Public Service News from around the world

Case stands down from UK party probe

LONDON (21 December): United Kingdom Cabinet Secretary, Simon Case has stood down from his investigation into alleged Christmas parties at Downing Street after claims that he had also broken COVID-19 rules.

Mr Case, who heads the Public Service, had been tasked by Prime Minister, Boris Johnson with investigating whether a series of alleged Christmas parties broke pandemic restrictions in late 2020.

However, he has now been accused of attending two parties in December last year at the Cabinet Office — one in his personal office and another in a nearby waiting room.

The inquiry will be taken on by Sue Gray, a former Head of Propriety and Ethics at the Cabinet Office and now a senior official at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.

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Joint bid for US Federal recruitment

WASHINGTON (December 20): Two outside organisation have launched a joint program aimed at creating an internship program for Federal Agencies to attract young people into the United States Public Service.

The Partnership for Public Service, a non-profit organisation dedicated to improving the effectiveness of Federal Government, is administering the Future Leaders in Public Service program, while Schmidt Futures, a philanthropic group, is funding it.

The program will begin with 400 interns for the Departments of Commerce and Transportation equally divided over the 2022 and 2023 summers. 

The positions will go to graduate school students and pay a $US4,000 ($A5,550) stipend. The internships will last 10-to-12 weeks and be located primarily in the Washington area, though some may have flexibility due to Agencies’ current telework statuses.

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Green light for ‘enhanced’ Nigerian PS plan

ABUJA (December 19): An ‘enhanced’ Nigerian Federal Civil Service Strategy and Implementation Plan (2021-2025) has been given the green light by the Government.

Head of the Public Service, Folasade Yemi-Esan said the plan was the result of contributions by the private sector, serving and retired senior Public Servants, labour unions and associations, and other development partners.

“The aim is to achieve a world-class Civil Service that will accelerate national development,” Ms Yemi-Esan said.

“I am convinced that the implementation of the initiatives itemised in the plan will galvanise the Service to greater heights.”

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Cambodian jobs freeze in COVID battle

PHNOM PENH (December 22): The Cambodian Government has announced a snap Public Service recruitment freeze so funds can be diverted to fighting the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.

Minister of Economy and Finance, Aun Pornmoniroth said there would be no expansion of jobs in 2022. Apart from the Ministries of Interior and Health, officers who retired during the year would not be replaced.

Mr Pornmoniroth said the Government would maintain current salary levels and there was a possibility of an increment later.

The Civil Service Ministry held recruitment examinations for more than 5,000 applicants to fill 375 positions in October.

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Stressed NI workers ramp up sickness days

BELFAST (December 19): More than 3.1 days per staff member were lost due to sickness in the Northern Ireland Public Service during the September quarter, a new report has revealed.

Figures released by the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency showed there had been an increase of a day per staff member lost to illness compared to the previous year’s statistics.

The absence levels equate to almost £10 million ($A18.6 million) in lost production, with the latest figures showing more than 68,000 working days were lost.

Anxiety, stress and depression were among the reasons that accounted for the greatest proportion of working days lost.

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Call for Indian exams in more languages

NEW DELHI (December 20): An Indian MP has called on the Government to allow the country’s Union Public Service Commission Public Service examinations to be taken in regional languages as well as English and Hindi.

Su Venkatesan, who represents the city of Madurai in the southern State of Tamil Nadu, says the current system produces a bias against candidates from non-Hindi speaking States as they have to assimilate and comprehend questions in English before answering them.

“This is a double blow. Because the questions are not in regional languages, coaching materials for preparation are also not available in those languages,” Mr Venkatesan said.

“It is against natural justice and does not ensure a level playing field for the candidates belonging to non-Hindi speaking States.”

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Ireland’s MyGovID passes a milestone

DUBLIN (December 21): Ireland’s Department of Social Protection says three million people have now registered for an account on the MyGovID platform.

In a statement, the Department said the MyGovID service provided users with a safe and secure ‘single sign-on’ to online public services in Ireland.

“It is designed to facilitate a more joined-up Government approach, with more sharing, more reuse and more integration between public bodies,” the statement said.

“MyGovID provides access to a range of online public services in welfare, revenue, transport, education, agriculture and more.”

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Shake-up for Jamaican public bodies

KINGSTON (December 22): A total of 43 Jamaican public bodies have been rationalised over the past four years under the Government’s Public Sector Transformation Program.

Executive Director of the Transformation Implementation Unit (TIU), Maria Thompson Walters said the rationalisation of public bodies was a pillar of the program, and included closures, mergers, divestments and integration into parent Ministries.

