The Government of Jamaica is committed to provide quality service in "Goal 1: A Healthy and Stable Population" and "Goal: 6 Effective Governance" of its Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan.

The Cabinet took the decision of restructuring the Public Sector in November 2009, publishing Ministry Paper No. 114.

Between 1984 and 2003, there have been three reform projects financed primarily by the World Bank loans, namely the Administrative Reform Programme (ARP) I and II and the Public Sector Modernisation Project (PSMP I). The ARP focused on the traditional areas of administrative reform and the PSMP focused on effective delivery of service and the separation of policy from operation. Towards the end of PSMP I, a ten year vision and strategy for the Modernisation programme was prepared for the period 2002 to 2012 (Section 2 of "Ministry Paper No. 114", dated November 2009).

The Cabinet, by Decision 30/02 dated September 9th, 2002, made a commitment to modernize the Public Sector. The related policy paper "Government at your Service: Public Sector Modernization Vision and Strategy 2002-2012 (MSVP)" was tabled in Parliament on September 12th, 2002. The strategy for modernization outlined in the MSVP identified the rationalization of the public service as an ongoing initiative, necessary to keep a pace with the emergent and changing local and global developments (Section 2 of "Ministry Paper No. 114", dated November 2009).

The entity responsible of delivering better public services is the Cabinet. In 1996, it designed the Public Sector Modernization Programme (PSMP) for the period 1996 to 2002, taking into account four main objectives:

• Privatization of some public sector entities;
• Down-sizing and strengthening the required work force;
• Abolition of redundant statutory bodies and government companies; and
• Creation of Executive Agencies.

Achievements of the PSMP include the issuing of human resource management authority by delegation to various Ministries and Departments, improvement in compensation to the civil service, the creation of Executive Agencies with improved customer service, the development of Citizens' Charters in Agencies and Departments, and strengthening of government procurement processes (Section 5 of "Ministry Paper No. 114", dated November 2009).

The PSMP modernized the Customs Department and Jamaica Promotions (JAMPRO), strengthened the policy capacity of the Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Water and Housing and strengthened the auditing processes and procuring functions of the Government.

In transforming the Public Sector, careful consideration is given to nine areas:

1. A safe, healthy and secure environment.
2. Effective and accessible justice system.
3. Good quality education system.
4. Access to basic health care.
5. Social welfare support for the disadvantaged and vulnerable.
6. Public infrastructure and related services.
7. Efficient public bureaucracy.
8. An appropriate policy environment and regulatory mechanisms.
9. Effective diplomacy.

The transformation of Jamaica's Public Sector is being guided by the imperative for a Jamaican Public Sector that is service oriented, results-based and guided by appropriate accountability mechanisms and which, therefore, provides an enabling environment for the achievement of Vision 2030 Jamaica National Development Plan.

The transformation of Jamaica's Public Sector is based on the recommendations contained in the Public Sector Master Rationalisation Plan (MRP). The MRP was tabled in Parliament as a Green Paper on July 20, 2010, and approved by the Cabinet on May 2, 2011. The MRP is now a White Paper that expresses the policy for transforming the Public Sector.

The overarching goals of the transformation of Jamaica's Pubic Sector are:

•    A smooth transition to a transformed Public Sector through change in ideas, attitudes, iiiibeliefs and behaviors.
•    An enabling environment for effective governance.
•    An effective Accountability Framework.
•    Performance-based management.
•    Quality Customer service - improvement in service delivery.
•    Proper resource management.
•    Integrated, compatible Information Systems.
•    The optimum size of the Public Sector for efficiency.
•    Reduction in the cost of Public Sector to below 10% of GDP by 2011.

The Public Sector Master Rationalization Plan (MRP) contains the recommendations for rationalizing and transforming the entire Public Sector. The paper addresses the rationalization of the Public Sector at the strategic level and examines Ministries and their respective Departments and Agencies, in relation to their mandates and core functions. The determination of their treatment has been based on extensive consultations with various stakeholders, including the recommendations of the Public Administration and Appropriations Committee (PAAC).

The implementation of the recommendations in the Public Sector Master Rationalization Plan (MRP) began on July 1, 2011, and is the responsibility of all Permanent Secretaries, including the Cabinet Secretary and the Financial Secretary, facilitated through Ministerial Transformation Steering Committees (TSCs) and Inter-Disciplinary Transformation Teams (IDTTs).

The Government of Jamaica has committed to providing public services oriented towards customer service in high quality government bodies. This focus has been developed around two main components:

1. The Creation of Executive Agencies and other performance based institutions. A number of Performance Based Institutions (PBIs) have been established across the public sector of Jamaica. These entities were transformed to offer more efficient and effective delivery of services to its customers and to focus more on policy development and management of portfolio entities to ensure realization of priority outcomes.

Agencies that have been modernized or converted into PBIs are:

• Jamaica Information Service
• Companies Office Of Jamaica
• Registrar General's Department
• Administrator General's Department
• National Environment And Planning Agency
• National Works Agency
• Management Institute For National Development
• National Land Agency
• Jamaica Promotions Corporation (JAMPRO)
• Planning Institute Of Jamaica
• Jamaica Customs
• Ministry of Transport, Works and Housing
• Child Development Agency

2. Improving customer service and business facilitation. The concept of the One Stop Shop in which multiple services are offered to the client in one location in order to eliminate the need for multiple visits to various government agencies to transact business is ideally the way all government related transactions are to be carried out. This form of service reduces service times; improves convenience, simplicity and ease of access to services for the citizen thereby improving customer satisfaction.

Services are being joined up to reduce the number of agencies and agents with which a customer has to interface for key government services:

• One stop process for the application for a tax compliance certificate
• Easier replacement of lost or stolen drivers' licenses
• Streamline the inspection processes related to the export and import of food items through the introduction of a Health & Food safety One Stop Shop
• Jamaica Custom Computerized Systems
• The Development Approval process is being completely redesigned to attract investment and promote business development
• Technology is being used to make access to services easier for customers, through online applications and payments, and other modes of cashless transactions
• Decentralized service delivery
• Establish information infrastructure and international capacity with networks of data shared between related government agencies to avoid the need for customers to provide duplicated information at each point of transaction.
• Introduction of the Citizen's Charter Programme
• A Standards & Monitoring Unit established in the Modernization Division deals specifically with promoting and monitoring customer service improvement across government.
• The Customer's Service Competition bi-anually, aiming to embed a service culture to the public
• The Customer Service Monitoring and Evaluation Framework to identify service performance
• Surveys to monitor customer service
• Complaints management system