Govt agencies can benefit from commission’s reports

National, Normal
Source:

The National, Tuesday 22nd November 2011

By JEFFREY ELAPA
GOVERNMENT organisations can achieve positive outcomes in service delivery if some of the analytical reports and studies published by the National Economic and Fiscal Commission.
National Economic and Fiscal Commission (NEFC) is a statutory body that contributes to service delivery budget funding and publishes analytical reports of the delivery of goods and services for all the provinces like performance indictors in their delivery of goods and services.
Chairman and chief executive officer Nao Badu said the organisation produced a number of publications analysing provincial basic services delivery including expenditure and revenues of provinces.
He said these reports and publications could be helpful to any government in achieving positive outcomes for their organisations as well as improving service delivery.
He said one such report was the 2005 Cost of Service Study which in many ways highlighted the disproportionate use and allocation of public funds.
He said the study also highlighted instances where administrative costs were disproportionately higher in comparison to the cost of services to the community.
He said the NEFC was only a vehicle for providing an analysis of public expenditure and creating an environment conducive to the efficient allocation of public monies for the delivery of basic services to rural people while the responsibility of public funds including ensuring that the community receives value for money out of these expenditures.
However, he said based on the Cost Service Study, the National Capital District Commission  was able to review its administrative cost by right-sizing it staff strength from 900 to 568, which had significantly saved cost.
He said many other reports and publications could also be used by other departments and government service providers to critically evaluate their own staffing structure with a view to right-sizing.