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STATEMENT BY EXCELLENCY THE GOVERNOR ON MATTERS RELATED TO THE PUBLIC SERVICE
I want to say something today on three Public Service matters. First, the new Grade and Salary Structure for the Public Service. Then Pension Reform, and finally the Public Sector Development Programme.
Executive Council in September 2005 approved a new Grade and Salary Structure for the Civil Service, on the basis of a thorough study of job weights and responsibilities done by our consultants. It reflects current reporting relationships within the Service, and will ensure that the Government can continue to attract and retain competent workers. The new structure will take effect on January 1, 2006.
The new structure has 21 grades rather than the existing 31. The consultants’ advice was that 31 grades did not reflect current best practice in organisations the size of ours. So we have streamlined and simplified the structure. It is part of our ongoing mission to work towards a world class Public Service.
The new Grade and Salary Structure is the result of the Job Classification and Salaries Plan Project, which began in April 2002, when KPMG (Jamaica) were commissioned to study the Public Service salary structure. KPMG presented their report to Executive Council in August 2003. At that time, Executive Council was concerned that the project did not address the grading of non-established personnel, and therefore charged the Department of Human Resources and the Ministry of Finance with reviewing the grade and salary structure of non-established employees. Council further wished to see a process whereby the Service itself reviewed the proposed grade structure, and therefore created an Appeals Committee to address individual concerns. Realising that these decisions would cause delays, Executive Council approved a 7.5 percent salary increase for all Civil Servants, including teachers, police, and non-established workers, retroactive to January 2003.
Executive Council has also decided that all non-established workers who have served 10 years or more will be eligible for Permanent and Pensionable status beginning January 1, 2006.
A further significant improvement is that both Established and Non-Established employees will now have the same Grade and Salary Structure: we shall have comparable salaries for all staff throughout the Public Service, irrespective of status.
I make two further points:
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First, this exercise is not, and was never conceived as a general increase in salaries. There have been two such across-the-board increases in recent years – one of 7.5 % in 2001 and the further one of an additional 7.5% in 2003 which I have already mentioned.
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Second, some jobs will now be at a higher relative grade than they were, and some lower. This is no reflection on how the jobholder is discharging his or her duties. It does reflect the best judgement of the experts, backed up by our own analysis, about the load that the job carries as compared to other jobs. As functions change, and units grow or shrink, this is inevitable. We need to recognise this in our own structures.
On behalf of Executive Council I would like to thank warmly all those who have contributed, and will contribute, to its successful completion and implementation. It has been a major undertaking, which will have positive repercussions throughout the Public Service immediately and for years to come.
The new Salary and Grade Structure has been made available to Departments. Later today, the Department of Human Resources will conduct a HR Talk forum on the new Grade and Salary Structure, which will be an opportunity for Public Servants to ask questions and learn more about it. In addition, each Civil Servant will receive a personal, written communication informing him or her how he or she will be affected.
On a related matter I am announcing today that the subject of Pension Reform will be high on the agenda in 2006. We need to have a system that provides adequate retirement benefits for workers that have given years of dedicated service. But it has to be one that the Territory can afford: as people live longer after retirement, the pension bill is getting bigger. We shall need to address difficult issues including later retirement and greater financial contributions from those in employment.
Finally, let me address the Public Sector Development Programme – known simply by many as PSDP. In 1999 the Public Sector Development Programme was launched to improve the Public Service’s ability to deliver professional service to the public. This programme is to be credited for numerous positive changes in the Public Service including the creation of the Department of Human Resources, the launch of 52 Service Charters, the creation of the Help Desk, the formal introduction of Strategic Planning to the Public Service and the development of greater pride in and understanding of the Public Service.
Executive Council recognises the importance of continuing the development of the BVI Public Service and has therefore decided to mainstream the responsibility of reform, rather than maintain the separate PSDP Change Management Unit. PSDP has initiated the process. But we need to take forward the message that reform is not the responsibility of just one Unit, or one Department: Each and every Public Officer has responsibility to achieve continuous improvement.
Specific responsibility for certain programme areas has been given to the Deputy Governor’s Office, Chief Minister’s Office, Ministry of Finance and the Department of Human Resources and a formal ceremony will be conducted at a later date to mark the formal handover of public sector development responsibilities to the respective Departments.
I thank the former Coordinators of Public Sector Development Programme, Mrs Lorna Smith and Mrs. Petrona Smith-James, for their dedication, leadership, and vision. Equally, I thank the members of the Change Management Unit, all Public Servants who served on the many Change Teams, and those who embraced the idea of change. Your work and commitment has made the BVI Public Service better, stronger, and more able to meet the needs of the community. The decision to mainstream this ongoing work is a sign of the programme’s maturity and success.
Members of the Public Service must remain committed to providing effective and professional services to our customers at all times, and I take this opportunity to say thank you to those officers who give tirelessly of their time, energy and professionalism towards the achievement of this goal. Thank you.
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