PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSIONER

Otago Daily Times, Issue 17084, 16 August 1917, Page 5

PUBLIC SERVICE COMMISSIONER

FIFTH REPORT PRESENTED. ')$ SYSTEM OF ACCOUNTS x CE,rnCISED. (FEOM Otra OWN Coebespondsnt )' ■ WELLINGTON, August 15. ! >-V ; The fifth report of the Publio. Steryice|s Commissioner was presented to Parliament ||1 to-day. _ The report refers to the staffing jKf difficulties arising from the enlistment many officers and the creation of new 6er- ; f?R vices. -''*3; "The recruiting o£ : the service," states"ifj the commissioner, "is necessarily owing to the competition in a crude form which exists throughout country for trained men .and women, this is no doubt impossible to prevent so ;'.'s long as national service does not exist; ' .On; : 'S the whole, however, the wastage of "the staffM; owing to deaths, retirement, and .resignaisi§| tions has not been so great as was pated, and the position will become less acute as the large numbers of cadets, male 4)' and female, recently appointed, are The number of officers absent with the . .-; : Expeditionary Forces on March 31, 1917, was 2133 ,and the wastage of the permanent S3 staff numbered 1183, all of which had to be provided- for. The wastage represented . apS Ki proximately 10 per cent, for the year fob'.Jsi: departments other than the Post and - graph, and 5 per cent for the latter ment. 7 ' .

" Generally it is becoming obvious that> y it .will be almost immediately necessary to determine what facilities at present enjoyed -- by the public are to be restricted or aban-i -fe doned," says tho commissioner. "The per- Y manent staff, is being rapidly depleted, not -t only by officers being called up for active :v. service, but by the demands of the Defence Department and its war branches for trained officers. It is very desirable, therefore, that it should be decided without delay what ser- ' vices are to be restricted or abandoned before the Second Division officers of the pub- ' lie service are called up. -s "The importance of a proper system of 1 account-keeping appears to be taking an un- > necessiirily long time to make itself realised.i The Treasury has, however, been able to «js allot the duty of inspection of departmental' ■ accounts to a qualified officer for a portion,:-', of the year. The difficulties of the Treasury at the present time, owing to the absence s of so many of its trained officers and the heavy work incident on the war loan, arefc recognised, but the urgent necessity of plao- . '- ing all account-keeping on a business-like footing should not be lost sight , of. ments whose operations are more or less of a commercial nature should be required J to place their accounts on a commercial basis so that some idea of the profit or loss arising may be ascertained.' Until this is-s? done there is little hope of reasonable economy or of the Government being made' a aware of tho exact position of the accounts of the departments concerned." The commissioner says that some depart- * ments are still neglecting to define the duties attached to particular offices, or to make clear the relations which should exist r between officers in one section' or branch; of a department and another, with resulting: a lack of uniformity of method. The'duties ~ of officers occupying responsiblfe positions ashould be clearly defined and tho practioos « to be followed ip routine work .should be.;.i outlined and published. A large defalcation which recently occurred would probably have been_ impossible if proper ' instruc tiona had been in foroe. A proper system of in- . < spection of all offices was recommendpd m * the first report of the commissioner. " Had -- this been given effect to and inspections carried out by an 1 , officer , competent to conduct an internal audit defalcations anjounting to about £14,000 m , recent years would have been practically impossible. Many departments ctAil'd carry out such inspection and internal audit by a temporary rearrangement of duties annually or oftener without the necessity of appointing permanent inspectors." The report em- * phasises again the need of increased accommodation for the Government departments m"■ « Wellington, where £7500 is paid annually * for rented premises, and efficient manage- :- ment and supervision are rendered most difficult. 1 ——————— r