Public Service Week - Meeting with the Business Community

As part of the programme of Public Service Week, top public officers got together with representatives of the business community over breakfast this morning to discuss how the Public Service could provide a better service to private enterprise.

Participants were addressed by Mr J R Grima, Head of the Public Service, who said that the Service was in the process of modernising itself and several services had improved over the recent past, even as it was fulfilling the crowded agenda of two successive governments.

The relevance of a cost-effective Public Service to the prosperity of the country was underlined in the context that national economic development was being redefined as international competitive success. The need for further investment in a modern civil service was therefore of fundamental importance. Some bureaucracy, however, would always be necessary to satisfy scrutinising bodies that decisions were legal, fair and consistent, even if it was possible to simplify further the existing procedures.

Speakers from the floor agreed that further reductions in bureaucracy needed to be made. The private sector could ill afford delays if it was to compete internationally, and public services to business needed to be provided on a one-stop-shop basis. It was acknowledged, however, that considerable improvement had been made in many areas.

Participants agreed that the meeting had been beneficial and the dialogue between the Public Service and the business community should continue.