JERSEY
Ombudsman to be appointed
The Government of the Channel Island of Jersey will appoint an Ombudsman to handle complaints about its services, at a cost of £250,000 (A$460,000).
The Ombudsman, who will replace the States Complaint Board, will cover all Departments and regulatory bodies except the Jersey Financial Services Commission, which already has its own Ombudsman.
Supporting the proposal, Senator Philip Ozouf said people were disgruntled with the current system.
He cited the low number of complaints that the States Complaints Board dealt with on an annual basis and said it was incredibly unlikely that so few islanders had grievances about the public sector.
Saint Helier, 24 March 2018
BARBADOS
Crisis talks after pay refusal
Barbados’s two main unions are holding crisis meetings of members after receiving a flat refusal from the Government on salary increases for Public Servants.
A letter to the unions from the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Civil Service, Alyson Forte said the “the prevailing economic conditions do not permit a general increase in the emoluments for Public Servants including one-off payments” and any negotiations should “focus on non-salary items”.
General Secretary of the Barbados Workers’ Union, Toni Moore (pictured) said she was not surprised by the content of the letter nor the manner in which it was communicated, since the customary social dialogue from the 1990s was no longer being observed.
She said PS employees in Barbados had not had a salary increase for almost 10 years.
Hamilton, 25 March 2018
NIGERIA
Court raises sentence for PS thief
A Nigerian appeals court has sentenced a former senior Public Servant, John Yusuf to six years’ imprisonment and imposed a NGN23 billion fine (A$800,000) for embezzling funds meant to pay the pensions of retired police officers.
Mr Yusuf had earlier pleaded guilty and been jailed for two years with an option of a NGN750,000 (A$2,700) fine.
The prosecution appealed that decision on the grounds it was manifestly too light.
In their unanimous ruling, the appeal judges pointed out that the light sentence did not serve as deterrence in the high-profile case.
Public anger over the slap-on-the-wrist punishment had been inflamed when the former director left the original hearing in a chauffeur-driven Mercedes Benz.
Abuja, 23 March 2018
HONG KONG
PS language skills relaxed
Chinese-language requirements for entry into the Hong Kong Public Service will be eased in an effort to promote equal opportunities for the city’s ethnic minorities.
Photo: Exploringlife
Chief Secretary for Administration, Matthew Cheung Kin-Chung (pictured) announced the move, saying the Government, as the largest employer in Hong Kong, needed to lead by example on equal access to job opportunities.
“We recognise the potential of the ethnic minorities and will help them leverage it in serving the community,” Mr Cheung said.
Proficiency in English and Chinese has been an entry requirement for all posts in the Hong Kong Public Service since January 2003, under the Government’s policy of promoting bi-literacy in English and Chinese languages and tri-lingualism in Cantonese, Mandarin and English.
Hong Kong, 27 March 2018
UNITED STATES
Funds to ease student loan fears
US student loan borrowers who work as teachers, police officers or nurses, or in other Public Service positions in the expectation their loan will be forgiven, could benefit from the injection of US$350 million (A$455 million) into the Federal Program the Government wants cancelled.
The compromise was contained in the US$3.1 trillion (A$4 trillion) Federal Spending Bill that President, Donald Trump reluctantly signed into law.
It is a reprieve for the borrowers who had worked in the mostly low-paid jobs for a decade, repaying at low rates, on the understanding that in return the rest of their crippling student loan debts would be forgiven.
One of the architects of the funding measure, Senator Elizabeth Warren said she was glad the money would help the young PS employees “unfairly trapped under a mountain of debt”, but stressed that the fight for a permanent fix to the estimated US$1.4 trillion (A$1.8 trillion) student loan debt went on.
Washington, DC, 26 March 2018
SINGAPORE
Middle-East PS backed
The Public Services of the Palestinian National Authority and Jordan are being supported by Singapore in a program aimed at raising their capabilities in good governance and public administration.
The Public Service Excellence program involves the Temasek Foundation International and the Civil Service College Singapore.
Launched in Ramallah, Palestine, and later in Amman, Jordan, the program will involve selected participants taking part in a week-long study trip to Singapore, where they will visit public Agencies and interact with local PS staff.
The participants are also expected to conduct peer-sharing workshops with another 250 officials.
Singapore, 23 March 2018
IRELAND
Road Authority backtracks on PS card
The Irish Road Safety Authority (RSA) has partially backtracked on a plan to force people to produce the country’s controversial Public Services Card when applying for a driving licence or driver permit.
It had earlier signalled that the card, issued by the Department of Employment Affairs and Social Protection to those seeking state benefits, would become a requirement for all driving licence applicants, including renewals.
However, the card and its associated databases have been the subject of an investigation by the Data Protection Commissioner amid concerns about privacy and the legal basis on which they were built.
The RSA now says simply that production of the card would “simplify your application process” as it would not require the presentation of other documents.
Dublin, 28 March 2018
