Moroccan-British talks on administrative reforms
Moroccan minister of civil service and administrative reform, M'Hamed El Khalifa, who started Tuesday a three-day visit to Great Britain, held talks in London Wednesday with minister of state to the British Presidency council in charge of special missions to the Prime Minister, Lord falconer.
The British official made a presentation on the administrative reforms operated by the British government over the past two decades to improve the administration service to the citizens.
He recalled that the number of civil servants has been cut by half, from 750,000 persons at the beginning of the eighties to about 400,000 at present, while their performance has been improved. He said the spared funds were injected in social sectors such as health and education.
The Moroccan official surveyed the political situation at home, expounding the new concept of authority being developed and the progress scored in the promotion of human rights, the rule of the law and the democratization of public life.
The reforms initiated in the civil service department are mainly meant to institute a new code of ethics in the administration, rationalize human resources, justify administrative decisions, and improve civil servants performance, El Khalifa said, adding the reforms also stipulate that political and administrative executives make a declaration on their assets.
El Khalifa later on visited the Civil service College at Ascot in Berkshire where he discussed with the college staff issues related to training, the use of new technologies and the exchange of administrative reform experts. The establishment of cooperation ties with Moroccan institutions, such as L'Ecole Nationale d'Administration and L'Institut Sup?rieur d'Administration was also discussed.
The Moroccan official also visited the premises of Westminster parliament.
The British Council and the British Embassy in Rabat sponsored earlier this month a round table on a new system of improved performance management in the Morocco Civil Service.
The meeting looked at a guide on performance evaluation that was elaborated by a team from the Moroccan Ministries of Housing and of Civil Service Reform and human resources specialists from the University of Manchester in the UK.
The guide on performance evaluation, first piloted in the Ministry of Housing is now due to be introduced in all Ministries.
El Khalifa's visit is meant to continue this practical program of co-operation aimed at sharing best practices in civil service management and encouraging good governance.
