Who is the Boss? Minister Or Permanent Secretary?

The answer to the question – who is the boss? – Minister or the Permanent Secretary? – is a no brainer.

It’s the minister of course – but that’s in theory.

In practice, it is not that plain sailing because they have to deal with differences of opinions.

It is understood that in one ministry, a minister wanted a change of the permanent secretary because of communication challenges.

Previously, in another ministry, a minister successfully got the PS out, but the PS was reassigned to a new role in another area of the civil service.

In that sense, the minister calls the shots. But changing the PS is not a simple exercise. The issue goes to the Public Service Commission which is the employer that decides the fate of a PS.

It could be a simple matter if the PS is simply incompetent, ineffective and cannot fulfil the requirements of his job description.

But it’s more complicated when it’s about the relationship between the minister and the PS.

In this one case, it is believed to be in the holding cell, waiting for the employer’s response to a request to transfer out the PS.

The relationship between the minister and PS is crucial in the operation of the ministry. If they cannot see eye to eye on a number of issues it could affect the day to day running of the ministry and the desired outcomes.

When service delivery is negatively affected it reflects badly on the ministers and their Government – in this case it’s the FijiFirst Government.

Differences are not new because they came through different channels to be part of the same ministry.

The PS came through the PSC. To be appointed they have to be suitably qualified with impressive work experience and record. Their selection is based on merit.

They are the administrative CEOs; they report to the ministers on service delivery and are responsible for all employees. They are accountable to the PSC on performance.

The ministers are elected by the people in a general election into Parliament as part of the winning political party that gets the mandate to govern the country for four years. They belong to Cabinet and are answerable to the Prime Minister and head of the Government.

The policies they implement in their ministries are based on the party manifesto in the election. They are what they will be judged on come the next election.

If the Government fails to deliver on those policies, it could jeopardise its re-election.

That’s the bottom line for these ministers to ensure that their PS is on the same wavelength.

If it’s not happening that it will inevitably lead to frustrations and frictions. If a minister is waiting for a long time to change his PS, it could be demoralising. Differences are inevitable because of the different backgrounds they have come from.

Civil servants are part of a large bureaucracy which has structures and systems in place. A lot of decisions have to go through the red tape before they are approved. And they may take longer than what the ministers expect.

In simple terms the ministers dictate the policies, and the civil servants implement them.

If they cannot work together on this arrangement, then problems will surface.

Under this arrangement the buck stops with the ministers because they are answerable to the PM on whether they have achieved their targets.

In the bigger picture the FijiFirst Government will be answerable to the people in 2022. That’s why ministers are the bosses of their ministries whether the civil servants like it or not.