LONDON (July 9): Newly-elected United Kingdom Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer has emphasised the importance of standards, delivery and trust during his first Cabinet meeting.
Speaking to journalists afterwards, Sir Keir (pictured) said he had met Independent Adviser on Standards, Laurie Magnus “to discuss how we deliver in Government”.
Labour has already committed to reform standards through the creation of an Ethics and Integrity Commission.
The Prime Minister said he would also set up Mission Delivery Boards which he would Chair “to make sure that it’s clear to everyone that they are my priority in Government”.
He also wanted to establish “different and better” ways of working with the devolved Governments of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.
“The principle I operate with is that those with skin in the game know what’s best for their communities, and that does require us to be bold about pushing power and resource out of Whitehall,” Sir Keir said.
Asked if he was getting used to being called Prime Minister, he said while he was happy to be called Keir or Prime Minister, it was important for Civil Servants to refer to the office holder as Prime Minister because they were serving that office.
"I recognised this when I was Director of Public Prosecutions. It’s actually important to them to use the title because it reinforces in them what they are doing by way of public service. I respect that and understand that,” Sir Keir said.
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Rwanda hanging on to migrant money
KIGALI (July 11): A Rwanda Government spokesperson says his country is not required to refund any of the money provided by the United Kingdom for the multi-million pound migrant deal between the two countries which has now been scrapped.
Alain Mukuralinda said the agreement did not stipulate money should be refunded as the UK had approached Rwanda and requested a partnership, which was discussed extensively.
This follows an announcement by new UK Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer that the plan to deport some asylum seekers to Rwanda was "dead and buried".
The scheme was forged by the previous Conservative Government, which has paid Rwanda £240 million ($A462 million) to set up infrastructure in the country.
Legal challenges meant the scheme never took off. In January, after 21 months of the scheme being stalled, Rwandan President, Paul Kagame suggested some money could be returned if no asylum seekers were sent to the country.
However, it appears Kigali is walking back on that statement especially after work on housing for the asylum seekers is well under way.
Workers at the Gahanga site have expressed concern they will now lose their up to £6 ($A11.50) per day wages — relatively high for construction workers in Rwanda.
A local resident, Mariya Nyirahabimana said the value of houses in her neighbourhood had increased significantly since construction started, but she feared that “poverty could come back” to Gahanga.
Illegal migration is one of the major challenges facing the UK government, with more than 13,000 people crossing the Channel in small boats this year.
Denmark had been mulling a similar deal with Rwanda, but it put the discussions on hold in January last year, saying it wanted a more unified approach within Europe to tackle illegal migration.
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Police crack Civil Service shakedown scheme
ATHENS (July 11): Greek Police have broken up a criminal gang of Civil Servants that received money for aiding catering establishments and hotels to skirt the law regarding building permits, the placing of tables and seating and other illegalities.
The police investigation identified 47 cases of illegal activity and arrested 14 people.
According to estimates, the gang had been active since at least January 2023, making more than €700,000 ($A1.2 million) that year.
Police said the gang’s members included employees of their own force as well as bureaucrats working in State building and health services, and an official of the Culture Ministry’s Modern Monuments Department, who is the alleged leader.
The actions of the Civil Servants were investigated after a complaint was sent to the Internal Affairs Department last April. The anonymous author claimed to be a businessman in the centre of Athens with a restaurant business.
“For some time now, some Municipal Police Officers have been making life difficult for my colleagues and friends, blackmailing them to earn a living,” he wrote.
According to him, two Police Officers would conduct targeted checks, find violations, and, before a new inspection was carried out, the gang would ask for money to mediate with relevant authorities.
Police said is a statement that the alleged leader of the group was a 43-year-old woman called Nancy who had managed to make contacts in every Department linked with the licensing and inspection of catering businesses.
“Nancy would either blackmail proprietors or be the go-to person who, for a hefty fee, would help businessmen avoid an inspection, have a case against them shelved or ensure they maintained tables and chairs in spaces beyond legal limits,” the statement said.
“Several of the businessmen who dealt with the gang owned shops or hotels under construction in the centre of Athens and in island regions, and had to obtain permits to proceed with construction work.”
According to the Police case file, the 43-year-old was drawing up false certificates and attempting “to exert undue influence on members of Local Councils” to allow the owners of the buildings to carry out the work they wanted.
It is alleged that Nancy received between €6,000 and €10,000 ($A9,800 t0 $A16,400) per case.
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Dismissal of senior bureaucrats rejected
PRETORIA (July 9): South Africa’s Public Service Commission (PSC) has hit back at suggestions from the country’s new Coalition Government that Ministers have the power to sack Directors General of the Departments they now head.
PSC Commissioner, Anele Gxoyiya said that despite the potential of elections to change priorities and programs from the previous administration, Ministers could not legally remove heads of Departments.
“Instead, they should encourage their bureaucrats to respect the choices made by the citizens and to support those elected into office in a non-partisan way,” Mr Gxoyiya said.
He also called on Public Servants to “maintain loyalty and support to the new leadership” in the 32-member Cabinet, which now contains Ministers from the Democratic Alliance (DA), the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) and other parties involved in the Government of National Unity.
During coalition negotiations, the DA had demanded a review of Directors General in the Ministries it took over and had suggested it would want to play a role in deciding who to appoint to the key posts.
Mr Gxoyiya said the transition “should not compromise service delivery” and the relationships needed to be managed properly.
“Directors general are Directors General of the Public Service, and not Directors General of certain Ministers,” he said.
