PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION

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PRESENTATION TO THE PORTFOLIO COMMITTEE ON PUBLIC
SERVICE AND ADMINISTRATION

• Compliance with the Implementation of the Batho
  Pele Principle of Consultation
• 25 June 2008

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OVERVIEW OF PRESENTATION

• Introduction and background
• Research methodology
• Key findings
• Good practice process for benchmarking
• Conclusion and recommendations

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Introduction and BackgroundObjectives of the PSC
study

• ? Assess compliance with the implementation of
  the Batho Pele principle of Consultation.
• ? Determine effectiveness of consultation in
  the Public Service.
• ? Determine challenges and
  barriers to consulting adequately.

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Introduction and Background Cont

• CONSTITUTION
• peoples needs be responded to public
  encouraged to participate.
• PARTICIPATION
• can obviate potential adversarialism between
  government citizens
• can assist in transforming the Public Service
  into a service-driven, citizen-centred and
  accountable institution
• BATHO PELE White Paper principle of Consultation
  requires citizens to be consulted about services
  they receive from the Public Service.
• Previous BP studies undertaken include Service
  Standards, Access, Redress.
• PSCs Constitutional role monitor evaluate BP
  requirement to be monitored by the PSC

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Research Methodology

• LITERATURE REVIEW
• The Constitution of the Republic of South Africa
• The White Paper on Transforming Public Service
  Delivery
• The Batho Pele Handbook
• The Charter Mark (UK)
• The State of the Public Service Report (2007)
• TOOL DEVELOPMENT
• Semi-structured questionnaire developed on the
  basis of information from the literature review

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Research Methodology Cont

• SCOPE OF THE STUDY
• Scope covered all national and provincial
  departments except
• (i) The South African Secret Service,
• (ii) The South African National Defence Force,
  and
• (iii) National Intelligence Agency.
• DATA ANALYSIS
• All verbatim data was captured in MS Word format
• Responses and items were coded
• Data captured into specially designed data base
• Frequency distribution was done using SPSS
  package

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Key Findings

• Goals of Consultation
• Creates a balance between what citizens want
  what departments can deliver
• Ensures customer satisfaction with quality
  quantity of services delivered
• Service delivery improves
• Ensures that there is mutual respect between
  service providers and customers

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Key Findings Cont

• Departments understanding of Consultation
• ? Soliciting views of stakeholders 90
• ? Informing customers of services 3
• ? Interacting with customers 3
• ? Encouraging participation 2
• ? Transforming Public Service delivery 2

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Key Findings Cont

• Departmental consultative initiatives
• Workshops/ seminars/ summits 23
• Izimbizo 17
• Engaging critical stakeholders 17
• Print/ radio/ TV media 11
• Public awareness campaigns 9
• Community outreach 5
• Road shows 3
• Suggestion boxes 3
• Other 5
• Special initiatives introduced to consult
  critical stakeholders e.g. in Agriculture Farmer
  Support Structures

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Key Findings Cont

• Consultation standards have been developed by 51
  of departments.
• The following reflects on how Consultation
  standards have been met
• Standards met 59
• Standards partially met 21
• Standards not met 9
• Dont know 11

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Key Findings Cont

• Service aspects that departments consult on
• Departmental programmes 35
• Service delivery 11
• Strategic development 9
• Awareness of service 7
• Needs assessment/ satisfaction 7
• Policy 7
• Financial planning/ administration 5
• Service standards 6
• Other 13

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Key Findings Cont

• Measures to consult rural urban groups
• Via key stakeholders rural 25 urban 35
• Community outreach programmes rural 24 urban
  11
• Izimbizo/ public meetings rural 23 urban 24
  
• Flyers/ brochures/posters rural 8 urban 7
• Radio rural 15 urban 17

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Key Findings Cont

• Informing citizens how their contributions have
  been incorporated into decision-making
• Reports incl. Annual reports 37
• Meetings/ workshops 35
• Speeches 10
• Personal communications 10
• Public awareness campaigns 8

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Key Findings Cont

• Challenges in dealing with consultation
• Budget constraints 21
• Geographic distribution of customers 13
• Language/ literacy 12
• Capacity 11
• Feedback not used 11
• Poor public participation 11
• Lack of infrastructure 9
• Time constraints 7
• Logistics 4
• Catering 2
• Unrealistic expectations 1

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Key Findings Cont
Strategies to address challenges facing
consultation
Communication strategies 17
Systems design for more effective consultation 15
Planning with departments 15
Translation 12
More funding 11
Dedicated units for managing consultation 11
Increased public participation 4
Logistics 4
Partnering with the private sector 4
Increased monitoring of consultation 2
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Key Findings Cont

• Consultation initiatives budgeted for
• Staff training 29
• Workshops/ meetings 21
• Printing/ publishing 14
• Special events 11
• Marketing/ advertising 9
• Other 16

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GOOD PRACTICE PROCESS FOR CONSULTATION- Process 1

• 1st phase
• Departments should review mandates objectives
• Assess the degree to which available capacity is
  aligned with delivering services
• Assess available service delivery mechanisms,
  how well they function
• Gather intelligence on customers incl. profile,
  how they engage their services and current
  service use
• Identify gaps .

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GOOD PRACTICE PROCESS FOR CONSULTATION- Process 1

• 2nd phase
• Occurs once departments have dev guidelines for
  new services or for re-engineered services
• ? Customers consulted on the degree to which new
  services/ re-engineered services meet their needs
• ? Align operations and services with the needs
  of citizens
• ? Flag problems with service delivery before
  they occur

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GOOD PRACTICE PROCESS FOR CONSULTATION- Process 1

• 3rd phase
• ? Evaluate the implementation
• ? Monitor the effectiveness of the service
  offered

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GOOD PRACTICE PROCESS FOR CONSULTATION- Process 2

• Process 2 is an activity within Process 1
• ? Identify objectives of the consultation
  initiative (objectives should be realistic,
  achievable and measurable)
• ? Take into account type of information required
  level of analysis
• ? Establish qualitative quantitative data
  needed
• ? Consult ensure its according to approved
  design
• ? Analyse interprete findings

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Conclusion

• Departments have embarked on a variety of
  activities to communicate with the public. Not
  all of these fulfill a consultative function
• e.g. through reports, advertisements and
  websites.

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Recommendations

• Prioritise the concretisation of consultation
  standards.
• Assess different consultation mechanisms ensure
  use of the most feasible, effective efficient.
• Improve the manner in which they monitor
  evaluate implementation of consultation.

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THANK YOU