PSA MEDIA RELEASE
July 20, 2009
For Immediate Use

PSA list 7 things needed to improve public sector performance

The Public Service Association welcomes the opportunity to have a serious discussion with public sector employers and the government about improving the performance of the public sector.

“We’ve produced a list of seven things needed to improve public sector performance in response to a list issued yesterday by Treasury Secretary John Whitehead,” says PSA national secretary Brenda Pilott.

“We share his goal of having a productive and high performing public sector but we reject his view that this will be achieved through privatising public services.”

“We have a different recipe and have listed seven things needed to produce real and sustainable improvements in public sector performance that will benefit the public and the country as a whole,” says Brenda Pilott.

The PSA’s list of seven things needed to improve public sector performance is:
• taking privatisation off the agenda
• a moratorium on restructurings
• giving citizens a voice
• listening to front line public sector workers
• getting the best from public sector workers
• respecting the professionalism of public sector workers
• having more effective and efficient bargaining of pay and conditions for public sector workers.

“Public sector workers want to work in well run organisations and to have the time and resources they need to meet the needs of the public,” says Brenda Pilott.

“The PSA is planning to take our ideas to the public by holding meetings in regions.”

“We want to talk to people about the public services they use and value. We want to listen to their views about how these services are delivered and about what they want from the public service,” says Brenda Pilott.

The PSA’s list of the 7 things needed to improve public sector performance

1. Take privatisation off the agenda
Privatisation needs to be taken off the agenda. There is no evidence to suggest that the private sector could carry out the functions of the state in a way that is more efficient and meets the needs of New Zealanders. New Zealanders know from bitter experience that privatisation generally leads to higher costs and less accountability for quality of service. The New Zealand public sector is already highly innovative by international standards when it comes to working constructively with non government organisations and using online technologies.

2. Place a moratorium on restructurings
The public sector needs to be constantly responding and evolving to meet the needs of New Zealanders, their families and communities. We are calling for a moratorium on the pointless restructuring in the public sector that diverts time and energy away from the real work of making changes that will make a real difference.

3. Give citizens a voice
We need to ensure citizens have a voice in the kind of services delivered and how they are delivered. This needs to be more than just an annual survey of customer satisfaction. New Zealanders want public services designed for the 21st century, not the 1950’s.

Public service managers and workers are accountable to the New Zealand public as well as to politicians and the Treasury. Instead of burdening them with more requirements to report back to Wellington, let’s free them up to report and listen to the individuals, families and communities that they serve. The PSA is going to be holding community meetings to ask New Zealanders what they think the ‘State’ should look like in the 21st century

4. Listen to the front line
We need to draw on the knowledge and experience of public sector workers about what works best for the families and communities they work with.

The Government and State sector employers needs to actively support the PSA’s constructive engagement arrangements in state sector workplaces where productivity and effective services are on the agenda.

5. Get the best from people
The most important part of any service based organisation is its people. We need investment in modern public service careers to attract good people and make the most of their skills and commitment to public service. We need a workplace culture that frees up people to look for new solutions and better ways of doing things.

Current investment in leadership development is grossly inadequate. We need to move public sector management from a tick-the-box mentality to one focused on innovation by drawing on the skills and knowledge of workers and New Zealanders.

6. Respect professionalism
State sector workers shouldn’t have to wait until something goes wrong to blow the whistle. The State sector code of conduct needs to make it clear that public service workers are there to serve. This includes using their professional skills and knowledge to speak out on professional issues that affect their ability to do their job so we are able to strengthen the services they provide to families and communities. Teachers, doctors and nurses are allowed to do speak out in this way and public service workers should be able to the same. When we gag public servants, we not only restrict their rights as citizens but we stifle the kind of debate and risk taking needed for innovation and effective change.

7. More effective and efficient public sector bargaining
There is an opportunity to make immediate savings in time and tax-payer money by bringing together the bargaining and pay arrangements for the public service as occurs in the health and education sectors. There are over 50 collective employment agreements in the public service and every agency has its own approach to pay. A costly industry of consultants has sprung up around this. This is hugely inefficient and a needless cost to the tax-payer. Currently the Government issues guidelines and then each agency spends time and tax-payer’s money negotiating separately. There are immediate productivity gains to be made in having a single approach to bargaining in the public service.

Frontline public servants and their managers spend needless hours on complicated performance pay processes that take them away from their real work. We can make immediate productivity gains by having a simpler and common approach to pay across the public service agencies.

Click on this link http://www.psa.org.nz/Libraries/Strong_public_services/state_of_the_future.sflb.ashx
to access a copy of the PSA’s ‘State of the Future: Strong Public Services for Tough Times’ document. This provides more information on the proposals we have listed.

ENDS

© Scoop Media