CIVIL SERVICE MANPOWER

For the Government to implement national programmes properly, the Civil Service and Statutory Boards must have dedicated and able officers at all echelons. Top civil servants carry heavier responsibilities than any private sector executives. They must be of equal calibre, if not more capable than top bankers, lawyers or industrialists. A fair share of the most talented university graduates must join the Civil Service each year.

The actual Civil Service manpower trends in recent years, however, cause grave concern. With high economic growth, private sector incomes have risen rapidly, but the Civil Service has not kept up. The Administrative Service and some of the Professional Services have found it particularly difficult to recruit enough fresh talent into the service. Many promising young officers have left for the private sector. This problem is not new, but it has grown acute since the last pay revision exercise in 1982.

A Committee on Civil Service Careers and Scholarships, chaired by the Minister for Trade and Industry, has been studying these issues since November 1988. The Committee has proposed that, as a fundamental principle, the public sector should match its salaries and promotion rates to the practice in the private sector as closely as possible. The Civil Service can and should offer able young men and women joining it careers no less challenging and rewarding than the private sector.

There is no reason why the Government should not pay civil servants the market rate for their abilities and their responsibilities. It can afford to, and doing so is only being fair to the officers concerned. Although salary is not the only factor influencing the career choices of young graduates, it is clearly a major factor. Able young people opting for public sector careers should not have to make large financial sacrifices. If they do most will simply not join, and those who are already in service will leave.

The Committee has therefore recommended substantial salary revisions for the key services, particularly the Administrative Service and to a lesser degree the Professional Services. The Government has accepted these recommendations. The Minister for Trade and Industry will announce the details in a statement to the House during the Budget session.