Civil service transformation

Franklin Johnston

Friday, March 05, 2010

WE cannot transform the civil service unless we transform the entire public sector. The government is our largest enterprise. It spends over $1,000b a year, employs 120,000 people and hundreds of thousands indirectly. It owns the most land, buildings, vehicles; is the largest user of casual labour, machinery, materials and makes the biggest investments. It is huge!

Where it goes, business follows as money talks. The government has effective demand (money to spend) and business has the goods and services to sell it. It has full access to travel abroad - foreign exchange; can make a business fail or succeed, can buy your property whether you want to sell or not, take away your child and your freedom. It is powerful! That's why we need a civil service that is not controlled by politicians. The government is a large enterprise. With $1,000b to spend, it is the engine of growth. A government contract can make your business viable and it creates dozens of millionaires a year. All firms want a slice of its business. Politicians spotted this $1,000b "treasure chest" long ago. Some make careers in the bowels of this economic juggernaut and "cotch" the door open for friends and family to crawl in. They also discourage others from politics: "Oh, it's too dirty for you, if I wasn't in already..." Or, "It's too dangerous." They use disingenuous lies and cant to get all the candy. How many politicians or their families are killed by gunmen? None! How many ordinary citizens? Countless! A minister and his family are safe as church! What you gonna do?

How is "Jamaica Inc" run? Who controls its mega bucks? The government is run by the public service which has two parts, the civil service (ministry staff aka Crown employees) and the politicians - MPs, ministers and the chairmen, boards and staff they appoint, but there are conflicts. The first is that civil service staff is permanent and under law, while politicians and their appointees are short-term and make the rules for boards. The next pressure point is that the civil service looks long- and the Cabinet looks short-term - four years at most. Ministers want things done "now" to erode the command chain, ethics, quality and commitment; foster laxity and evade due diligence. They also bully or "fren-up". Watch for veiled threat as: "I am elected to do things and if you block me you block the people!" Or, "I lose the work if my plans do not work, not you." Or bribes, "Approve this and I will tell PS I need you on my trip abroad". Under the Secrets Act, staff can't reply, defend itself or tell anyone of the abuse and trickery. Politicians try to raid the treasury; some to do good, others to get rich and they try to evade strict civil service rules and oversight. The statutory board is used to evade law and syphon money from the treasury. Ministers vote billions of dollars into budgets of boards run by friends and family as chairmen and members; evade the strict controls, eviscerate the civil service - more cash into the trough. Do you know more companies are formed after elections than at other times? A minister's wife, child, friend, etc, starts a business catering, import, IT, contracting, etc, to cash in! Check those you know! The news that Mr Greg Christie is to publish the details of directors, shareholders and beneficial owners of all entities doing business with the government is welcome. Sir, be wary, new boards are in place, now begins the massive transfer of public money into the coffers of connected parties before 2012.

Civil service transformation is one arm. The other arm of the public service (ministers and their board appointees) employs fewer people, but pays higher salaries and gets more public money. A strong civil service is the key to integrity in public business and protects all taxpayers. The head of the civil service and a permanent secretary (PS) need protection too. Even a lowly clerk is not immune. Listen to a side of this phone call: "Hello, pay clerk Smith here, how may I help you?... Oh, Minister!" Clerk listens then says, "No, Sir, I have nothing against Mr Brown but the PS gave me a list of cheques to be paid this week to spread the money we got from Finance"; clerk listens and then says "But, Sir, Mr Brown is not on the list for this week and his cheque would use up half the money!" Clerk listens and says in a cowed voice, "Yes, Minister!" Clerk writes a cheque and takes it to the PS for signature. The PS says to the clerk "You made a mistake, Mr Brown is not on this week's list!" The clerk replies, "Sir, the minister told me to prepare it or mi warra warra a go bun me, so you take that up with him as it is above my pay grade." PS hesitates, scowls, signs the cheque and says, "Well, the others can't be paid." End of story. By the way, no trade union takes the case of employees abused by a minister. Human rights bodies? A joke!

Transformation of the civil service must include the public service (statutory boards) as if you tighten the civil service they will just pour more money into boards. Here are some ideas:

First, return most board functions to central government, it will be jail for those who dip into public money - ask Jags! It will slow projects but give us better results. It was swift action that propelled us to zero growth, billion dollars of debt and world-record murders!

Second, protect the civil service from politicians and their board appointees in law, reward civil service whistle-blowers and foster strong leadership and ethics as follows:

* Use Cumpulsory Professional Development (CPD) to reorient the civil service culture to proactive development, not just static controls.

* Most MPs are professionals and small business men who never worked in large firms controlled by system and process, so ministers need CPD. They shout orders to their few staff, gossip and undermine others to get by and groom a young secretary as they never worked with policies on sex or race harassment, etc, or employees with job rights.

* Recruit the brightest; mid-career managers from big firms as Cable and Wireless and Grace to the civil service .

* Create a raft of deferred benefits to make the civil service an attractive long-term career.

* Restore the esprit de corps and give recognition. Mark this, a minister is a professional colleague, not a friend. Meet in the office, not his home. Stick to public events and avoid his private parties. Friendship undermines objectivity. The civil service is a noble, challenging and satisfying career. It guards our stability and will remain long after politicians are gone. We must develop, cherish and protect it. Stay conscious, my friend!

Dr Franklin Johnston is an international project manager with Teape-Johnston Consultants, currently on assignment in the UK.

franklinjohnston@hotmail.com

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Civil service transformation