Public Service Reform To Increase Efficiency

February 2, 2014

Premier Craig Cannonier today [Feb 2] announced the launch of a Public Service Reform initiative designed to increase the efficiency and effectiveness of the Civil Service, which he said is seen to be a critical component in stabilizing the local economy.

Based on the United Kingdom Civil Service Reform model, the Public Service Reform initiative will have a similar focus and also serve as the platform to implement some of the SAGE recommendations that the government has determined it supports, as well as incorporate other major organizational change initiatives which may not be included in the recommendations.

Premier Cannonier said “The cost of running Government and our current debt crisis threatens to destabilize the foundation of the country.

“After carefully considering the body of organizational development work that has been undertaken over the past few years, we will now take the immediate and critical next steps to move forward with reforms to modernize and transform the public service into an organization that is cost effective, purpose driven, and efficient.

“This initiative will help us economically and give Bermuda a competitive advantage as we compete globally for foreign direct and indirect investment.”

The process of Reform began late last year with the Ministerial portfolio changes that consolidated all corporate services; a move that was deemed to be a necessary prerequisite to successfully drive the required change process.

The Premier added “I am very encouraged by the number of Public Servants who are eager to support the Reform plan because in order to be successful, we’re going to need to harness their talent to find new ways to reduce the bureaucracy and put systems in place that will make our public services more user-friendly, responsive, transparent and innovative.”

The government will initially focus on implementing short-term deliverables and simultaneously work with stakeholders such as the Civil Service and various Union representatives to complete the Reform Plan. More complex initiatives will be addressed in subsequent months.

The Premier concluded, “I view this as another great opportunity for us to work together on behalf of the country – because Bermuda deserves a government that is focused on outcomes, not on processes. Over the next few days and weeks you can expect to hear more from me about Public Service Reform.”

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  1. BPSU Respond: Public Service Reform Initiative | Bernews.com | February 3, 2014
  1. Nuffin but da Truth says:

    in a nutshell,Civil Service staff need to watch out,your easy life is now on the line.

    • Jus' Askin' says:

      OBA better brace themselves ;-)

      • Hmmm says:

        Why? What are you planning? Sounds like a threat. Come on, spit it out.

        • Jus' Askin' says:

          You are funny ;-)
          How is that a threat?
          I need not ‘plan’ anything as OBA does a great job of screwing up on it’s own.
          The reason I say they need to ‘brace themselves’, is that people do not like ‘change’ which will come in this ‘reform’. The only way they could be successful in this ‘reform’ is to get rid of everyone in the civil service and start fresh.
          They have already started that right. Department of Tourism is know the Bermuda Tourism Authority. SAGE will be the ‘scape goat’ for other changes that are to come, that will ‘upset’ people.
          Can I tell you, once you look at ‘cutting costs’ over how to ‘generate more revenue’, you have proven to be weak and have already lost ;-)

          • Al says:

            The PLP raised revenue by raising taxes every year until 2010 when they went too far and had to back-track.

            They already squeezed the stone dry.

            Now the only way to raise revenue is to grow the economy – which is exactly what the OBA is doing.

            • Jus' Askin' says:

              I agree PLP went about it wrong.
              I agree we need to stop our economy from shrinking and grow it.
              OBA is not growing the economy ;-)

          • haha says:

            You’re a moron. How would you generate costs? It’s bloated enough…

            • Jus' Askin' says:

              Name calling WOW ;-)
              Who said anything about how to ‘generate costs’?
              What is bloated enough?

    • Herb Adderley says:

      and as it should be, we can no longer afford to pay for the “easy life” i see no problem with efficiency in the civil service.

    • We the People!! (1st) says:

      Do you think all Civil Service staff as en ‘EASY LIFE’ as you put it?

      Is is possible that some Civil Service employees are one pay check from poverty, not being able to afford food for their child, not making the next mortgage payment, or not being able to pay their rent.

      Let’s not group all Civil Service staff on the same boat. These are people’s lives we are talking about that could impact the lives of children.

      Yes we need to cut waste, but we can do so without attacking some of the hard working folk within the Civil Service.

      You can do better than that.

