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Prime Minister’s Office to set up new strategic policy unit by July

SINGAPORE — With an eye to preparing the Public Service for the future, a new strategic policy unit in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) will be set up by July to identify whole-of-government priorities early and translate them into policy action plans, said Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean today (April 1).

DPM Teo Chee Hean speaks at Administrative Service Dinner & Promotion Ceremony on April 1. Photo: Wee Teck Hian/TODAY

DPM Teo Chee Hean speaks at Administrative Service Dinner & Promotion Ceremony on April 1. Photo: Wee Teck Hian/TODAY

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SINGAPORE — With an eye to preparing the Public Service for the future, a new strategic policy unit in the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) will be set up by July to identify whole-of-government priorities early and translate them into policy action plans, said Deputy Prime Minister Teo Chee Hean today (April 1).

Speaking to about 300 administrative officers during the Administrative Service Dinner and Promotion Ceremony at the Grand Copthorne Waterfront Hotel, Mr Teo said even as the Civil Service focuses on making a difference now, it must also keep an eye on the long term and prepare itself well for the future. 

Increasingly, he said, the Government has been seeing more issues that cut across agency boundaries and which require optimisation across boundaries and trade-offs to be made.

The new unit will be led by the Head of Civil Service and will partner ministries to achieve “whole-of-government outcomes” more effectively. 

It will also be kept small and nimble, said Mr Teo, so it can focus on the most critical areas.

“It will take some time to build up the capabilities of this unit and to develop its form in full,” he added. 

For one, the unit will provide better coordination to anticipate and tackle medium- to long-term issues, said Mr Teo, who is also the Minister in charge of the Civil Service.

“It will create the capacity and space for (the) Government to do medium- to long-term planning — three, five, 10 years and even further into the future,” he added. 

The unit will also be responsible for strategic resource allocation, whether is it the budget, manpower and, where necessary, land or even carbon emissions.

While ministries will remain responsible for policy development and implementation in their own domain areas, the new unit will consider how a policy affects other government programmes or services and identify trade-offs to be resolved, for instance, said Mr Teo.

The unit will also take the lead to shape and “incubate” the new programme or capability.

This approach, he added, allows the unit to look at  and refine solutions for cross-ministry issues before new functions can be incorporated into the most appropriate ministry or agency to continue with its work.

For instance, Mr Teo said the concept of the new Municipal Services Office was incubated in the Public Service Division of the PMO, before it was placed in the Ministry of National Development with a minister in charge. 

Likewise, the new unit will also be a platform for different agencies to come together to resolve current issues and, where necessary, identify the most appropriate owner agency to take the lead, Mr Teo said.

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