The Selected Overseas Countries
25. This section is intended to provide the reader with a broad overview of each country and their Government and Civil Service structures. See the individual country summaries in Appendices A– E for further relevant details.
Introduction to the comparator countries
26. The Task Force mandated Australia, Singapore and the UK for the purpose of this research, and PwC Consulting proposed Canada and New Zealand as being additional, useful comparators. Their suitability was based on a number of considerations:
· Structure and governance – all countries operate systems which historically had their roots, either directly or indirectly, in the so called, British “Westminster” model
· Professionalism – each of the countries has a professional, career Civil Service and many civil servants consider it a career employer
· Programmes of public sector reform – all five countries have undertaken (and continue to have on their agenda) significant public sector reforms over the course of the past twenty years or so
· Values – at the very heart of these country Civil Services are the shared values of integrity, lack of corruption and fair and equal treatment of all citizens. Political neutrality is also a critical factor in most cases.
27. The organisation of the Governments is crucial to this study, as are the context and nature of their extensive public sector reforms and their current arrangements for pay and reward.
The organisation of Government
28. The five countries illustrate a range of organisational structures. At one end of the spectrum, Singapore is a relatively centralised, unitary Government, while the UK, Canada and Australia all have three different tiers of Government (each with different responsibilities). New Zealand lies somewhere in-between. This makes direct comparison with Hong Kong a difficult task.
Reform programmes
29. The five selected countries offer a range of experiences resulting from their long term programmes of public sector reform. In some cases reform has been radical such as in New Zealand, in others more evolutionary such as in Canada. For each, however, to a greater or lesser degree, the reforms encompass a number of common themes:
· Reorganisation and redefinition of the core Civil Service, with increasing responsibilities shifted to autonomous agencies and to other tiers of Government
· A drive towards enhanced quality, efficiency, and effectiveness of the Civil Service
· Increased private sector involvement in the delivery of public services, using competition as a driver for change and improvement
· Development of a customer-centric focus, including a range of e-Government initiatives
· More effective financial planning, management and control, typically centred on devolution of financial management responsibilities to individual agencies and managers
· Growth of a performance culture promoting greater transparency and accountability, both collective and individual
· Emphasis on overhauling HRM policies and practices both to encourage better performance and to help attract, retain and motivate quality staff.
30. It is important to recognise the importance of these themes in influencing and, in some cases, supporting the pay and grading reforms which each of the comparator countries have implemented.
