PUBLIC SERVICE

Manawatu Standard, Volume XLIX, Issue 290, 6 November 1929, Page 8

PUBLIC SERVICE

COMMISSIONERS’ REPORT. BASIC PRINCIPLES OF ACT. (By Telegraph.— Special to Standard.) WELLINGTON, Nov. 5. The report of the Public Service Commissioner was presented to Parliament to-day. It is signed by Mr P. Verschaffelt and Mr B. L- Dallard (Assistant-Commissioner). The commissioners state that the Public Service Act has been in operation in New Zealand for just over 16 years during which period the general standard of efficiency of the service has steadily improved. “The main principles underlying this act can now bo said to have stool the test of time and although the Dominion’s administrative history cannot compare with that of the Mother Country, or oven with most of the older countries, there is no doubt that for integrity, efficiency and faithful public service the New Zealand public service has established a tradition that will compare favourably with any country in the world. The basic principles underlying the Public Service Act may be set out briefly as follow: (1) The elimination of influence; (2) the affording of equal opportunities for advancement of officers; (3) the institution of a duties classification scheme from a central authority with provision for periodical reviews; and (4) the promotion of efficient and economical administration. “The justice and desirability of working on the general principles enumerted above are too obvious to require elaboration. In the absence of a systematic basis of grading and paying officers in accordance with their relative responsibilities, or where preferment and advancement depend on patronage instead of upon merit, there can be neither efficiency nor contentment.” EXPANSION OF SERVICE. The commissioners give a general statement of the expansion of the service in view of the present financial stringency, and the consequent necessity to take careful stock of officers in order to show whether such have developed beyond the bounds of legitimate necessity, and, having due regard for the social and economic welfare cl the Dominion, whether any of tju services now provided could with wisdom be eliminated or cancelled. “There is.” the report states, “a tendency for ‘snort run’ political considerations and the immediate effect from a fiscal point of view to eclipse all other considerations entirely, obscuring the farroa, hint social - and economic advantages of the services rendered." INCREASED EXPENDITURE. The expenditure .has increased by approximately 65 per cent, during the last decade and a-nalf. “The increase in the debt charges and pensions, which are largely a legacy from the late war, accounts for nearly three-fourths of this expansion in regard to public expenditure which may be attributed to the cost of administration and the giving effect to the Government policy. It will be observed that the greatest increase has been in connection with the extension of social services, the cost of which has increased from £2,123,815 in 1913-14 to £6,292,930 in 1928-29. The cost of administration has not increased to anything like the same extent as_ the expenditure. Under the other headings in the fifteen years it has risen from £882,060 in 1913 to £1,287,817 for the last financial year, while on the adjusted figures it will be noted that actually there has been,a decrease in the cost per capita, the charge for general administration per capita being £1 3s 6d in 1913-14 and 17s 8d in 1928-29. PERMANENT STAFF.

"During the last decade the increase in the permanent staff has been 1428. while the increase in the cost has been £808,251. The extent of the expansion of activities by local authorities may be gauged from the fact that in 1919 the amount paid in salaries and wages to employees of local authorities was £2,172,668 and in 1928 it had grown to £6,176,856. The amount paid in salaries to officers subject to the provisions of the Public Service Act was £1,431,720 in 1919 and £2,239,971 in 1929, a considerably lower ratio of increase. NEW PROBLEMS.

“In recent years ihe complexity of modern life has created a whole new range of civic and national problems, chiefly in connection with health, education and social amenities, and any criticism or review of the cost of public administration must take these considerations into account.”