THE latest report from the Auditor and Comptroller General, Chris Swinson, has concluded that public services will begin to suffer if there are further cuts in States spending.
That, however, does not mean that the public sector is a lean, mean, fat-free machine that works at maximum efficiency on behalf of the Island and its people.
A single figure among the many in Mr Swinson’s report is indicative of problems that are both deep-rooted and intractable. We are told that, on average, public sector employees are paid 23 per cent more than their counterparts in the private sector. This, by any standards, is an anomaly, but it is not an issue that can be easily addressed.
Present public sector pay levels are clearly the cumulative result of many years of assessments, negotiations, reviews and awards. It would be impractical and unjust for any administration to suggest that pay structures should or could be revised at a stroke.
Such action would also lead to unparalleled trouble with the organisations that represent public sector workers at all levels. T & G Unite organiser Nick Corbel has already indicated that he is deeply sceptical about the pay disparity outlined in Mr Swinson’s report and takes the view that the people whose interests he defends are paid no more than the rate for the job.
Meanwhile, if there can be no abrupt action to address pay anomalies, the States are also hamstrung by the promise, made some years ago, that cuts would not involve compulsory redundancies. This has all the superficial hallmarks of an enlightened and humane policy, but it seriously limits politicians’ scope for action.
But in spite of the limitations on what might realistically be done about pay levels, ministers have at least promised a ‘root and branch’ review of public sector remuneration. They have also suggested that the present rigid grade structure that operates in the civil service could be abandoned.
These are steps in the right direction, but the fundamental truths are that the errors of the past – perhaps committed when the Island had ‘money coming out of its ears’ – have produced today’s situation and that it will take a long time to restore any reasonable balance.
Paying for the errors
THE latest report from the Auditor and Comptroller General, Chris Swinson, has concluded that public services will begin to suffer if there are further cuts in States spending.
That, however, does not mean that the public sector is a lean, mean, fat-free machine that works at maximum efficiency on behalf of the Island and its people.
A single figure among the many in Mr Swinson’s report is indicative of problems that are both deep-rooted and intractable. We are told that, on average, public sector employees are paid 23 per cent more than their counterparts in the private sector. This, by any standards, is an anomaly, but it is not an issue that can be easily addressed.
Present public sector pay levels are clearly the cumulative result of many years of assessments, negotiations, reviews and awards. It would be impractical and unjust for any administration to suggest that pay structures should or could be revised at a stroke.
Such action would also lead to unparalleled trouble with the organisations that represent public sector workers at all levels. T & G Unite organiser Nick Corbel has already indicated that he is deeply sceptical about the pay disparity outlined in Mr Swinson’s report and takes the view that the people whose interests he defends are paid no more than the rate for the job.
Meanwhile, if there can be no abrupt action to address pay anomalies, the States are also hamstrung by the promise, made some years ago, that cuts would not involve compulsory redundancies. This has all the superficial hallmarks of an enlightened and humane policy, but it seriously limits politicians’ scope for action.
But in spite of the limitations on what might realistically be done about pay levels, ministers have at least promised a ‘root and branch’ review of public sector remuneration. They have also suggested that the present rigid grade structure that operates in the civil service could be abandoned.
These are steps in the right direction, but the fundamental truths are that the errors of the past – perhaps committed when the Island had ‘money coming out of its ears’ – have produced today’s situation and that it will take a long time to restore any reasonable balance.
Article posted on 19th May, 2008 - 3.00pm