New salary framework for Singapore officials

                                                

Singapore’s Public Service Division (PSD) says it will adjust the salaries of Administrative Service officers as well as judicial and selected statutory appointment-holders by between five and 12 per cent from October.

In a statement, the PSD said these salaries were last adjusted almost 15 years ago.

“Since then, gaps with market benchmarks have increased significantly. These adjustments will enable the Public Service to continue to attract and retain its fair share of talent for key leadership roles,” the statement said.

The salary adjustment will affect about 300 Administrative Service officers as well as 30 judicial and statutory appointment-holders, PSD said.

They include the Chief Justice, Judges of the Court of Appeal, Appellate Division and the High Court, as well as Judicial Commissioners.

Aside from those, the Attorney-General, Deputy Attorneys-General, the Chair of the Public Service Commission and the Auditor-General will also benefit from the pay adjustment.

The PSD said it would continue to strengthen its development efforts across all schemes of service beyond just providing competitive salaries.

“Administrative Service officers can continue to look forward to job rotations, attachments in the private and people sectors, as well as leadership milestone programs,” the statement said.

“The Public Service will continue to periodically review salaries of public officers and adjust them when necessary to broadly keep pace with, but not lead, the market.”

Economist, Song Seng Wun said the salary adjustments were timely given that the last review was some 15 years ago.

“Whether you are in the Public Service or in private sector, everyone should be paid according to their skill sets, and be rewarded accordingly with a salary that is consistent with the market value in that particular point in time,” Mr Song said.

Asked whether the private sector will take the cue from the PSD’s wage initiative, Mr Song said it had always been the private sector that “leads because it is market-determined”.

“It’s always the case of public sector playing catch-up to whatever is happening in the private sector. This is why you see the private sector ‘pinching’ workers from the public sector. They always look at the public sector to find talent,” he said.

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‘Orthodox’ UK Treasury chief sacked

The Permanent Secretary of the Treasury has become the first casualty of Prime Minister, Liz Truss’s promised shake-up of the bureaucracy with Sir Tom Scholar announcing his exit.

New Chancellor of the Exchequer, Kwasi Kwarteng said it was time for “new leadership”.

Ms Truss had repeatedly railed against “Treasury orthodoxy” during her leadership campaign as she promised tax cuts, despite warnings from rival, Rishi Sunak that they could fuel spiralling inflation.

Sir Tom (pictured) had worked under Labour Prime Minister, Gordon Brown and was the top Public Servant when Mr Sunak rolled out the furlough scheme during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a pointed reference to the energy crisis, Mr Scholar said he wished his colleagues at the Department “all the best for the times ahead”, adding that he would be “cheering on from the sidelines”.

Lord Macpherson, who previously held the top role in the Department, condemned the move, saying Sir Tom’s experience would have been invaluable in the coming months.

“Tom Scholar is the best Civil Servant of his generation. Sacking him makes no sense. As Gordon Brown used to say, ‘They’re not thinking’,” Lord Macpherson said.

Meanwhile, Jacob Rees-Mogg’s brief but eventful stint in charge of Public Service reform has ended with his appointment as Minister for Business in Ms Truss's reshuffle.

The freshly-installed Prime Minister appears to have abolished the Cabinet-level post of Minister for Government Efficiency and Brexit Opportunities.

Nadhim Zahawi has been named Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, the most senior Minister at the Cabinet Office after the Prime Minister and a role that usually includes overseeing Public Service reform.

Edward Argar, previously a Junior Health Minister, has been named Minister for the Cabinet Office, replacing Michael Ellis.

Ms Truss has not yet set out the precise division of labour between Mr Zahawi and Mr Argar, but both will have some responsibility for leading cross-Government and public sector reform and efficiency.

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German spy probe targets senior officers

Germany’s Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution (BfV) is investigating allegations that two senior Public Servants working in the Ministry of Economy could have been spying for Russia.

The national newspaper, Die Zeit, which first revealed the case, said the officials being investigated had close involvement with energy supply issues and held key positions.

Neither the Ministry nor the BfV, which is the country’s domestic intelligence Agency, would comment on the reports.

The Ministry would only say that it was in continual dialogue with the BfV, and that the Ministry found itself “under particular focus” due to its work tackling the energy crisis.

Die Zeit said it was aware of the names and pay grades of the officials under suspicion, but it was not at liberty to publish them.

The employees have been described as holding a “pro-Russia stance” and are suspected of having sought to obstruct the policies of Minister of Economy, Robert Habeck over the past few months.

The newspaper said it was members of the Green party, to which Mr Habeck (pictured) belongs, who took the complaint to the BfV, possibly directed by Mr Habeck himself.

Mr Habeck was an opponent of the now defunct gas pipeline, Nord Stream 2, long before it was abandoned by the German Government in protest at Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.

Die Zeit suggested that the officials, who would have worked on the pipeline project under Mr Habeck’s predecessor, Peter Altmaier, could have struggled to accept the German Government’s U-turn when the scheme was scrapped in February.

The newspaper said that according to its contacts, the suspects’ CVs were examined and found to have “biographical peculiarities”, including time spent studying in Russia and proof of “an emotional proximity to Russia”.

There is no indication as to what the specific allegation relates to, or whether the officials are accused of having taken money from Moscow or having acted out of a sense of conviction.

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Civil Servants to join UK's ‘summer of discontent’

Strikes that have erupted across the United Kingdom’s railways and airlines are about to spread to the Public Service, extending the ‘summer of discontent’ into the autumn and beyond.

Workers in schools, hospitals and the courts are threatening to walk off the job in the coming weeks in protest that their real wages, adjusted for inflation, are falling at the quickest pace on record.

The most active run of industrial action since the early 1970s is likely to compound the miserable period the UK is enduring following travel chaos and drought.

Anger building among Government workers is part of the bleak backdrop that will greet Liz Truss as she takes over as Prime Minister from Boris Johnson.

It reflects decades of spending cuts across the Public Service that have left key public services struggling to cope and workers fed up and ready to pick a fight with Ministers.

Public sector employees, including teachers, nurses and Public Servants are weeks away from voting on whether to walk out from their positions. Meanwhile, barristers in criminal courts have voted for an indefinite strike (pictured).

Government workers are falling further behind after decades of neglect. Since the 1960s investment in the public sector has been on a downward trend from a peak of eight per cent of Gross Domestic Product, to 1.6 per cent in the wake of the financial crisis in 2013-14 after successive Governments slashed spending. 

Those levels crept up once more to 3.4 per cent during the COVID-19 pandemic as the Government spent heavily to stem the damage from lockdowns, but have since subsided.

Criminal law has always been one of the worst-paid specialties in the legal world, but the Government piled on the pressure with cuts to Legal Aid.

Now, many criminal barristers at the start of the careers could earn more working in pubs.

Rosalind Burgin (28) got paid more working at a coffee shop before she qualified as a lawyer specialising in crime and housing. 

“Genuinely having no money coming in means I’m borrowing money from different friends, from my partner, and I’ve never had to do that before,” Ms Burgin said.

“I’ve never been in so much debt. I can’t turn away cases — so the option is work through the night or get a different job.” 

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