UNITED KINGDOM
PS head suffering cancer
Cabinet Secretary and head of the UK’s Public Service, Sir Jeremy Heywood (pictured) is stepping aside for three months to receive treatment for cancer.
Sir Jeremy (56) was diagnosed with cancer last year and will take a leave of absence until September to treat the illness and a related infection.
His formal responsibilities, including his place at Cabinet and meetings dealing with the UK’s exit from the European Union, will be taken by Mark Sedwill, the National Security Adviser and former Permanent Secretary at the Home Office.
Chief Executive of the Public Service, John Manzoni will assume some of Sir Jeremy’s managerial responsibilities.
London, 26 June 2018
BANGLADESH
Higher PS entry age proposed
A Bangladesh Parliamentary Committee has recommended raising the maximum age for joining the Public Service from 30 to 35.
This has long been demanded by Public Service applicants who say they do not get enough time to prepare for the rigorous entry requirements after their graduation and post-graduation from university.
They say they often face delays in completing their tertiary education when political unrest closes universities.
However, Minister for Public Administration, Syed Ashraful Islam is resisting the call, saying vacancies in the Public Service had been resolved by raising the age limit for retirement from 57 to 59.
Dhaka, 28 June 2018
ISLE OF MAN
PS review called ‘grandstanding’
The union representing Public Service members on the Isle of Man has accused members of the Tynwald (legislature) of “grandstanding” after they commissioned a review of the bureaucracy that made no recommendations.
Negotiations Officer for Prospect, Angela Moffatt said the report, carried out by 2000 Weeks Ltd, investigated the structure and salaries of PS employees at Executive Officer level and above.
She said politicians earmarked £20,000 (A$35,600) for the review, which concluded that salaries and grades were fair and organisational structures logical.
Ms Moffatt said the review was commissioned only to make the politicians look good.
Douglas, 22 June 2018
GHANA
Public blames PS for corruption
A survey has revealed that almost 96 per cent of Ghanaians believe corruption is on the increase in their country, with most blaming the Public Service.
Slightly more than half of those surveyed said the creation of the Office of the Special Prosecutor would deal with the problem, although 29 per cent said it was just a window-dressing exercise.
The survey, conducted by civil society group Pensplusbyte, cited the Public Service as accounting for more than 80 per cent of the corrupt practices in the country.
Respondents also criticised the Government for failing to initiate steps towards the election of metropolitan, municipal and district chief executives.
Accra, 22 June 2018
TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO
PS dodges cuts as economy rises
The Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago, Keith Rowley says the country’s economic crisis is easing and there will be no cuts to the Government workforce.
He said revenues were growing and while the hard times were not over he was proud of the fact that “not a single gazetted Public Servant was retrenched”.
“With the collapse of the country’s revenue, this Government took the position to maintain the job levels in the Public Service, even for contracted workers,” Dr Rowley said.
“As long as we keep going in the direction we are going now, retrenchment in the Public Service is not in the near future and does not form part of the Government’s plan.”
Port of Spain, 25 June 2018
JERSEY
Figures reveal glass ceiling
New figures have revealed that while women make up 63 per cent of Jersey’s Public Service, just 13 per cent have jobs at the director level.
The 2017 States Accounts found that the number of female managers was actually falling.
As of December, the States (Government) employed 6,754 PS staff, 15 of whom were classed as management and 118 as senior staff.
Parliamentarian Jess Perchard urged the States to report their gender pay gap data annually, as was the case in the UK Public Service.
Saint Helier, 23 June 2018
BHUTAN
PS staff to stand for election
The Leader of the Opposition in the Bhutan National Assembly, Pema Gyamtsho has attacked the Government’s policy of appointing serving Public Servants as candidates in the General Election to be held later this year.
Dr Gyamtsho said the practice was a clear conflict of interest and the PS employees should resign from their jobs immediately
He said if senior bureaucrats were roped into politics as candidates of the ruling party, the apolitical nature of the Public Service would be at risk.
Prime Minister, Tshering Tobgay said in reply that the PS staff themselves would know better if the Public Service was being politicised.
He expected they would resign “at the earliest opportunity” once they had decided to be a candidate.
Thimphu, 24 June 2018
INDIA
Defence relationships break down
Strained relations between the Indian Army and its civilian administrators have taken a turn for the worse after top brass accused the Armed Force Headquarters Civil Service of functional and financial irregularities.
The military claimed the posts of seven new Principal Directors and 36 new Directors were given official approval without any functional requirement for them.
In a seven-page letter that was also sent to the Ministry of Defence, senior officers said the posts were unwanted and not needed.
“Creation of these unwanted/surplus posts is not only a violation of the directive on ‘minimum government and maximum governance’, but also a drain on public funds and a recurring loss to the State,” the letter said.
New Delhi, 27 June 2018
