Just ahead of the Saturday deadline for completing the Commission of Inquiry reforms, the House of Assembly has been debating a bill that would bring sweeping reforms to the territory’s public service.
The Public Service Management Bill 2024 — which would 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 other measures — was debated publicly last Thursday before HOA members went into a committee session to discuss it further in private.
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.
It 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 last Thursday, Dr. Wheatley 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.”
The HOA continued sitting on Tuesday and was scheduled to return yesterday, but members had not returned from their committee session as of Beacon press time yesterday afternoon.
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 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 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 proposed bill, senior public officers could be compelled to register the interests of spouses and children.
‘Integrity’ section
Another section of the 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 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 bill are sections that codify rules for discipline, performance management, and the operations of the VI Civil Service Association, among others.
Debate
During the public debate last Thursday, Dr. Wheatley and his government colleagues mostly defended the bill, though they acknowledged the need for amendments in some areas.
But opposition members shared a different perspective.
Opposition Leader Ronnie Skelton called the bill “probably the most colonial” law that he’s seen come before the HOA, alleging that it would transfer too much ministerial authority to the deputy governor.
“The Public Service Management Bill as it is, I will just call it an improved version of General Orders,” he said. “There’s nothing more, and it’s whole aim is basically demoting the legislative process in this country and making ministers useless.”
Opposition member Julian Fraser spoke similarly.
“The bill is telling us here in the House of Assembly that the governor will be delegating the entire service and his operation to the deputy governor, which I contend is unconstitutional,” Mr. Fraser said.
Opposition member Mitch Turnbull echoed that criticism while taking aim at Section Five of the bill, which lays out the role of ministers in the public service.
The section mentions the deputy governor twice: First, it authorises ministers to “refer to the deputy governor for review matters relating to the effectiveness or efficiency of the ministry, department and public officers;” and then it charges ministers “to monitor the performance of the permanent secretary in the ministry and report on same to the deputy governor.”
Though the section also states explicitly that it does not limit ministers’ functions or require them “to carry out any particular action,” Mr. Turnbull argued that it relegates them to the role of “a regular individual.”
“And the Office of the Deputy Governor is being elevated to have powers that are similarly on the same wavelength as the governor,” he said.
Government side
Among the ministers who supported the bill was Education, Youth Affairs and Sports Minister Sharie de Castro, who also noted “challenges that need to be addressed in committee stage.”
She added that the aim of the bill should be largely preventive.
“I think we often find ourselves in a position of crisis, whether it’s inefficiency or failure to meet public expectations, and I believe this is our opportunity as a government to address the root causes that are causing issues and creating systems in order to prevent the problems rather than merely responding to them,” Ms. de Castro said.
Health and Social Development Minister Vincent Wheatley also spoke in support of the bill, adding that the HOA needs to give it “very close consideration” because “it’s going to change life as we know it in this country — or it has the potential.”
He went on to explain the aim of the legislation.
“It is trying to operationalise the Constitution,” he said. “The Constitution has given a framework of what should happen, [but it] doesn’t necessarily say why or how. And this is a good effort to make that a little clearer.”
He added, “Right now, the public service is governed by loose pieces of legislation like the Service Commission Act and its regulations, the Public Service Management Code, and so forth. This subsumes all of them. So instead of going all over the place, you can get most of what you need in this one document here.”
Committee changes
When giving his initial statement, the premier said he expected changes to be made during the committee stage, noting “some discrepancy as it pertains to what the Constitution says.”
“In the committee stage of this bill,” he added, “most certainly we anticipate a number of changes to correct some areas that may have been missed by the ministries.”
Other government-side legislators who spoke were Deputy Premier Lorna Smith, Communications and Works Minister Kye Rymer, and Agriculture and Fisheries Junior Minister Dr. Karl Dawson.
On the opposition side, Deputy Speaker Stacy Mather also spoke.