West: Work-from-home policy pilot project in November

PUBLIC Administration Minister Allyson West said a pilot project for a remote work policy for the public service will begin in November, following which a report will be taken to Cabinet in February.

Speaking during the budget debate in the Senate on October 23, West said this was one of several projects her ministry was working to improve the quality of the public service.

“We will be looking to see how the remote work policy impacts the productivity of the public service. We are not prepared to implement it if it reduces the rates of service to the public. We will let the public know what our decision is.”

Another project, West said, is the implementation of a cloud-based comprehensive human resource management system which would allow proper management of human resources. She said the system is scheduled for rollout in fiscal 2025. She said it would enable the HR departments of the public administration and finance ministries, as well as the service commissions, to become more strategic.

She said the ministry was expanding its public service academy, which currently trains 1,500 people per year. She said this was not sufficient for a civil service of 40,000 people and a public service of 60,000.

“It’s not allowing continuous training and development. We have signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with UWI to offer training to public servants in their area of relevance at government expense.”

She said she expected two-three cohorts of 3,000 people to be trained per term, which would mean 6,000-9,000 people per year. She said the ministry was in talks with UTT for further training.

West said the digitisation of the ministry began with the property and real estate services division, then public management, then the HR unit, and continues.

She noted suggestions that the government acquire Trincity Mall and convert it into an administrative building. She said while it would not be doing that, the Point Fortin Heritage Complex would be open in six months and would be a one stop shop for all government services. She said a similar facility would be opened in Arima, and the ministry was working on upgrading the Tunapuna and Siparia complexes.

West said a succession planning policy will be taken to Cabinet in a few weeks, which will have a more structured approach for people to take over from more senior positions.

“We have been trying to incorporate a citizen-centred service. We’re reminding public servants that it’s not just to earn a salary or working in a job, our purpose is to serve the public. While change in the public service is not the easiest thing, we need to take an interactive approach to serving the public. We need to make it easier for the population to access services and information.”