West: Remote work policy being considered

PUBLIC Administration Minister Allyson West says her ministry is looking at the development of a remote work policy for the civil service.

She made this comment in response to a question in the Senate on January 28.

West said a draft policy has been created and is engaging the attention of Cabinet's finance and general purpose committee. She added this initiative began last year.

West said a pilot project before the development of a final policy and its approval by Cabinet. She was unable to give a time frame for this to happen.

West said the ministry engaged PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) Advisory Services Ltd to develop a remote-work policy for civil servants.

In a statement last July, the ministry said PwC held meetings with key stakeholders, including the Service Commissions Department, 28 permanent secretaries and heads of various ministries and departments, including Tobago.

Later in the sitting, Education Minister Dr Nayan Gadsby-Dolly repeated a speech made by the Prime Minister at a graduation ceremony at the University of the Southern Caribbean last year about the importance of education and how it ensured people did not fall into a life of crime.

She did not say whether government has developed any policies in relation to what Dr Rowley said in his speech.