Budget debate: Up to 40 hours for public service officers to gain exposure to other sectors

SINGAPORE - Starting this year, public service officers will have more opportunities for exposure to other sectors, with up to 40 hours available for them to do so.

Minister-in-charge of the Public Service Chan Chun Sing announced on Wednesday (March 2) that each officer can use up to 40 hours a year to participate in developmental activities with private, social and non-profit organisations.

Speaking during the debate on the Prime Minister's Office's budget, he said that these opportunities can either be made available by the Public Service Division (PSD) and other agencies, or be self-sourced as long as the activities are developmental and do not lead to any conflict of interest.

This is so that public service officers can better understand the partners they work with when rules and regulations are made, as well as to enrich the public service with new ideas and connections, said Mr Chan, who is also Education Minister.

Responding to Mr Melvin Yong's (Radin Mas) point about developing the competencies of public officers, Mr Chan said the public service intends to have greater porosity between the public sector and the outside - the private and people sectors.

Mr Yong had asked about the PSD's plans to ensure that public service officers of today are ready to take on the challenges of tomorrow and its efforts to ensure lifelong employability of its officers.

Mr Chan said an existing Talent Attachment Programme will be extended as more opportunities will be sought. The number of people on this programme has almost doubled in the past year, he added.

This programme allows public officers to be attached to organisations outside the public service so that they can establish connections and bring back new ideas.

He added that the public service also wants to ensure that officers get the opportunity to be posted across different agencies even if they perform the same function.

He said: "Because even within the same functional areas, no two agencies perform the function in exactly the same way. And we can, of course, learn from one another."

The public service is always looking for better ways to use its finite resources and manpower, said Mr Chan.

As part of these efforts, the pilot of the Integrated Public Service Centres, now known as ServiceSG Centres, will be extended, he said. The pilot centre at Our Tampines Hub now provides for 400 services across 19 agencies.

These centres are meant to integrate and deliver a wide range of public services across agencies under one roof, such as help for people seeking jobs and skills upgrading as well as assistance with housing bills.

More of these centres will be established within community centres, said Mr Chan, adding that two have already opened in Nee Soon Central and Kampong Chai Chee.