AUTHORITY FOR the management of human resources in revenue agencies will be delegated to Permanent Secretary, Shirley Tyndall, as of December 1 this year. This step has been taken to ensure a greater level of efficiency in the management and operation of these agencies.
The move will see Miss Tyndall, who is also Financial Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Planning, invested with the power to appoint staff, select persons for training, administer disciplinary measures and dismiss persons.
The agencies include the Customs Department, Inland Revenue Department, Taxpayer Audit and Assessment, Taxpayer Appeals and the Tax Administration Services Department.
According to Deputy Chief Personnel Officer in the Office of the Services Commission, Lois Parkes, the move was part of a plan to delegate responsibility for the management of human resources from the Commission to Permanent Secretaries.
DELEGATED AUTHORITY
She said that under the Public Sector Modernisation Programme, the shift towards delegated authority was aimed at improving accountability within the public service, with Permanent Secretaries to be held accountable for the output of their organisation.
"You can't have improved accountability unless managers at the senior level have greater authority," Miss Parkes pointed out, emphasising that "you can't have responsibility without authority."
Miss Parkes noted that the head office of the Ministry of Finance and Planning would receive delegated authority by the beginning of the next financial year.
This will bring to five the number of Ministries that have received delegated authority since April 2000. The others are the Ministries of Education, Youth and Culture; Local Government, Community Development and Sport; the Office of the Prime Minister; and the Cabinet Office.
Miss Parkes said that Permanent Secretaries would normally have responsibility for developing and implementing policies and the general administration of their Ministries, but they did not have full control over the management of human resources.
"I am not just talking about how persons are recruited or promoted, but also the design of their organisation... setting up compensation and industrial relations," she explained.
Miss Parkes noted that the pressure of globalisation and the growing expectation from the public for a more responsive and efficient public service meant that the pace of operation under centralised authority was proving frustrating to development.
She explained that centralised management, which is practised by almost all Commonwealth countries, was adopted from Britain, and at the time of Independence, the Civil Service was smaller and engaged in far fewer activities. "Over time, however, the Service grew wider and the operations of government became more complex," she added.
Miss Parkes said this soon placed a strain on the centralised management structures and did not facilitate timely delivery. She noted that it impacted negatively on the quality of decision-making, as persons who made the decisions were not close enough to the situation.
Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government, Community Development and Sport, Barbara James, told the JIS, the government's news agency that the move toward delegated authority has given Department Managers greater freedom in fitting staff for the specific needs of the Ministry.
"If we have a particular need, we are the ones who assess the need... and seek the particular level of skill that we require. We don't have to accept anybody who comes in. We have a greater control over who works in the organisation," she pointed out.
ACCOUNTABILITY
Mrs. James said that persons now have an expectation that more is required of them, and that managers have responded well to the demand for a greater level of accountability from their staff. She added that the move was a good one and has led to increased efficiency within the Ministry.
Miss Parkes told JIS News that the introduction of Executive Agencies was also a step towards decentralising authority.
In April 1999, four government agencies were transformed into Executive Agencies. These were the Office of the Registrar of Companies, Management Institute for National Development (MIND), the Registrar General's Department and the Administrator General's Department. In 2001, the Jamaica Information Service (JIS), National Works Agency, National Land Agency, and the National Environment and Planning Agency (NEPA) were added to the list.
