|
The Government will set up a Centre for Shared Services (CSS)
on 1 April 2006. This centre will deliver common corporate services
to government agencies. The CSS will be a department under the
Ministry of Finance (MOF).
2 CSS will bring together selected human resource and finance
processing activities of government agencies. Such functions
include paying salaries and benefits, processing staff claims,
making payments to suppliers, etc. By pooling together such
functions, the CSS aims to bring costs down and achieve greater
efficiency through economies of scale, standardisation and
streamlining of procedures. Government agencies served by the
CSS will enjoy lower costs over time. The CSS also presents
an opportunity for HR and finance staff to upgrade and apply
their skills on a broader scale and adopt a customer-oriented
culture. Instead of being seen as backroom support services,
these staff in CSS will now be at the front end, focusing on
providing value-added services to participating government
agencies.
3 The CSS will start by providing HR and Finance services
to 17 agencies in Phase 1 from 1 April 2006. These Phase 1
agencies include the larger Ministries like the Ministry of
Education and the Ministry of Home Affairs. The CSS will take
on additional government agencies a year later, in Phase 2
from 1 April 2007. The list of agencies involved in Phase 1
and Phase 2 is attached at Annex
A.
4 All staff currently performing the selected HR and Finance
functions in these agencies will be invited to join the CSS.
Approximately 300 to 400 staff will be involved in Phase 1.
5 The plan for shared services was first announced by Prime
Minister Lee Hsien Loong during Budget 2005 in February this
year. Shared services was successfully implemented in MINDEF
which led to improved service standards and saved or avoided
$2.9 million in costs in FY03. In setting up the CSS, MOF had
studied local and overseas private and public sector models
for shared services. These include shared services centers
in the New South Wales Government and Queensland Government
in Australia, IBM, Procter & Gamble, Hewlett-Packard and
Standard Chartered Bank.
Issued by:
Ministry of Finance
1 Sep 2005
|
