Dear Sir,

I write with regard to the management of our Civil Service and make reference to the (not so recent) Sage report, and its many recommendations for improvement.

On the subject of efficiency and accountability of the Civil Service, I quote from page 29 of this report:

“The responsibility for leadership and standards of Government employees’ performance resides with the secretary to the Cabinet who doubles as the head of the Civil Service, notwithstanding that he has delegated certain responsibilities to an assistant Cabinet secretary.

“While officially accountable to the Governor, the secretary to the Cabinet does not report directly to anyone. He or she is appointed by the Governor following a selection process laid down in section 90 of the Constitution that includes the Premier and the Public Service Commission.

“However, in practice, none of these offices assesses the secretary to the Cabinet’s performance or holds him or her to account for the performance of Government employees. The secretary to the Cabinet is exempt from performance appraisals and is not required to report his or her performance to the public.”

It should be no surprise then, to anyone, that there are such glaring inefficiencies in the management of our Civil Service, when the person in the position responsible for managing the same, is apparently accountable to no one in particular.

The Sage report makes specific recommendations for separating the role of head of the Civil Service from the role of the secretary to the Cabinet, with each position working under the policy direction of the Premier. They suggested that advertising for these positions should commence as soon as possible, once the job descriptions had been finalised.

I quote from page 30 of the Sage report: “The Sage Commission heard account after account from all levels, including the rank and file of the Civil and Public Service, that there is a lack of confidence in the leadership at the top of the Civil and Public Service.

“The buck stops at the top, and this means the secretary to the Cabinet. The post holder must urgently address this lack of confidence.”

The Sage report was completed in October 2013 and I look forward to hearing an update on implementation of these and many other of the sound recommendations by this Commission.

BEVERLEY GREET CONNELL