Mr. Speaker, I rise today to provide an update on the Government Reform initiative.
Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members will recall learning about the strategic framework for Government Reform produced in consultation with PwC that set out a roadmap to achieving Government Reform between the periods 2019 and 2023.
Mr. Speaker, Honourable Members will also recall the Government established the initiative priorities would focus on the People and Information Technology work streams.
Mr. Speaker, there were six People objectives, and by People, I’m referring to Government employees.
These included:
Mr. Speaker, all six (6) of the People Objectives have been advanced with a series of foundational policies and programmes successfully implemented towards fully realizing the stated objectives. Each of the policies and programmes represents a necessary foundational building block. The Government has introduced a successful leadership programme with 34 graduates in the pilot and is now developing a second cohort.
A succession planning policy was completed and all critical and hard-to-fill posts across the Service were identified to enable the implementation of a system-wide Succession Plan. Further, in an effort to recognize and encourage excellence in service delivery, Honourable Members will already be aware of the introduction of the Public Service Excellence Award (PSEA) programme.
Notably, the age-old bonus programme that awards up to $1,000 per year to technical officers for outstanding performance has been expanded and is now able to be used to recognize outstanding performance across all segments of the Service.
Mr. Speaker, the Government is determined to improve service, therefore not only was the development and implementation of a Service Standards Policy completed but the Government has now commenced the roll-out of customer service training aligned with the service standards policy.
Therefore not only have public officers been informed of the standards we are seeking to achieve but we have now commenced the work to train on the standards we expect.
Mr. Speaker, in keeping with the People focus, the Wellness initiative continues to deliver programmes in health and well-being to officers. To date, there have been over 13 initiatives and close to 1500 public officers participating in group challenges.
Mr. Speaker, there were eight (8) Information and Technology Objectives. The public health crisis proved to be a great disrupter in this area, while Paperless 2023 was a core objective, planned resources were required to be redirected to support the immediate needs of providing contactless services to the community. During the period more than 80 digital forms and apps were released.
With the exception of COVID-specific forms and apps, most remain a core part of the current part of our delivery model with new apps and forms coming online regularly to support operations. Meanwhile, the preliminary work towards delivering on Paperless 2023 advanced - the necessary foundational policies, a digital strategy, and a digital ID framework were all completed. Work is now advancing on the delivery of a unified payment gateway for the Government to support end-to-end online payments and processing.
Mr. Speaker, meanwhile to prepare the Government to take a strategic look at its services very early in the roll-out of the Government Reform initiative, a series of workshops and training sessions with Permanent Secretaries and Heads of Departments provided for all Departments’ “Mission Statements” to be aligned with the Vision for “a Future-forward Government for the People of Bermuda.”
The aligned Mission Statements have been reflected in Business Plans and the Approved Estimates of Revenue and Expenditure publication for the past several budget cycles.
Further training in subsequent budget cycles resulted in the redefining of the approach to budget development to achieve service-specific budget structures to align with the requirements of Zero-Based Budgeting (ZBB) and provide for the introduction of a Public Value Assessment to determine the relative value of all of the services provided by the Government. This data is now available internally for decision-making relative to the future of the delivery of Government services.
Mr. Speaker, work on the outstanding initiatives will continue through the end of the year, simultaneously a team has been assembled and assessments have been undertaken to review lessons learned and give consideration to the development of the Government Reform Plan 2024 – 2027.
Mr. Speaker, having used the last few years to develop and implement the necessary foundational policies and programmes, the 2024 Plan is intended to:
a) Build on the foundation by creating a clearer line of sight across the organizational levels; and
b) Focus on the specific needs of the departments to bring about a transformational change in service delivery.
Mr. Speaker, technology is expected to drive change in the Service in the future, our twenty or so customer-facing Departments will be prioritized and are expected to be among the early cohort to deliver end-to-end digital services.
Mr. Speaker, to support these endeavours a well-trained talented workforce will be required - both existing employees and new recruits to fill key roles will drive the process.
While the Government of Bermuda endeavours to be the employer of choice, attracting talent can sometimes be a challenge. Recent market research conducted as a part of the Bermuda Omnibus Survey has provided statistically relevant data to help focus communications, address perceptions and better understand the various target groups so that we are able to attract the best talent in the future.
Thank You Mr. Speaker.