plans are well-advanced for a drop by five per cent by next March.
   Revealing the plan, the Government said it was having to rethink its overall priorities because the economy was growing at a much slower pace than anticipated and economists were predicting lower revenues as a result.

SCOTLAND
A radical overhaul of rail travel by Transport Scotland has suggested banning the drinking of alcohol on trains.
   The Government Agency also suggested that sleeper services between Scotland and London could be axed or reduced.
   Minister for Transport, Keith Brown said services must be modernised but Opposition parties branded the proposals as crackpot and unhelpful.

JAMAICA
An agreement between the Jamaica Civil Service Association and EMED Management means that Jamaican Public Servants will now have access to emergency air ambulance facilities.
   Under the agreement, the facilities will be available to approved union members throughout Jamaica for $500 per month.
   Eligible members will benefit from access to air ambulances, equipped with modern medical equipment and qualified medical personnel as well as international healthcare facilities, all linked by EMED’s medical information technology.

15 November, 2011
UNITED KINGDOM

Creative outsourcing for innovation

The United Kingdom Government is adopting new guidelines for its purchase of IT services, resulting from the restructuring of existing agreements.
   According to IT consultant TPI, the extensive restructuring of contracts was likely to lead to more innovative agreements and service integration.
   “Looking ahead, we expect to see an increase in the standardisation of public sector outsourcing contracts and increased use of multi-sourcing, both of which will result in a strengthening of service, as well as greater flexibility,” a report from the consultant said.
   It said a recent contract awarded by the Department of Works and Pensions was a promising example.
   “The contract was split into five lots, with HP, IBM, Capgemini and Accenture sharing deals,” the report said.
   “This would not have been split into five in the past.
   The report said another example of a new way to outsource was demonstrated by the restructuring of the PS pensions administrator, My Civil Service Pension – the first example of a Government body spun out into a mutual and partnered with a private sector company.
   A second consultant, John Worthy said deal structures were changing, with a move away from public sector mega-deals.
   He said there was much more multi-sourcing in Government, with risks spread across a group of suppliers.
   A third consultant, Mark Lewis, said the introduction of a mutual to run Government administration functions was a potentially enormous development.
   However, he said the new models for outsourcing were not new.
   The previous Government had commissioned a plan that recommended the creation of massive public sector companies that would eventually be floated on the stock market.
   Another consultant, Robert Morgan praised the virtues of public/private partnerships saying they worked for the public sector because the supplier took on the capital investments, but benefitted from holding a share in the business.

15 November, 2011
MALAYSIA

Opposition backtracks on PS sackings

A proposal to reduce the number of Public Servants if it wins the forthcoming general election has been scrapped by Malaysia’s Opposition Pakatan Rakyat Party.
   The decision follows angry responses from union groups and Government employees.
   Opposition Leader, Datuk Seri Anwar Ibrahim said that although the move made a lot of economic sense, it did not make any political sense.
   He said it had never been part of the Party’s platform, merely a suggestion that had been floated by a component group in the Opposition.
   Vice-President of Pakatan, Tian Chua said no component party in the Opposition coalition had a larger voice than the other.
   “It is clear that any matter must be agreed upon by all parties before it is implemented,” Mr Tian said.
   “We do not believe that any one of the component parties play a dominant role than the other and infringes the rights of the minority.”
   He said Pakatan maintained that the status of Malaysia’s 1.2 million Public Servants would be secure as provided for in the Federal Constitution relating to restriction on dismissals and reduction in rank.
   “At the same time, Pakatan stresses that Public Servants must perform their duties according to the public’s expectations,” he said.
   He stressed the Pakatan manifesto had never proposed trimming the Public Service.
   “However, we want an effective Government delivery system,” Mr Chua said.

15 November, 2011
ZIMBABWE

PS bonuses to come from diamond sales

Public Servants have been promised their bonuses using money from diamond sales.
   Prime Minister, Morgan Tsvangirai said the Government had an obligation to pay the bonuses and hoped to raise US$300 million (about the same in Australian dollars) in November to meet them.
   Asked what would happen if the diamond money failed to materialise, Mr Tsvangirai stressed the obligation to pay.
   “We will have to look for money elsewhere if the money does not come,” he said.
   Zimbabwe has been given the green light to start selling diamonds from the controversial Chiadzwa alluvial fields, despite continuing concerns about human rights abuses and smuggling there.
   The decision by the international trade watchdog, the Kimberley Process (KP), has been criticized by civil society groups, who raised concerns that human rights were being sidelined.
   To date, millions of dollars in diamond profits had not been accounted for and there was no legislation in place to prevent profits from lining the pockets of a well connected few.
   Political analyst, John Makumbe said there were many unanswered questions about the country’s murky diamond industry which urgently need answering.
   “There is no clarity on diamond sales, and who is benefiting and where profits are going,” Professor Makumbe said.
   “The commitment to use the profits to pay bonuses could be a way of applying pressure on the Mines Ministry, but it does not answer any of these questions.”
   Professor Makumbe said the bonus pledge was also possibly linked to forthcoming elections, with politicians trying to appease the Public Service for their own political benefit.

