Govt has placed increased emphasis on strengthening public administration – Dr Singh

Finance Minister Dr Ashni Singh said the Donald Ramotar-led administration has placed increased emphasis on strengthening public administration with a focus on key results. Dr Singh made the statement at the opening of a training and discussion workshop on strategic planning, targeting permanent secretaries, deputy permanent secretaries, and regional executive officers and their deputies. The sessions also included the director of public prosecution (DPP), director general of foreign affairs and secretary of the Public Service Commission.
The finance minister said every sector has legitimate needs for expanded services and investment requiring budgetary allocations. “You would never get everything you requested since the reality is resources must be allocated across a competitively demanding scale of worthy needs,” Dr Singh remarked.
He noted that most permanent secretaries manage more than one programmes and several sub-programmes and are forced to identify the most effective use of resources and ensure these are managed as efficiently as possible.
Dr Singh stressed that allocations must be aligned along priority areas even where there is no indication as to which priority is more pressing in order to achieve objectives of the sector as a whole.
“Every day, you confront questions like these and must find answers. Given this reality at the macro and the agency level, it is absolutely imperative that we manage within a strategic framework which identifies what key objectives are and indications of target and what it would costs in a medium-term expenditure framework,” the minister said.
He stated that only then can state administrators provide a coherent roadmap that can be use to navigate their daily decision.
“Given the realities of the current environment, this need is not one that can be ignored. Today, more than ever people are better informed. Technology allows access to information and instant debate on issues. So you exist in an environment where your sectors are subject to close examination of public and parliamentary scrutiny,” Dr Singh pointed out.
Programme budgeting
The 2003 Fiscal Management and Accountability Act stipulated that the budget of the agency must be accompanied by programme performance statements which will go to Parliament along with the budget request for approval. Dr Singh disclosed that over the years, there has been improvement to the framework for the identification of performance indicators, establishment of systems to capture data and to measures performance against indicators and define targets.
Budget Director Sonya Roopnauth said the session was intended to be a capacity- building exercise since the ministry sees training events as critical to empowering the senior leadership cadre of the public service.
Facilitator Dr Frederic Martin said that the concept of strategic planning is the starting point in any exercise in results-based management, including budgeting and programming issues.
“There must be a mid-term to long-term vision to know where we are going as a country, ministry, sector, region and institution. It is an important moment because we realise that all sectors need to have strategic planning as a reference point and a document to be used which is necessary to guide daily action,” Dr Martin related.