The Hodgman Liberal Government is getting on with the task of cleaning up the financial mess left behind by Labor and the Greens. We are ensuring that we have a public sector that Tasmania can afford to provide the services Tasmanians need.
In February this year, the Government released the General Government Sector Employment report, which provided an update on the status of the FTE savings plan. That report showed that FTE reductions of 668 had been achieved as at the end of January 2015 and that the Government was on track to achieve the targeted savings.
As at the end of March 2015, General Government FTE levels are now 766 fewer than at the start of the financial year, taking into account the seasonal employment fluctuations in education.
The reduction of 766 FTEs has been applied across the public service as follows:
It is important to note that the estimate for education reflects the seasonal nature of employment in that agency and that as at March 2015, schools had not fully recruited to the capacity of their school resource packages. The end of year estimate of employment changes across education will be around 250 FTEs.
This reduction has been achieved without any forced redundancies and are the result of targeted and negotiated voluntary redundancies, the cessation of fixed term contracts and natural attrition.
61 people have applied for and received a Workforce Renewal Incentive Program payment at a cost of around $1.2 million between February to March 2015. On a year to date basis, a total of 559 staff have elected to participate in the WRIP scheme.
Between the end of January 2015 and March 2015, 67 staff have accepted a voluntary redundancy and left their roles. Between February and March 2015, payments of around $3.4 million have been made in relation to voluntary redundancy payments.
The total one off cost of both programs for the 2014-15 year to date is $25.7 million.
The Government will deliver the savings needed to put the budget on track for surplus. We will continue to provide the public services that Tasmanians need and deserve and provided by a public service that Tasmania can afford.
The heavy lifting has been done and there will be no new structural savings in the 2015-16 Budget. The next budget will continue with the discipline we have demonstrated since coming to Government so that we can afford to deliver better results in health, education and public safety.