THE CUTTING of 23,500 public sector jobs over four years, the cancellation of the decentralisation programme and the rationalisation of 48 quangos by the end of next year are key elements of the Government’s plan to reform public services.
Public sector numbers are projected to fall from a peak of 320,000 in 2008 to below 300,000 at the end of this year and then to 282,500 in 2015, under the plan announced yesterday – or 37,500 jobs since 2008. The cuts announced yesterday will deliver a saving of €2.5 billion in the gross pay bill; the Government says it is broadly in line with commitments in the programme for government and double the previous administration’s target.
Though the reduction in staff numbers will largely be achieved through natural wastage, the plan also provides for “effective exit arrangements” such as early retirement or voluntary redundancy.
The document also promises a “new and expanded” programme of State agency rationalisation, with 48 quangos to go by the end of 2012 and a further 46 to be reviewed by next June. These changes will save an estimated €20 million a year.
The Government has also decided to cancel the decentralisation programme introduced by its predecessor in 2003. This means that 40 projects where decentralisation had yet to begin will be cancelled; 32 others will be left “in situ” and 22 will be reviewed.
Though not included in the plan, Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform Brendan Howlin also announced yesterday that annual leave allowances would be standardised across the public service. This will see the abolition of local leave arrangements such as festival and race days and the imposition of a uniform cap on leave allowances for different groups of staff.
With the reduction in staff numbers, the Government’s property portfolio will be rationalised to reduce maintenance costs and raise income through the sale of buildings. The number of court buildings will also be rationalised.
Innovation, flexibility and the delivery of streamlined services must be at the heart of a reformed public service, the document states. “The challenging fiscal position which we face as a country means that far-reaching reform of the public service is essential to ensure that it is customer focused, leaner, more efficient, better integrated and delivering maximum value for money.”
The plan says the Government’s reform agenda is focused on reducing costs, maximising new channels for delivering service to citizens, working in new ways and “placing customer service at the core of everything we do”.
Among the initiatives planned to improve the offering to customers are a new public services card, the online publication of information on the performance of key services and the creation of a single body for awarding student grants online. For people without bank accounts, a basic payment account will be set up, starting with a pilot in 2012.
Voter registration, passport renewals and driver licences are among the services the Government plans to move online over the next two years. Other electronic projects include the roll-out of fixyourstreet.ie across all local authorities (being piloted in South Dublin), and a move online for the incorporation of companies, land registry services and planning applications and objections.
Under the heading of new ways of working, the plan envisages the sharing of services such as human resources, payroll and pensions across sections of the Civil Service. The first tranche of smaller departments, employing fewer than 2,500 staff, would transfer their payroll operations to a shared service by the end of next year, with the rest to follow by 2014. The use of payable orders (for example, for tax refunds) would be replaced by electronic transfers by mid-2013.
A “high performance culture” for senior managers will be developed and there will be a strong focus on redeploying staff.
The plan for reform of the public services will be driven by a specially created office in the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform. The director of this office, Paul Reid, has already been recruited from the private sector.
The plan also envisages new policies on procurement and the management of property assets, including an acceleration of “collaborative buying” across the public service. Every public body will be required to set out clear and unambiguous strategic priorities and the legal relationship between Ministers and civil servants will be spelled out.
The document proposes a new approach to the management of State agencies, part of which would see some agency boards scrapped and managers made accountable directly to Ministers.
The implementation of systems to deal with underperformance in the Civil Service is due by the middle of next year while a review of sick leave arrangements will be completed within a year.
Previously flagged policies such as restoring the Freedom of Information Act and legislation to protect whistleblowers are also contained in the proposals.