15 November, 2011
TURKS AND CAICOS ISLANDS

Voluntary redundancies offered

Voluntary redundancy packages are being offered to Public Servants in the Caribbean’s Turks and Caicos Islands in an attempt to reduce their numbers by about 300.
   The Government also wants to reduce the annual Public Service wage bill from $US60 million (about the same in $A) to $US45 million per year.
   Governor, Ric Todd said the voluntary redundancy program was a significant step towards ensuring a sustainable Turks and Caicos public sector.
   He said it would also contribute to the achievement of a balanced Budget in 2012-13 and so provide a major contribution to the achievement of the pre-election commitments to public sector reform and improved public financial management.
   He said the Turks and Caicos Islands PS numbered about 2,200.
   The Governor said he hoped that much of the required efficiency improvements would be reached through the voluntary scheme.
   “Any remaining savings will be achieved via a subsequent compulsory scheme whose terms will be less favourable than the voluntary program,” Governor Todd said.
   “Although the scheme is open to all sectors of the Public Service, an application is no guarantee of acceptance.”
   He said this was to ensure that essential skills were retained in Government and to ensure effective management of the scheme’s costs.
   Statutory Bodies were not included in the voluntary scheme.
   He said those who are accepted would have their employment terminated from 31 January 2012.
   Governor Todd said the voluntary scheme was based on similar programs in the United Kingdom and involved the normal maximum severance pay of up to two years’ salary (one month’s pay for every year of service plus three months in lieu of notice) and up to 30 days accumulated annual leave.
   Any subsequent compulsory redundancy scheme would see the maximum payment set at the equivalent of 12 months’ salary for those under 55 years of age and 50 per cent of the value of the voluntary offer for people within two years of 55.
   Those over 60 would be released with no severance pay.
   Governor Todd said that staff who applied for voluntary redundancy but who were not accepted would be protected from any compulsory scheme for 12 months.

15 November, 2011
IRELAND

Farewell to golden handshakes

Reductions in pension arrangements for senior Irish Public Servants, including an end to the system of ‘golden goodbyes’, have been announced.
   Secretaries General, the most senior Government staff, are to be barred from early retirement or generous severance payments on top of their new €200,000 euro ($A268,000) wage cap.
   Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform, Brendan Howlin said that under the existing scheme, Secretaries General could retire early on generous terms including immediate pension, added years and a severance payment.
   He said in future the senior officials faced no added years and severance would only be payable in exceptional circumstances.
   In addition, the practice of paying pensions before the minimum pension age would cease, Mr Howlin said.
   He said that in future, pensions would be calculated on the less generous career average basis.
   Opposition MP Sean Fleming raised questions about the Government’s proposals, asking Mr Howlin to clarify whether lump sums up to €200,000 would be tax free, as the Minister had said only said lump sums over this figure would be taxed.
   Mr Fleming also asked why pensions for Secretaries General retiring after February 2012 would be based on a salary €228,466 ($A306,944) even though they are currently paid €200,000.
   A spokeswoman for the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform said that retirement lump sums for all citizens were tax free up to a limit of €200,000.
   Tax changes to lump sums would be a matter for the Budget, she said.
   She pointed out that the €200,000 salary for serving Secretaries-General represented a voluntary waiver and their official salary remained at €228,000 for the purposes of pension calculations.

15 November, 2011
NEPAL

Complaints line popular

A new service that directly connects people to the Government in Nepal has been welcomed by the general public.
   The service, initiated by Prime Minister, Babu Ram Bhattarai acts as a forum for complaints and questions and aims to solve problems.
   Joint Secretary at the Prime Minister’s Office, Shanker Prasad Adhikari said that the service had been registering between 300 and 400 complaints a day.
   He said it operated 24 hours a day, seven days a week using toll free numbers, emails, fax and SMS.
   Mr Adhikari said that so far 1,600 complaints had been registered from all over the nation.
   “We are getting many complaints regarding the Public Service and public interest such as bus fares, getting citizenship certificates and drinking water problems,” Mr Adhikari said.
   He said complaints also included bribe taking and giving, examinations cheating and delays in the services of the Government Agencies
   According to the Prime Minister’s Office, the new forum service was divided into four shifts with each shift having a joint secretary in charge, two people to answer the calls, a computer operator and an office helper.
   Mr Adhikari said the issues which needed to be urgently addressed had been dealt with accordingly.
   He said those that took longer or were less urgent had been sent to the concerned Ministries who would tackle them.

15 November, 2011
KENYA

New training fund launched

A new Training Fund has been launched to help Public Servants in Kenya upgrade their education and skills.
   The revolving fund – with start-up capital of Sh92 million ($A1 million) to issue low interest loans - is aimed at developing human capital to help steer the country towards its Vision 2030 campaign objectives.
   Minister for Public Service, Dalmas Otieno said his Ministry had requested Treasury to finance the fund with Sh200 million ($A2.1 million) every financial year.
   He said the money would help the Government reach out to other staff who could not be reached through the regular training opportunities created by the Ministries.
   “Now we are opening up the second avenue for public officers where they will be able to take different courses, as they choose, by accessing the resources through the fund,” Mr Otieno said.
   He said PS staff with five or more years of experience qualified for the fund.
   He said they would be allowed to repay their loans with little or no interest, with repayments deducted from their salaries.
   “This is a special fund that is ring fenced for Public Servants,” he said.
   Mr Otieno said the military would be excluded as they had their own arrangements.
   “We would want it to have better structures so as to lift the human resources in our country so that we can be sure of our journey to competitiveness,” the Minister said.
   He said the Government was in the process of transforming the Kenya Institute of Administration into a fully-fledged Government school.

