Long delayed pay deal for NI workers

Northern Ireland Civil Servants are finally to get a pay offer for 2023-24 following an agreement on Departmental budgets.

Minister for Finance, Caoimhe Archibald said an additional funding package of just over £100 million ($A193 million) had been found for public sector pay as part of the financial deal agreed with the United Kingdom Government after the restoration of Executive Government in the Province.

The funding takes the previously identified figure of £584 million ($A1.1 billion) for public sector pay in 2023-24 to £688 million ($A1.3 billion) However, Ms Archibald (pictured) acknowledged the figure still fell short of what Departments had calculated was needed across the public sector.

“It is regrettable that the Executive was not in a position to fund the full £700 million ($A1.35 billion) of estimated pay costs identified by Departments,” Ms Archibald said.

“However, it has gone as far as possible within the resources available. The allocations agreed go a significant way to address those pressures.”

Last month, thousands of members of the Civil Service joined a one-day strike over public sector pay in Northern Ireland — one of the many casualties of the 2022 collapse of power-sharing between Sinn Féin and the Democratic Unionist Party.

Last year, staff were awarded an across-the-board £552 ($A1,067) pay adjustment for 2022-23. Unions said that figure was worth less than one per cent for most Civil Servants.

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Ethiopia probes workers’ credentials

ADDIS ABABA (February 18): Ethiopia’s Federal Civil Service Commission has announced plans to launch a software application to verify the educational credentials of the African country’s 2.5 million Civil Servants.

Head of the Commission, Mekuriya Haile said he wanted to establish a seamless connection with universities “to address challenges in educational credential verification that have long plagued the Federal Government and regional administrations”.

Mr Mekuriya told Parliament the verification of educational credentials would be conducted by individuals educated in private universities, overseen by the Education and Training Authority, as well as those who graduated from public universities, utilising information provided by the Ministry of Education.

“This is part of a preparation of policies, guidelines, and reform initiatives aimed at delivering effective services to citizens which is nearing its final stages,” Mr Mekuriya said.

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Mexican military to maintain highways  

MEXICO CITY (February 22): In what is seen as yet another example of the military taking a more prominent role in the life of Mexico under the administration of President Andrés Manuel López Obrador, troops will take over the task of maintaining Federal highways.

The President said the Ministry of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport had previously contracted private companies to maintain highways — “but they didn’t do the job well; there were swindles”.

Mr López Obrador said he had informed Minister of Infrastructure, Communications and Transport, Jorge Nuño Lara that military engineers would assume responsibility for the highway maintenance program.

The President has relied heavily on the armed forces since taking office in 2018, using the army and navy for a wide range of tasks including public security, infrastructure construction, and management of customs, ports and airports. Critics have complained this is military government by stealth.

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Budget to reveal Malaysian pay structure

KUALA LUMPUR (February 16): The decision on the improvement of the Malaysian Civil Service salary structure system is expected to be announced during the tabling of the 2025 Budget later this year.

In a statement, the Public Service Department said the proposed improvement would be finalised and presented to the Cabinet for approval at the beginning of the second quarter of this year at the latest.

“Civil Servants can still submit proposals to improve the existing salary system covering all aspects of service through the remuneration review portal before March 1,” the statement said.

“Improving the disposable income of Civil Servants is one of the focuses in enhancing the human capital empowerment of the Civil Service to increase its productivity.”

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French in push for clean Paris Games

PARIS (February 22): French authorities are conducting three preliminary investigations into possible favouritism in the awarding of around 20 Paris Olympic contracts worth tens of millions of euros, while a fourth is scrutinising the pay of Chief Organiser, Tony Estanguet.

Andy Spalding, an academic and author who studies corruption in sporting mega-events such as the Olympics and the football World Cup, said this was an indication the Government was serious about the Paris Games being corruption-free after decades of scandals plaguing major sporting events.

"France is the first country to be under an enforceable contractual obligation to adopt anti-corruption compliance programs. Nobody quite knows what it means yet, but starting with Paris, we will have these contractual obligations each time,” Professor Spalding said.

“You start with a contractual provision. The next step is to provide some guidance on what that means. Then we need operations and some enforcement for breach of contract. When all of those steps are completed, the clause will mean something.”

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Estonian PM on Russian wanted list

MOSCOW (February 15): Russia’s Interior Ministry has put Estonian Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas on its most wanted list for the “desecration of historical memory” — the first time it has brought criminal charges against a foreign leader.  

This follows the removal of around 400 Soviet-era World War II monuments from across the Baltic nation after Ms Kallas argued that Russia wanted to use the memorials to fuel tensions in Estonian society. 

Ms Kallas dismissed the charge as a “familiar scare tactic” and said she would continue to support Ukraine in its war against Russia.

Since coming to office in 2021, she has been a continual advocate for boosting Europe’s defences and strengthening NATO.

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New training programs for Zambian PS

LUSAKA (February 22): Zambia’s National Institute of Public Administration has launched training programs aimed at equipping Civil Servants with skills to deliver competent services to the public.

Speaking at the launch, President Hakainde Hichilema said it was the responsibility of all public workers to ensure excellence in service delivery.

Among the programs to be provided are pre-deployment training and certification for newly recruited public workers, in-service training and certification for serving public workers, and public service leadership and governance training for appointed officials and senior Government officials.

 

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