Deputy Governor Mrs. Lyndell Simpson
Claiming that “the amendments were made following wide-ranging consultation on the General Orders,” The Deputy Governor issued a release which confirms that, “The Cabinet of Montserrat has approved a number of amendments to the Government of Montserrat General Orders for the Public Service.”
These amendments follow several announcements by Governor Carriere which began in earnest a year ago. These amendments which are only a part of an ongoing project aiming at ‘Empowering Excellence’ in the public service. The Deputy Governor’s release says, “the Amendments are intended to give effect to some identified gaps in the Public Administration Regulations while the Government awaits the completion of this document.”
The key areas to the amendments are the administration of Social Security benefits; maternity and paternity leave; public officers and the press; engagement of public officers in political activities; and conduct and discipline of public officers.
It was not secret that Her Excellency from her arrival to be Governor had noted that a public service and how it functioned was integral to Just over a year ago.
Governor Carriere
In January last year the Governor indicated that Public Service reform would be discussed during the Financial Aid talks between GoM and DFID. She had told the media that public sector reform was a crucial element that was discussed leading up to the meeting.
She listed a budget reporting practices, procurement and customer service delivery to the public from the civil service as key principles of the reform process.
She had pointed out already, “On the point about relationships with the public this is part attitudinal, its part training, its part issues around having the right people in the right places…it really is also an attitude that the public service is a public service and we must carry out the right kind of service,” linking also the area of procurement saying that we now have a procurement officer who is in place.
(see: https://www.themontserratreporter.com/?s=Governor+Carriere+agrees&x=0&y=0) The question about the ‘lack of capacity’ in the Government service took center stage with the Governor’s and to some extent DFID and its role in doing something about the state of the public service and matters that evolved.
As plans progressed, in October last year, siting with the Deputy Premier, Hon Minister Delmaude Ryan who she had named as her co-partner in the project, she told the media, “As you will recall in my press conferences we have discussed repeatedly the need to reinvigorate the public service, to make it fit for purpose for the times we are living in and the demands of the public.”
The Governor said that she and the Deputy Premier have had in-depth, first-hand experience of what needs to be fixed and efforts to change things. And some of those efforts were very good, and some hold much promise.
When she asked. “why have so few of these reforms stuck, and when they were implemented why has so much not changed?”
Back in April last year and prior, the question arose against the backdrop of the failure of, or lack of progress, whether from conception, inception or completing projects, a problem that plagued for several years to date.
At that time, she noted, “…It’s not only a lack of capacity. There is capacity in some areas but I think some of our systems in either human resources or just our management systems in government are holding some of that back,” adding meanwhile “…the other thing is we need to develop capacity…”
Together at her October press meet the Governor and the Deputy outlined the project and the process, answering the question why has nothing changed. She said that among the answers that came back, “public servants themselves were not involved in the definition and planning of these changes; things were done TO them, FOR them, but not WITH them – “the consultants came in and told us what needed to be done, and then they just left…or they didn’t really understand the way we are, the way things work in Montserrat.””
After outlining the key features of the Empowering Excellence initiative, Deputy Premier pointed out the purpose and the areas to be addressed through the initiative:
Mrs. Cheverlyn Williams
One of these is to: catalyse a transformation in leadership of the Government’s human resources service provision, learning and change management, so that empowered public servants are able to demonstrate excellence in their work, and effectively lead, facilitate and enable the achievement of Government of Montserrat’s economic growth and social development goals.
Throughout the various announcements to the day the Deputy Governor and the task force manager, Mrs. Cheverlyn Williams there was always the question when the Public Administration Act will be enforced. The answer has always been that it is delayed for the Regulations. They explained that the amendments being made to the still in place General Orders were to enforce some of the matters covered in the Act.
The amendments were announced just after the back and forth regarding the failed St. Patrick’s Day Lecture. (see: https://www.themontserratreporter.com/who-stopped-the-lecture/