15 November, 2011
NIGERIA

More training needed says PS Chief

Nigeria’s top Public Servant has called for more training courses to build the capacity of the nation’s PS.
   Head of the Civil Service of the Federation, Alhaji Isah Sali made the call to members of the National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS) during talks at his office.
   He said the courses would enable the Public Service to meet the challenges of the 21st century.
   Mr Sali said recent comments on the quality of the Public Service had centred on weakness in its policymaking and the lack of a strategy for national development.
   He said the Institute could assist in addressing the problem, especially in policy development, analysis and strategic planning.
   “The Government places a lot of emphasis on hard work, integrity and professionalism in the Public Service,” Mr Sali said.
   “We frown at indolence, apathy, lethargy and corruption as we set out to reposition the Public Service to meet the Government’s Transformation Agenda.”
   Acting Director-General of the NIPSS, Tijjani Muhammad-Bande said participants at a recent forum held by the Institute were tasked with seeking ways of finding a sustainable peace in Nigeria which was often subjected to tribal, racial and religious animosities.
   He said possible solutions had been forwarded to the Government for consideration and implementation.

15 November, 2011
NEW ZEALAND

Plea not to abandon training

Public Service managers have been urged not to cut training because times were tight but instead to ensure that staff were qualified and experienced to meet the challenges ahead.
   Chief Executive of the industry training organisation for Local and Central Government Learning State, Jeremy Baker said more than 700 public sector employees had graduated with work-related tertiary qualifications after completing workplace learning programs run by the scheme.
   He said the programs covered a range of generic and specialist skills including administrative excellence, adult education, border management, core public sector skills, customer service, dispute resolution, leadership and management.
   “In these times, it is tempting to hunker down and save costs by cutting out learning and development,” Mr Baker said.
   “However, this is the time when it is most imperative that we invest in our public sector employees and build their resilience, so that they can step up to the challenges, face the changes and the unexpected, work smarter, and deliver better.”
   He said that as the training organisation for Local and Central Government, Learning State worked in partnership with the public and tertiary education sectors to set standards; identify existing and anticipated skill gaps; and develop and implement training programs and qualifications to fill them.
   “Learning State specialises in structured workplace learning benchmarked in line with standards on the New Zealand Qualifications Framework,” he said.

15 November, 2011
And From the World in Brief...

UNITED STATES
A US magazine has included the Department of State as one of its ‘50 Great Places to Work’.
   It says among the perks the 44,362 employees enjoy are a student-loan repayment program, a transit subsidy, and a wide array of courses through the Foreign Service Institute, the magazine found.
   Among the challenges were the constant need to learn about new issues, new languages and new cultures.

SINGAPORE
A new book that sheds light on how policymakers think and make decisions has been launched by Singapore’s Civil Service College.
   Titled Behavioural Economics and Policy Design: Examples from Singapore, the book explains the implications of behavioural factors for policy design.
   It was written by policy practitioners in the Singapore Government.

MALAYSIA (Sarawak)
Plans by the Opposition Democratic Action Party (DAP) in Sarawak State to slash Public Service staff numbers if it is elected have drawn criticism from a wide range of sources.
   Critics say a reduction in the number of Public Servants would only increase the rate of unemployment and social problems.
   A DAP report says the first step the Opposition would take in reducing national expenditure would be to cut down the number of Public Servants with under-performing officers the first to go.

SOUTH SUDAN
Delays have arisen in a much-heralded program to root out unqualified State workers.
   The program is mired in disputes over who should be affected.
   It is believed that as many as 65 per cent of State workers may have falsified their credentials or are unqualified.
   However, Public Service jobs are seen as just rewards for people who fought in a two-decade civil war that led to South Sudan’s independence on 9 July, regardless of qualifications.

PHILIPPINES
The Civil Service Commission has presented its Outstanding Public Servants of 2011 Awards.
   The criteria for receiving an Award was an “inherent desire to serve their fellow men, going beyond the call of duty despite the challenges of the Public Service such as low remuneration, lack of resources and public distrust”.
   Three types of awards were given: the Presidential Award went to individuals or groups whose contributions had a nationwide impact on public interest; the Dangal ng Bayan Award to individuals for performance of an extraordinary act or public service and the Pagasa Award to individuals or groups that directly benefited more than one Department of Government.
   Each recipient receives up to P200,000 ($A4,500) in cash, plus plaques and trophies, promotions or salary increases, and scholarships.

8 November, 2011
UNITED STATES

10% cut to PS staff approved

A Bill to reduce the US Federal workforce through attrition by 10 per cent over the next three years has been passed through its committee stages in the House of Representatives.
   The Bill calls for the hiring of one new worker to replace every three who leave their PS jobs and was amended to include the contractor workforce as well as Government employees.
   There are about two million Federal employees and the contractor workforce is roughly 10.5 million.
   According to the new Bill, the attrition policy would stay in effect until 30 September, 2014 and includes a provision that limits procurement on service contracts to supplement the reduced workforce.
   Estimates put the savings at $US139 billion ($A135.5 billion) over the next decade.
   The Bill would make exceptions for certain national security concerns or any event that threatened public health or safety.
   Opponents of the legislation claim that a 10 per cent across-the-board reduction in the Government workforce was arbitrary and did not take into account such critical services as law enforcement or those provided to war veterans.
   Reducing the Federal workforce through attrition was also a recommendation of the bipartisan Simpson-Bowles Fiscal Commission, created by President Barak Obama and led by former Republican Senator Alan Simpson and former White House Chief of Staff, Erskine Bowles.
   Director of the Congressional Budget Office, Douglas Elmendorf warned on the effect a smaller Federal workforce could have on Government operations.
   “Having fewer Federal workers would probably lower the levels of service that Federal Agencies provide to the public, unless cuts in the Agencies’ workforces were accompanied by actions to enhance productivity,” Mr Elmendorf said.

