Caribbean News
JAMAICA: All Ministers Must Have Customer Service Improvement Plans by April
#Jamaica, February 16, 2018 – Kingston – All ministries must have customer service improvement plans in place by the end of April 2018 as mandated by the Public Sector Transformation and Modernization Programme. The aim is to reduce waste, save money and make the public institutions more efficient and effective for those who need them.
The plans are a priority of the Service Excellence Programme (SEP), which falls under the ambit of Thematic Area 1 of the Public Sector Transformation and Modernization Programme, entitled ‘Trade and Investment Facilitation and Service Excellence’. This is also one of the goals of Vision 2030 Jamaica – National Development Plan, which calls for professionalism and efficient service delivery in all public-sector institutions.
Modernization Specialist in the Public Sector Transformation and Modernization Division (PSTMD), Office of the Cabinet, Michele Gordon-Somers, tells JIS News that the plans are a critical part of the Service Excellence Policy being developed by the Cabinet Office.
“All ministries must conduct customer service assessments, they must speak with their customers, they must have plans developed and they must report their achievements against their plans,” she emphasizes.
The proposed policy will set out the core principles, values, standards, strategies, accountability mechanism, continuous improvement frameworks and service delivery options that will promote and institutionalize service excellence to facilitate consistency in service quality across government.
Last year, the PSTMD engaged technocrats in the ministries, departments and agencies (MDAs) as well as from civil society and the private sector at Service Excellence Visioning Workshops, aimed at identifying strategies and actions to get to the supreme form of service excellence in the public sector.
Recently, the Cabinet Office and the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ) signed a memorandum of understanding signalling the commencement of a partnership between the two organisations to promote service excellence in the public and private sectors and increase awareness of customer service issues nationally.
Mrs. Gordon-Somers says that some ministries have named customer service improvement teams and are conducting customer service readiness assessments, which will guide the development of customer service improvement plans.
“The information that comes out of the assessments will be used to feed into developing customer service improvement plans, and it is expected that the whole area of customer service will be looked at in a comprehensive way, and then these plans will be implemented with short-, medium- and long-term measures incorporated within those plans,” she explains.
Mrs. Gordon-Somers notes that the PSTMD has been conducting workshops with service improvement teams “to sensitive them about the Service Excellence Programme”. The Modernization Specialist says ministries will develop their plans before focusing on their respective agencies and departments.
“So, all the agencies and departments under their portfolios, they will assist them through the same process, in terms of developing their service-improvement plans and reporting on their achievements against those plans on a quarterly basis,” she tells JIS News.
Mrs. Gordon-Somers says that in the past, ministries only focused on frontline customers regarding customer-service improvement, adding that other areas should be addressed, such as business processes, engagement of customers, the handling of complaints, customer feedback and “ensuring that service improvement planning is a critical part of general operational planning”.
Another component of the SEP at ministries is the development of citizens’ charters. According to Mrs. Gordon-Somers, a citizen’s charter is a contract between ministries and their customers, which outlines the strategies to improve customer service at the entities.
“We expect all ministries will have a citizen’s charter, or those who already have will update their document,” she says.
Mrs. Gordon-Somers stresses that charters that are posted on the websites of ministries should also be displayed in the lobby areas and hard copies made available for customers who may request them.
Meanwhile, Senior Director, Ministry of Economic Growth and Job Creation, Sandra Senior Brown, tells JIS News that a citizen’s charter/customer service improvement team is in place at the super ministry. She said the entity is looking at various technological initiatives, “to enable our internal customers to be better able to carry out their functions”.
The Ministry, which was created in March 2016 and charged with the responsibility for seven critical portfolios – land, environment, climate change, investment, water and wastewater, housing and works – has oversight for 48 agencies.
“We at the Ministry see it as a critical need to have this customer service improvement programme implemented, based on our mandate of ensuring that we meet the business needs of Jamaica as well as the needs of our internal stakeholders,” she says.
Mrs. Brown, who is overseeing the implementation of the Ministry’s modernisation initiatives, says “customers are demanding more and they want better quality and a higher standard of service”.
“We want to ensure that customers are able to access certain services and there is ease in doing so. Our website will be instrumental in that regard,” she tells JIS News. “We have over 46 agencies, so we definitely want to be one of the front runners where implementation of this Service Excellence Programme is concerned,” she adds.
By: Elaine Hartman Reckord
Release: JIS
Dana Malcolm
Staff Writer
The Multi-sector Utility Regulator Policy developed by the government is going to make utilities affordable and reliable for residents in the Turks and Caicos, at least that’s what the TCIG hopes.
Currently, in the consultation phase, when this policy is signed into law it will allow for the creation of a unified Regulatory Commission that oversees water and sewage, telecommunications, fuel, and electricity and makes sure that the monopolies or semi-monopolies that provide these services are doing so in the best interest of the residents who pay for their services.
The draft copy of the Policy lays out the specific objectives which are listed as:
- Affordability which is measured by processes and outcomes during rate hearings.
- Reliability which is measured by regulatory decisions enabling minimal service interruptions and timely service deliveries such as interconnections.
- Economic Competitiveness which is measured by decisions on rates and service delivery compared to relevant jurisdictions.
- Innovation which is measured by regulatory decisions enabling access to new technologies and business models, and finally
- Environmental Sustainability which is measured by regulatory decisions that advance/support regulatory service providers in meeting government goals on climate change and other aspects of sustainability.
All of this is geared toward value for money and better service for TC Residents but how will the Regulatory Commission operate to achieve the aims?
Firstly it won’t be directly controlled by the government. The document explains that TCIG alone will have the power to set the legislation that regulates the sector. The Commission is then bound to follow those rules and all its decisions must be based on law. However, The Commission will be independent of the Government in the operation of its duties and responsibilities.
Some of those legally established duties include: managing utility rates and tariffs; monitoring and compliance; granting and renewing licenses and Research and Development to advance the use of new technologies.
Another requirement of the body will be transparency, to ensure that both customers and investors trust and can substantiate the decisions being made.
The Multi-sector Agency will it be able to carry out inspections if providers fail to provide necessary information, and it has the authority to ‘collaborate with academic institutions, research organizations, and industry players to support innovation’.
Importantly the agency is to be charged with ensuring decisions advance the public interest for today and the future.
Additionally, according to the draft policy, it is to have a board made up of experts in utilities who must be ‘persons of integrity’ appointed by the government. With no need for a team of experts 24/7 The Commission will have a Chief Executive Officer who will manage a small team of regulatory officers and staff which will be supported by experts on an as-
needed basis.
The government is now undertaking consultation to get thoughts and concerns from all stakeholders including residents regarding the policy and eventual setup of the Agency. The need for the Regulatory body is crucial according to Kyle Knowles, Minister of Public Safety and Utilities.
“The Turks and Caicos Islands have witnessed unprecedented growth, bringing to the fore the urgent need for regulatory reform in our utility sector. The current challenges, including requests for rate increases and water shortages, underscore the limitations of our existing regulatory framework to effectively manage and mitigate such issues,” he said
The consultation will run until May 24, 2024.
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