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SCOPE
Accountability is the basic of a good government in a modern and open societies. For a high level of accountability of the essential guarantees and under-pinnings, not just of the kinds of civic freedoms they enjoy, but of efficient, impartial and ethical public administration. Indeed, public acceptance of government and the roles of officials depends upon trust and confidence founded upon the administration being held accountable for its actions.
Generally speaking, the accountability obligations of public officials and institutions derive from our constitutional and legal structure with its underlying assumption of accountability of the executive to the Parliament and of the Parliament to the people, with an independent judiciary as the guardian of the legal rights of the community.
The traditional structures are supplemented by such modern additions as the Ombudsman, administrative appeals tribunals and freedom of information legislation, while in the private sector healthy, independent mass media provide an additional guarantee of the public accountability.
Accountability is also a major management tool for Ministers and the Public Service. ... The development and strengthening of effective accountability systems within the Public Service, and between the Public Service, Ministers and the Parliament are important tasks for the Public Service.
BACKGROUND
Accountability is a central concept for a form of public administration, which establishes the conditions under which parliamentary legislative powers exist and provides for an executive government. ...
Unable as a matter of practicality to undertake all the multitude of administrative tasks involved, the executive government has delegated powers to an appointed public service and Ministers are equally unable to monitor all instances of the exercise of such delegated powers.
The Parliament, in response to the growing size and complexity of Government and in recognition that its own capacity, and that of Ministers, to scrutinize the administration is subject to practical constraints, has therefore created separate institutions or structures which themselves enhance public accountability. ... They can also enhance ministerial responsibility by providing Government with alternative information or advice about the performance of the Public Service, and may indicate areas where systemic improvements are possible.
There is a continuum of accountability relationships between the electorate, the Parliament, the Government and the Public Service. In traditional, the primary accountability obligation of Public Servants is to the Government of the day. Ministers are accountable to the Parliament for the exercise of ministerial authority, while Public Servants are accountable to Ministers for the exercise of delegated authority. But these hierarchical relationships have now been complemented by public servantsˇ¦ duty to explain or justify their actions to various review bodies and directly to Parliamentary committees where the Minister neither knew nor should have been expected to know.
PUBLIC SERVICE ACCOUNTABILITY
Pressures for increased accountability of the Public Service became pronounced from the mid-1970s.
Approximate Word count = 2284
Approximate Pages = 9.1
(250 words per page double spaced)
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