‘Where there’s smoke, there’s fire.’ This well-known saying seeks to warn us to pay attention because while everything may not be clear there is some basis (some reality) to what is being said. While we often maintain our hope that there is in fact no fire, to accompany the smoke, we would be well served to pay attention.
Recent grumblings, that the framework intended to ensure fairness in the management of the Anguilla Public Service and in relations between public officers is under attack, warrants serious concern. This framework has existed for a very long time and is very detailed. Having worked for many years in the Anguilla Public Service, with my last posting being as a Head of Department, I have a more than fair appreciation of the framework that governs the Anguilla Public Service.
Unlike private sector employees, relations between public officers and their managers have never been addressed by Anguilla’s Labour legislation. Our Labour legislation has expressly declared that it is not applicable to persons employed in the Anguilla Public Service. Instead, General Orders and the Public Service Commission Regulations govern relations between employees in the Anguilla Public Service.
The Public Service structure requires that actions taken against or in relation to an officer must have the input of a fairly long line of public officials. These include an officer‘s Supervisor, Head of Department, Permanent Secretary, the Director of Human Resource Management, the Permanent Secretary Public Administration, the Public Service Commission, the Deputy Governor and/or the Governor. The structure is designed to ensure that officials in the Anguilla Public Service are not treated unfairly. The number of persons who should be involved in a matter, particularly serious matters, affecting a public officer would suggest that it is indeed difficult to deliberately commit some wrong against a public officer, unless many persons in the service are acting together to facilitate that wrong.
Public officers are often quick to cry victimisation when matters do not go their way in their public service careers. It is likely that a number of these cries are unjustified. We cannot, however, discount the possibility that officers have been and are being victimised in the Anguilla Public Service. Where victimisation does occur this is evidence of failings in the public service system. Any action taken against or in respect of a public officer should be justified and the reasons apparent to all concerned, including the public officer.
The Anguilla Public Service is often criticised for its poor service, particularly its poor response time. What, however, cannot be denied about the Public Service is that its policies and procedures in relation to the management of the Public Service are well documented. What is required is for public officers to assume and execute their responsibilities fairly in accordance with those documents. In the Public Service, the Public Service Commission, the Deputy Governor and the Governor are the last barriers expected to ensure that public officers are not deliberately disadvantaged, if such negative actions are not addressed at a lower level in the Public Service. Public Officers and the Anguilla Community rely on the Public Service Commission, the Deputy Governor and the Governor to ensure the highest level of fairness and integrity in relation to the management of public officers. It is accepted, however, that the buck stops with the Deputy Governor and the Governor.
We continue to hope that any actions currently being contemplated, or carried out, in relation to public officers are well within the framework of the policies and procedures governing the administration of the Anguilla Public Service – and are not coloured by ulterior or personal motives. It would not be helpful for the Anguilla Public Service, if it also encountered employment related difficulties similar to those we understand certain Government connected entities have been plagued with. Hopefully, in this instance there’s only smoke and no fire.