      • Herb Adderley says:

        your quite right, and I wasnt the one who mentioned the easy life i just made a comment with regards to what the previous poster had commented. The efficiency of the Civil Service really has to start at the top, not with the lower paid workers.

        • We the people!! (1st) says:

          Herb,

          My comment was in response to @Nuffin but da Truth.

      • Tim says:

        The OBA got your votes they don’t give a rat a** about you people in the service.

      • WillSee says:

        You don’t get it! hardworking or not , they are not needed!
        Shuold’nt have been hired to begin with as we have 8ooo Government
        employees.

    • street wise says:

      Not “watch out”… probably better to “up your game.”

  2. Chris Famous says:

    The OBA is yet to disclose to the public and the CS which of the SAGE recommendations they plan to implement.

    They have yet to hold one town hall meeting since putting the SAGE report public 3 over months ago.

    • Concerned says:

      Belco needs to do the same, many not putting in a full days job, and getting paid very handsomely. This is why they are also failing and the price of electricity is so high.

      • Mamma Mia says:

        Don’t forget about the Department of Airport Operations … what do all those people do eight hours a day, five days a week and, from what I understand, take home astronomical paychecks!

  3. Vote for Me says:

    Translation
    The Government are unsure about next steps and are taking more steps to delay the inevitable changes to the Public Service.

    Question: What happened to the SAGE recommendations. They reported that unless significant changes start by April 2014 (i.e. this year), Bermuda’s financial standing will decline further!!

  4. Rockfish#2 says:

    The Government of the day must do what is in the best interest of the country, despite the veiled threats and stupid attempts at intimidation.

    This is not a popularity contest!

  5. Impressive says:

    More from him, through the advice of his advisers.. This guy pretending that he makes some sort of decisions or even knows how to implement an initiative.. I don’t think the OBA is a bad government, but this premier is a joke… Stop the charade and lets get down to business.

    • Hmmm says:

      So what did you think of paula Cox ?

      • Impressive says:

        I don’t think she was one of better premiers, but I will say that the words and speeches that came out of here mouth where formulated through her own thought process, and not simply reading off of something that was prepared for her. I would also say that she had a good handle on the majority of things she discussed, whether or not she made the correct decision all the time was a different matter.

    • Mike Hind says:

      Exactly. God forbid he listen to advisors! How DARE he?

      • Impressive says:

        Mike, don’t over dramatize the situation, you know exactly what I am alluding to. please

        • Mike Hind says:

          I know the ridiculous story you’re trying to push, yes.

          That’s why I ridiculed you.

          • Puppet says:

            Who recommended the use of more “black surrogates.” Oh right, the sage ‘advisers.’

            • Mike Hind says:

              You guys will say anything to smear, won’t you?
              All the while refusing to back up your claims while hiding behind fake names.

              You’re so filled with hatred and rage that your party lost the election that you’ll just lash out and say ANYTHING, as long as it either paints the Government in a bad light or takes the focus off of you party’s almost complete mismanagement of our country.

              We don’t need that. We need honesty.
              We need you to criticize honestly and about things that are real, not all these molehills you’re trying to turn into mountains.

              Can you at least TRY that?

              • Impressive says:

                thats alot of assumptions there Mike,, when you say you guys, that must mean you are including me in that statement.. I am not filled with hatred, I accept that fact that the OBA is the government as I believe in Democracy.. I don’t agree with the fact of having a premier who is way out of his depth that he can’t elaborate on any of the points that he speaks on. The OBA is the government, but for God’s sake give us a competent Premier,, thats all I ask for..

                • Mike Hind says:

                  When I say you guys, I was pretty clear what I was talking about.

                  I’m not making an assumption, I’m making an observation.

                  When you actually back up a claim and stop trying to spread this weird smear campaign, I’ll take you out of that classification.
                  Until then? “You guys” can just keep hiding behind your fake names while throwing out baseless accusations.

    • LOL says:

      Ok…You mean you want to see the white man who has the brains be openly in charge…OK I get it…and that is fair…But you ran the election on this pretense so get used to it!!!!

