Too Fat Cabinet Needs Slimming Down

Too Fat Cabinet Needs Slimming Down
China Times editorial
Taipei, Taiwan, ROC
A Translation
February 20, 2013

Summary: The government has been undergoing restructuring for over a year. Prior to this wave of restructuring, the Executive Yuan Organization Law remained untouched for nearly six decades. But times have changed. Ministry business has expanded. The number of ministries has steadily grown to 37. Nominally the government still has only "eight ministries and two commissions." But overly complex and rigid government organizational structures long ceased to fulfill real world needs.

Full Text below:

The government has been undergoing restructuring for over a year. Prior to this wave of restructuring, the Executive Yuan Organization Law remained untouched for nearly six decades. The only change occurred in 1980, when the Ministry of Judicial Administration was renamed the Ministry of Justice. But times have changed. Ministry business has expanded. The number of ministries has steadily grown to 37. Nominally the government still has only "eight ministries and two commissions." But overly complex and rigid government organizational structures long ceased to fulfill real world needs.

Premier Yu Kuo-hwa began looking into governmental restructuring in 1987. Now, 26 years later, we have had 14 premiers. Last year the show finally took to the road. But we still have a long way to go before everything is in motion. According to the Executive Yuan, once restructuring is complete, the number of ministries will be reduced from 37 to 29. The number of Grade Three agencies will be reduced from 279 to 70 bureaus and departments. But such weight reduction programs notwithstanding, the government remains in the "obese" category.

The goal of restructuring is to cost reduction and performance enhancement. But the Executive Yuan's restructuring program increases the number of political appointees from 91 to 92, even though it reduces the total number of ministries. It increases the number of civil service positions from 162,792 to a 173,000, the maximum specified by the Central Government Total Personnel Law. The total number of civil servants will not necesssarily be reduced. According to the latest Ministry of Civil Service figures, last year the number of civil servants reached an eight year high of 345,861. Compare this to 2011, when the central government increased the number by 556.

Consider the system design. Current blueprints call for the establishment of an Environmental Protection Administration and a Ministry of Culture. It attempts to address the problem of non-unified authority. But too many political considerations remain. It still lacks a clear theoretical rationale. For example, it preserves the Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission, the Veterans Affairs Commission, Council for Indigenous Peoples, and the Council for Hakka Affairs. But it downgrades the National Council on Physical Fitness, which is charged with ensuring the physical fitness of the nation, and places it under the authority of the Ministry of Education. It downgrades the Nuclear Energy Commission, which is charged with overseeing nuclear safety, from a Grade Two agency to a Grade Three Agency. It is difficult to see the logic behind these trade-offs.

Taiwan has a serious problem with aging population. Long-term health care is an important issue the government must face. Long term health care is currently the responsibility of the Ministry of the Interior's social welfare system. But in the future the Ministry of Health and Welfare will be under the authority of the Department of Health, which is responsible for the health care system. The functions of the two agencies will be integrated. This represents by a significant change in thinking about long-term health care. When the Executive Yuan came up with its organizational structure, it was obviously not thinking clearly about future policy.

Restructuring will create several mega-ministries. These include the Environmental Protection Administration, which will be responsible for water resources, rivers, pollution, and national parks. The Ministry of Health and Welfare will be even more powerful. Almost everything having to do with "birth, aging, disease, and death" will be its responsibility. These agencies will more powerful, more obese, and less "flat." Their affairs will become more complex. They will become less responsive to the needs of those below. If government agencies engage in business as usual, as they did in the past, and pass the buck whenever they can, efficiency will be even lower than it was before restructuring.

Current restructuring fails to address outdated foundations, associations, and other government subsidized entities. It fails to review the poor performance of state-owned enterprises. It even fails to evaluate central and local government civil servants. As a result, central government restructuring has resulted in excess personnel who can neither be cut nor reassigned. The upgrading of the five municipalities to directly administered status touted promotions and "knighthoods." The number of posts increased by approximately 20,000. Budgets increased by 100 billion NT. As far as the general public is concerned, the restructuring has merely given civil servants a massive windfall. It has merely provided them with opportunities to advance their careers and line their pockets.

Restructuring is gradually being implemented. The attendant problems are gradually surfacing. The organizational structure remains uncertain. The multitude of agencies are fighting over funds, personnel, and positions. They are fighting over who gets upgraded. They are fighting everywhere, from the Executive Yuan to the Legislative Yuan. Once the organizational structure has been determined, everyone will sweep only the snow on their own stoop. They will not care who is supposed to be responsible for what. Take the GIO. It is being replaced by the Executive Yuan Spokesman's Office. Its only job will be to issue press releases and liase with the media. Medial liason over the national day celebration will be turned over to the Ministry of the Interior, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and Overseas Chinese Affairs Commission.

Predictably, organizational restructuring amidst future organizational consolidation will be chaotic. The various ministries have problems communicating, both within and without. These problems have all surfaced, one by one. Restructuring labor pains have only just begun.

