PUBLIC SERVICE REFORM SHOULD BE A 'TOP PRIORITY'

 Cyprus Mail 22 October 2020 - by Evie Andreou

Chairman of the PSC, Georgios Papageorgiou hands over his report to President Nicos Anastasiades

Public service reform should be a top priority and a national duty so the sector can be more effective and responsive to the needs of individuals, businesses, economy and society in general, the Public Service Commission (PSC) said in its annual report.

The report for 2019 was delivered to President Nicos Anastasiades on Thursday by the chairman of the PSC, Georgios Papageorgiou.

According to the report, 46,701 applications were submitted last year for government jobs which were all processed electronically.

The PSC said in its report that the introduction of the electronic system for application submission last year was “an important development”.

“Under other circumstances it would require a huge number of man-hours, waste of paper, great inconvenience for the interested parties, while in some cases, as in the past, problems and questions in relation to the deadline for submission of applications,” the report said.

It stressed, however, that the simplification of procedures and the acceleration of the implementation of e-government in all state services, with priority given to those that provide services to citizens, are essential for the efficient operation of the public service.

The report also said that 2019 “was a particularly productive year” for the Commission since 896 positions were filled (206 new appointments and 690 promotions).

As regards disciplinary matters, the Commission in 2019 imposed on one official the penalty of forced retirement, another one was demoted to a lower position, two were fined and two others received severe reprimand.

The report stressed once more the importance of introducing a different assessment system for the performance of civil servants, arguing that the existing “levelling assessment system presented a disheartening outlook” since 96.87 per cent of civil servants were rated as excellent last year.

It also refers to problematic service schemes, giving as example one such scheme that demands success in exams that are no longer available.

The Commission welcomes a package of bills for the civil service reform submitted last autumn in parliament. The bills mainly concern the introduction of modern tools and strengthening of the process of filling senior and top-level positions, but also the introduction of a new system of evaluating civil servants.

It stressed, however, that in order to adequately address the current problems and create the conditions to make the public service become more efficient and responsive to the needs of the public, business, economy and society in general, the public service reform “should be a top priority and a national duty for all those involved in these matters.”

The full report (Greek only) may be found here: www.psc.gov.cy