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GSD warns of ‘austerity measures’ after Bossano comments to GGCA

Joe Bossano has assured the GGCA that there will be no redundancies within the civil service despite the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, even as he warned that the current level of recruitment was ‘unsustainable’.

In a bulletin to its members the GGCA, the white collar union that represents most civil servants, said its committee had met with Mr Bossano, who is responsible for public sector efficiency, to express its concerns regarding the ‘Public Efficiencies Review’.

According to the bulletin, the GGCA was concerned that the review could be used as a method to determine cutbacks within the civil service, or as a way to delay the AA recruitment process.

Mr Bossano’s comments drew a firm response from the GSD, which has been sharply critical of government spending and said the Minister for Economic Development, Telecommunications and the Savings Bank was signalling cutbacks.

“It appears to us that we are seeing the start of austerity measures,” a GSD statement read.

“The person responsible is Mr [Fabian] Picardo and his reckless spending over the last five years.”

“Minister Bossano is merely having to pick up the pieces of that reckless spending.”

NOT A REVIEW

The GGCA said Mr Bossano had met committee members and explained that what will be carried out is not a review, as his remit does not involve structure, posts or re-gradings.

Instead, it is the establishment of an ongoing process to create the most efficient work systems, “…to eliminate duplication of work and overly long procedures for the completion of tasks”, the GGCA said.

This will not involve staff appraisals or the evaluation of personnel, just the tasks that are carried out within each section.

It is envisaged that this will be a permanent, continuous process, with no fixed end date – and Ongoing Efficiency Process as opposed to a Public Efficiencies Review.

This was reiterated by the Gibraltar Government, which in answer to questions told the Chronicle: “…there is no review; there is a permanent ongoing exercise to ensure that the workload is being undertaken in the most efficient way possible.”

“This will be done with the involvement of the staff who we expect will be able to suggest improvements.”

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