Principle Permanent Secretary Mario Cutajar has defended the significant rise in the number of public sector workers, arguing that the health and education sectors are very important and that a substantial number of the new workers have been deployed in these two sectors to deal with public demand.

He said that when nurses, teachers or learning support assistants (LSA) need to be replaced, it is vital that they are.

But this newsroom pointed out that replacing people who have retired or simply changed job does not explain the rise in public sector employment.

"One has to note that there are people who are replaced but then there are others who enter the public service due to an increase in services," Mr Cutajar explained.

He insisted that it is vital that staffing levels in these particular sectors of health and education are strengthened.

He was replying to questions posed by The Malta Independent on Sunday, one of which was regarding the sudden rise in the number of public sector workers. It was the first time Mr Cutajar had given any explanation for this rise since the issue was initially raised following the publication of statistics by the NSO in August.

These statistics showed that the public sector had seen a rise in employment levels and the Opposition was quick to point out that the number of full-time jobs in the public sector had increased by almost 1,900 during Labour's first year in power, or 4.5 per cent since March 2013.

 

Public service efficiency drive

Mr Cutajar said that a much-needed renewal of the public sector system is under way, building on the good aspects while replacing the not so good, in a bid to reduce excessive bureaucracy and ensure such workers are client-focused, be it when dealing with internal clients (their colleagues within the public service) or external clients (the public in general).

Explaining further, Mr Cutajar said that although there has been a quality leap in the services offered to the public by the government as a result of ongoing investment in technology, there still needs to be a change in culture within the public sector to provide a more efficient service for the public in general.

Politicians are not the clients of the public service workers; it is the public as a whole who are their clients, said Mr Cutajar. Enthusiasm on the part of public sector workers has suffered a slow death and a number of measures are required in an attempt to resuscitate it. Directive 8 seeks to change the existing culture and mentality.

Describing the directive as an "approval by default", he said that one such measure is to introduce and enforce timeframes when it comes to public sector workers' requests, such as family friendly-related measures for instance, where if not acknowledged within a stipulated timeframe, such requests are automatically approved.

Another 'rule' to be implemented as a result of the directive will ensure that back office employees, citing the government workers' salaries section as a perfect example, acknowledge that they have clients as well (internal clients that is, referring to other public service workers) despite the fact that sections such as those entrusted with the payment of salaries work behind the scenes and do not conduct front-office work in the same way as other public workers.

"They still are giving a service to the 'internal' client by issuing them with their salaries," Mr Cutajar insisted.

Which led on to the next question: how does the head of the civil service intend bringing about a more client-focused attitude in this very important and demanding sector, where some health care workers, mostly due to the ongoing pressures they face on a daily basis, forget that members of the public are their clients and at times treat patients as if they are doing them a favour on the pretext that the health service is a 'free' service?

Mr Cutajar said that this approach has to change from both sides of the spectrum: the public's attitude towards the workers and vice versa.

"Due to the severe pressures faced by health care workers, who no doubt are dedicated and offer a good service to the public, they can at times end up dealing with matters in a manner that is not always considered appropriate.

"The issue is being addressed is helping workers deal with such pressures, since this is what it all boils down to at the end of the day," Mr Cutajar said.

So what was the first step this administration, when elected in March 2013, took to curb excessive bureaucracy and try to instil a different mentality within the public service.

"We captured an image of the situation," he said, adding that bureaucracy is not a bad thing to have, but excessive bureaucracy is.

Mr Cutajar referred to a 2012 report presented to the previous administration, which included a set of recommendations and conclusions on the public sector as a whole. While noting that the previous administration did not follow up on the report, Mr Cutajar reiterated that although a good deal of investment in IT over the years has brought about a leap in quality, where one cannot imagine a desk without a computer these days, one now needs to focus on the physical aspect of the service, the public sector worker, when it comes to delivering a government service.

Another point he raised was the issue of a member of the public burdened to inform a government department, in this case the one that deals with pensions, that he or she has retired and should start receiving a pension.

"Why should this not be done automatically, without the need for members of the public to alert the department concerned, when all government departments have all the data of each and every person stored?" he asked.

This initiative came into force last May, with the government stating that a person reaching retirement age need not apply for his or her pension because this would be done automatically through government data.

Another issue raised by him was the regulations by which public sector workers have to abide. According to Mr Cutajar, the regulations need to be simplified so that workers feel that they are being trusted and not scrutinised over their every move.

He believes that, when it comes to discipline, this needs to be recognised instantly. He believes that the best way to deal with such matters is to introduce an award system for workers which gives them this instant recognition and not to simply introduce tougher measures.

While on this issue, Mr Cutajar said that there is no doubt that the codes of discipline need to be revamped.

This issue leads us to another question: Are there some guidelines to which public sector employees, including ministry representatives, must abide when it comes to posting certain comments publicly (particularly on social online media)?

Mr Cutajar said that one occasion he had been made aware of involved a public sector worker who overstepped his boundaries and posted something deemed unethical online. He said that the necessary steps were taken and the matter dealt with accordingly but stopped short of revealing the person's identity.

On a separate note, when asked if he agrees with the fact that some Ministry officials have team up to deliver a programme on a political station, Mr Cutajar said he believes that Ministry representatives, such as public relation officers, should not be barred from taking up other roles.

"This is an issue of a party and not the government really", he said. "However, I do not believe in a regimented public service either. There should be a mix and such workers should not feel restricted from doing so," he added.

 

Libya crisis

Mr Cutajar had been tasked with heading the crisis unit which dealt with Maltese citizens who were caught up in the Libya crisis. Asked if things could have been handled better, Mr Cutajar said that the whole team had engaged in coordinated efforts and done its utmost to ensure that Maltese citizens were returned to Malta safe and sound. He highlighted once again that the situation this time around was very different to the Libya crisis in 2011 and therefore the unit had to come up with different strategies.

 

People of trust: 'Necessary after 25 years in Opposition'

Mr Cutajar said that people of trust are necessary, especially after spending 25 years in Opposition. "Governments need people of trust. This has always been the case and will continue to be so." He was reacting to the Ombudsman's report published in The Malta Independent earlier this week, in which he said that it had long been considered that people of trust appointments should be restricted in number and limited to the Ministers' private secretariats.

In his report, the Ombudsman also said that, during the past few years, the demarcation line between recruitment in the civil service and the Ministries has become more blurred. "Successive governments have adopted a policy of directly engaging people within departments and authorities. These appointments are not limited to the highest levels of public administration," the report continued.

 

Permanent secretaries' removal

Union officials and former public servants had expressed reservations on the views of the civil service head, who had warned that the public sector was facing a "leadership crisis".

But Mr Cut jar's remarks, made in the Prime Minister's presence during a conference, came at a time when Labour had just been appointed to government and one of its first decisions was to place its own people at the helm of various Ministries. This, in itself, had raised a few eyebrows.

As a result of this move, a number of permanent secretaries who had been appointed by the previous administration had been replaced.

 

People of trust

Mr Cutajar said that it was "anti constitutional" to have learned that, just before the March 2013 election, the previous government had changed the contracts of a number of persons of trust from their three-year definite contract to an indefinite one, which consequently led to them becoming civil servants. "The Public Service Commission had recommended that the present administration terminate the employment of the people of trust employed anti constitutionally by the previous administration." Mr Cutajar said that although these people had been asked to give up their post, they had not been sidelined because it was believed that they had a lot to offer and so they had tried to find a way of regularising their position.