“There might have been mistakes in the past when Directors General were removed for political reasons, but this reinforces the need for a process through which the Public Service is insulated from politics.”
He said that during the period in which there had been no Government in place, the Public Service had continued to do its work and to deliver services in terms of its mandate.
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AI ‘answer to greater Government efficiency’
KUALA LUMPUR (July 11): Malaysia’s Minister for Communications has hailed artificial intelligence (AI) as the answer to increased effectiveness of Public Service delivery in Government Agencies and Ministries
Fahmi Fadzil said by embracing digital innovations, Government administration could be transformed and improved with greater efficiency, productivity, and sustainability.
"By leveraging AI to automate processes such as data entry, application processing, record management, and storage, we not only save time and resources, but also reduce the likelihood of human error,” Mr Fahmi said.
"Civil Servants can enhance their digital competencies and advance their careers by using their time to upskill and retrain.”
Speaking during the launch of the Artificial Intelligence Experience Centre in Subang Jaya, Mr Fahmi cited the example of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), saying AI could be used to enhance its auditing activities.
"There are AI tools that can meet the requirements of the PAC, and enable it to broaden its scope of activities,” he said.
“Our vision is to transform Malaysia into a nation that is competitive, competent, and prosperous, driven by the power of digital innovation."
He emphasised that the driving force behind this progress was 5G technology, which was fundamental to Malaysia’s goal of becoming a leading digital nation.
“The power of 5G lies in its ability to unlock the potential of technologies such as mobile edge computing, AI, cloud, and information technology, enabling ground-breaking innovations in smart cities, digital healthcare, e-learning, and more,” Mr Fahmi said.
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Hiring frozen in Kenyan austerity drive
NAIROBI (July 6): Kenya’s Cabinet Secretary for the Public Service has directed the Public Service Commission to suspend all further recruitment of Civil Servants.
Moses Kuria said the measure was critical to controlling runaway public expenditure, and aligned with continuing Government austerity measures.
He said that during the suspension, the Government would conduct an audit and “clean all public payrolls”.
Mr Kuria said the freeze on hiring was in compliance with Government's directive to reduce the public wage bill to 35 per cent of the National Budget in compliance with the Public Finance Management Act of 2012.
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NZ officers to support Niue Government
ALOFI (July 6): The Pacific island State of Niue says it has accepted an offer from New Zealand’s Minister for Foreign Affairs, Winston Peters to send Civil Servants to help bolster its public sector.
Premier, Dalton Tagelagi said the $NZ13 million ($A12 million) program would include specialists that would help the Civil Service to build its capacity.
Mr Peters led the second high-level delegation visit Niue in a month after Prime Minister, Christopher Luxon travelled there a month ago to announce a $NZ20.5 million ($A19 million) renewable energy project.
Niue has struggled with power cuts for years. Part of the island was without power on the night Mr Peters’ delegation arrived.
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Under-trend pay rise for Hong Kong officers
HONG KONG (July 7): Hong Kong lawmakers have approved a three per cent pay rise for all Civil Servants, with the increase backdated to the beginning of April.
A pay trend survey had pointed to increases of between 4.01 per cent and 5.47 per cent for Civil Servants of various ranks, but officials stressed those numbers were only one factor to consider.
Several unionist lawmakers said the Government needed to explain further why it decided on rises lower than the survey indicated.
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Korea puts stress on suicide prevention
SEOUL (July 9): The South Korean Health Ministry has announced that suicide prevention education will be mandatory in schools, workplaces, public institutions and hospitals as part of the country's efforts to tackle soaring suicide rates.
The strengthened suicide awareness and prevention training comes after the Cabinet approved a partial amendment to the Suicide Prevention Act.
Previously, the heads of related Agencies, Mayors and Governors had to establish a suicide prevention plan and submit it to the Health Minister.
Director General for the Ministry's Mental Health Policy, Lee Hyung-hoon said heads of National and Local Government, public institutions, schools, social welfare institutes and hospital-level medical institutions would now be required to deliver programs to prevent and reduce instances of suicide.
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New deregulation Czar for Argentina
BUENOS AIRES (July 8): Argentine President, Javier Milei has appointed the former head of the country’s Central Bank, Federico Sturzenegger to lead a new Deregulation and State Transformation Ministry.
Mr Sturzenegger (58) has been given specific instructions to further shrink the Government’s footprint and cut red tape.
His new role sparked rumours around the fate of Economy Minister, Luis Caputo, given tensions between the two during the 2018 financial crisis in the previous Government when Mr Caputo was Finance Secretary and Mr Sturzenegger led the Central Bank.
Mr Sturzenegger said his credibility had deteriorated before resigning amid a peso sell-off at the time, and was replaced by Mr Caputo, who lasted only a few months in the role.
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Officers ‘engine room of Fiji’s development’
SUVA (July 6): Fijian Prime Minister, Sitiveni Rabuka has praised the country’s Civil Service as “the engine room of Government and development”.
Addressing hundreds of bureaucrats at a ceremony for Civil Service Day, Mr Rabuka reiterated the important work carried out by those serving the Government.
“Whether it’s patrolling and keeping people safe, drafting policies to guide the delivery of services and programs for the people, or supporting the Government’s initiatives, your work keeps the Government going and the people safe and secure,” the Prime Minister said.
“I acknowledge your innovation, your resourcefulness, your sacrifice. In considering the aftermath of recent cyclones and the once-in-a-lifetime COVID-19 pandemic, we acknowledge that many Civil Servants risked their lives for their fellow citizens.”
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