The Monitoring and Evaluation Programme of the PSC Indran Naidoo Inaugural Conference of the South African Monitoring and Evaluation Association, 28 March 2007

The challenge?

3 Presentation outline Mandate of the Public Service Commission (PSC) Who is the audience of the PSC Types of M&E activities The Public Service M&E System The PSC system and the GWM&ES

4 Mandate of the PSC The Public Service Commission (PSC) is an independent and impartial body created by the Constitution, 1996, to enhance excellence in governance. It is a Chapter 10 body, Section 196. It “investigates, monitors and evaluates” public administration, “without fear, favour or prejudice”. The monitoring and evaluation function is conducted on all aspects of government performance.

5 Who is the audience of the PSC? In addressing its mandate the PSC: Reports to Parliament and the Legislatures to support their oversight role Reports to the Executive to inform decision- making and promote good practice Reports to the public to promote the sharing of experiences on public service performance and promote transparency.

6 Types of PSC`s M&E activities Evaluation of the performance of Heads of Department: Through M&E the performance management of leadership, the PSC identifies problems, shares good practice and recommends interventions. Programme evaluation: Specific government programmes (eg. Poverty relief programme) are evaluated to assess their impact in addressing developmental priorities.

7 Continued… M&E of the National Anti-Corruption Hotline ( ): Real time information is produced from this toll-free facility, enabling the immediate identification (monitoring) of problems (types and location) – enabling rapid intervention. Based on this data – evaluations are made of how well these programmes work.

8 Continued… Citizen Forums: Direct engagement with citizens to assess their experiences around service delivery is undertaken. This promotes local empowerment and creates important dialogue between stakeholders. Inspections: Announced and unannounced visits are made to service delivery points to assess service delivery experiences.

9 Continued… Policy Review: Specific policy is reviewed, an earlier review of leave taking in the Public Service by the PSC resulted in this policy being fundamentally reviewed. Compliance audits: Financial Disclosures, to assess how well conflicts of interest is managed Regulatory audits: Oversee the verification of qualifications process by departments

10 The Public Service M&E System This system is based on the 9 Constitutional values and principles for Public Administration. For each principle performance indicators and measurements have been developed. It is an evidence-based system.

11 The system has been applied across 60 national and provincial departments over the past 4 years. Reports have been presented to Senior Management for engagement. The extent to which recommendations are complied with is monitored. The results have been consolidated into reports that compare performance.

12 Key oversight reports The State of the Public Service Report 2006 (focused on the theme of capacity) The 2007 State of the Public Service Report (to be released) – focuses on the role of the Public Service in promoting growth and development

13 Links to the government-wide M&E system The reports from the PSC complements the GWM&ES, in that it provides quantitative and qualitative information on “governance”. Its reports are both specific and cross- cutting, thus allowing for a meaningful commentary to be made on the performance of the state.

14 Thank you Questions