Bloated Civil ServiceDecember 22, 2011Dear Sir,I have spoken to several people who have knowledge of various parts of Government gained over many years. All have seen a decline in service and foresee ongoing problems. The following does not apply to everyone, as we also know many competent and highly dedicated, although frustrated. Civil Servants who want to do what is right, but are blocked from action or reporting on outright waste. Unfortunately, we believe those who want to expose inefficiencies are becoming the minority. Our general consensus is that while qualified on paper, senior decision making positions have more frequently been filled with inexperienced civil servants with the result that poor decisions are often made to the detriment of the public purse and in some cases consultants have to be engaged to provide guidance.These inexperienced Civil Servants are also responsible for selecting, or at least recommending the engagement of, junior staff in their sections and departments but due to their own inexperience are unable to guide new recruits to provide the level of meaningful service demanded by the Public, their employers. Good Civil Servants also recognise and are unhappy when a colleague or an import from the private sector has been appointed above their ability. There is now a tendency for Civil Servants at all but the very top echelons to be “friends” so that when annual performance reviews come around, everybody gets glowing reports or at least reviews that exaggerate the positive. Why? Because a bad review will reflect badly upon their own reviews as supervisors and managers. Our general consensus was also that as it is virtually impossible to sack a Civil Servant, when a section or department is filled with under-performers and under-achievers, they request more staff that might be able to do what the others can’t. Bit cynical? Yes, but knowing that the Civil Service performed more than satisfactorily with 25 percent fewer people during the 1970s, 80s and 90s, we have just seen more and more unnecessary jobs being created year after year.So, who is held accountable for bad decisions in Government? Nobody.The Ministers blame the Civil Service and the Civil Service blame the Ministers. We also believe that commentators have mistakenly focused their financial comments on project cost overruns, of which there have been many under the PLP and the UBP also had their share, yet the UBP managed the public purse more effectively overall. Project cost increases are generally due to poor project management and most problems occur at the conception and design stages, but within the grander scheme of Government finances, project cost overruns are small matters compared to the cost of the ballooning Civil Service.The reason we are a $1 billion in debt is an overlarge and under-performing Civil Service. I doubt either of the two political parties will start suggesting cut backs before the General Election. Way too many votes at risk, but come a new administration, whoever wins, there will either need to be an immediate review to seek a 20 percent reduction in numbers or a 20 percent reduction in costs by reducing working weeks. There should also be independent assessment and reviews of Civil Service qualifications, experience, abilities and performance to weed out those who are simply warming seats waiting for a gold plated pension, which we can’t afford either.We are tired of our money being wasted on expensive jobs being created to allow for under performance. We also need meaningful whistler blower protection legislation now to identify waste and someone with the testicular fortitude to act upon information received before Bermuda sinks under the weight of its growing mountain of debt.PENNILESSPembroke