Cut Waste
Panel
General: http://app.mof.gov.sg/cutwaste/
Cut Waste Issues for
Defence:
http://app.mof.gov.sg/cutwaste/suggestiondetail.asp?category=Defence
The Government is determined to continue delivering excellent
public services despite increasing fiscal pressures. Do you have an
idea of where and how the government can cut waste in public
expenditure? Please write to us using the form
below...........
THE CUT WASTE PANEL PROCESS
When the Cut Waste Panel secretariat receives a suggestion, it
will assess whether the suggestion concerns waste in the public
sector. If a suggestion concerns private organisations, the
secretariat will inform the suggestor that his ideas will be
forwarded to the appropriate organisations and advise him to follow
up with them. Sometimes, the secretariat receives complaints about
poor service from public sector agencies, or proposals about
devices that may reduce costs. For such cases, the secretariat will
either respond directly to the suggestor or forward the case to the
appropriate agencies for them to take note.
When the secretariat receives a suggestion about how the public
sector can reduce waste, it will email it to the Deputy Secretary
or Chief Executive Officer of the appropriate public sector agency
or agencies and request a response. The email will be copied to the
Permanent Secretary. To protect the identity of the suggestor, the
secretariat will remove any text, e.g. email address, that could
identify the suggestor. Agencies normally respond within 2 weeks,
although complicated or ambiguous suggestions inevitably require
more time, including additional correspondence between the agencies
and the suggestor through the secretariat.
All suggestions and agency responses are cleared by the agency’s
Permanent Secretary and reviewed by the Panel. If the Panel finds a
response inadequate, it may direct the secretariat to work with the
agency concerned to improve its response. Alternatively, the Panel
may invite the head of the agency to a discussion about the
particular issue.
For straightforward cases, the secretariat aims to respond to a
suggestor within 22 days if he had provided a valid email address.
Due to the volume of suggestions, email is the only feasible
channel for the secretariat to send the response. As for follow-up
correspondence on a suggestion, it is usually more efficient for a
suggestor to correspond directly with the officer who signed the
response. The secretariat therefore encourages suggestors to do so
whenever possible.
The secretariat publishes the suggestions and responses on this
website to help the public understand the work of the Cut Waste
Panel. The record of the suggestions received so far shows that
many are very similar, e.g. suggestions about switching off street
lights. The secretariat therefore invites anyone who plans to make
a suggestion to browse the published suggestions and responses or
at least the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) first to see if the
issue in question has already been raised and addressed.
The creation of the Cut Waste Panel underscores the Government's
resolve to continue delivering excellent public services despite
increasing fiscal pressure. The Panel will be chaired by the Head
of Civil Service, Mr Peter Ho, and comprise members drawn from the
public, private and people sector. The Panel will consider all
suggestions on where the Government can cut waste or remove
frills.
The public demands quality public services. These come at a
cost, which ultimately must be paid by the public through taxes,
fees and charges. There must be consensus on how to ensure spending
on public services represents good value for money and meets the
needs of our people. The Panel encourages all members of the public
to write in with their ideas on the public services which the
Government should spend or cut back, as well as on areas where
there could be savings.