Quote of the week
“…more must be done…”
— Prime Minister’s Advisory Committee on the Public Service
Editor’s Corner
A year ago, the 7th annual report of the Prime Minister’s Advisory Committee on the Public Service said it was important to improve federal government service delivery and innovation.
On service delivery, the report noted that there appeared to be agreement from the deputy head level down that there is a “concern over red tape and innovation, and a common desire to take more responsible risks.”
In addition to this, the report said “the biggest obstacles to constructive change in the public service are the excessive controls, reporting requirements and limitations on authority that prevent managers from focusing on excellence….”
The main message was that more needed to be done to make change happen…and quickly.
It would seem that if just about everyone in the bureaucracy agrees there is too much red tape, excessive controls, too many reporting requirements and too little innovation, then things would change.
The interim report of Blueprint 2020 gives us more on the public service’s views. Its first priority focuses on innovation and says that Canadians “see a need for more risk tolerance.”
The next stage of the Clerk’s exercise of reform, a report called Destination 2020, is coming out soon. It will be interesting to see how it addresses the issues of risk and innovation, particularly since it does not look like the politicians intend to do much to ease up on risk and remove some of the “excessive controls” they have imposed on the public service.