      • Impressive says:

        Don’t put words in my mouth. I don’t care if this man you call a “Premier” was blue or orange, he doesn’t even understand the words that come out of his own mouth. This is not about him, being some “puppet” for the white man, which you are attempting to suggest that I am referring to. This is about him, not having the mental aptitude to be the leader of a country.

        • Mike Hind says:

          “…you call “Premier”…”

          You don’t? Why not?

          And is there ANY evidence to back up this story you’re pushing, or are you just throwing mud and hoping it’ll stick?

  6. San Geoge says:

    Not a joke people. The cost of the civil service will sink this little country.

    • Rockfish#1 says:

      At some point in the near future, the Civil Service must be removed from the protected species list and reduced. People will protest and scream for a variety of reasons, but it must happen.

      Let’s face it, there is a great deal of dead wood there, at all levels!

  7. Warren says:

    Public Service Reform…civil servants should be very wary. SAGE debate provided no semblance of what recommendations would potentially be implemented.

  8. Triangle Drifter says:

    How many times over how many years have we seen this headline. First it was the UBP. Then it was the PLP. Multiple times. The civil service grew & grew. There is not much service given the number of people collecting a paycheck. Most of the time, not always, the service is anything but civil.

    Now the OBA is promising to make the cuts. Big cuts they must make. There is no more money to treat the civil service as some sort of social service paying people who would are otherwise unemployable.

    For the financial survival of Bermuda the cuts have to happen.

    • Portia says:

      Triangle, you talk about cuts, but it seems to me the first and most sensible step would be for the Government to institute an immediate hiring freeze. Why haven’t the OBA done this? They have been in office for over a year now. Yet the Government continues to advertise and hire high-paying jobs every week that pays over 100K per year, while complaining that they do not have money to afford to pay those on the lowest pay scales. Stop the bleeding first before you start to operate.

      Also, it makes no sense to talk about efficiency and controlling debt when Government hires the CEO of the BTA and does not even disclose his salary to the public. Now which SAGE recommendation is this in line with? The pay packages of CEOs are disclosed all the time, if one picks up a financial newsletter or business magazine, even in Bermuda, so why should the BTA, who is funded by the public, be any different.

      They need to be transparent AND control costs if they want to right the ship.

    • Triangle Drifter says:

      The dislike brigade is out in force. Wonder how many of them are on the Government payroll & are feeling a wee bit uncomfortable in their cushy seats?

  9. No Effin Way! says:

    Thats our peep from cannonier for the next 2 weeks. Now silence until he pops up again to say he’s flying somewhere.

    • Suzie Quattro says:

      Where is marc bean? Not a peep out of him for weeks.

  10. Miguelito says:

    Make the cuts where necessary. An efficient civil service sector would be a nice change.

  11. godson says:

    Financial Assistance will grow even more!! Every action has a reaction! I’m not a CS, so I’m not defending anyone..Just curious of the follow up plan..Is there a follow up plan…or will they think about it AFTER more people are “let go”? THINK B4 U ACT OBA

  12. X man says:

    Sounds like the first stage to streamline Civil sevents which means getting rid of people.
    The whole massage is not transparent enough thats why its sending shockwaves thoughout the whole Island.
    We the People – the Voters NEED a more detailed Plan from this Govt. if not Bermudians will be begin to speculate

    These are serious times in Bermuda – lets not bring on more Panic .

  13. Your joking says:

    Let me give you an example of a Government worker……I am Bermudian…married..then had a son. Applied to have him recognized as Bermudian..This application consisted of parents names, marriage certificate, birth certificate and his name…plus $125….that is it…yet 10 months later I am still waiting for him to be registered…
    And I am by far not the only one..

  14. JUNK YARD DOG says:

    The civil service.
    Let me just give you one example of many that has failed, ” bad roads”.

    You read the Sage report , you do not need me to tell you this, the writing is on the wall.

    There are many civil servants who perform their tasks well beyond expectations, work over time with out compensation, for them 5.PM is a clock on the wall, they can tell you who is not playing the game or not pulling their weight.

    All that needs doing is to weed out the dead wood who are, and have been swinging the lead,coming to work late leaving early, two hour lunches, sleeping on the job, and many other lame excuses.