Restructruing is a continuous process of destruction followed by reorganization. It is akin to smashing a number of clay figurines and reshaping them into one. The process involves reorganization of existing structures, the placement of personnel, the simplification of decision-making, the reformation of an organizational culture. Every step must be executed correctly. Only then can one improve one's performance. Based on current plans, the scope of restructuring is too modest. Personnel have not been sufficiently streamlined. Goals remain fuzzy. Benchmarks remain unclear. In short, the government lacked ambition from day one. Naturally it was unable to offer a blueprint for the new government that would appeal to the public.

The condensation of the Taiwan Provincial Government 14 years ago failed to achieve its goals. Once the restructuring express train got moving, its sponsors should have monitored the plan. They should have indicated their targets. They should have ensured that every agency and every connection was in order. After all, if the final result does not lead in cost reductions and performance ehancements, then the entire restructuring process becomes a joke -- nay, a tragedy.

中時電子報 新聞
中國時報 　2013.02.21
社論－最肥胖的組改 有必要再瘦身
本報訊

    　政府組織改造上路已經一年多，在這波組改啟動之前，《行政院組織法》幾乎有一甲子沒有檢討過（僅在六十九年時將「司法行政部」改名為「法務部」）。隨著時空的變遷、業務的增加，部會數也不斷成長到卅七個；雖然名義上仍維持著「八部二會」的架構，但過度複雜與僵化的政府組織，早就不符實際的需求。

    　從一九八七年的行政院長俞國華開始研擬政府組改，至今已經過了廿六年、經歷了十四任閣揆；雖然終於在去年開始上路，但距離全面啟動，還有很長的一段路要走。根據政院的規畫，這次組改完成後，部會數將從現行的卅七個降為廿九個，三級機關將從目前的二七九個，精簡為七十個局署。但這樣的瘦身規模，仍舊是歷年所有組改版本中，最「肥胖」的組織架構。

    　組織改造的目的，無非是降低成本、提升效能。但根據政院的規畫，組改後雖然部會總數減少，但政務官的總人數將從九十一人增加為九十二人；公務員的總員額也從目前的十六萬二七九二人，改為不超過《中央政府總員額法》十七萬三千人的上限，總數並不確定會減少。根據銓敘部最新統計，去年全國公務人數達到卅四萬三八六一人，創下八年來新高；與一百年比較，中央各機關還增加了五五六人。

    　在制度設計方面，現行藍圖雖然設立了環資部、文化部等機關，試圖解決過去事權不統一的問題，但仍舊因為有太多的政治考量，以至於看不出明確的理論基礎和理念。如：維持僑委會、退輔會、原民會、客委會的編制，卻把攸關國民體能、國家國力的體委會降級改隸教育部、負責核安的原能會也從二級機關降為三級，實在讓人看不出取捨的邏輯何在。

    　此外，台灣人口老化問題嚴重，長期照護是政府必須要面對的重要問題；目前的長照政策主要是由以社工體系為主的內政部負責，但未來的衛生福利部卻是由醫療體系為主的衛生署主導；兩單位業務整合的背後，代表的是整個長照政策規畫思維的重大改變。政院在設計組織架構時，顯然並沒有先想清楚，未來的政策走向為何。

    　未來組改完成後，將造就幾個超級大部，如環資部管水、河流、汙染、國家公園；衛生福利部更厲害，幾乎是所有「生老病死」都歸它管。組織變高、變胖、變得不扁平化，業務變得更複雜，下情上達的路恐怕只會變得遙遠了。如果公務機關像過去一樣「等因奉此」、事事請示，效率只會比組改之前更低。

    　這次組改，既不處理眾多不合時宜的基金會、協會等政府捐補助單位，也未檢討績效不彰的國營事業，甚至連中央、地方的公務員都沒有完整的考量。於是乎，中央組改出現一堆無法安置裁併的冗員、閒缺；五都升格卻又大張旗鼓的升官封爵，總員額增加兩萬人、預算增加千億元。看在一般民眾眼裡，組改不過是公務員自己「大風吹」，藉機升官發財的戲碼。

    　組改去年陸續上路，問題已逐漸浮現。組織架構未定之時，各機關搶錢、搶人、搶職等、搶升格，從行政院鬥到立法院；組織既定之後，各人自掃門前雪，管他業務誰來做。以新聞局為例，改為行政院發言人室，業務只剩下新聞發布和聯繫，原本國慶的媒體聯繫丟給內政部、外交部、僑委會自己做。

    　可以預見，在未來組織整併的過程中，組織重整的混亂，各部會內外橫向聯繫差的問題，都還會逐一的浮現，組改真正的「陣痛」，恐怕現在還沒有開始。

    　組改，是一連串破壞、重組的過程，如同把數個泥人打碎，再重新捏成一個。其間涉及到組織的整併、人員的安置、決策流程的簡化、組織文化的再造，每一個環節都作對了，才可能達成效能提升的目標。以目前的規畫來看，組改仍然存在改革幅度太小、人員精簡不足、目標設定模糊、檢驗指標不清等問題。簡而言之，就是政府改革的企圖心自始就不足，自然沒有辦法擘畫出足以吸引民眾的新政府藍圖。

    　精省十四年仍未盡其功的殷鑑不遠，在組改列車啟動後，主其事者應該隨時檢視整個計畫，提出清楚可期的目標，以確保每個單位、每個環節都作對了；畢竟，如果最後的結果不是成本降低、效能提升，整個組改就會變成笑話一場；不，那將會是悲劇一場。