8 November, 2011
GREECE

30,000 PS staff face ‘removal’

The Greek Government has completed plans that would see 30,000 public sector workers gradually removed from the State payroll.
   A 45-page Circular has been produced by the Administrative Reform Ministry and sent to all public sector Departments detailing how the new labour pool would operate.
   The Ministry has also set in motion the scrapping of 150,000 empty position in the public sector, meaning Public Servants cannot be hired to fill them.
   The Circular sets 27 November as the date by which the 30,000 employees will have to leave their jobs.
   They will then receive 60 per cent of their regular salary for the next 12 months before, in all probability, being dismissed.
   A number of the staff members will be drawn from public bodies which are being scrapped as part of efforts to streamline the Public Service, such as the National Research Organisation.
   Sources said that employees from other Departments would be moved into the labour pool as well.
   The only staff to be exempt are teachers but that arrangement will end when this academic year is over.
   Under the Greek Constitution, Public Servants cannot be fired if they are filling a position that has been created by law.
   By scrapping the 150,000 unfilled posts, new employees will not be able to be appointed to them.
   The Ministry’s Circular also announces the introduction of performance-related pay for the S for the first time.
   Meanwhile, the Director of the Social Security Foundation (IKA), Rovertos Spyropoulos revealed that up to eight billion Euros ($A10.75 billion) had been paid out in bogus pensions over the past decade.

8 November, 2011
ARMENIA

Benefits boost for PS

A first-ever package of socioeconomic benefits for tens of thousands of Armenian Public Servants and members of their families has been announced.
   According to the Minister for Finance, Vache Gabrielian, starting from next year the Government will pay for Public Servants’ medical insurance, education and recreation as well as subsidising their mortgage loans.
   Mr Gabrielian said the draft Budget for 2012 sets aside 18 billion drams ($A45 million) for the purpose.
   “The Ministry of Economy will approve a list of resorts in Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh where the 100,000 or so State officials and their families will be able to spend their vacations at the Government’s expense,” Mr Gabrielian said.
   “This will spur the development of tourism in the Republic of Armenia and Nagorno-Karabakh.”
   It was not clear if the State is to pay for all types of healthcare expenditures incurred by the Public Servants. The scale of governing funding for their housing loans was also not immediately clarified.
   Some Government employees were sceptical about the unprecedented benefits package.
   “This is such a small sum that it will not be enough to cover even one per cent of what they are talking about,” one Public Servant said.
   “I don’t think it will happen.
   “Even if it does, it won’t be a big deal.”

8 November, 2011
UNITED KINGDOM

Strikes loom over pensions row

Members of Unison, the largest UK public sector union, have voted in favour of strikes in support of the case against PS pension changes.
   The PS workers, ranging from school dinner providers and garbage collectors to social workers and National Health Service (NHS) staff, have backed a campaign of industrial action by 245,000 votes to 70,000 in a 29 per cent turnout.
   The national strike is now set for 30 November, when teachers, Public Servants and other public sector workers are also expected to be going out.
   Other unions are expected to announce the results of their ballots in the coming weeks.
   Responding to the vote, Government spokespeople said Unison’s voting figures showed there was “extremely limited support” for strikes and that the NHS had contingency plans in place to ensure that quality of patient care was not compromised.
   A spokeswoman for the Prime Minister, David Cameron said the strike vote was disappointing, unnecessary and potentially damaging.
   “We have a good deal on the table,” the spokeswoman said, “one that is fair and affordable and we would urge the trade unions to reconsider and look at the deal on the table.”
   General Secretary of Unison, Dave Prentis said the vote was decisive and reflected the deep concern that members held over Ministers’ proposals for their pensions.
   Unison said its members in Local Government voted by 171,000 in favour of strikes, with 54,500 against, in a turnout of 30 per cent, while NHS workers backed action by 73,900 to 15,700 in a 25 per cent turnout.
   Union officials speculated that between two and three million public sector workers could be on strike on 30 November, making it the biggest day of industrial action since the Winter of Discontent in 1979 and even rivalling the 1926 General Strike.

8 November, 2011
CHINA

Ethics campaign for PS

The State Administration of Civil Service (SACS) in China has announced it is to launch an ethics training campaign for all the nation’s Public Servants over the next five years.
   The training course would be no less than six hours in length and compulsory for all new entrants to the PS from now on, a statement from SACS said.
   It said the aim of the course was to have all Public Servants trained by the end of 2015, the last year of the country’s 12th Five-Year Plan.
   The statement said the campaign would focus on training leading officials and community-level Public Servants who worked in direct contact with the public.
   It would include lectures and case studies to improve Public Servants’ loyalty to the country and people, as well as their sense of responsibility and honesty.
   The training program was launched following the recent exposure of improper behaviour and illegal acts by PS Staff.
   Professor with Jiangsu Administration Institute, Liu Dasheng said such cases had a negative influence on the public’s image of Public Servants.
   “Many regions have already begun to make efforts to improve the moral standards of their Civil Servants,” Professor Liu said.
   “For instance, the Government of Shuyang County in Jiangsu has included ‘moral qualities’ in its Civil Servant Performance Evaluation System since 2010.”

