Special Features of the Swedish Government Sector Small Ministries and Independent Agencies Control by Objectives, Dialogue and Evaluation Framed Budget Appropriations for Overall Activities Coming over to the Government Sector, I want to point out some special features of the Swedish model. We have by long tradition rather small ministries and independent Agencies. The Agencies are responsible to the ministries concerned. However they are independent of Government in individual matters concerning the application of law and exercise of authority visàvis individuals or local authorities. The Ministries have no right to annul or otherwise interfere with decisions taken by a subordinate authority. Control over the agencies is exercised through Appointments of Director Generals as well as decisions regarding agency functions and financing. Each agency receives an unspecified appropriation for total administration costs. This sum must cover all costs during the whole budgetary period,

Division between The Government The Agencies Provides a written instruction Gives yearly budget directives Decides about fixed appropriations for agencies Evaluates the performance The Agencies Carry out their mission Employ their own staff, except DG Allocate resources for staffing, machinery, localities etc. including pay increases and improvements in other terms of employment that may result from central and local pay negotiations. The distribution of costs is a matter for the management of each public agency. There is of course no central regulation of the number or employees. To provide for increases in expenditure, the appropriations are increased on basis of an index reflecting the development of labour costs in the industrial sector. If the collective agreements on pay increases are higher than the index there is no extra compensation for that. The agencies then have to reduce their costs, either by giving notice to staff or by other means. The public administrations/agencies are fully responsible for the results and consequences of their collective agreements both at national and local level. As a result, the agencies DG’s are now increasingly aware of their role as employers as well as their responsibility for pay determination and employer policies in general.

The Swedish Agency for Government Employers An employers’ “association” for all government agencies The co-ordinator of government employer interests Controlled and financed by the members 250 members with approximately 235 000 employees The Government has delegated its competence to conclude collective agreements to SAGE. This organisation negotiates and concludes collective agreements on behalf of all public administrations in the central government sector. This means that the responsibility for the collective agreements at national level is no longer an issue of Government Office, the Ministry of Finance or Parliament. Instead this responsibility and competence has been entrusted to the 250 agencies themselves, through their own employer organisation. Consequently this employer agency is governed by its members, i.e. all the 250 state agencies and not by Government. The membership is compulsory to all the government bodies, from the core functions such as the military forces, the police, the universities etc, to all kinds of public administrations and services like the tax administration, the labour market board etc.

Labour Legislation and Conditions of Employment Essentially the same Rules and Regulations as in the Private Sector Negotiations and Industrial Actions are allowed Public staff of all categories, even the military and the police have since 1965 the same legal right to negotiate and to to strike as other employees. As a part of that reform an agreement was concluded between the Government -as employer - and the three trade unions representing the public employees, the Basic agreement. The right to take industrial action is limited to the central level of these three organisations. According to this agreement, a joint consultation board shall - on request of one of the social partners - consider whether an industrial action constitutes a danger to the public safety. The social partners are expected to respect the recommendation of the Board. In 1976 the general Co-determination Act was adopted. A framework for informing and consulting staff representatives was implemented in the Swedish labour market as a whole, also in the public sector.

Transparency - is crucial All decisions are open to the public Also according to HRM-matters as pay recruitment new tasks Exceptions: sensitive personal information, information connected to the national defence, police-matters etc. The whole Swedish system is built on an old tradition of openness and transparency. This means that anyone, for instance a reporter, could come to an agency and be allowed to read the “in- and-out-post” and all other decisions made by this agency. Even the pay-roll is open to the public and lists of the salaries of the Director-generals are sometimes published in our newspapers. There are of course some exceptions, sensitive personal information…SE BILDEN.

Co-Operation A constructive climate between employers and unions The agreement ‘Co-Operation for Development’ supports motion from debate to dialogue, from confrontation to agreement, from union-based loyalty to work- based loyalty, from strict employers’ perspective to leadership.

In the service of citizens Managing modernisation Takes time 1980 – 20..……? Needs focus Takes a variation of means Must respond to external driving forces Needs a legal framework Must organise itself Gains from co-operation with the unions

Constructing a legal framework 1985 HRM Bill made clear that HRM have to be driven by business needs and act as tool for modernisation 1986 Leadership Bill clarified responsibilities on top managers 1994 Law on Public Employment declared the end of most career systems 1997 a new Budget Law passes Parliament

Organising change Special ministry for public administration Task force for reducing administrative costs with 10 % in 3 years Devolution of responsibilities to the agencies A new Agency for Government Employers Co-Ordinates employer policies Negotiates Support single agencies A new Agency for Administrative Development

Shared responsibilities with the social partners Job Security Agreement 1989 Agreement on Individual Pay 1991 Agreement on Co-Operation for Development 1997 ….

Results Major structural changes More for less money More responsibilities to managers More flexibility regarding Pay Employment Use of resources

Challenges Keep up Government Ethos and common values Make managers manage Avoid too much pressure on staff combine effectiveness with a good working environment Continue to increase flexibility Make Agencies work together