Unclear regulations on what constitutes a person of trust are partly to blame for the political controversy over such appointments, according to civil service head Mario Cutajar.
Guidelines issued by the previous administration were too wide ranging and the government was working on a new set of rules to better define a person of trust, Mr Cutajar said yesterday.
The government has faced a barrage of criticism since the election over the engagement of individuals on a person-of-trust basis, which the Opposition partly blames for the increase in public sector jobs. In most instances, the engagements involved people close to the Labour Party.
Mr Cutajar was unfazed by the criticism when asked whether the system of employing people on the basis of trust had been abused since the election to award jobs for the boys.
“No, it was not abused… There are clear-cut examples such as the secretariats of ministers where people have to be employed on a basis of trust but there are less clear-cut ones such as the engagement of advisers,” he said, acknowledging the system had to be reformed.
Anybody engaged outside the structures of the public service had to be on a basis of trust, he added, because regulations did not distinguish between different categories.
“If a minister wants to employ an adviser for a specific job, the only way to do so is on a basis of trust. But should an adviser be considered a person of trust? The current system does not cater for such instances,” Mr Cutajar said, adding he agreed with a “hybrid public service” that included outside engagements for particular projects.
Work was being done to take a snapshot of the prevailing situation and new regulations would be drafted by the end of the year, he said. “Today’s situation is no different from what it used to be but this is not a justification to leave it as it is,” he added.
The regulations will define positions of trust and where they are needed. The rules will also define other categories of outside employment with the government such as advisers. Mr Cutajar insisted that, under the new regulations, those engaged on a person-of-trust basis would not become full-time employees of the civil service.
Government recruitment, excluding ministerial secretariats, is normally done through a competitive exercise under the guidance of the Public Service Commission. However, for certain sensitive posts, such as chairpersons, political appointments are normally allowed.
Under the present Labour administration, people employed on a trust basis have included a dog handler, administrative and customer care officers as well as others with a job description defined as vaguely as doing “what is necessary”.
Over 500 people were employed on a person-of-trust basis under this administration, according to figures published last December.
The Public Service Commission is investigating 11 cases of people employed irregularly with the civil service, according to Mr Cutajar.
He was speaking on the fringes of a day-long conference on the employee support programme offering a holistic service, including psychological help, to workers as a result of bereavement, mental health issues and other difficulties.
Mr Cutajar said about 600 civil servants availed themselves of the free service over the past five years. Some 70 per cent of the issues workers had were domestic and the rest had work-related problems.
kurt.sansone@timesofmalta.com