8 November, 2011
ISRAEL

PM’s staff numbers explode

The Israeli Prime Minister’s office has been criticised over the number of personal aides and advisers it employs
   A report issued by the State Comptroller’s Office revealed that the numbers had increased six-fold between 1995 and 2010 and critics claimed it was because the Civil Service Commission had failed to establish clear criteria for the positions.
   Former Chief Justice, Eliezer Goldberg said the appointment blow-out was partly because the Commission failed to fulfil its role as a watchdog.
   According to PS Regulations, Prime Ministers, Ministers and Ministry Directors-General were permitted to hire people to fill certain ‘positions of personal trust’ without issuing a tender.
   The only restriction was that they may not be integrated into the management echelons of the Government Ministry.
   During the 15 years surveyed by the State Comptroller which spanned seven Governments and five Prime Ministers, the number of positions of personal trust in the Prime Minister’s Office reached 53, with only 10 of 48 satisfying all the criteria that permitted their employment without a tender being fulfilled.
   The Comptroller, Micha Lindenstrauss, found there was a substantial increase in the number of ‘personal trust’ positions among clerical workers approved between 1995 and 2005.
   Mr Lindenstrauss criticised successive Prime Ministers for taking on so many aides without considering whether there was a real need for them.
   He also criticised former Civil Service Commissioner, Shmuel Hollander for approving the hiring of assistants in contravention of the Regulations that appeared in Civil Service circulars.
   Mr Lindenstrauss maintained that in some cases Mr Hollander did not test whether the aides were qualified for the positions they were filling.

8 November, 2011
JAMAICA

Concern over PS election candidates

A row has broken out in Jamaica over senior Public Servants planning to stand for political office in forthcoming elections.
   The issue has been raised by the Jamaica Civil Service Association in relation to the candidacy of the Chief Executive Officer of Caymanas Track Limited and the potential candidacy of others presently employed in the public sector.
   Minister with Responsibility for Information and the Public Service, Arthur Williams said that the Staff Orders of the Public Service specifically prohibited people employed by the Central Government from engaging in any type of partisan political activity in any elections at any level.
   “No such prohibition exists however in respect of persons employed in Statutory Bodies and Government-owned companies,” Mr Williams said.
   He said however that the long-standing rule had been that people did not engage in political activity while holding office in the wider Public Service, where such engagement could result in a conflict of interest or was likely to result in persons acting with partiality in carrying out their public duties.
   Mr Williams said the office of Chief Executive Officer of the Government-owned company, Caymanas Track Limited, did not fall within Central Government so the prohibition did not apply.
   The question was rather would there be any conflict of interest?
   He did not think any could be established.

8 November, 2011
NIGERIA

Corruption concerns increase

The Independent Corrupt Practices and Related Offences Commission (ICPC) is concerned over the rising number of corruption cases in the Nigerian Public Service.
   Acting Chair of the ICPC, Abdullahi Bako said the growing problem was plunging the PS into disrepute.
   Mr Bako said reports available to the Commission indicated that public funds were being disbursed without due regard to proper procedures.
   He said examples included fictitious contracts being awarded by Public Servants with the intention of siphoning off public funds.
   He said the practice had reached an alarming stage with corruption and incompetence within the PS widespread and involving common occurrences of delayed files, wrong claims, favouritism, truancy, outright demand for bribes and abuse of office.
   “Available reports also indicate that public funds are commonly disbursed frivolously for personal gain,” Mr Bako said.
   “In some cases, fictitious contracts are awarded just to siphon funds allocated for other purposes.
   “These practices are carried out brazenly and with impunity.”
   He said it appeared that many Public Servants were not even aware that the practices defined the inefficiency of the Public Service.
   “They seem not to know that they are wrong or are part of what constitutes corrupt practices for which the country is now internationally notorious,” Mr Bako said.

8 November, 2011
UNITED KINGDOM

Government ‘must push PS reform’

The Government needs to speed up and invigorate Public Service reform or it will fail, a Parliamentary Committee has warned.
   In its report, Change in Government: The Agenda for Leadership, the Public Administration Committee (PAC) said the traditional approach to reform of the Public Service through gradual change was too slow to achieve the 25 per cent spending reductions.
   The Committee criticised the Government for its lack of urgency or leadership and its failure to produce a central, coherent change program to guide the changes.
   “We recognise that reform is particularly challenging at a time of both an increase in requirements and a reduction in staff,” the report said.
   “We consider that incremental improvements will not be sufficient to meet the scale of change implied by both the decentralisation agenda and the structural impact of a reduction by one-third of the administration budget of Whitehall.”
   Existing efforts to restructure the Public Service came under further criticism as the Committee said voluntary redundancies in some Departments were being conducted without a thorough assessment of required roles and functions, leading to the loss of key skills and knowledge.
   In addition to losing expertise, the report identified a further issue with ongoing training.
   “There is a wealth of evidence that, despite the attempts of Ministers and senior Civil Servants, Departments lack expertise and specialist knowledge and the confidence to make decisions and implement them quickly,” the report said.

8 November, 2011
And from the World in Brief...

UNITED STATES
The inaugural conference of the Women in Public Service Project, aimed at advancing women’s leadership in politics and governance worldwide, is to be held this month at the Department of State.
   The event will include an invited audience of public officials and policy makers.
   Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton will deliver the keynote address and other speakers will include Managing Director of the International Monetary Fund, Christine Lagarde; Director-General of UNESCO, Irina Bokova and the Administrator of the United Nations Development Program and New Zealand’s former Prime Minister, Helen Clark.

