After returning from a closed-door committee session last Thursday, the House of Assembly passed a bill designed to bring sweeping changes to the public service as part of the ongoing reforms recommended by the Commission of Inquiry.
The Public Service Management Bill 2024, which passed with amendments, aims to establish a private register of interests for senior public officers, implement new integrity rules, and create a government department known as the Virgin Islands Public Service Learning Institute, among several other measures.
The latest version of the bill — which now awaits approval from the governor — has yet to be Gazetted or otherwise made public.
Purpose
The proposed law was read for the first time on Aug. 16 after Premier Dr. Natalio “Sowande” Wheatley moved to include it on the HOA agenda without the usual notice.
The bill was brought to the HOA pursuant to a COI recommendation to “finalise the Public Service Management Code and incorporate it into a Public Service Management Act.”
But when Dr. Wheatley read the bill a second time and provided its objects and reasons on Aug. 22, he said the bill’s importance extends beyond the COI recommendations.
“Every elected government since 1950 has presented plans, ideas, initiatives and programmes to the people of the Virgin Islands,” he told the HOA. “And the success or failure of all that these governments have presented in large part depends on the successful execution and implementation through the public service.”
Bill’s goals
The government has stated that the bill’s goals include improving the public service’s management and operational efficiency to better meet citizens’ needs.
“In addition, [the bill] aims to define the roles and responsibilities of ministers and other senior public officers more clearly, including their capacity to delegate functions and manage ministerial staff effectively,” according to a statement posted to the government’s website on Aug. 16, the day Dr. Wheatley introduced the bill in the HOA.
The initial version of the bill also proposes new transparency and accountability measures that tick the boxes of other reforms recommended by the COI.
Among them is the creation of a register of interests for senior public officers, including department heads, deputy secretaries and others in Grades 19 to 21.
Under the draft bill, those public officers would have to declare their interests in a register accessible to the governor and deputy governor, who would be empowered to share the register’s contents with law enforcers on request. Otherwise, the information would be private.
Also under the draft bill, senior public officers could be compelled to register the interests of spouses and children.
‘Integrity’ section
Another section of the draft bill, which addresses “integrity in public life,” would require public officers to abide by a code of conduct that the governor may prescribe.
They also would be explicitly prohibited from benefitting from conflicts of interest; from using “insider information” to benefit personally; and from accepting gifts in exchange for services, among other actions.
The draft bill would also officially establish the VI Public Service Learning Institute — which is already offering training following its launch last August — as a government department headed by a director and overseen by the permanent secretary in the Deputy Governor’s Office.
Additionally, a development committee would be established to take on institute-related duties including reviewing scholarship applications; overseeing distribution of funds; and making study-leave recommendations to the Public Service Commission.
Also included in the draft bill are sections that codify rules for discipline, performance management, and the operations of the VI Civil Service Association, among others.
