Government Press Office

Grand Turk

Turks and Caicos Islands

 

 

 

FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC SERVICE MANAGEMENT (OPSM)

 

 

 

9^th September 2011

 

To:  All Public Servants

 

Meetings with Public Servants on the TCI Government Reforms

 

 

Mr. Martin Stanley (Chief Executive Officer) and Mr. Stephen Catchpole (Public Sector Reform Advisor) are to address civil and public servants on progress on the Public Sector Reforms on Tuesday in Providenciales at the Gustavus Lightbourne Sports Complex and Thursday in Grand Turk at Life Center (Old Airport Road) at 3:30 pm. This is an opportunity for staff to hear about the intentions and outcomes of the reviews of Ministries so far completed and to ask questions related to this exercise and other employment issues.

 

All Public Servants wishing to attend the meeting in their respective island may leave work at 3:15pm to travel to the venue. Public Servants who do not intend to go to the meeting are required to remain in Office until the end of the workday.

 

Any staff from family islands that have questions about the reforms may send them to OPSM or to colleagues in Grand Turk or Providenciales.

 

Critical areas must be adequately staffed and Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments are reminded to ensure that these areas are properly covered.

 

Attached to this notice please find a list of Frequently

Asked Questions (FAQs) and answers relating to the TCI

Government Reform.

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Information Notice to all Staff -  The Public Service Reform Programme

The questions and answers below are designed to help you understand the process of the Public Services Reforms currently progressing in Turks and Caicos Public Service.  If there are any other questions or you need any clarification you should in the first instance approach your manager or Permanent Secretary for advice and guidance. If they are unable to answer you enquiry they will ask OPSM to assist.

Frequently Asked Questions  ‘ Rightsizing’

Q.  What does ‘right-sizing’ mean for the public service of TCI?

A.  A review which determines how ministries and departments should be organised to ensure that government works in a sensible, effective and efficient manner to deliver the services that citizens and other customers require at an affordable level. There is a need to reduce the cost of the public service and the reviews will identify where savings can be made related to the numbers and grades of staff employed whilst providing recommendations for improving processes and service delivery.

Q. When will the reviews be done?

A. The programme of reviews started in January 2011 and the Ministry reviews should be completed before the end of March 2012, with Statutory Bodies being reviewed during 2012.

Q. How many ministries, departments and staff will there be after the review?

A. This depends on whether it is appropriate to merge or align some ministries together or to create new ministries which provide for economies of scale, logical links to programme and project delivery and processing.  The number of staff required will depend on the volume of work to be done in each Ministry.  Statutory Bodies will also be reviewed in a similar manner.

Q. How is the review being done?

A. Each ministry is analysed in turn to assess the work that needs to be done, how many staff and the skills that are required to do jobs effectively and efficiently. Where there are connections to other ministry’s or statutory body’s work, that will also be analysed. The process of the review will in the main take the same format of strategic and operational analysis and will involve meetings and interviews with management and staff involved in the operations to obtain their views and knowledge of the work they do.  The review is not about analysing the performance of individual members of staff. The interviews and forms completed by staff are to ensure that a full understanding of the content and requirements of the job are gathered by the review team.

Q. How will the results be publicised?

A. Firstly the Permanent Secretary will be consulted to discuss the findings with the ‘Rightsizing’ Advisor and agreement reached on the recommendations prior to giving the management team an opportunity to comment and if appropriate some recommendations may be amended.  Then the final report will be submitted to the CEO and CFO and the Public Sector Reform Steering Group, who will hear representations from the management team and ‘rightsizing’ advisor and consider the various options presented. When the committee is satisfied that the recommendations are acceptable they will authorise implementation by the ministry.

Q. Will the CSA have an opportunity to review and comment on the report?

A. During the consideration process by the Ministry and by the Public Sector Reform Steering Group the CSA will be given an opportunity to present any opinions on the report. Regular information will be issued via the Civil Service Newsletter and the Advisory Council and Consultative Forum will receive briefings on the review’s progress.

Q. How will implementation happen?

A. The report will suggest to the management team the various steps in the implementation process and the ‘rightsizing’ advisor and other technical advisors already assigned to Ministries will be available to assist the management team.

Q. When will the implementation begin?

A.  Once the report is issued and agreed it would generally take the management team and OPSM, who will be involved in dealing with any staff changes, about 2-3 months to plan the changes and then to begin to undertake the changes. Some changes may take effect immediately whilst changes that are more complex requiring movement and retraining of staff for example may take as long as a year to complete; but it is hoped that all the changes can be completed within that time frame.

