Public Service News from around the world

Pledge to protect UK officers

PARIS (December 13): The French Government has announced it will protect the jobs of more than 1,700 United Kingdom nationals working in the country’s Public Service even in the event of no deal being reached with the UK over its departure from the European Union (Brexit).

A draft legislative proposal adopted by the French Parliament's special Brexit committee states that the officers, working mostly in the Education and Health Departments, "must be maintained in the same status and work conditions."

A member of the committee, Alexandre Holroyd said the proposal was supported by a large majority of political parties.

“It is the most human solution and the most compatible with the services that these Civil Servants have given to the French State," Mr Holroyd said, adding that similar solutions had been proposed by the European Commission and Germany.

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Unions threaten anti-austerity strike

HARARE (December 13): Zimbabwe’s Public Servants will strike if the Government fails to reverse its austerity measures, a key union body has warned.

Public Service Chair of the Apex Council of Trade Unions, Cecilia Alexander said the situation currently obtaining in the country, particularly in Public Servants’ conditions of service, demanded that the Government should adjusts some of its policies.

“It is our position that any further move to implement austerity measures will certainly cause disharmony between ourselves and the employer and may in the end defeat the Government’s well-intentioned objective to stabilise the economy,” Ms Alexander said.

She said unions were not consulted before the measures were put forward in the national Budget, a violation of Section 65 of the Constitution which guaranteed Government employees the right to consult and be consulted.

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Campaign to find selfless workers

NAIROBI (December 14): President Uhuru Kenyatta of Kenya has launched a campaign aimed at identifying and celebrating individuals and institutions who provide honest public services without expecting anything in return

He said the campaign would be “driven by youth and ordinary citizens through social media and other platforms”. 

Mr Kenyatta said the campaign was a continental initiative that was being rolled out first in Kenya. “This is an honour to our country,” Mr Kenyatta said.

“It aims to promote values and principles of public service and serves as a call to recognise and celebrate Public Servants who offer honest public service every day with commitment, devotion and selflessness.”

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Departments ‘at breaking point’

LONDON (December 14): A union representing senior United Kingdom Public Servants has warned that overstretched Government Departments are reaching breaking point.

A survey by the FDA union found more than 80 per cent of Public Service leaders were having to put in extra unpaid hours just to get their work finished, with the additional work involved in the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union (Brexit) mostly blamed.

A quarter said they usually gave up between six and 10 hours of their time every week, and nearly three quarters believed their Department was understaffed.

One Home Office employee said he had “never felt so dispirited” after decades of working in the Public Service saying “years are being taken off my life and my wellbeing and marriage suffer enormously.”

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‘Fundamental changes’ in PS needed

BELFAST (December 14): Northern Ireland’s Renewable Heat Incentive inquiry has been told there needs to be a "fundamental appraisal" of the Province’s Public Service.

In written evidence to the investigation into the botched scheme, leader of the Democratic Unionist Party, Arlene Foster suggested one possibility might be extending the United Kingdom Public Service to cover the Province.

“With advances in technology, the increasingly complexity of policies, and the emergence of new approaches within the private sector, there is a need for greater specialism and expertise within the Civil Service,” Mrs Foster said.

"In my view, there is a case for consideration of extending the Home Civil Service to Northern Ireland."

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Service reminder amid festive fun

MANILA (December 14): The Philippines Civil Service Commission (CSC) has ruled that there must be no interruption to public services over the festive season.

Chair of the CSC, Alicia dela Rosa-Bala said that while it was not prohibiting Public Servants holding Christmas parties, the continued delivery of efficient services must be maintained.

“Christmas is the season of sharing and giving and I know that the best gift Government workers can give to the transacting public is the provision of responsive, compassionate, and effective public service, not only for the holidays but throughout the year,” Ms Rosa-Bala said.

“Agencies that render frontline services are encouraged to adopt appropriate working schedules and assign skeletal forces to ensure that all clients who are within their premises are attended to during office celebrations.”

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Qatar funding Gaza PS

DOHA (December 15): The Gulf State of Qatar has stepped in in to pay the salaries of nearly 30,000 Gazan Public Servants, delighting the impoverished workers, but angering some in the deeply divided Palestinian leadership who balked at the intervention of a foreign power.

Thousands queued in the winter cold to get their cash at post offices — one of which was decorated with a large mural of Qatar's Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani and the message "Thanks Qatar".

"If the Qatari donation stops, we will be destroyed," said 45-year-old Public Servant Ammar Fayyad, the main bread-winner in his 13-strong family.

Palestinian sources said Friday's payout, thought to be around $US15 million ($A21 million), was part of a $US90 million ($A125 million) Qatari donation that began in November and is due to be paid into Gaza over six months.

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Concern over harassment inquiries

KUALA LUMPUR (December 15): The Malaysian Government is seeking ways to shorten the time taken to investigate cases of sexual harassment in the Public Service.