CANADA
The Professional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC) is to hold a vote on a proposal to join the Canadian Labour Congress.
   The vote is being held as some union members believe it crucial to help fight what is perceived as an attack on unions and public services by the Government.
   The union has historically stayed outside the Congress but a report says it now has to ally itself with other public sector unions to be given the clout and influence it needs to be heard.
   The proposal, if approved, would mark a radical shift in the culture and direction of the union.
   PIPSC represents 55,000 Public Servants, mostly higher-paid, white-collar professionals such as scientists, engineers, auditors, researchers and nurses. It is the only national union of its size not affiliated with the Congress.

NIGERIA
A row over pay has led to workers in the Nigeria Meteorological Agency threatening to withdraw their weather forecast services to airlines, ships, oil rigs, agricultural enterprises and other public and corporate Agencies.
   The dispute is over unpaid relativity in a salary increase dating back 15 months.
   The union representing the workers said that if the dispute is not resolved soon an indefinite strike would result.

SOUTH SUDAN
The South Sudan Minister for the Public Service has been sacked with no reason given for her dismissal.
   An official from the Public Service Ministry said the Minister’s problems mainly stemmed from her recent decision to form a committee that would be tasked with nationwide screening of all Public Service employees both at the State and national level.
   “We all know that the decision to form such a committee would rub many people the wrong way,” the official said.
   “There are scores of people in the Public Service who lack qualifications and removing them will not be an easy task.”

CANADA
A former senior Public Servant who was dismissed over suspicions she was spying for China, has lost her fight to return to the Public Service.
   The worker who had held the post of analyst to the Prime Minister and Cabinet, was suspected of having engaged in intelligence gathering during previous employment with China’s State-run news agency Xinhua.
   It was alleged by the Canadian Security Intelligence Service that the worker retained links with spies and in 2003 her Top Secret security clearance was denied.
   The woman has been fighting for her right to a job in another Government Department ever since, but the Federal Court of Canada has now ruled that she was not treated unfairly.
   The woman is a native of Lanzhou, China and became a Canadian citizen in 1999.

1 November, 2011
GREECE

More strikes as PS faces further cuts

Further Public Service strikes are expected to be staged in Greece after Parliament approved harsh new cutbacks to secure international loans.
   The new austerity measures include further pension and PS salary cuts, reductions in the Public Service, cuts in the tax-free threshold and a watering-down of workers’ collective bargaining rights.
   Their approval by the governing Socialist majority was expected to pave the way for a vital €8 billion ($A10.7 billion) payout from international creditors within weeks so Greece could stay solvent.
   Secretary-General of the Adedy Public Service union, Ilias Iliopoulos predicted the law would not be implemented and accused the Government of turning a blind eye to the toll the measures will take on workers.
   “This Government has ignored the popular uprising by approving this terrible law,” Mr Iliopoulos said.
   “Our answer is get out as fast as you can, there is no place for you in Greece any longer.”
   Greece’s main private sector union, GSEE, was also planning new strikes.
   More than 150,000 people took to the streets of Athens during a two-day strike against the cutbacks, which followed 20 months of deeply resented austerity measures.
   Police arrested about 20 people following extensive rioting on both days.
   The vote weakened the Greek Government, after a former Labor Minister who objected to reducing the bargaining rights, was expelled from the party.
   The Socialists now control 153 of Parliament’s 300 seats, down from 160 after their landslide election victory two years ago.
   The new cutbacks have increased anger in the country which is in its third year of recession and unemployment, which reached 16.5 per cent in July.

1 November, 2011
UNITED KINGDOM

Performance pay up despite promises

New figures have been released showing the total amount of bonuses paid to Public Servants in the British PS rose from £136 million ($A207 million) last year to £140 million ($A214 million) this year.
   This is in spite of a promise by the Government to crack down on PS performance pay.
   Cabinet Office files have revealed that performance bonuses to some PS staff were as high as £35,000 ($A53,000).
   Prime Minister, David Cameron had promised to crack down on bonuses paid to the PS as part of Government plans to reduce the costs of the public sector.
   The figures are likely to cause concern to unions and private sector workers as household bills continue to soar and many have been forced to take pay cuts or accept a wage freeze.
   Adding to the controversy, news has also emerged of PS staff using taxpayer-funded credit cards to pay thousands of pounds for luxury hotels, doughnuts, make-up, and even flying lessons.
   Thousands more pounds have been spent on taxis and orthopaedic equipment, as well as downloading tracks from iTunes and more than £4,000 ($A6,100) was spent on enabling Prime Minister Cameron to take a holiday in Ibiza.
   Ministers defended the payments by saying that bonuses for the country’s most senior Public Servants had been cut from 65 per cent to 25 per cent, saving the taxpayer £15 million ($A23 million) in six months.

