Chairman

The mission of the Office of Public Works is:

Under the Public Service Management Act 1997 (No. 27 of 1977), the Chairman of the Office of Public Works has the following responsibilities:

• managing the business of the Office generally
• implementing Government policies appropriate to the Office
• monitoring Government policies that affect the Office
• delivering outputs as determined with the Minister of the government having charge of the Office
• providing policy advice to the Minister on all matters within the remit of the Office
• preparing and submitting a Statement of Strategy in respect of the Office in accordance with the Act
• providing progress reports to the Minister on the implementation of the Statement of Strategy
• ensuring that appropriate arrangements are put into place that will facilitate an effective response to matters that pertain to both the Office and other branches of the public service
• ensuring proper use of resources and the provision of cost effective public services
• preparing an outline of how specific responsibilities are to be assigned to other officers down through the Office
• managing matters relating to appointments, performance, discipline and dismissal of staff below the grade of Principal or its equivalent

Section 4 (1) of the Act empowers the Chairman to assign to other officers responsibility for the performance of his or her functions. The framework, as set out in this document, constitutes a consolidated statement as at March 2015 of all assignments under the Act by the Chairman of the Commissioners of Public Works.

Interpretation of this document and the assignments herein should have due regard to the factors, which from time to time affect the distribution and discharge of responsibilities across the Office, such as the exigencies of work in a particular area, and the coordination of shared, or contiguous responsibilities. It should also have regard to the assignment of functions in respect of appointments, performance and discipline of personnel under the Civil Service Regulation Acts 1956-2005, which are made from time to time by the Chairman under separate regulations.

Part 3 of this framework document shows the assignment of responsibility for the performance of functions to each individual officer down to and including Principal level. The responsibilities so assigned shall be articulated through the Office’s Business Plans to reflect the priorities and objectives of the Office, as set out in its Statement of Strategy. The assignment of responsibility for the performance of functions by individual officers, or grade or grades of officer, below Principal level shall be handled administratively on the basis of the personal (or team) work objectives identified under or associated with the Office’s Business Plans. These Business Plans are considered on an annual basis and are informed by the Statement of Strategy and in turn, feed into the Performance Management and Development System, which provides a practical means of prioritising the day-to-day work of the Office at Functional area, business unit, team and individual level.

Assignments under Section 4(1) of the Public Service Management Act, as specified in this framework document, will continue to be amended from time to time, in writing by the Chairman and the framework will be deemed to have been updated accordingly.