fp Turks and Caicos

As part of the civil service reform process, the interim government is “giving serious consideration” to reducing the number of ministries by half and requiring all 10 permanent secretaries and their under secretaries to reapply for their jobs.

The government said the move would be aimed at “creating a stronger, leadership team and more effective management structure for the Turks and Caicos Islands government.”

Chief Executive Office Martin Stanley met recently with permanent secretaries to discuss a proposal to reduce the number of government ministries to about five with a corresponding reduction in the number of permanent secretaries. Each ministry will then have an increased number of under secretaries — perhaps three per ministry – with each under secretary having lead responsibility for a separate set of policy and/or delivery function.

Under this proposal, the permanent secretary will assume a more strategic role and, with a bigger senior management team, be better positioned to tackle the big policy issues, according to the government. And each under secretary will have more autonomy and responsibility than is currently the case.

“No decisions have been taken, but we are giving serious consideration to this proposal as we seek to bring greater energy and focus to the public sector,” Stanley said.

The current permanent secretaries and under secretaries will be invited to apply for the proposed positions, but they will have to compete with other applicants from the public service and from the private sector. The government says preferred candidates would be Turks and Caicos Islanders or TCI British Overseas Territories passport holders, but others will also be considered.

There are currently 10 permanent secretaries of government ministries:

• Denise Saunders — Ministry of Home Affairs and Public Safety
• Judith Campbell — Ministry of Health and Human Services
• Clara Gardiner — Ministry of Border Control and Labour
• Beatrice Fulford — Ministry of Education, Sports, Youth and Culture
• Mary Harvey — Ministry of Environment and District Administration
• Susan Malcolm — Office of the Public Service Management
• Kingsley Been — Governor’s Office
• Delton Jones — Ministry of Finance
• Arthur Been — Ministry of Trade, Tourism & Communications
• Desmond Wilson (acting) — Ministry of Works, Housing and Utilities