International Public Sector News

‘Competence tests’ for senior PS

LONDON (January 2): The co-author of the victorious United Kingdom Conservative Party’s election manifesto says senior Public Servants and Special Advisers should be forced to take tests to ensure they are competent in fields such as data science and forecasting.

Rachel Woolf (pictured) also said the “revolving door policy” of staff changing jobs every 18 months could be brought to an end to stop “institutional memory and expertise” being lost.

Claiming officials were woefully unprepared for wholesale reforms being planned by Prime Minister Boris Johnson, she said widely reported plans for merging, creating or abolishing Departments were just a “tiny fraction” of the Public Service revolution planned by Mr Johnson and his chief aide, Dominic Cummings.

Mr Cummings is a long-standing critic of Whitehall and has in the past said that the principle of a permanent Public Service was “an idea for the history books”.

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PM vetoes ‘weirdo’ recruitment

LONDON (January 7): A bizarre plan by United Kingdom Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s chief adviser to recruit “weirdos and misfits” to the country’s Public Service has been vetoed.

Dominic Cummings posted the job advertisement on his personal blog in contravention of Whitehall’s usual recruitment processes.

It drew immediate criticism from employment lawyers and unions and a spokesperson for Mr Johnson quickly announced the post was aimed only at seeking “expressions of interest”.

“Civil Servants will still be appointed within the usual tight procedures of the Civil Service,” the spokesperson said.

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New crackdown of PS drug-taking

KUALA LUMPUR (January 7): Malaysia’s Federal Narcotics Crime Investigation Department (NCID) has launched a new operation to tackle drug abuse among Public Servants.

Director of the NCID, Mohd Khalil Kader Mohd said the Department had sent letters to the heads of all Government Agencies.

"The Department heads will then give us the names they suspect of taking drugs, and we will then step in,” Datuk Mohd said.

The National Anti-Drugs Agency (NADA) reported that a total of 300 Public Servants tested positive for illegal substances in 2018.

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High cost of shorter work week

DUBLIN (January 6): Transitioning the Irish Public Service to a four-day working week would cost at least €3.9 billion ($A6.3 billion) Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe says.

The change is becoming increasingly popular in the private sector, but Mr Donohoe said introducing it for the 337,000 full-time equivalent workers in the Public Service would involve data the Government currently doesn’t have.

“I would assume the fifth day of every week would need to be filled by staff when calculating the cost,” Mr Donohoe said.

“Assuming that transitioning to a four-day week would result in a need to replace one-fifth of Public Service working hours, the estimated cost would be €3.9 billion.”

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Union attacked over protest stance

HONG KONG (January 2): An organisation representing pro-democracy Public Servants has come under fire from the Hong Kong Government after it accused police of restricting residents’ rights by cutting short a mass protest.

The Government expressed deep concern and regret over the Union for New Civil Servants’ remarks and said if any Public Servants violated the guidelines of impartiality “we will deal with it in a serious manner in accordance with the established mechanism”.

The union hit back against the official response, insisting it upheld the principle of political neutrality.

The Hong Kong Civil Service Code states that Government employees should ensure the views they express will not “compromise their capacity to fulfil their official duties professionally, effectively and impartially”.

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No sign of strike breakthrough 

PARIS (January 2): Workers on France’s State-controlled transport system have now been on strike for more than a month — making it the longest walkout since 1968.

The workers are resisting reforms to their pension entitlements as well as changes to their pay and conditions. With no sign of a breakthrough, President Emmanuel Macron vowed to “continue to the end”.

“Not changing the complicated pension system will be a betrayal of our children, their children after them, who would then have to pay the price for our giving up," Mr Macron said.

The Government wants to bring together the 42 pension systems into a single points-based scheme. It also wants to phase out the early retirement advantages certain sectors — primarily in the Public Service — enjoy by adjusting the so-called hardship criterion.

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Department to fight PSC notice

DUBLIN (January 2): Ireland’s Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection has officially appealed against an enforcement notice served upon it regarding its controversial Public Services Card (PSC).

A spokesperson for the Department confirmed it had filed the appeal against the decision of the Data Protection Commissioner that it was illegal to use the card for a range of purposes.

The Department’s decision to appeal, which had been widely expected, will almost certainly see the saga concerning the PSC extended by a matter of many months, if not years, possibly going as far as the Court of Justice of the European Union.

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Tax break for senior officers

NAYPYITAW (January 5): Senior Public Servants in Myanmar are to be allowed to import cars into the country tax free.

The Ministry of Commerce said Government officials with the rank of Director-General and above would be allowed to import cars in a first phase and those with the rank of the Deputy Director-General, with 25 years of service, or who have received the Civil Service Award, in a second phase.

Tax accounts for between 100 per cent and 150 per cent of vehicle values in Myanmar.

The Ministry said the first phase would involve around 500 officers and the second phase “thousands”. Officers would be barred from selling their cars for a year.

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India proposes a PS university

NEW DELHI (January 5): The Indian Government is planning to set up a National Civil Service University (NCSU) that will oversee the training of all officers.

The NCSU will be part of the Department of Personnel and Training (DoPT), with existing training institutes coming under its jurisdiction. It will also carry out research in the field of public administration and policy.

An official familiar with the plan said the idea was that there should be an overarching body which decides the curriculum, and has the bandwidth to understand what kind of training was needed in changing times.

“The move will end the culture of different training institutes working in silos. There will be a definite approach to training, which would be reflected in all the individual institutes,” the official said.

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Political curb on Malaysian PS

KUALA LUMPUR (January 2): Malaysian Public Servants have been barred from holding any position in a political Party, the Government has announced.

Director-General of the Public Service Department, Mohd Khairul Adib Abd Rahman said the decision had been made at a Cabinet meeting late last year and had only just been ratified.

“The decision has been made, we are preparing a circular to ensure it is complied with, at the same time there are still some things to be looked at,” Datuk Mohd said.

“We are also looking at Civil Servants who spread untruths, (and) we will take action.”

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Fears for corruption Agency 

JAKARTA (January 6): Indonesian anti-corruption activists say a Government plan to make members of the Corruption Eradication Commission (KPK) Public Servants will jeopardise its independence.

The controversial amendment to legislation governing the KPK will strip it of its special authority and turn it into a Government institution under the supervision of the Ministry of Administrative and Bureaucratic Reform

Secretary-General of Transparency International Indonesia, Dadang Trisasongko said KPK employees would experience difficulties in prosecuting any Government official allegedly involved in corruption.

He said the Ministry would also not want to see many Public Servants being prosecuted by the KPK, since it would worsen the Ministry’s reputation as the Agency overseeing the implementation of the Civil Servant Code of Ethics.

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German bureaucracy ‘under-staffed’

BERLIN (January 7): The German Civil Service Union (DBB) claims there are close to 230,000 vacancies in the country’s bureaucracy.

According to the DBB’s figures there was a shortage of more than 138,000 employees in Germany's Municipal Administrations alone. The health care system was lacking 40,000 employees while police forces would require 50,000 additional officers.

President of the DBB, Ulrich Silberbach said with 1.3 million public sector employees retiring in the next 10 years, there would be a staff gap of several hundred thousand employees even if projected new hires were included.

The full International PS News service will resume on January 21