The final report on Public Sector Pay Reform, which seeks to introduce equity and transparency into public service pay, has been presented to the government, with a commitment to implement the policy in 2009. The report recommends a single spine pay policy for the public sector, outlines five phases of implementation and classifies public sector agencies into nine groups. The report was prepared by CoEn Consulting Ghana Limited, after evaluating 5,000 jobs and holding a series of consultations with stakeholders, including the government and labour organisations. The evaluation was commissioned in June 2006. The Minister for Public Sector Reforms, Mr. Samuel Owusu-Agyei, who received the report in Accra on Thursday, said the government was committed to reviewing the recommendations on the new pay policy for implementation and asked organised labour to reach out to its members and educate them on all aspects of the policy. The minister said he was aware of the high expectations of public servants of the new pay policy "which, undoubtedly, is a bold attempt by the government to introduce equity and transparency into public service pay". "As we await the government's White Paper on this new pay reform, I wish to assure all stakeholders that the government will keep faith with its employees and initiate the implementation of the policy in 2009”, he assured workers. Mr Owusu-Agyei congratulated the leadership of the civil and public services, the Trades Union Congress (TUC), various service classification groups, the Ghana Employers Association and the leadership of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission on their unflinching support during the various stages of discussions and asked them to support the government to implement the policy. He noted that never in the history of public administration in Ghana "has there been such unanimous support and enthusiasm for information gathering, analysis and consensus building throughout the numerous stakeholders' meetings". Mr Owusu-Agyei charged public servants to increase their efficiency to improve productivity in the public service to propel the nation into a middle-income status as envisaged by the government. The President of CoEn Consulting Ghana Limited, Ms Victoria CooperEnchia, expressed the conviction that the implementation of the pay policy would ensure equity in the salary structure of public servants, while the classification of public sector agencies into groups would make it possible for each of the groups to negotiate for salary adjustments. She said the five phases of implementing the pay policy were an attempt to propel Ghana into a middle-income status in terms of the salaries of public servants by 2015. The Chairman of the Fair Wages and Salaries Commission, Rev Dr Robert Aboagye-Mensah, said the inability of past governments to implement pay reforms had resulted in discrepancies in the salaries of public servants. He pledged the commitment of his outfit to facilitate the implementation of the pay reform and asked all other stakeholders to support that move. The Chairman of the Public Services Commission, Prof S. N. Woode, who chaired the function, said pay reform was part of the government's efforts at restructuring the public sector and expressed the hope that "the public service will be able to deliver to the satisfaction of people before allowing them to travel with their goods.” Source: Daily Graphic