    All Civil servants from the top down should be subject to annual job performance appraisals and relocated where they have been seen to be unable or un- willing to perform their allotted tasks, many job descriptions need revising we are in a changing world as some programs are no longer necessary and with duplication of effort which cost money.

    “Time is money”

  15. JUNK YARD DOG says:

    Can some body come up with different words to replace the antiquated “Servant and Service” .

    A person who attends to you and I in the hospital is by no means a servant, more like a dedicated life saver.

    Work is a honorable institution would you believe that the are many humanitarians who get great satisfaction from what they do.

    • Suzie Quattro says:

      So we shouldn’t just keep a few thousand unnecessary people on the payroll, we also have to call them “dedicated life savers” now?

  16. Truth is killin' me... says:

    What the Lord giveth…the Lord can taketh away!!

  17. watching says:

    The Premier doesn’t announce anything. He doesn’t even hold press conferences. All he does is smile, wave and nod. Bermuda is going through the biggest challenges ever and he doesn’t even hold the people in high enough regard to address them directly. Instead he hides behind his 500K a year staff and sends out press releases while he gallavants all over the world on tour. He is an embarrassment as Premier.

    • Mike Hind says:

      Is ANYone buying this? Seriously?

      • haha says:

        ya brainwashed suckas for the PLP

        • Mike Hind says:

          No need to be rude and insulting, especially when hiding behind a fake name.

          That just works into their game.
          If you’re rude, they can just ignore any real point you make and say “He’s rude.”

          They’ll still say it, but isn’t it better when they have to lie about it?

  18. History says:

    time to let go some Gubmint workers

  19. Navin Johnson says:

    Virtually impossible to change the culture of the civil service which is what is needed….the sense of entitlement and lack of effort is killing the government. …certainly not everyone but most would admit there is a great deal of dead wood…….

  20. TRINI BOI... DARON says:

    Concern visitor from TRINIDAD……….. Been visiting the island over 5 years now due to I am a committee member of THE BERMUDA CARNIVAL REVELERS……what a great art form in the carnival section .
    But sadly to say that the government is not assisting any of the groups this year how sad is this…been told by a text message that there will be no donation from the MINISTRY OF ART AND CULTURE. are there any groups been told about this .what will become of this great parade for may the 24th…..sadly to say it will not be the same as the past couple of years I have been here on this beautiful island and always look forward taking part in the parade. its a pity really knowing a lot of Bermudian came out to see this great group who strive to put on a show where the costumes are been design and made in my home land Trinidad . I PLEAD TO THE GOVERNMENT OF THIS BEAUTIFUL ISLAND TO PLEASE LOOK INTO THIS MATTER….VERY CONCERN VISITOR.

  21. Question says:

    I would agree that public service reform is simply a way for the current government to engage in cuts of civil servants. Are there CS that do not work to their optimal? OF COURSE (as there are in the private sector)

    Are there CS who go above and beyond to get the job done? OF COURSE.

    I simply would like some honest dialogue regarding the proposals from the OBA government – - it appears that the OBA government says that they will engage the community on a topic, in turn make the decision and then INFORM the community about what they are doing – - that isn’t right. Mean what you say and say what you mean.

    Q

    NB – Happy Birthday Mike Hind – hope you enjoy it.

  22. JUNK YARD DOG says:

    Recently I put forward some suggestions on Bernews for a change of uses for the Grand Atlantic in Warwick.

    My thoughts of diversification for Bermuda this time were for a Bermuda owned resort catering to the working family visitor, sort of a home away from home in the form of efficiently units.

    After my visit to the property yesterday.

    I came to the conclusion that my suggestions were just a pie in the sky as I dreamed the impossible dream of a swimming pool, Palm trees” water fountains; tennis courts; kids playground ;BBQ pit; out door dancing; a golf cart to the beach ; bike shop ; gift store; Mini restaurant; Miniature golf and Flat screened TV.
    All to be completely managed ; staffed and maintained by our out of school young people as a hotel college. Then i saw the chain linked fencing , i could have died on the spot. My vision was dashed to the ground.

    I may have over step the mark and I am not to proud to admit it.

    “It is better to try and fail than not to try at all “