Throughout this week, senior civil servants in Anguilla have been attending a Commonwealth Secretariat-funded Public Administrative Law & Accountability Workshop at La Vue Conference Centre, overlooking Road Bay from Backstreet, South Hill.
In a brief address, Governor Alistair Harrison, said that everything civil servants did at their workplaces must be in accordance with the law and thereby legally justifiable.
“It is therefore important that we should know what the law says on any subject that we are dealing with,” he stressed. “There is also the issue of accountability. Accountability in public servants is not quite the same as accountability in politicians who are called to the ballot box every few years and are ultimately accountable to the people. We are accountable for everything that we do…and we must always be ready to say to ourselves that we can account for the actions that we have taken.”
Deputy Governor, Stanley Reid, who has responsibility for the public service, made the point that a lack of clarity or understanding of the rules of engagement, between public officers and various public and private sector entities, could prove to be very costly to the Government, to them as individuals, and to the people of Anguilla.
“Many demands are placed on public officers and these come from inside and outside the Governmental structure and are certainly not always reasonable,” Mr. Reid continued. “On one side we have political leaders who may not be conscious of the limitations placed on them or public officers by the laws of the land. On the other side we have members of the public who are sometimes concerned solely with the realisation of their personal desires. In order to allow us to respond to the various demands placed on us, in an impartial and transparent manner, our actions and responses are circumscribed by rules, regulations and laws which include Public Administrative Laws. These laws are designed to ensure our integrity in the administration of our duties and fairness to those we serve in the execution of our daily duties.”
The Deputy Governor advised the public servants that it was “incumbent on us to decrease the potential for litigation by ensuring that we are fully cognisant of and compliant with the authorities that govern our service to our external and internal customers.”
Permanent Secretary, Public Administration, Mrs. Kathleen Rogers, said in her welcome address that the workshop was a follow up to the first one held in November 2010. She was pleased to welcome back to Anguilla Dr. Adeyemi Ogunmefun, one of the Commonwealth Regional Advisers; and the facilitators for the current workshop. One of the two facilitators is Mr. Bob Wright who, for the past four years, has served as a Senior Associate of the Civil Service College, tutoring on the FCO’s International Policy Framework and predecessor courses. The other facilitator is Mr. Hal Gollop, an Associate visiting Professor at Washburn University School of Law.
“This workshop is organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat and the Department of Public Administration,” Mrs. Rogers explained. “The workshop is aimed at building the skills and capacity of Senior Public Servants through the awareness of Public Administrative Law. The workshop will provide a forum for knowledge exchange and the sharing of experiences among the participants as they explore the fundamentals and discuss the key issues of Public Administrative Law.”
Speaking on behalf of the Commonwealth Secretariat, Dr. Ogunmefun said in part: “More than before, senior officials need to have the ability to work seamlessly across government ministries, as well as work with more synergy within their ministry; ensuring national vision and development outcomes are realised.
“As we start this week-long programme, I encourage officials to commit to the reality that this programme provides an opportunity for us to jointly look at issues around public policy and administrative law. We will be able to draw on real experiences, working with our resource persons to broaden our knowledge base in key areas.”