1 November, 2011
NEW ZEALAND

‘Real world’ slur angers PS

New Zealand’s Public Service unions have reacted angrily to comments by the Minister for State Services that PS staff were not part of the ‘real world.’
   The Public Service Association said Public Servants were real people who did real jobs and led real lives.
   The Minister, Tony Ryall made his comment in response to reports that many staff of the NZ Public Service were putting in unpaid hours to compensate for cutbacks in staff.
   “Hello and welcome to what happens in the real world,” the Minister said.
   Rejecting the Minister’s comment, the National Secretary of the PSA, Brenda Pilott said Public Servants were very familiar with the real world.
   “Unlike Tony Ryall, most Public Servants do not live in State-funded accommodation or travel in a chauffeur-driven BMW car,” Ms Pilott said.
   “It’s nothing new that Public Servants are dedicated workers who go the extra mile and put in extra hours, they have always done this.”
   She said what was not sustainable was people regularly working 50-hour weeks to prop up the Government’s cutbacks to public services.
   “Like everyone else, Public Servants have lives outside of work, families to feed, children to raise and other commitments,” she said.
   “I’m sure Tony Ryall puts in a long day too, but on a $NZ249,100 ($A190,036) salary he’s substantially better remunerated for his efforts than our average woman member who supports a family on $43,185 ($A33,000).”
   She said for a Minister to insinuate that public sector employees - many of whom were dealing with crisis situations on a daily basis – did not live in the real world, was insulting.

1 November, 2011
UNITED STATES

Pay cuts labelled ‘counter-productive’

The Director of the United States Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has warned Congress’s cost-cutting committees that reducing Public Service pay would hurt Government programs in the future.
   The Director, Doug Emendorf said that lowering pay rates for Federal civilian employees could hamper efforts to recruit and retain workers.
   “In addition, it will reduce the overall skill level of the Federal workforce over time,” Mr Elmendorf said.
   “Having fewer Federal workers would probably lower the levels of service that Agencies provide to the public, unless cuts in the workforce were accompanied by actions to enhance productivity.”
   The Congressional hearing focused on potential cuts to discretionary spending, which makes up 40 per cent of Federal spending.
   More than half of the $US1.3 trillion ($A1.2 trillion) in discretionary spending goes to defence, according to the CBO. The rest is where cuts tend to be made.
   Democrat Senator Patty Murray thought this should change.
   “Listening to the debates here over the past few months, you would think this small piece of the pie was a whole lot bigger,” Senator Murray said.
   “Congress has gone to this relatively small pot with cuts and spending caps again and again while leaving many other pieces of the Budget essentially untouched.”
   She said cuts in this area were not enough to erase the deficit, and suggested that tax revenue and cuts to mandatory programs would have to be part of the solution.
   Republicans in Congress have refused to consider tax increases.

1 November, 2011
MALAYSIA

New PS exit rules adopted

Some Public Servants in Malaysia who failed to perform to a satisfactory standard or refused to transfer to other Agencies or the private sector are to be subject to a new exit policy.
   President of the Congress of Unions of Employees in the Public and Civil Services (Cuepacs), Datuk Omar Osman, said this would only involve certain management and professional groups whose evaluation would be based on their yearly appraisal and achievements against Key Performance Indicators.
   “Under this new policy, Civil Servants will not lose their pension or other benefits they are entitled to receive,” Datuk Omar said.
   He said this differed from the existing Malaysian Remuneration System which only allowed Public Servants to opt for early retirement at the age of 40, while under the new system they can do so earlier subject to conditions set by the Public Service Department
   Datuk Omar said the new policy would also provide an opportunity for Public Servants to change career by making a move to another Agency, Government-Linked Company or private sector should they feel their current job was not to their liking or interest.
   Should they find themselves unhappy with the transfer, workers could re-apply to join the Public Service.
   “This policy will be a good thing because workers may be able to increase productivity in other sectors which are more suited to them,” Datuk Omar said.

1 November, 2011
CANADA

Recruits still needed despite cuts

The Public Service Commission (PSC) is of the view that Canada needed to continue to hire recruits to key Federal Public Service jobs even as it was shedding workers elsewhere.
   President of the PSC, Maria Barrados said managers had to carefully plan for downsizing and should continue highly targeted recruitment and hiring to ensure they had people with the right skills to do the jobs.
   “We believe that targeted hiring must continue to ensure succession in the Public Service and maintain a Public Service to deliver results for Canadians,” Ms Barrados said.
   She said the Government’s strategic reviews had already had an impact on the Public Service, slowing growth and hiring to their lowest levels in a decade.
   Ms Barrados said that with fiscal restraint, Departments would face major staffing pressures to get work done and they had to ensure they had the right balance of people in the jobs that remained.
   The shrinking number of jobs comes at a time when interest in Public Service jobs is running high. The PSC received more than 800,000 applications for employment last year.
   Its figures showed that the biggest decrease in workers was among the number of people hired for full-time, permanent jobs - falling to 7,248 compared with the 10,718 hired the year before.
   Ms Barrados said the Government had made a policy decision several years ago to hire more permanent employees, particularly young workers, which helped to increase numbers in recent years.
   However, the PSC found the number of employees under the age of 35 hired into the Public Service fell by nearly 28 per cent last year.
   That decrease led to the first drop in the number of workers in the age group in a decade.

