Under the recently announced program of rationalisation of Government functions and reduction in staffing, a number of SES positions may require re-evaluation or deletion.

In relation to Chief Executive positions which are affected by the restructure of Government functions, the Premier's Department will contact individual Ministers' offices and Chief Executives in the near future to arrange for re-evaluation 'of the position. Chief Executives whose positions are affected should review their current position description in consultation with their Minister as a basis for discussion.

In relation to SES positions whose functions are changed or transferred to another agency, the Premier's Department will shortly commence a process of re-evaluation, using job evaluation panels involving the relevant agency Chief Executive (or nominee) and an independent. This process will commence as soon as Chief Executives have finalised their agency structures and clarified the responsibilities of senior positions. Modified or new SES position descriptions or job analysis questionnaires should be prepared by the agency for the consideration of the panel.

Where functions are no longer required as a result of agency restructure or rationalisation, it will be necessary to remove SES officers and to delete their positions. The entitlements of such officers are provided in the Public Sector Management Act. As any such deletions are a consequence of Government decisions funding will be provided to Budget Sector agencies to meet the cost of compensation, on the basis that the ongoing savings are reflected in Budget allocations. The detailed steps in the process of SES redeployment, outplacement and compensation are addressed in the Attachment to this letter.

Concurrently with the restructure of Government functions and as a first step in the devolution of SES position classification, the Premier has delegated from the date of this Circular, authority to Ministers to approve the reallocation of SES positions within the agencies in their portfolios. This delegation is limited to the capacity to delete and create SES positions of the same grade or lower, based on the SES job evaluation system. The majority of larger agencies have been trained in the CED SES job evaluation system. A further training program will be conducted in July/August 1991.

It is important to note however, that it is the Government's clear expectation that the number and level of SES positions overall will reduce through these processes rather than increase.

If further information is required on any of the above, please contact Pamela Rutledge on 2285510 or Ricardo Ramirez on 2285520 in the first instance.

Further consideration is currently being given to the range of benefits available to redundant staff below SES level. Separate advice will issue on this matter shortly.

R G Humphry
Director-General