Commonwealth Ministers Forum on Public Sector Development
Date: 26 Oct 2006
Speaker: Secretary-General Don McKinnon
Location: Sydney, Australia
To all of you in Sydney for the very first Commonwealth Ministers' Forum on Public Sector Development, warm greetings from the Commonwealth Secretariat headquarters here in London.
Public services everywhere are being challenged to do what they do more effectively, more efficiently, more responsively and more responsibly.
Their task is to deliver a service focused on the needs of citizens…to give people what they want.
So here are seven 'quick and easy' things about public sector reform.
First, public sector reform is everyone's responsibility - politicians and public servants alike, the leaders and the doers.
Second, public sector reform is being done for some reasons which don't change, and some which do.
All Governments do it to improve the service they offer citizens to reduce costs, to increase efficiency and to stimulate economic development.
And yet there can be different reasons driving it forward - perhaps linked to wider reforms, to donor involvement or to public-private partnerships.
Third, there's no 'one-size-fits-all' in running a public service or in reforming it.
There are different ways of providing public services, more and more of which involve delegating management to semi-autonomous bodies or to the private sector, civil society and others.
Reform needs to accommodate the unique characteristics of any single public service.
Fourth, public sector reform is being done differently today than it was 40-odd years ago.
Public service is no longer about bureaucracy or a one-way process of administration. It has become an inclusive process of collaboration.
The Commonwealth's vision - set out at the 2004 conference in Singapore by the Commonwealth Association for Public Administration and Management is of one government and many agencies of citizen engagement and of networking beyond borders.
The new Commonwealth Connects website is a good example of how we are working to share best government practice between countries.
Fifth, public sector reform is about sustainable development, achieving the Millennium Development Goals and improving service delivery on the ground for the poorest and the most marginalised in society.
Sixth, public sector reform is part of good public management. That means it involves clear performance expectations and accountability.
Seventh and finally, it's good politics to deliver good service.
Confidence in government is strongly linked with how people rate the quality of public service.
Seven comments on public sector reform.
And a tribute to the Governance and Institutional Development Division in the Commonwealth Secretariat - or GIDD as we call it - which supports public sector development in response to member-country needs and requests.
GIDD has already worked with many of you - offering advice, training, and experts.
Together with my Deputy, Ransford Smith, our GIDD staff are supporting your forum.
Ministers, public sector transformation has been on the Commonwealth radar screen for more than a decade.
But there hasn't been a forum for exchanges of views between you.
This is an opportunity to consolidate knowledge, share ideas, and sustain momentum.
We are asking a lot of you to set a forward-agenda for public sector development.
I wish you tremendous success in this conference and back home in making public service just that - a service to your people.
Thank you.
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Commonwealth Ministers Forum on Public Sector Development
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