The Government of Jamaica has signalled that it will not meet its target of reducing the public sector wage bill to nine per cent of GDP by end of financial year 2015/16.

The Government committed to this deadline in its Memorandum of Economic and Financial Policies (MEFP) signed with the International Monetary Fund. The wage bill is an important conditionality of the IMF agreement because it is a key measure for reducing government expenditure. In the absence of a rationalisation of the public sector, reducing the wage bill will only reduce the quantity and quality of public goods and services and the financial gains will be eroded by the inability of government to manage its daily operation.

Public Sector Reform (PSR) is a critical element of ensuring that the wage bill is curtailed while allowing for the optimal service from the public sector. Reducing the size of the public sector and wage freezes cannot be the sole strategies of the reform process, instead, it needs to be a change that either produces a measurable improvement in services or a noticeable change in the relationship between institutions of the state and the citizens. It requires a keen understanding of the resources (skills, training, reputation, legislation, finances etc.) and organisational culture of the public sector and reformers. A forthcoming policy brief from CaPRI titled ” Public Sector Reform in Jamaica” notes that successful reform is important because it:

o Sets the rules for economic and political interactions between state and society and within the state.

o Determines the decision-making structures that choose public policy priorities.

o Allocates the resources to address these priorities;

o Produces and applies the public sector rules and processes that contribute to the management of those organisations implementing the policies.

Furthermore, public sector reform can be important to improving the public’s perception of government and government services, competitiveness, and multilateral relationships. As a result, there have been numerous attempts at public sector reform by successive governments. Previous reforms include the Administrative Reform Programme (1984 – 1995), the Public Sector Modernisation Programme (1996 – 2002) and the Public Sector Modernisation Vision and Strategy (2002 – 2012). All three reform programmes have yielded positive results, including lessons learnt and evoking change in the public sector.

Though these reforms have been criticised for their shortcomings, there have been notable successes under these programmes. These include: significant computerisation of many processes including those of the Administrator General’s Department and National Land Agency, the expansion of New Public Management approaches such as privatisation and contracting out under PSMP, and the creation of Executive Agencies, which saw human resource authority passing to ministries and departments from the Public Service Commission.

Notwithstanding positive results and a few notable successes PSR in Jamaica has largely failed. In an effort to address the shortcomings of previous reform programmes, while fulfilling the commitments of the IMF agreement, the Government embarked on a new public sector reform initiative in 2011 — the Public Sector Master Rationalisation Plan (MRP). If carried out successfully, this programme should achieve the objectives of the IMF programme with regards to reducing the public sector wage bill to nine per cent of GDP, while restructuring the public sector to achieve efficiency in the execution of services. However, there are impediments to the success of the current MRP such as the lack of employee empowerment, the absence of political courage, unclearly defined objectives, and a difficulty in removing public sector workers.

The lack of empowerment of public sector workers has been a major hurdle in sustaining public sector reform initiatives. The bureaucratic resistance observed in the public sector is due to many civil servants not having the ability to openly share ideas and evoke change within their work environment. As such, workers become ‘stuck in their ways’ and refuse to embrace change. Many subscribe to the opinion that ‘what worked before will continue to work in the future’, creating a culture in which inefficiency becomes the norm. This resistance to bureaucracy is bolstered by the job security of public sector workers and their reliance on informality to increase salaries.

In addition, PSR requires support and commitment from the government. Jamaican Governments are often unwilling to give their full commitment to PSR because these programmes may threaten their stay in power. This is because in many instances, public sector jobs provide employment for constituents and opportunities of patronage for political supporters.

The failure of previous reforms has been partly attributed to the lack of clearly defined goals. A clearly defined goal takes account of what can be achieved within the present political and institutional environment. The absence of such goals and strategies for long-term and short-term planning, makes it difficult for PSR to take place in Jamaica. As such, reform programmes undertaken still result in the duplication of employee functions because of the failure to plan for the difficulty in removing workers that are inefficient.

If the Government is serious about public sector reform, action must be taken to remove the impediments highlighted. In order to do this, the Government of Jamaica must enact legislation that ensures accountability of managers and heads of departments, while having clear delegation of authority in personnel administration. Public leaders must have an explicit commitment to the reform programme with clarity on the role of the Government in the reform process and the provision of public services.

Chris Tufton is a former Government Minister and Co-Executive Director of the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI) a University of the West Indies based Think Tank.

Comments at cctufton@gmail.com