The Functional and Regulatory Review Office based at the Public Service Commission complex is well positioned to strengthen Government’s public Service reforms agenda.
This was expressed by the Review Office permanent secretary Mrs Saipora Mataikabara after the recent endorsement of its 2013 Annual Corporate Plan by the Public Service Commission.
She said that the Annual Corporate Plan maps out a clear direction that her office will follow in order to achieve its targets in 2013 with renewed vigour and determination.
Mrs Mataikabara said that the Plan is crucial for such a mammoth task as it provides the direction for a practical approach in which the functional and regulatory review of Ministries and Departments among others can be advanced to achieve the vision of “A Modern Public Service that is Lean, Efficient and Accountable.”
She said that one of the lessons learnt from past functional reviews is that the functional review alone is not enough to create the necessary change but there is also the critical need to review the regulatory environment as well as the systems and processes that would be conducive to enhance service delivery.
Mrs Mataikabara said that the functional review can bring about a long list of recommendations covering areas such as divestment, outsourcing, streamlining, consolidation, merger and removal of duplication but without reviewing the regulations as well as the systems and processes, achieving the objectives of efficiency and performance effectiveness would still be a major issue in public service delivery.
She said that for 2013, her team will ensure that the recommendations of the PSC Functional Review Team in 2011 are implemented and rolled out expeditiously in the eight (8) large Ministries; set new targets for Ministries to be reviewed; review the regulations and policies to promote business and enterprise development as well as facilitate process re-engineering.
Mrs Mataikabara said that she is currently holding meetings with her colleague Permanent Secretaries in an effort to touch-base on her new role and also to encourage collaboration and close coordination so that the ownership of the change process and reform initiatives remains with the Ministries and the change itself driven by them.
Mrs Mataikabara highlighted that the eagerness and determination demonstrated by Permanent Secretaries and senior management of the Ministries they have visited so far have been reassuring.
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