IT MAY BE considered an opening salvo, but the recommendation made last weekend by retired university professor Sir Frank Alleyne that permanent secretaries be appointed on contract should start a serious non-partisan debate on the merits and demerits of such a proposal as part of wider public sector reform.
Our Civil Service has remained a sacred cow, steeped in tradition with a structure best suited for a Barbados of yesteryear. As a politically neutral body charged with impartially implementing the policy programme of the elected government, it needs to operate as a modern entity. Permanent secretaries and their equivalent at the technical and professional levels are the accounting officers for ministries/departments. They should be answerable to Parliament for ensuring that their departments spend approved funding judiciously, and as a matter of rule should open themselves for public scrutiny by the Public Accounts Committee.
Such requirements are fair in our changing society, where the political directorate is requiring more, the corporate community is crying out for faster and better service, and the wider public is demanding to be treated as customers and not beggars. In the circumstances, our Civil Service needs to take heed of the concerns.
Defenders of the Civil Service will argue that for the career officers having moved through the ranks of the public sector, it is the crowning of their achievements to be appointed a permanent secretary or equivalent within the system. The problem is that the job can become permanent for the remainder of the holder’s working career even when the performance is below requirement. This begs the questions: Are the best candidates chosen? Why is the job never advertised externally? Do critical factors of results-based performance matter?
The success of this country depends on good leadership which requires effective performance driven by accountability, ethics and integrity of any organization, including the Civil Service. Undoubtedly, the public sector plays an important facilitator’s role in national development and this requires it to have strong, well-trained and visionary leaders. They must be customer driven, recognizing their social responsibility while being accountable and transparent.
Performance management indicates that those at the chief executive officer level in our Civil Service be subjected to evaluation at the start of the fiscal year, review mid-course and assessment at yearend. These are important factors if the public is to determine whether these officers have effectively done their jobs, how best to reward them and to hold them accountable, including not retaining them.
Despite the setting in which Sir Frank gave his suggestions, don’t shoot the messenger and ignore the message. The public needs to hear on this matter from all the special interest groups, the political parties, the trade unions and the association representing permanent secretaries. Fifty years on from political Independence, we must be open to further change.