Question NW4172 to the Minister of Public Service and Administration
07 December 2015 - NW4172
Lovemore, Ms AT to ask the Minister of Public Service and Administration
(1)Whether each (a) national and (b) provincial government department, unit, entity and component is required to submit a service delivery improvement plan; if not, why not; if so, (i) how often, (ii) by what date for each submission period and (iii) to whom; (2) (a) what process is followed to assess the service delivery plans that have been submitted, (b) what standards are used to assess the value of each specified plan and (c) what action is taken in the event that a specified plan is not considered as acceptable; (3) how is compliance with commitments made in the service delivery plans monitored; (4) whether a member of the public can access the plans of the various departments; if not, why not; if so, how is such access achieved?
Reply:
(1) Yes. In terms of the Directive on Service Delivery Improvements Plans dated 30 October 2008, issued by the Minister for Public Service and Administration, the national and provincial departments are required to submit their Service Delivery Improvement Plans by 31 March every three years and to report on the progress made annually to the Department of Public Service and Administration.
The Service Delivery Improvements Plans should be aligned to the Public Access Information Act (PAIA) and to the Public Administrative and Justice Act (PAJA) and should also provide an indication on how Service Delivery Improvements Plans are cascaded to service points. The Service Delivery Improvements Plans must be signed-off by Head of the Department (HOD) and also the Executive Authority.
(2) (a) The assessment process of the Service Delivery Improvement Plans include; (i) scrutinizing preliminary scoring using an assessment tool, (ii) structured peer and/or sector assessments for verification and validation of scoring by the cross-cutting teams using the same assessment tool, (iii) provision of preliminary feedback to the participants by the Department of Public Service and Administration.
(b) The standards used to assess the value of the specified plan are based on critical compliance areas of the Service Delivery Improvements Plans Assessment Tool and include;
(i) Openness & transparency on the process followed in developing the Service Delivery Improvement Plans (SDIP).
- Meaningful utilization of a situation analysis in identifying the critical service areas that should be addressed in the SDIP.
- Process mapping, human resources and Unit costing that should lead to a problem statement to be addressed through the mandatory SDIP template.
(c) The cluster and sector of the SDIP assessment and the capacity building workshops organized by the DPSA assist departments to identify their weaknesses, develop and implement corrective measures to address the unacceptable SDIPs developed by the departments.
The workshops provide a platform for technical support, capacity building and practical solutions with departmental cross cutting teams in order to develop realistic, credible and effective SDIPs.
(3) Monitoring and reporting of compliance with commitments is undertaken through annual progress reporting and Annual Operational Plans. Service Delivery Improvement Plan monitoring follow-ups are made through the Khaedu programme and Public Service Month programme.
National and Provincial departments have also put in place internal processes and system to monitor compliance with commitments in the service delivery plans, including reporting to internal departmental structures and eventually to the DPSA in line with the legislative framework.
(4) The Service Delivery Improvements Plan is currently an Internally Driven Plan. However, it is not a confidential document and can be made available on request.