Q. Will I lose my job?

A.  There will inevitably be reductions in the number of staff required in some ministries and departments.  The decision to freeze recruitment for filling existing vacancies, except some ‘critical’ posts helps to minimise any reductions in staffing that may result from the review.  Some departments and ministries may need more staff and where possible staff with the right skills will be transferred at the same grade level or offered other suitable positions. Where there are no positions available in which to place existing staff, then staff will be offered early retirement or severance on a voluntary basis.  The right to voluntary departure will not be automatic and will be at the discretion of TCIG especially where an individual’s skills or knowledge cannot be easily replaced. If insufficient numbers of staff volunteer then some compulsory severances may be required.

Q.  What if there is a job in my current ministry or in another ministry is of interest to me or that is at a different grade to my present grade?

A.  There may be some opportunities to move staff to other departments in the same Ministry or to fill vacancies in other Ministries. There may also be opportunities for staff to go through the promotion process and be assessed on their suitability for other jobs or to fill a position where the current post holder has retired or left the service. Where officers are displaced from their current position but there are jobs available at a lower grade, officers prepared to remain in employment at that lower grade and pay level may be offered the alternative position.

Q. What will the early severance or early retirement pension scheme be?

A1. Staff who have already reached retirement age (except where there is a need to retain their critical skills because there is not a suitable person to replace them) will automatically move to retirement on normal rules.

A2.  Staff below retirement age - 55 years and above will be offered early retirement –  under 55 years and over 50 years will be offered voluntary early severance, based on a financial package related to their salary grade and number of years of employment.   Special arrangements will be made for those officers who are affected by the change in the retirement pension age to 60. The severance scheme may be offered to staff below 50 years of age where the number of staff to be displaced exceeds the number who are 50 and over.

Q.  If I decide to take early severance or retirement or a lower grade job how will my pension and gratuity be affected?

A. The early severance and retirement scheme will look at the last 3 years of service and calculate the release payments based on the best of the last three years.  If you move to a lower grade job your entitlement to retirement pension will be calculated on the basis of the best of the last three years prior to moving to the lower grade with a prorata adjustment for the final years at the lower grade.

Q. It has been said that some aspects of Ministry’s work might be outsourced or privatised what does this mean?

A. Where it appears that work currently done by a ministry or department can be more effectively managed and delivered with financial savings by existing private sector companies, the work may be offered (outsourced) through a competitive tendering process to those companies.   Privatisation is a method of transferring responsibility to an existing private sector company or through setting up a private sector enterprise by existing public sector employees who are then contracted by government to provide a service more competitively, as well as the ability for that company to offer services to the private sector.  This can be through a mechanism called a ‘trading fund’ which retains employees in the public service for a specified time and encourages a more commercially orientated management process to cover the operating costs. This can be a foundation for wholly moving the employees to the private sector and maintaining the company in their own right when it can be seen that the business is financially viable and can offer a competitive quality service back to government.

Q. Will I be helped to find a job?

A. TCIG will be working through the Ministry of Border Control and Labour (Labour Department), Chamber of Commerce, TCInvest, Hotel and Tourism Association and other agencies like banks to identify and place employees displaced by these changes into alternative employment, including finding ways where appropriate of obtaining funding to assist with small business ‘start-ups’.  The Labour Department will also through its ‘Employment Service’ provide advice and guidance on developing CVs and references and job search support.

Q. What if I have potential financial or social difficulties arising from the changes that affect me?

A. Assistance through the Office of Public Service Management will be provided to advise staff on opportunities and solutions to these problems through professional financial and social agencies for example banks, employment services, health or social advisors.

Q. What happens if I lose my job and I no longer have a ‘government stamp’ for employment.

A. The permission to work in government job is on the condition that there is no suitable person of TCI nationality who has the skills to undertake the work.  If the job is abolished then the job holder will have to seek alternative employment and obtain the necessary Immigration status for the purpose of employment otherwise they will have to return to their country of origin. Sufficient time will be given for those affected to make the necessary arrangements to return home or to make another application before their employment is terminated.  Each case will be decided separately on its own merit.

Q. What if I am on a short-term contract and the job is made obsolete.

A.  In most cases ‘contract’ employment is associated with jobs that cannot be filled by qualified Belongers ( TCI Nationality) or are of a ‘project’ nature where the contract is tied to a specific term for the life of the project.  If the post is abolished or the project ends then the same procedure will apply as for the ‘government stamp’ question above.  Each case will be considered separately.

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