| CSA steps up criticism of public service reform | | Print | |
| Written by Richard Green/richard@fptci.com | |||
| Thursday, 04 August 2011 11:06 | |||
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A group of government employees continues to criticize the interim government’s approach to reforming the public service to reduce cost and improve efficiency. The Civil Service Association (CSA), which has 710 members among nearly 2,300 government employees, said in a press release July 27 that it is “concerned that this reform is being conducted purely from a financial perspective without any consideration for the social, financial or educational well-being of civil servants in particular and Turks and Caicos Islanders in general, present or future.” Interim government CEO Mark Capes says that is not the case. “This is not an exercise focused simply on reducing the numbers in the public service,” Capes said at a recent press conference July 27. “Yes, that is something that has to be addressed, but what we are doing is looking at moving resources around within the public service.” Since the beginning of this year, the government has reviewed 600 jobs in three ministries, finding about 50 surplus jobs so far, Capes said. The fire service has been undermanned for many years, Capes said, and government hopes that some of those working in the 50 surplus jobs can help fill 28 or 29 posts required in the fire service. “It’s a very complex piece of work,” he said of the reform process. “It has to be done very carefully with the right sensitivity. The reports on each ministry are being put to a public sector reform steering group made up of public servants who listen to the outcome of the report and recommendations, hear from the relevant permanent secretary and senior officials, then discuss going forward to implementation.” The CSA says it has not been involved in the process as much as it would like and has not seen any of the reports of the three ministries. “We are concerned about the distastefully underhanded and unprofessional manner in which reviews are being conducted and recommendations are being enacted,” the statement said. “This failure of the interim administration to collaborate breeds the distrust and suspicion which would negatively impact relations between all involved.” Reforming the public service and bringing government spending under control are two of the milestones set by the U.K. that must be reached before government is returned to elected officials. The public service nearly doubled during the last decade, making it the single largest expenditure of government. In May 2010, the government cut all public servants’ pay by 10 percent, but the public payroll still consumed 60 percent of the country’s budget last year. This year’s budget expects to reduce public service spending by 10 percent, with a target of a 25-percent reduction by 2012-13. “The aim is to end up with a civil service that is better fit for purpose, that is more affordable and more efficient putting these people where they’re actually doing worthwhile and productive jobs,” Capes said. The CSA claims that government employees “are being sent home without proper remuneration, without the appropriate training to take up available private sector jobs, without proper representation and safeguards to ensure that they are given priority for private sector jobs for which they are qualified to perform, without regard for the effectiveness and efficiency of the government departments that are left understaffed with underpaid, demotivated and demoralized employees with no job security or long term employment benefits.” In addition to cutting public service pay last year, the government stopped payments to government employees who wrongly received millions of dollars in pensions, gratuities and salaries in years past. Some housing and other expenses were also reduced. Click here to read the CSA's full statement
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