Executive Statement

On 17 November 2011, the Public Service Reform Plan was launched which outlines key commitments and actions for change across the public service.

The Reform Plan sets out five central themes for reform. These are:

● placing customer service at the core of everything we do;
● maximising new and innovative service-delivery channels;
● radically reducing our costs to drive better value for money;
● leading, organising and working in new ways; and
● a strong focus on implementation and delivery.

Centrally, the Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is coordinating reform across a range of issues including annual leave, pensions, allowances, overtime, workforce planning, performance management, leadership, mobility, shared services, procurement, property management and eGovernment.

The Reform and Delivery Office is driving this reform agenda, assigning specific ownership of reforms with committed milestones for delivery of actions and tight governance structures and reporting mechanisms.  Government Departments and major Offices have produced Integrated Reform Delivery Plans, which place centrally driven initiatives in the context of organisational and sectoral reforms.  Progress made on these Plans are overseen by the Reform and Delivery Office.  There is an argument to be made that reform initiatives in the past lacked sufficient focus on coordination and delivery.  The Department of Public Expenditure and Reform is driving increased capacity and capability for change, centrally and across the various sectors of the Public Service, to ensure that the focus is firmly on implementation and delivery.

A statement on Progress on the implementation of the Government’s Public Service Reform Plan was published on 6 September, 2012.