1 November, 2011
CHINA

Interest in entrance exams down

More applicants are failing to make the grade in the Chinese National Public Service Examinations.
   The number of applicants qualified to take the examination next year currently stands at 1.23 million and is expected to rise to 1.33 million.
   However, last year the examination attracted more than 1.41 million applicants, and 1.44 million in 2009.
   The decrease in numbers has been put down to stricter assessments adopted this year and more career paths opening to university graduates.
   More than 130 Central Departments and their grassroots institutions plan to recruit over 18,000 workers next year, an increase of 2,000 on this year.
   The most sought-after position was a research post at the State Ethnic Affairs Commission, which received 4,124 applications. Positions in some western and remote regions saw very few applications or none at all.
   A student in Xiamen University, Li Bo said he did not apply for the examination, even though a job in Public Service was seen as stable.
   “I like changes and challenges in my life, and I think a Public Servant’s work would be tedious and is not suitable for me, although my parents want me to have a try at the test,” he said.
   “I want to be a sports journalist after graduation.”
   A Government worker in Shanxi Province, Ding Hao passed the test last year after working in a remote village for three years.
   “My experience working as a village head helped me gain the ability to handle emergencies and the skills to better communicate with people,” he said.
   “Those are important for Civil Service work.”
   The examination, which will test applicants’ writing skills and other abilities, will be held on 27 November.

1 November, 2011
NIGERIA (Abia)

Interstate workers sacked

The Abia State Government has decided to sack all Public Service workers not born in the State.
   In a circular, the Head of Service of Abia State, G.C. Adiele ordered the heads of Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Local Government to submit the names of all non-indigenes in their employ.
   The directive said all non-indigenes working in the Public Service of Abia State should be transferred to their States of origin.
   Some reports have said that women who were indigenes and married to non-indigenes were also affected, as they would be expected to relocate with their husbands and seek employment in their husbands’ States.
   Male indigenes married to non-indigenes were not affected.
   The move has raised questions over its legality since it contradicts Section 42 of the Nigerian Constitution which gives all Nigerians the same rights in every State regardless of their State of origin
   However, the Abia State Government defended its decision saying that the recent increase in the national minimum wage and the inflow of Abia State indigenes who were fleeing violence in Northern Nigeria had inflated the State’s wage bill and this was an attempt to reduce the pressure.
   A spokesman for the State Attorney General said the returning Public Servants were absorbed into the Public Service of Abia State even where there were no vacancies in order to save them and their families from the hardship resulting from their flight.

1 November, 2011
MALAYSIA (Sarawak)

PS urged to be innovative

Innovation and integrity should be two prized assets in the Sarawak Public Service, the State’s Chief Minister has told his Public Servants.
   Pehin Sri Abdul Taib Mahmud said good education was not sufficient if it did not accompany an innovative mind.
   “The Government recognises the priceless contributions of Public Servants to the development of the State, but they need to acquire more knowledge and skills,” Pehin Sri Taib said.
   He said the foundation for the State’s successful transformation was the faith and loyalty of its Public Servants.
   “Faithfulness is an important value which bonds teamwork in an organisation,” he said.
   He also reminded the Public Servants that loyalty could be professed by improving service quality.
   State Secretary, Datuk Amar Mohamad Morshidi Abdul Ghani said the development of a positive working culture through High Prestige Teamwork (HPT) was one of the main methods to bring success to an organisation.
   “HPT supports the culture of sharing as well as mutual vision among Public Servants, thus it is able to steer the organisation in achieving its set vision and mission with excellence,” Datuk Morshidi said.
   He said HPT was one of the ways to enhance delivery system and customer service management.
   Meanwhile, a total of 361 officers from nine Departments and Government Agencies have received loyalty awards.
   One of the recipients, Awang Bujang Awang Amar, had been a Public Servant for 42 years, beginning when he was 16 as a grass-cutter and later becoming a driver.

1 November, 2011
And From the World in brief...

UNITED KINGDOM
As part of its transparency drive, the UK Government is publishing for the first time all spending over £500 ($A755) on Departmental Government Procurement Cards between April and August.
   Co-Chairman of the Conservative Party, Sayeeda Warsi backed the plan saying she welcomed the fact that Departmental spending on the cards was 10 per cent less than last year.
   She said the Government’s honesty about how it spent money would help tackle waste and inefficiency.

SOUTH AFRICA
The Department of Treasury has warned that scarce Government resources would mean any salary increases for Public Service workers needed to be given careful attention.
   The treasury said that past improvements in PS remuneration and increased employment had raised the wage bill to about 42 per cent of Government revenue, up from 31 per cent four years ago.
   “Over the medium term, difficult decisions are required to ensure that scarce resources are directed towards economic development and more effective service delivery, while ensuring that debt levels are sustainable,” Treasury said.

CANADA
Numbers in the Canadian Public Service are expected to take a downward path as the Government shaves its workforce to meet deficit-reduction targets.
   This follows a decade of continuous expansion.
   A new report from the Canadian Public Service Commission says 14.3 per cent fewer people were hired in 2010-11 than in the year before with the biggest decline the signing of full-time, permanent staff.

GHANA
The private sector is expected to play an increasingly influential role in closing Ghana’s infrastructure gap.
   Ghana and many other African countries face considerable problems with infrastructure development and Ghana’s national policy on Public Private Partnership is aimed at providing a clear and consistent process for all aspects of project development and implementation.
   Observers said challenges to infrastructure development and public service delivery constrained the growth of the economy in the past and needed to be reversed with the support of the private sector.

UNITED KINGDOM
A trade union that is opposing changes to public sector pensions wants its own staff to pay more for their pensions.
   A document from the Public and Commercial Services Union reveals that one of the union’s own pension funds has benefited from a Government change in pension fund rules that it is fighting in court.
   The union’s leadership has proposed a 10 per cent increase in the contributions its staff pay towards their occupational pensions, according to the document.

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