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Public Service Minister Jennifer Westford, in her presentation to the 2009 Budget debates, promised the nation that in 2009 senior functionaries within the various ministries will be held to higher standards, and will have to improve accountability for their actions and decisions in the coming year.According to the Minister, despite a restructuring exercise which may be of recent vintage than that which obtains in other jurisdictions, “we still have Ministries whose organisational structure constrains them from functioning efficiently and responding effectively to the needs of their clients”.She pointed out that the presence of rigid one-size-fits-all structures comprising Permanent Secretaries,Cheap NFL Jerseys Authentic, Deputy Permanent Secretaries, Assistant Secretaries, Accountants, Administrative Assistants, Senior Executive Officers among others, regardless of the role or responsibility of the Ministry, sometimes militates against the effective operation of the agency.She posited therefore that it must be recognised that the clients that some agencies have to service are changing and the needs are evolving. The environment in which they are operating is becoming more complex, thus the structure of the agency must be allowed to change, when necessary, to adjust to these transformations.Minister Westford therefore announced to the National Assembly that in 2009 the public service will intensify its restructuring exercise to facilitate better efficiency.She did point out that it was a restructuring exercise and not a scaling down, as was suggested by many in the opposition benches, an inference that the size of the government was too large.“In 2009 The Public Service rules will be actively addressed … These rules and procedures encompass the employment of public servants and officers, the management of their career incidents and performances, and the termination of their services… Not only are many of these rules and procedures outdated, they are also in some instances over-prescriptive.“They do not focus effectively on the attainment of key human resource objectives, and tend to emphasise process at the expense of the achievement of strategic outcomes.”The Minister posited also that at present the rules within which the public service operates are ‘conspicuously’ silent on a number of critical issues such as sexual harassment, and that they (the rules) provide no guidance in dealing with a situation where a female employee feels threatened or violated as a result of unsolicited and unwelcome sexual advances by a co-worker or supervisor.“This glaring deficiency cannot and should not be allowed to continue.” She noted that the public service rules were also silent on technological advances in the country and their use in the workplace.“Consequently, we need to move to a situation where clearly defined Public Service Rules and Regulations govern the behaviour of public officers… To rectify these anomalies, and ensure normative consistency and management flexibility, amendments to the Public Service Rules and Regulations which were presided over by all of the stake-holders will be instituted during this calendar year.”As it relates to the silence in the budget on salary increases, Westford told the House that the Government, since 1992, has without exception given annual salary increases to its workers.She said that it was a known fact that workers deserved higher salaries, and “we would like to pay them higher salaries, but our economic realities prevent us from doing so at this point in time”.She pointed out, however, that with the current fiscal management policies the government will be able to give a salary increase in the very near future.“We were called heartless and uncaring by some of the members on the opposite side of this House who looked into the crystal ball and predicted that workers will not be given salary increases this year… Let me inform all of those fortune-tellers that the public servants will be in receipt of salary increases for the year 2009 because this workers’ government will not disappoint them.”