~ '\,-../! COUNTRY PAPER THE GRENADA PUBLIC SERICE COMMISSION The Role. Composition and Functions of the Public Service Commission. The Public Service Commission is a body established under f the Grenada Constitution Order 1973. Chapter six (6) of the Constitution details the composition of the Public Service Commission, disqualification of persons from being appointed as members of the Commission and the tenure of the Commission. The Commission is composed of a Chairman and four other members who are appointed as follows: - (1) (a) A Chairman and two (2) members are appointed by the Governor- General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister; \.-)- (b) two (2) members are appointed by the Governor-General acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister after the Prime Minister has consulted with the appropriate representative bodies. The appropriate representative bodies referred to are the Grenada Union of Teachers and the Grenada Civil Service Association nov. referred to as the Public Workers Union Those are provided for under subsection 15 of section 83 of the said constitution. (2) A person shall not be appointed to be a member of the Commission if:- (a) he is a Senator or a member of the House of Representatives or., (b) he is a Judge of the Court of Appeal or the High Court or a Public Officer. (3) A member of the Commission shall not within the period of three (3) year commencing with the day on which he last held or acted in the office of member of the Commission be eligible for appointment to or act in any Public Office. l (4) The tenure.of the Pub:ic Service Commission is for ~ ~erio? of three ~ years, and If at any time any member of the CommISSIon IS for an:" reason unabl~ to exer,cise the_fl~p-ctions of his affice,"the Governof'7", General, acting in accordance with the advice of the Prime Minister, ma:" appoint a person who is qualified to be appointed as a member in 1.
keeping with the qualifications detailed in the Constitution for such appointment.... ~ - (5) The Commission may by regulation or otherwise regulate its own procedure and with the consent of the Prime Minster, may confer powers or impose duties on any public officer or on any authority of the Government of Grenada for the purpose of the exercise of its functions. (6) The Commission may, by directions in writing and subject to such conditions as it thinks fit, delegate one or more members of the Commission or, with the consent of the Prime Minister, to any Public Officer. The functions of the Public Service Commission are vested in section 84 of the Constitution and are as follows: - - the power to appoint persons to hold or act in offices in the Public Service (including the power to confirm appointments); - the power to exercise disciplinary control over persons holding or acting in such offices; and - the power to remove such persons from office; ~ - the power to grant leave to officers. The functions of the Commission as detailed above does not apply in relation to the following officers who are appointed by His Excellency the Governor General on the advice of the Public Service Commission:- 0 Secretary to the Cabinet, Permanent Secretaries and Heads and Deputy Heads of Department; 0 Director of Public Prosecutions, Magistrates and other Legal Officers, 0 Director of Audit, 0 Chief (Commissioner) of Police. Challen~es to the Public Service Commission and Recommendations - The rapidly changing environment brought about by profound changes in Technological and information advancement has mandated that the Public Service Commission must make significant changes in the way it operates in order to respond to the needs of the Public. ~ In so doing one must consider the challenges that face the Public Service - -- 7~~...'~" Commission afs an 'indepeadent' mttho.iityand make efioflsto-idefltity the best ::..- - possible ways in which those challenges may be a~dressed without "'I
1. ~ ~ " departing too much from the fundamental purpose for which it was established. RECRUITMENT The Commission is challenged in the area of recruitment daily. The question is how does the Commission ensure that the person selected is the right person for the Job? Does he/she possess the competencies required for the post? The process currently being followed in the Grenada Public Service is through open competition by way of advertisement. Selection is done by face-to-face interviews by a selection Panel set up by the Commission. The Panel evaluates the candidates and submits its report/recommendations to the Commission, following which an appointment may be made. Also critical to the recruitment process is a system that allows for proper orientation, internship and evaluation, whereby persons recruited would be properly inducted into the service as they learn and understand the basic administrative procedures, policies, principles and regulations by which they are governed. The Commission has recognized that there is an urgent need to have a more scientific approach to recruitment and selection in the Public Service \-..) rather than reliance on face to face interviews in order to identify perso~ who possess not only technical/professional competencies but who are multi -skilled having administrative/management capability to adequately supervise their staff. Efforts were made under the Public Service Development Project (PSDP) to institute a system of Development Centres, which would have been used in the recruitment and selection process, as well as for succession planning. This however did not become operational although most of the groundwork and some training were undertaken and the appropriate software acquired. 2. DELEGATION OF AUTHORITY The Delegation of Authority by the Public Service Commission is one of the critical areas in which the Commission is challenged. The Public Service Commission is vested with the power to appoint, to exercise disciplinary control, remove from officer and to grant leave Public Officers. Previous reform initiatives in the Public Service saw the introduction of statutory bodies set up by the enactment of legislation. Some Government departments are currently earmarked for statutorisation and efforts were made to have the Public Service Commission to delegate some of its powers relative to rec~uitment, discipline 3
. ~ C and leave in respect of officers in the affected entities. These include the T. A. Marryshow Community College and the General Hospital. While the Commission is disposed to delegating some of its functions, it feels compelled that certain aspects of its powers must be retained. It is not prepared to divest and understandably so, its power to recruit, promote remove/dismiss officers from their posts. The Commission's main concern is the amount of autonomy that these new arrangements would give to CEO's to handle matters such as discipline. Nevertheless some balance must be struck and Senior Managers must be given some level of authority if they are to produce the expected output (ie) quality service, improved accountability, and increased productivity. 3. PUBLIC SERICE COMMISSION REGULATIONS v' The Public Service Commission operates with a set of Regulations that dates back to 1969, before our Country became an independent nation. These regulations are largely based on colonial administrative law. A number,. of these regulations are no longer applicable to our situations while some others tend to limit the Commission in taking speedy decisions in matters of discipline, for example. The Commission is currently reviewing a set of draft regulations prepared in 1997 as part of Public Service Development Project. It is hoped that these Regulations would become operative at the same time with the Public Service Act which has been circulated to stake holders for consultations. 4. PUBLIC SERICE REFORM Efforts to address these included the establishment of a Performance Appraisal System to replace the Confidential Reports which is the prescribed method of evaluation as stipulated in the Public Service Commission Regulations. Failure to have the Performance Appraisal System completed by ensuring that the necessary legislative framework was in place to support the system prior to its introduction. This has resulted in the Pubic Service Commission not being in a position to legally apply the system as was originally conceptualized. Passage of the new Public Service Act would provide the enabling of legislation to ensure that the Performance Appraisal System is fully applied.. 4
..- ~;; "'"-" RECOMMENDATIONS Collaboration between the Prime Minister's Ministry (Department of Human Resources) to:- 0 Develop a more appropriate recruitment system to suit the need of the service; 0 Establish an orientation programme tailored for recruits at all levels; 0 Develop training programmes to improve competencies of staff and for succession planning. This should include ensuring that development plans are developed for individuals and posts; 0 Ensure that the necessary enabling legislation with sanctions are established for governing performance of Public Officers; 0 Develop a code of ethics for the public service. 0 Establish an adequate communication system in the \...,.,.. service. This paper in no way exhausts all the challenges faced by the Grenada Public Service, but it nevertheless attempts to give an indication of some of the critical issues that come to the fore daily. Submitted by: Marilyn AUSTIN- CADORE CHIEF PERSONNEL OFFICER PUBLIC SERICE COMMISSION GRENADA.,