Ms Thompson Walters said that although some public bodies had become dormant, the requirements of the Companies Office of Jamaica meant they must still have a board of directors and produce annual reports.

Minister of Finance and the Public Service, Nigel Clarke said the growth of public bodies over the past several decades had been to address inefficiencies or constraints in the Public Service, that were best circumvented by putting such bodies in place.

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Digital platform to address Greek bureaucracy

ATHENS (December 22): The Greek Government says it will launch a digital platform aimed at reducing “time-consuming, patience-testing and confusing bureaucracy”, when the public accesses the Public Service.

The National Register of Procedures lays out in detail the necessary steps to complete transactions with the State, including required documents and how they should be submitted. 

In a statement, the Digital Ministry said the project was expected to be ready in pilot form in the first half of 2022.

“It will be accessible both to members of the public and Civil Servants and will go a long way toward reducing time-consuming, patience-testing and confusing bureaucracy which has become a byword for transactions with the public sector,” the statement said.

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Roadmap to ‘modernise’ Jordan PS

AMMAN (December 25): Jordan’s Cabinet has decided to establish a committee to modernise the Public Service.

Prime Minister, Bisher Al Khasawneh said modernising the public sector had become a necessity as it was the main driver for economic reforms and other reforms associated with developing the political system.

He said the committee would work within a timeframe of six months, after which it would offer a comprehensive roadmap and an executive program to modernise public administration and facilitate procedures.

“The committee will revisit all governance in the public sector to ensure it matches the best international practices. It will enhance values of efficiency and institutionalism to improve public administration,” Mr Khasawneh said.

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NZ Ministry lagging in diversity

WELLINGTON (December 16): New Zealand’s Ministry for the Environment has revealed that the nation’s minorities are under-represented among its staff.

While Māori people represent about 16.5 per cent of the population — and of the public sector generally — they are just 12.6 per cent of the Ministry’s staff. However, that represents a five per cent increase on last year.

Asian people are just eight per cent of staff at the Ministry, despite being more than 11 per cent of the public sector workforce generally and 15 per cent of the total population.

Pasifika represent just 2.2 per cent of workers, despite being nearly 10 per cent of the public sector and eight per cent of the population.

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Unvaccinated HK workers to pay for more tests

HONG KONG (December 24): Unvaccinated employees of Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority will be required to pay for more frequent COVID-19 tests from January 4.

In a statement, the Authority said 96 per cent of its staff, or 84,480 of 88,000 employees, had received at least one vaccination.

“From January 4, unvaccinated workers must take tests at their own expense outside working hours every three days, as opposed to the current seven days, amid the threat of the growing number of variant cases worldwide," the statement said.

“Only those who have doctor's certificates proving they are unfit for inoculations can take the tests during working hours and have their fees reimbursed, and only tests from combined nasal and throat swab samples will be accepted.”

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Philippine workers banned from electioneering

MANILA (December 17): The Philippines Department of Education has reminded its employees that they are banned from any political activities during the 2022 national and local elections.

In a statement, the Department said this was in accordance with the existing rules and regulations of the Civil Service Commission and the Commission on Elections.

“Government officials and employees are prohibited from engaging in any electioneering and partisan political activity to ensure Civil Servants are focused on public service,” the statement said.

“Guided by these policies, we call on our personnel and stakeholders to champion clean, safe, and fair elections in 2022, for our children and for the future of this nation.”

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Antigua vaccine refusers go to court

SAINT JOHN’S (December 17): Two Antigua and Barbuda Public Servants sent home for failing to take a COVID-19 vaccination have begun legal action against the Government.

A public sector jab mandate was announced in September and stipulated that all public sector workers must have at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine before returning to work.

Lawyer, Lawrence Daniels said he was challenging the vaccine mandate on behalf of two women employed in the Public Service who were sent home without pay.

The matter was adjourned until early next year.

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World Bank questions Gulf PS pay-outs

WASHINGTON (December 24): The World Bank has questioned the huge amounts of money Gulf region Governments lavish on their employees’ salaries and benefits and warned of the risks involved.

In a statement, the World Bank said while the size of the public sectors in many Gulf Cooperation Council countries was within international norms, the cost was often not.

“Public Servants are paid a wage premium of between 50-to-100 per cent over what they would receive in the private sector,” the statement said.

It noted that in Saudi Arabia, allowances for Public Servants had risen threefold from 2019 and now accounted for more than a third of the Government’s total wage bill, while Oman’s wage bill had doubled in the past decade.

The full International PS News service will resume on January 18