PSA media release 16th August 2001

PSA Welcomes Role in Public Sector Review

"The Government’s inclusion of the PSA in a public sector review is a welcome commitment to a quality public service," said PSA National Secretary Richard Wagstaff today.

The PSA is part of a review team that will look at core management of the Public Service, as announced today by Minister of State Services Trevor Mallard, in a speech to the Public Service Senior Manager’s Forum.

The inclusion of a PSA representative – Paul Cochrane – on the review team was further support of the work the PSA had done with the Government last year in developing the Partnership For Quality agreement, said Richard Wagstaff.

“We’re pleased that our agreement with government means we are included early on in developing ideas, not just reacting to them as we have had to do in the past.”

The Review of the Centre Advisory Group will report back to the Government later in the year with advice on where the managerial strengths and weaknesses are in the public sector and proposals for change.

"It is a refreshing change in direction," said Richard Wagstaff.

“The review is seeking ideas on some pretty fundamental issues facing the public service and it is essential that the voice of workers are represented in that discussion," said Mr Wagstaff.

“The reforms of the last ten years - the privatisations, the redundancies, the downsizing, the competition - have left the public service in a perilous state. We have been put through the free market wringer and have come out worse for wear. We now need to take a longer-term look at what services are needed for the public and think about a more planned approach, which concentrates on how effective services are, not just how cheap we can make them,” he said.

ENDS

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