PETALING JAYA: The public can expect improvements to government service delivery with the implementation of the Government Service Efficiency Commitment Act.
The civil service will now work based on a framework known as Iltizam, which encompasses seven major shifts involving structural reform and process revolution.
Chief Secretary to the Government Tan Sri Shamsul Azri Abu Bakar (pic) said in a circular dated Dec 1 that the structural reforms focus on reducing bureaucratic red tape and regulatory burdens, while the process revolution emphasises simplifying dealings for the public and the business community through improvements and harmonisation of government services.
“The objective of Iltizam is to enhance the quality of government service delivery, particularly for the public and the business community, by reducing undue regulatory burdens through recommendations to review existing regulatory instruments.
“It is a strategic national initiative designed to position Malaysia among the world’s most competitive economies,” he said.
Among the seven thrusts are government entities being required to carry out a mandatory review of regulatory instruments every three years. This includes subsidiary legislation made under the Federal Constitution or other Acts, directives, circulars, guidelines, procedures, work processes or other forms of administrative instruments.
Government entities are also required to reduce regulatory burden by 25% within three years.
The agencies will have to identify regulatory instruments that need improvement in terms of efficiency and come up with the necessary solutions.
A Standard Cost Model (SCM) will also be employed where costs are not calculated solely on the basis of the number of regulatory instruments but rather on the time, labour and resources required to comply with regulatory requirements such as completing forms, preparing reports, obtaining permits or undergoing audits.
The SCM provides a transparent, measurable and comparable approach across agencies, thereby facilitating the objective setting of compliance burden reduction targets under the Act.
Services will be strengthened through the Government as a Platform model and the One Door Policy.
A One-In, One-Out policy will also be implemented on existing regulatory instruments.
For each new regulatory instrument to be introduced, at least one obsolete regulatory instrument relating to the same subject matter must be repealed, in accordance with the One-In, One-Out policy.
Regulatory performance will be rated based on the implementation of structural reforms and smart governance.
This will also be a merit criterion for the allocation of funding and incentives.
Iltizam will adopt a whole-of-nation approach through co-creation involving the public and the business community.
It will also be one of the key performance indicators for ministries, departments and agencies.
The Act came into effect on Nov 27.
