Giving 100 per cent

On Saturday, the Prime Minister once more had words for the public service.

“We’ve had the public service home, ostensibly on a 50 per cent rotation,” said Dr Rowley. “Today I want to indicate that as of Monday the full public service is to get back out to work. And we are going to ensure that the managers, the permanent secretaries, under the instruction of the head of the public service, manage the workplace of the public service so that the workplaces can be relatively safe.”

The PM added, “The public service would be open to provide the service that the public needs.”

By Tuesday, however, Public Administration Minister Allyson West was clarifying to CNC3 News the PM's statements:

“What he means is that people are required to give 100 per cent of the effort that is required of them in their day-to-day jobs, not necessarily that 100 per cent of them must be in the office at any one time,” Ms West said.

However Dr Rowley’s words are interpreted, it is clear enough that the issue of the performance of the public service during the pandemic has been such that he has been driven – for better or worse – to make interventions on the issue. Repeatedly. In his prior update, the PM called for stricter enforcement of rostering.

Whether or not the approach can gain from compassionate modulation as well as deeper reflection of the powers of the executive, no one disagrees that the issue of public sector reform has been on the agenda for far too long.

Dr Rowley and his Finance Minister Colm Imbert have placed emphasis on the fact that salaries have not been cut. In fact, successive governments have, during expenditure reviews, noted salaries are the largest chunk of state expenditure.

In exchange, we demand productivity.

But it is worth asking: is bad service in the public sector a result of low morale? A symptom of the slow pace of reform?

The pandemic has shone a light on the need to change the way the state does business. But it has also asked us to radically re-imagine work and the way workers are assessed. Attendance is only one part of the evaluation.

The public very often gets the short end of the stick in all of this, with funds being devoted to a system riddled with inefficiency and poor service.

Equally, workers now face fresh challenges such as having to adapt to working at home, working while also schooling, and working in a situation in which covid19 throws up unique challenges.

Mr Imbert has announced new positions will not be confirmed, which could lead to stagnation, uncertainty and further demoralisation. But that was always a part of the system, more so considering the prevalence of contract work in the sector.

Still, the proposals to privatise ports, as well as to establish new revenue bodies, will deepen fears about job losses.

Ironically, giving 100 per cent in such circumstances may be easier said than done.