Deputy Minister, Hannah Yeoh said victims might feel as though the 21-day period stipulated under the current Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) was too long.

“Usually for sexual harassment at the workplace, even 14 days of investigation may seem like forever when the perpetrator is a colleague,” Ms Yeoh said.

She said the Government was also looking at revamping the SOP so that all sexual harassment reports were channelled to the integrity unit of each Agency.

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President demands PS improvements

PORT OF SPAIN (December 15): The President of Trinidad and Tobago has called on the country’s Public Service to “step up and improve on the level of service” given to citizens.

Paula-Mae Weekes said the public sector had a reputation for ineptitude, inefficiency and stagnation, which was alarming. 

"While no one doubts there are pools of competence within the service, the overall impression is disheartening and alarming," Ms Weekes said.

"Alarming because our economic climate, our international partners, the reasonable increasing demands of our population and technological advances all require that the Public Service be efficient, sophisticated and responsive to the needs of those it serves. It is high time that we eradicate this stigma.”

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Minister battles to defend Budget

EDINBURGH (December 15): Scotland’s’ Minister for Finance has vowed to protect “vital public services” and prioritise spending on health and education in his forthcoming Budget – despite not yet appearing to have the support to get his plans through the Parliament in Edinburgh.

Derek Mackay said he would have talks with other parties “in the weeks ahead and into the New Year” in a bid to convince them to back his tax and spending plans for 2019-20.

He cited Brexit as continuing to be the “biggest threat to Scotland’s prosperity”, but insisted his proposals would not be defined by this.

Instead, he said the Budget would set out “how we help protect Scotland as far as we can from the damaging uncertainty of the UK Government’s Brexit policy”.

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Agencies agree to flexible work

WELLINGTON (December 17): The next step in the New Zealand Public Service Gender Pay Action Plan has been launched with seven Agencies committing to flexible work pilots.

Announcing the move, Minister for Women, Julie Anne Genter said more flexible working arrangements would enable more diverse and inclusive State services.

“We know organisations that encourage flexible work have a stronger ability to attract and retain staff and it leads to a greater diversity of staff,” Ms Genter said.

“Flexible-by-default work practices will help close the Public Service gender pay gap by removing barriers to flexible options at all levels, and the career penalty often associated with working flexibly.”

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Measure to end ‘disintegrating buses’

NAIROBI (December 16): Kenya’s National Transport Safety Authority has announced that all passenger buses will undergo a thorough inspection every five years that will involve tearing the body apart to assess structural strength.

In a statement, the authority said this was essential after a spate of accidents in which public service vehicles disintegrated, exacerbating the impact on crash victims.

Managing Director of the Kenya Association of Bus Manufacturers, Carrey Mbaraka said the inspections would be done at selected garages and at the owners’ cost.

He said it would be in addition to annual inspections of all commercial vehicles during which basic requirements for braking systems and general road-worthiness was checked.

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Survey finds 30,000 ‘ghosts’

MAPUTO (December 16); A survey of Mozambique Government employees has identified 30,000 ‘ghost workers’ costing one of the poorest countries in the world $US250 million ($A348 million) between 2015 and 2017.

Some of those on the Government payroll, which accounts for 55 per cent of the African nation’s State expenditure, did exist but were paid for jobs they did not do, while others were dead or fictitious.

Minister for the Civil Service, Carmelita Namashulua said the ‘proof-of-life tests’ were carried out to assess the effectiveness of officials in the country, which has been ranked as the 153rd most corrupt in the 2017 Transparency International Index.

She said the tests were carried out on around 348,000 workers.

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Pay rise vanishes into pensions

KAMPALA (December 16): Uganda’s Public Servants will get a five per cent pay increase next year — but the money will all be paid into a new contributory pension scheme.

Minister for Public Service, Wilson Muruli said the scheme would address issues of “affordability, sustainability, poor governance, accountability and timeliness of gratuity payment”.

He said the scheme would replace the existing system where Public Servants were paid their pensions only from Government contributions upon their retirement.

“However, retired officers who are already receiving their pension and those left with only five years to retire will remain on the current benefits scheme where they only receive Government contributions,” Mr Muruli said.

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‘Culture of greed’ corrupts PS

LUSAKA (December 17): A Zambian activist for good governance says self-enrichment and greed have replaced selflessness and values such as honesty and accountability in the nation’s Public Service.

Maxson Nkhoma said the time was long overdue for President Edgar Lungu to take a decisive stance against Cabinet Ministers, Permanent Secretaries, and other senior Public Servants who had been found wanting.

 “Zambians are at pains to hear that over $US4.7 million ($A6.5 million) meant for the vulnerable and poorest of the poor was misappropriated to benefit only a few individuals,” Mr Nkhoma said.

He said good work by the Government during the year had been overshadowed by revelations of corruption and theft of public funds.

The full public Service News from around the world service will return in the New Year